Dr Ewart Brown, the new Premier of Bermuda

Dr Brown, who was also Deputy Premier, is now the Premier of the Atlantic island after defeating Alex Scott in a battle for the leadership of the governing Progressive Labour Party last month.

A 60 year-old and physically fit physician, he defeated former Premier Scott in the party's election and now runs the country alongside Finance Minister Paula Cox who was elected Deputy Premier.

While Dr Brown and his team will be undoubtedly focused on policies which strengthen Bermuda's already solid offshore services and tourism sectors, he is also on a mission to address some of the racial problems which have adversely affected the majority black population of this conservative British dependency.

Speaking at the second African Diaspora Heritage Trail (ADHT) Conference in Bermuda in September at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess, Dr Brown said that in 2006 the government is still forced to defend policies that are aimed at empowering a majority of the population, and made to consult with representatives of the minority to reverse years of economic injustice against the majority. "Even the suggestion of a programme aimed at addressing the ills of a segment of this majority population is met by protest and accusations of undue favour," said Dr Brown, who wants to reverse the perception that "to empower black people in Bermuda is some sort of evil." About 55 percent of the Bermudian population is black and 34 percent is white. Several combinations thereof along with other groups account for the remainder.

In a frank, hard-hitting address to the conference, which attracted the likes of Nigerian Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Dr Wole Soyinka and former Ghanaian President Jerry Rawlins, Dr Brown said the history of Bermuda is one of doubt of the ability of the African and his descendants. "My people spent generations being convinced that Nobel Laureates, Ambassadors and Heads of State came in one color only and from one region alone. The effect of this has been to create in us a crisis of self-confidence. Many of my people still feel that there are some categories of work or some areas of expertise that are only for foreigners, and more importantly for foreigners of Caucasian origin," he said, affirming that the Diaspora conference serves to dispels this myth.

"Still, in my country," continued Dr Brown, "the detractors of progress for those of African descent cite the travails of Mother Africa as proof or warning against self determination. Regrettably, their jaded point of view takes hold in the minds of those who have never bothered to become versed in the history of the Continent and who might find that even the most cursory examination would reveal the pattern of successive stumbling blocks created by the colonisers to prevent the success of transition."

There is more to our African heritage than dress, fashion, changing names and hairstyles, the government leader said. “Being an African is more than those things, it is a method of thinking, it is an outlook and above all it is a sense of history.”

He paid tribute to late government minister David Allen, a white Bermudian raised in an era of legal segregation, whose vision served as the inspiration for the African Diaspora Heritage Trail. "He could never have been an African by appearance but in his heart he carried the spirit of Mother Africa often absent from people of color in the western world," said Dr Brown.

The ADHT concept educates visitors, enhances the economic viability of African Diaspora countries and conserves the essence of African descent, culture and history.

The ADHT Conference itself boosts long-term relationships between Bermuda and the Caribbean, African nations, North America and South America. It is also an opportunity for countries of the Diaspora, venues within the Diaspora and its best minds to gather annually to discuss heritage and cultural issues that affect tourism, culture, education, economic development and the improvement of the quality of life within host communities. The first conference was held in 2002.