It is generally accepted on this rock of sages that if you can survive a one on one with the host of TALK, then you’re ready to take on Goliath with one hand tied behind your back. Rahym Augustin-Joseph has done precisely that, not once but twice. No surprise then, that the 18-year-old was not only last month’s winner of the history prize at Sir Arthur Lewis Community College’s 33rd graduation exercise but he was also the valedictorian. Even less surprising that Rahym wowed his audience with a speech that will be remembered for its boldness and its eloquent delivery. Not for him were the predictable platitudes about his experience at the college.
Instead he seamlessly wove together his own message with others garnered from the well-known songs of Bob Marley, Teddyson John and Koffee, and from the words of JFK, Ursula K. Le Guin and our own Adrian Augier. Typically, Rahym made certain his valedictory speech will not be soon forgotten, that his words will be remembered for inclusion in future addresses at SALCC.
“I had big shoes to fill,” he said in an interview with the STAR. “I followed Sam Eudovic who was amazing, allowing his audience to understand his message through different genres. With mine, I battled to a certain extent with what exactly to tell my colleagues who are at critical junctures in their lives. I asked myself: ‘What exactly can you tell them that will help propel them to the future?’ That’s what I wanted to focus on. I’m an avid lover of music, as are my friends and colleagues. I knew the songs they would relate to.”
He added: “I’ve always had a love for public speaking. I participated in the Windward Islands Debating Competition in 2018 and ’19 and on both occasions emerged overall best speaker. But even before that, at St Mary’s College, I always placed myself in position to participate in competitions. What also inspired this last speech was my ambition to help inspire this country to be better.”
I could not resist asking Rahym if he saw himself one day sitting in the chair now occupied by Allen Chastanet. He said: “Before that I want to get my Bachelor’s in Law, because I think it is fundamental to governing. I’m not discrediting the other disciplines but I think law is the bonding agent of any society and everything we do is based on the premise of law. Once we have a firm understanding of that, then everything else falls in line.”
He had some related concerns, nevertheless: “There is the perceived relationship between politics and corruption and we’ve seen first-hand the consequences. We’ve seen what works for the good of all and what doesn’t. Our generation understands what exactly needs to be done. We’ve lived through it and have a pretty good idea what needs to change in the interest of a more productive future.”
As for his appearances on TALK, the 2019 SALCC valedictorian observed: “Young people and politicians shy away from that platform because Rick asks the hard questions. He puts you to the test. But I won’t ever want to shy away from him. He gets you to practise introspection. After my last appearance, I started thinking that for Saint Lucia in particular it’s about restoring, and not only about being innovative. There’s no difference between the mind of a child in China and the mind of a Saint Lucian child. What exist are our structural surroundings, China’s and ours. Theirs cater to the innovative mind; we can see innovative minds flourishing. First, however, we need to seek to restore. Then we can pivot from there. I speak of a justice system, of education, of the police force that’s continually demotivated, as the security minister recently said. I speak of using tourism to propel growth and it being all- inclusive. These are some of the things I speak of that could help us restore, and from there Saint Lucia could be on the right path.”
Going back to his appearances on TALK: “If you’re not nervous about being interviewed by Rick Wayne, the valedictory address ought to be easy. But for me there was a bit of nerves coming through.” Dhanraj Chaz Cepal, Joseph’s friend and cricket teammate, died in a car crash last August. “It was a very important moment to reminisce on the loss of our friend and I could have pinpointed where he would have sat in that ceremony. I know there was a part of my speech that paid tribute to him. I even imagined what he would have said about my address.”
Listening to Rahym Augustin-Joseph, experiencing his infectious optimism, makes it pretty difficult to accept the gospel of mindless pessimists that would have us believe “Saint Lucia is not a place”, or that it’s “a place without a future”. How could that be with young people like Rahym ready to dispel the darkness by flicking on the right switch?
