Our Gratitude to ‘Bonnie’ and the Browne Family

Editor: One of our first acts of 2024 would be to pay tribute to and bury yet another of our cultural stalwarts, “Bonnie” Browne of musical fame, leader of the band CLYMAX.

Having emigrated decades ago, many of our young folk, including the party-going clientele, may not be aware of Bonnie or Clymax and their role on the music scene in SVG and in helping to propel the late Winston Soso, one of our leading vocalists and soca artistes to prominence. I would hope that one of our more knowledgeable musicians or cultural leaders who knew him, and his musical contribution would pay a public tribute and enrich the knowledge of the nation.

In particular, I want to recall a contribution, perhaps little known that Clymax and Bonnie made to the anti-apartheid struggle here. In the late seventies and eighties, SVG was among the countries in the Caribbean which made its name by placing its own humble role in the solidarity with the anti-apartheid struggle. This was not at the official level, for neither the governments under Milton Cato nor Sir James Mitchell seemed to have much time for that. It was left to organizations like YULIMO, the UPM and ARWEE of Diamond village at the political level, and the New Artists Movement (NAM) and Naked Roots led by Nzimbu Browne at the cultural level, to carry the anti-apartheid banners.

But to organize mass rallies called for resources which none of those organizations possessed. “Bonnie” was a brother of one of the leaders of the UPM, Mike Browne, the retired former government Minister. He was able to persuade his musical colleagues in Clymax to perform for us, gratis, at rallies in the Market Square on more than one occasion, a not inconsiderable contribution. To him we pay eternal tribute.

I should also take the opportunity to pay wider tribute to the nation-building contribution of the Browne family to which Bonnie belonged. His father Eardley was a stalwart of the educational system here and two of his children, Mike and Joye, made sterling contributions not only in the teaching sphere, but also in the transformation and building of the Teachers Union into the formidable force it is today. Another brother “Mackey” was also prominent in Clymax and like his other two brothers, a cricketer of note. Another daughter of Eardley, Elma, the late spouse of former Attorney General Carlyle Dougan, was a backbone of the nursing profession for years.

Yes, as we prepare to bury “Bonnie” next week we must recall and pay tribute to the nation-building contributions of his entire family, like many other unsung ones in our society.

Renwick Rose