Bahamas News

Talking conch and surgery on Steve Harvey’s couch

Published

6 years ago

February 19, 2018

#The Bahamas, February 19, 2018 – Judging by the size of his smile and his core professional choice, it is probably not difficult to humour Steve Harvey. However when you size up his stature and his personal accomplishments, it is likely it is more than tough to impress this multi-media icon; but recently a Bahamian-American did just that when he appeared on Harvey’s daytime TV talk show.

Early on, Myron Rolle was raised in The Bahamas and born in Texas. His parents migrated to the United States, with the family, when Myron was but a boy. Rolle was a guest on the Steve Harvey show where he was introduced like this by Mr. Harvey himself, “My next guest is just 30 years old and already his life is the stuff that movies are made of. In college he was a star football player and a Rhodes Scholar, then he made it to the NFL. Now after three seasons in the pros, he just made headlines for his latest achievement being accepted to the neurosurgery program at Harvard University. Please welcome a man who is the definition of over achiever, please welcome Myron Rolle.”

The audience erupted in loud applause.

Dr. Myron Rolle flashed a huge smile, looked a little taken aback by hearing such a glowing report about himself from such a towering media figure, stretched out his arms on Steve Harvey’s couch, sat a little more upright and spoke in a mannerly, charming and humble tone as the cheering audience quieted in anticipation.

The 4:47 minute clip has been widely circulated on social media, particularly by proud Bahamians who are overjoyed to show off the accomplishments of a home town boy on the global stage. By now, Bahamians are not unaccustomed to stand out athletes who are drawing international attention but this man, Dr. Myron Rolle, certainly does take it to a new level when it comes to achievement.

A sixth round draft pick in the NFL, where he signed on for four years as a safety with the Tennessee Titans. While attending Florida State University, Myron was fantastic on the field for the Seminoles and fantastic off the field for the pre-med program which he completed in a record two and a half years with a 3.75 grade point average. The amazing performance academically earned him a Rhodes Scholarship and he pressed paused on his NFL dreams to study at Oxford University in London, England.

Even his road to the Rhodes is a fascinatingly, inspiring story of sacrifice, tenacity and uncommon favor. Myron Rolle saw doors open to him that no man could shut and he made wise choices by taking the one year Rhodes Scholarship, which is offered to only 32 Americans each year and in 2010 he was back for the NFL draft, where he was picked up in round six.

In 2013, Myron Rolle was one of three Bahamian Rhodes Scholars to be honoured with his image on a commemorative stamp; the 70 cent piece features the trio. And he has charity organisations, including one focused on curtailing childhood obesity.

Dr. Rolle, who in 2009 had a day celebrated in his honour in Galloway Township, New Jersey where he grew up told Steve Harvey that as a child, his parents put images of strong, accomplished, men who ‘looked like me’ on his bedroom wall.

Among those making the cut for Mr. and Mrs. Rolle as suitable black role models for their sons were Kofi Annon, Booker T. Washington, Deion Sanders and Dr. Ben Carson; the former presidential candidate; author of Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story; Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient and a pioneering medical doctor, heading leading medical facilities and forging medical breakthroughs as a brilliant neurosurgeon, who also happens to be a black American. Obviously, the latter two men made the most marked impression on young Myron as he was coming up.

“So Dr. Carson was on my wall as a young man, and he planted the seed of neurosurgery in my head, early and I also had Deion Sanders on my wall so he was kinda my athletic hero. So I had this parallel road of trying to accomplish the goals academically and athletically and thankfully by the grace of God, by good work, good discipline I focused on education and focused on good principles, I was able to accomplish some of these things.”

The interview was riveting and got even more interesting as Dr. Rolle repeatedly talked about his Bahamian heritage.

When Steve Harvey asked him how he unwinds and cuts loose, the mention of the Bahamas came again and this time it was the conch that got ‘big props’.

“So I like to go back to Nassau and hang out with my family. I like cracked conch, I don’t know if you have ever had conch before? But… crack conch, stew conch, boiled conch, fried conch, conch burgers, conch fritters, conch salad… every kind of conch you could think of.”

This conch list elicited laughter and Dr. Rolle continued his remarks demonstrating his love for his Caribbean region roots.

“I grew up on reggae and soca music so I live alone and when I have a chance to have my own jam session and concert in my house, by myself I get a full lather on…I really get into it.”

At this point, as a master of comedic timing, Steve Harvey says, “well that living alone – there’s some people who can shut that down for you right now…” In a ‘round the way girl’ voice, Steve added, ‘heeeey, you don’t have to stay by yo’self. I’m lonely too.’

Obviously, as a suave and handsome young man, Dr. Myron Rolle is also a very eligible bachelor and he next shared that he has met both Dr. Ben Carson – he attended church with the celebrated physician who also wrote him a letter of recommendation – and Myron has met ‘prime time’ aka Deion Sanders, another over-achiever retired now from both the NFL and MLB, and is a Hall of Famer.

As the interview neared the wrap up, Myron complimented Steve Harvey on his fashion sense and Harvey promised Dr. Rolle that he would continue to follow his progress. Steve Harvey also endorsed the idea for Dr. Rolle to make a splash, fashionably, even in his medical scrubs.

Steve Harvey summed up the life of our Dr. Myron Rolle as well, ‘an amazing story’ and that is exactly what it is, truly amazing.

Bahamas News

Sister Province/Island Relationship Agreement Signed between Grand Bahama Island and Hunan Province

Published

6 hours ago

April 25, 2024

Deandrea Hamilton

By LLONELLA GILBERT
Bahamas Information Services

NASSAU, The Bahamas — A significant milestone was made in the development of bilateral relations between the Governments of The Bahamas and the People’s Republic of China by the signing of the Sister Province/Island Relationship Agreement between Grand Bahama Island and Hunan Province.

The signing took place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. The Hon. Ginger Moxey, Minister for Grand Bahama; the Hon. Dr. Michael Darville, Minister of Health and Wellness; Kingsley Smith, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry for Grand Bahama and Joel Lewis, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry for Grand Bahama represented The Bahamas at the signing.

His Excellency Mao Weiming, Governor of Hunan Provincial People’s Government; Qu Hai, Secretary General of Hunan Provincial People’s Government; Cui Wei, Charge d’Affaires, Embassy of the People’s Republic of China; and Yang Peiran, Interpreter represented the People’s Republic of China.

Minister Moxey explained that in February 2022, she and the former Chinese Ambassador to The Bahamas, Her Excellency Dai Qingli began discussion on the establishment of a province-island relationship between Hunan Province and Grand Bahama Island because of their “immense synergy”.

“Hunan has a vibrant creative industry and its capital city, Changsha is known as the entertainment capital of China, whilst Grand Bahama is poised to become the home of entertainment in ‘Our Bluepoint for Change’.”

She said Hunan Province boasts 11 industrial sectors and Grand Bahama is the industrial capital of The Bahamas. Further, innovation driven development has been a new driving force for Hunan, while Grand Bahama is poised to become the home of innovation for The Bahamas.

Minister Moxey said she is confident that an exchange of knowledge, ideas and culture will happen between the residents of Hunan Province and Grand Bahama.

“There is potential for robust trade in various sectors, opportunities for tourism promotion and intercultural appreciation, exchanges to support performing arts programs on our island, foster growth within the Orange Economy, and tap into China’s innovation, technology and vast expertise.”

She said that the formal signing aligns with the mission of Sister Cities International, which is to promote peace through mutual respect, understanding and cooperation, one community at a time.

The Minister said, “Through collaborative programs and initiatives, this connection will support the government’s vision to diversity Grand Bahama’s economy to become the Home of Maritime and Logistics, Home of Events and Entertainment and Home of Innovation.”

She noted that in addition to signing the agreement, she looks forward to Grand Bahama residents benefitting from the signing of the Cooperation Memorandum of Understanding between Central South University and University of The Bahamas (UB), which will expand educational and technical cooperation between the two universities. The northern campus of UB is located in Grand Bahama.

His Excellency Mao Weiming said although geographically far apart, China and The Bahamas are friends with mutual respect and understanding as well as sincerity.

He explained that 27 years ago, both countries established diplomatic relations and China and The Bahamas have deepened their cooperation, strengthened their friendship and carried out many activities in the field of economy, trade and people-to-people exchange.

His Excellency recalled that in August 2022, he and Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance the Hon. Philip Davis had a video conference where they both reached a consensus to cooperate in order to usher a new chapter in the relationship between Hunan and The Bahamas.

“Today, we are here to sign a sister-to-sister relationship between Hunan and Grand Bahama. It is [a] concrete move to implement our consensus reached before and also to embark on a new journey of friendly exchanges.”

He added, “By establishing the relationship of sister cities, I believe the two sides will develop further in terms of economic and trade cooperation, people to people exchange, as well as friendship, and we will embrace new opportunities and deliver concrete benefits for the two peoples.”

He explained that Hunan, which is the home town of Chairman Mao, the founder of the People’s Republic of China, has developed very advanced industries of manufacturing, agriculture, education, culture as well as tourism.

His Excellency said he believes that Hunan and Grand Bahama enjoy very broad room for cooperation.

He said, “More efforts should be made to conduct cooperation in the fields of agriculture, tourism, culture, education and the film industry so as to realize a connectivity between our two sides in terms of logistics and the platform cooperation; so as to deliver concrete benefits for the people and to make our due contribution to the bilateral relationship between China and The Bahamas.”

PHOTO CAPTION

A significant milestone was made in the development of bilateral relations between the Governments of The Bahamas and the People’s Republic of China by the signing of the Sister Province/Island Relationship Agreement between Grand Bahama Island and Hunan Province. The signing took place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. Shown from left: Qu Hai, Secretary General of Hunan Provincial People’s Government; Cui Wei, Charge d’Affaires, Embassy of the People’s Republic of China; Yang Peiran, Interpreter H.E. Mao Weiming, Governor of Hunan Provincial People’s Government; the Hon. Ginger Moxey, Minister for Grand Bahama; the Hon. Dr. Michael Darville, Minister of Health and Wellness; Kingsley Smith, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry for Grand Bahama and Joel Lewis, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry for Grand Bahama.

(BIS Photos/Anthon Thompson)

Bahamas News

Nassau Cruise Port Donates Nearly $2 Million Towards Food Security

Published

6 hours ago

April 25, 2024

Deandrea Hamilton

Nassau, Bahamas: The Nassau Cruise Port has donated $1.95 million towards projects that will assist the Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources in its aim to increase food security for The Bahamas.

The donation officially occurred at the Ministry’s offices recently, where Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources Hon. Jomo Campbell, Minister of Labour Hon. Pia Glover-Rolle, Permanent Secretary Neil Campbell and Nassau Cruise Port CEO Mike Maura listened to a number of presentations including one for a poultry programme for schools, a chicken broiler production programme, the redevelopment of the Blue Hill Road Farmers Market and an Authentic Bahamian Cultural Concept Store,

Mr. Maura said he was impressed by the presentations.

“I had the privilege to listen to the presentations and review presentations that touched on food security and the need for us to be self-sufficient, which as a Bahamian I support completely. At the Nassau Cruise Port, we get excited about the prospects of offering more authentic food to the millions of visitors that we have each year,” he said.

“And then, in addition to that, we had presentations around the further development of our artisans, which is so important to us as well. The guests visiting our shores are looking for something that really touches The Bahamas and can’t be found somewhere else. The Nassau Cruise Port has made a pledge to BAIC and its affiliates. We will be supporting the projects that were presented and we can’t wait to get started.”

Minister Glover-Rolle, who is also the Member of Parliament for Golden Gates, hailed Nassau Cruise Port as a “great community partner.”

“Thank you for the opportunity to not only present but agreeing to participate. Our Minister of Agriculture has a goal of reducing food imports by 25 percent by the year 2025 and our project in the Golden Gates Community speaks to that,” she said.

“We have a number of backyard farmers, farmers and fishers in our community in Golden Gates. Being able to use the Blue Hill Road Farmers Market, which is going to be dubbed the ‘Fish Fry of the South,’ as a hub for food security but also a hub where artisans and handicraft persons can come and sell their wares is wonderful. So, we are happy that you have agreed to partner with us and we look forward to a partnership and we hope to welcome some of your visitors when this amazing renovation is done.”

Minister Campbell also lauded the Nassau Cruise Port for its efforts.

“I would like to say thank you to the presenters for the presentations that are several steps in the right direction for our country, to Mr. Maura and his board at the Nassau Cruise Port and I would like to say thanks to God for this partnership and bringing us all together as we move forward, upward, together in building a better, brighter, future for The Bahamas,” he said.

Bahamas News

Royal Caribbean Club in The Bahamas started after delays

Published

1 day ago

April 25, 2024

Shanieka

Rashaed Esson

Staff Writer

#TheBahamas#RoyalCaribbean, April 23, 2024- After being delayed following its announcement in 2020, Royal Caribbean’s new 17 acre Royal Beach Club on Paradise Island in Nassau, Bahamas, is now in the works and is scheduled to be ready for 2025, according to reports. A groundbreaking ceremony was held on Monday April 22, signifying the start of construction in the next few months. This project is huge for The Bahamas as it’s a first of kind for the nation, with a unique public private partnership allowing Bahamians to hold up to 49 percent in equity.