Prime Minister Philip Davis’s Remarks at the Bimini Unsung Heroes Awards

Friends,

Every so often, a community does something that reminds us what matters. 

Tonight is one of those moments. 

We are gathered to pay respect to a group of men and women who carried the values of this island, hard work, courage, loyalty, and quiet pride, into lives of service.

They were not looking for praise. They simply did what needed to be done. 

They left home, they wore a uniform, they faced the unknown, and they did it with the same determination that has always defined the people of Bimini.

This evening is about them, the men and women whose names might not appear in history books, but whose choices made our world safer, stronger, and more decent.

This island has always punched above its weight.

Bimini may be small, but it has made a presence greater than its size. 

It was here that Martin Luther King Jr. found calm and reflection in the mid-1960s while preparing major speeches.   

It was here that the island’s own sons and daughters carried Bimini’s spirit into the world.

One such young man is V.J. Edgecombe, born in Bimini, now rising in international basketball.  

Bimini has produced leaders, athletes, and creatives who believed that no matter where you begin, you can make your mark. 

The island’s rhythm, its seascapes, its families who hold together even when far out at sea, shape people who know what it is to work, to serve, to stand firm.

There is something in the sound of these waves, in the salt air, in the life of this community that teaches resilience. 

It teaches humility. 

It teaches that a small place can have a deep influence.

This is the essence of Bimini – a place that never accepted limitation, that never waited for opportunity to knock, and that continues producing men and women whose lives remind us that service, faith, and community still lead the way.

From the earliest days of fishing and boatbuilding to the modern era of education, business, and art, Bimini has given our country far more than its numbers suggest.

And tonight, we add another reason to be proud. Because Bimini has not waited for anyone else to tell its story. 

You decided to tell it yourselves. 

You looked at the people who served quietly and said, “We remember you.” 

That decision says a great deal about who you are.

Service is never simple. 

It asks for time, strength, and sometimes the peace of one’s own home. But those who serve know something the rest of us can too easily forget, that life is bigger than self-interest. It is about duty, community, and standing up when it counts.

Each person we honour tonight understood that truth. They did not measure their worth by rank or by recognition. They measured it by the lives they touched and the example they set. 

That kind of service builds a nation more surely than any law or budget ever could.

When I travel across The Bahamas, I see that same spirit in so many forms, the nurse who finishes a long shift and stays an hour more, the teacher who refuses to give up on a struggling child, the pastor who visits the sick when no one is watching. 

These are the quiet acts that hold a country together.

Our honourees belong to that same tradition. They remind us that The Bahamas has never depended on a few at the top, but on the many who give what they can, where they are.

And that is what gives me such faith in our future. Because if we keep that spirit alive, the spirit of service, of decency, of pride without arrogance, there is no challenge we cannot meet.

To the families of those we honour, let me say this. The sacrifice was yours as well. You waited, you prayed, and you kept home steady. You gave them strength to do their duty. 

Tonight, you deserve our thanks as much as they do.

To the committee that made this night possible, thank you for your persistence and your care. 

It is easy to talk about gratitude. It is harder to organise it. You have done something important for Bimini and for the country. You have shown that remembrance does not depend on grand ceremonies. 

It depends on the simple act of saying, “We will not forget”.

What we celebrate here is bigger than this room. It reaches into the very idea of what it means to be Bahamian. 

We are a people who know struggle and progress in equal measure. We understand that nothing of value comes easily. And we have learned that strength is not noise or boast. It is quiet resolve.

That same resolve carried our honourees through every challenge they faced. And when they returned home, they did not stop serving.

They became mentors, neighbours, and role models. Their duty did not end with the uniform. It continued in the way they lived.

This is what we mean when we talk about national pride. It is not pride in possessions or statistics. 

It is pride in people, in the courage they show, in the kindness they give, in the honesty with which they live their lives.

So tonight, as Prime Minister, I want to speak not only to the honourees, but to the next generation of Biminites. 

Look closely at the people we celebrate. Learn from them. See how they carried their responsibilities with humility and purpose. Understand that true achievement is measured not by what you take, but by what you give back.

We live in a world that can make us forget these things. Too often, the loudest voices drown out the steady ones. But history tells a different story. 

It tells us that the future belongs to those who serve quietly, who build patiently, and who believe that small acts of goodness can change the course of a community.

That belief is at the heart of this evening. And it is the same belief that built The Bahamas we know today.

My friends, the challenges before us are real.

The cost of living, the fight for opportunity, and the responsibility to protect our islands for future generations. 

But the answer to those challenges will never come only from government. 

It will come from the spirit that lives in places like this, from people who care enough to act.

That is why I am so proud of Bimini tonight. You have reminded the nation that progress is not only about policy. It is about people. It is about honouring those who gave more than they had to give, and in doing so, teaching us what it means to be a community.

So let this evening be a promise. 

A promise that we will continue to lift one another up, that we will look after those who looked after us, and that we will keep building a country worthy of their service.

To our honourees, you have our respect, our gratitude, and our admiration. 

To your families, thank you for sharing them with us. 

To the people of Bimini, thank you for showing once again the strength of your island’s heart.

It is my hope that this celebration remind us all that no act of service is ever forgotten, no sacrifice ever wasted, and no good deed too small to matter.

God bless our heroes, their families, the people of Bimini, and the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.