During his Fox Hill Day celebrations remarks at St. Paul’s Baptist Church, on August 12, 2025, Prime Minister and Minister of Finance the Hon. Philip Davis said, as they all celebrated Emancipation Day, they joined together “in gratitude and remembrance of this day, over a century-and-a-half ago, for this day holds a deep meaning for us as Bahamians of African descent”.

“As it was on this day, as I said, over a century-and-a-half ago, that our ancestors were freed from the chains of slavery,” Prime Minister Davis said.  “For many, this day’s celebrations are rooted right here in Fox Hill.  When freedom reached Fox Hill, our people celebrated with a spirit so strong it could not be silenced.  That same spirit has been carried from generation to generation, and today we stand in their place, keeping the celebration alive.”

He added:  “You see, emancipation was not the end of the story.  It was the beginning of one.  The first chapter of a people deciding for themselves what kind of country they would build.  They knew freedom meant more than simply walking where you please.  It meant lifting each other up.  It meant making sure no one was left behind.”

Among those in attendance were Minister of Foreign Affairs and Member of Parliament the Hon. Fred Mitchell, and a number of Cabinet Ministers; Leader of the Opposition the Hon. Michael Pintard and other colleagues; senior government officials; members of the clergy and uniformed branches; the first female registered to vote Rubyann Cooper-Darling; and many well-wishers and stakeholders.

Prime Minister Davis stated that The Bahamas was at that time facing “a new fight for the soul of our country”.

“Every week, I have to face one of the most painful parts of my job,” he said.  “In my briefings from the Commissioner of Police, I see the reports, I hear the names, and I look at the faces of our young men who have been killed.”

Prime Minister Davis pointed out that some of those killed are under 18 years old, being killed by other young men under 18 years old.

“What strikes me most is how many of our young men are being taken from us, and far too often, it is at the hands of other young men,” he said.  “We must emancipate ourselves, as we did a century and a half ago, from this cycle of violence, and free our communities from its grip.”

Prime Minister Davis added:  “I often wonder – how many of them are themselves living with loss? How many have buried a friend, or had to carry grown-up burdens when they were still just boys?  That pain, if it’s not dealt with, turns into anger for those young men, and that anger turns into revenge.  And that’s how the cycle keeps going, unless we choose to break it.”

Prime Minister Davis stated that the past week had been “far too bloody”.

He noted:  “Every life lost breaks a family’s heart. Every shooting leaves another wound on the soul of our nation.  We have given the police every resource they have asked for – more officers, more vehicles, better tools, better technology.  But what they need most cannot be bought.  They need a community that will stand with them.  They need people who will not look the other way.

“They need citizens who will speak up when they see trouble.”

Prime Minister Davis asked those in attendance if they remembered when “our neighbourhoods had porches”.  He added that people sat outside in the evenings, greeted each other, kept watch over every child, and instilled manners in the children.

“Miss Rowena from two houses down would correct me or my brothers and sister before you even heard what he had done,” he said.  “We lived like a family.”

Prime Minister Davis added:  “Now, too many of those porches have been replaced by high walls and tall fences. Those walls give trouble, space to fester and grow. Instead of bringing us together, they keep us divided.

“Parents, very often we see that our children are going awry, and we need to say something when we see something. This will not be pimping, it will be protecting.”

Prime Minister Davis referred to a recent “heartbreaking incident” where a grandmother was shot while driving her son’s car, and a two-year-old grandchild was seriously injured.  He added that that was not a random act – the family was aware of who the attacker was targeting, but instead, innocent family members were harmed.  If someone had spoken up earlier, Prime Minister Davis noted, that grandmother might have been spared. 

“We cannot afford to stay silent any longer,” Prime Minister Davis said.  “We must come together, watch out for one another, and step up to stop this cycle before more lives are lost,”

He added:  “Do not protect your children in a life of crime.  If you know what is going on.  Do not wait until it is too late to tell the police or someone.  If your child is caught up in crime, step in now.  Help them change direction before they are lost.  Protecting someone who is causing harm may bring that harm right to your own door.

“I am speaking to you in church today because I believe in the power of the Bahamian family.”

“Yes, an election season is coming,” Prime Minister Davis continued.  “Yes, we will have our debates and our disagreements, and we will wear our party colors.  But we must reject the politics that tells us we have to hate each other because of who we support.

“Do not let anyone convince you that if you are PLP, you cannot speak to an FNM, or if you are FNM, you cannot sit with a PLP, and vice versa.”

Prime Minister Davis said that he had “seen us kneel side by side at the altar, share the same communion cup, sing the same hymns, and then walk out the door and act like strangers, just because of politics”.

“That is not who we are,” he stated.  “That is not who God calls us to be.  If we are going to save our young men, we must stand together – families, churches, communities, government, all working as one.”

Prime Minister Davis added:  “The police cannot do it alone.  The Government cannot do it alone; but the church can reach places that laws cannot touch. The church can speak life into places where despair has taken root.”

He said that The Bahamas needed intercessors “now more than ever”.

“We need your prayers to cover our children, our police officers, our leaders, and our country,” Prime Minister Davis said.  “Pray for peace in our streets.  Pray for healing in our homes.  Pray for God to emancipate ourselves from the chains of violence and replace them with bonds of love.”

He added:  “I believe we can win this fight. I believe we can replace the sound of gunfire with the sound of laughter.  I believe we can turn funerals into graduations.  I believe we can replace fear with hope.

“Let us leave here today with a promise: a promise to love each other; a promise to protect every child as if they were our own; a promise to speak up for what is right, even when it is not easy.

“May God bless you. May God bless our young men. And may God bless the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.”

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