What’s in a name?

There has been growing discussion publicly about the name we use for that public space which, until October 2025 was called Victoria Park. Many had called for the park to be renamed to something more reflective of our new reality as a nation which was shedding the vestiges of our colonial past. That space had, from colonial times, been named after British monarch Queen Victoria. We have no evidence that this British monarch had ever visited St Vincent and the Grenadines.

So when in his Independence address to the nation, given at the Arnos Vale Playing Field, then Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves announced that the park was to be called Independence Park, there may have been some raised eyebrows. As he announced the renaming, he also let it be known that the pavilions around the park were to now carry the names of outstanding sporting figures of yesteryear.

Among the figures honoured with naming of pavilions were Alfie Roberts, a former outstanding cricketer who had played for the West Indies before he migrated to Canada where he died much later. Sadly because we do not have a habit of publicizing the achievements of former greats, the exploits of many like him are little known here.

Other pavilions were named after former fast bowler Frank O Mason; former national footballer and coach Rudy Boucher; and former groundskeeper Paul Boucher. It would seem that Dr. Gonsalves had sought a safe middle ground in deciding against giving in to contending constituencies by going for the name Independence Park since, after all, it was there that our 1979 National Flag had been raised.

The elections have come and a new government has been elected, but we must move on. It would seem that lately there has been some degree of uncertainty or reluctance to refer to the park as Independence Park. We understand that it would take time naturally, for performers to get out of the habit of proclaiming their “goodnight Victoria” shouts. But it’s quite another that we see posters being produced by the Carnival Development Corporation (CDC) which refer to the space as Victoria Park.

We also see online sniping where some are questioning what process was used to arrive at the renaming. Strange, because one should ask, what was the colonial process used to rename every part of Yurumien which now carry the names of obscure British and French persons? It would seem that even 45 years after we reclaimed our Independence there are those among us who still want to hold on tenaciously to the coattails of the British. If our own park cannot be named in honour of our national Independence where are we going?

At the same time we must congratulate the decision to place the image of Grenadian sporting hero Kirani James on East Caribbean Currency notes. We don’t expect any objections from local royalists to this move. And as we ponder what’s in a name, we must be clear that we as a post colonial people must keep moving forward. There are a lot more places which deserve renaming. And we say let the process continue, but we must put in place the parameters to ensure their popular acceptance by a broad majority of the Vincentian population.