Unsung Women of the Majority Rule Movement: Ethel Poitier (1925-2006) and The Straw Vendors Association

Ethel Poitier (1925-2006) and countless other Bahamian women, invaluable though forgotten contributions, made the Majority Rule Movement possible. Yet their names appear in no official histories. Their contributions receive no commemoration on January 10th. Their organizing work, their strategic thinking, their sacrifices, and their political vision have been systematically erased from the narrative of how the Bahamas achieved its defining democratic transformation.

Beyond frying conch fritters

There was once a long running political joke, pre-Majority Rule and for sometime after, that the only thing Bahamian political parties needed women for, was to “fry conch fritters for fundraisers”.

The reduction of Bahamian women’s political contributions to “frying conch fritters for fundraisers” represents one of the most persistent and revealing aspects in the nation’s political history. Women’s contributions were simultaneously essential, vital even, yet invisible, almost discounted in the struggle for Majority Rule.

Democratising the Majority Rule story

When we recount the history of the Bahamas’ journey to Majority Rule on January 10, 1967, we inevitably focus on the political giants—Lynden Pindling’s thunderous oratory, the strategic brilliance of the Progressive Liberal Party’s leadership, the constitutional battles fought in the Assembly. But beneath and behind these headline moments existed a grassroots economic and political force that was overwhelmingly female, conspicuously Black, and critically important to the movement’s success: the Straw Vendors Association.

How Majority Rule is taught in Bahamian schools shapes what future generations remember. If school curriculum’s focus only on formal political leaders and legislative achievements without substantially addressing grassroots organizing and women’s contributions, we train each new generation to reproduce the same erasure.

Majority Rule Day celebrations typically feature speeches by current politicians, references to formal party leaders of the past, and perhaps acknowledgment of “the people” in vague collective terms. Specific women organizers are rarely named or honored. This annual ritual of selective commemoration continuously reinforces which historical actors matter and which don’t.

Who was Ethel Poitier?

Ethel Poitier lived through the entire arc of the struggle that culminated in Majority Rule on January 10, 1967. Born in 1925 into a Bahamas where Black citizens were systematically excluded from political power, economic opportunity, and social dignity, she came of age during the 1940s and 1950s when organized resistance to colonial white supremacy began to crystallize into coherent political movement.

According to her obituary, Ethel Poitier led an extraordinary life, making invaluable contributions to family, church, community and country. A woman of vision, quality craftsmanship, and unwavering commitment who shaped Bahamian history through grassroots organizing and dedication to community service.

“She was one of the Magnificent Seven that included our Mom, Telator Strachan, Lynn Francis, Margaret Rolle, Rowena Austin, Brenda Ferguson and Hazel Miller. These women of vision and strength also formed the Straw Vendors Co-Operative. In 1967, our mother also fought for Majority Rule in The Bahamas. Leading the Straw Vendors Association, she helped to raise monies to assist the PLP during their campaign against the United Bahamian Party. On what is now referred to as Black Tuesday (a time in 1969) in our history books, she along with Telator Strachan were summoned by Ms. Margurite Pindling, the wife of the late Prime Minister, Lynden Pindling, to rally the straw vendors together. They were to come immediately across in Rawson Square to the House Of Assembly because Mr. Pindling had thrown the Mace out of the window and the opposition party was threatening to put him out of the flouse. What a different turn it would have been for our beloved Bahamas if our mother and her sisters-in-arms had not provided the strength in voice and numbers that day. As a result, our mother, Telator Strachan and Esther Armbrister met with Mrs. Pindling to discuss and develop plans for the revival of the inactive women’s branch of the PLP.”

“From the obituary of Ethel Poitier (1925-2006) wife, mother, devoted church member and an unsung hero of the Bahamas’s Majority Rule 1967

Straw Vendors Leadership (1950s-1960s)
∙ Co-founded the Straw Vendors Association in the late 1950s/early 1960s alongside Mable McClure.
∙ Led fundraising efforts in 1968 to legally incorporate the Association.
∙ One of the “Magnificent Seven” who established the Straw Vendors Co-Operative.
∙ Named Straw Vendor of the Year in 1990 by the Bahamas Who’s Who Society.

Straw Work Raised Countless Bahamian Families and Underpinned the Tourist Economy

The Straw Market functioned as one of the Bahamas’ most accessible entry points for Black entrepreneurship during segregation and into the independence era. With minimal capital requirements, it allowed vendors—primarily women—to establish independent businesses at a time when formal employment opportunities were limited.

This created a significant informal economic sector that sustained tens of thousands of families and helped to take The Bahamas from fishing colony to a luxury tourism destination economy.

Political Activism
∙ Campaigned for Majority Rule in 1967, helping raise funds for the PLP
∙ Played a crucial role during Black Tuesday (1969), when she and fellow vendors rallied to support PM Lynden Pindling after he threw the Mace from Parliament
∙ Helped revive the PLP’s women’s branch alongside Telator Strachan and Esther Armbrister

Recognition & Service
∙ Selected to present Queen Elizabeth II with a straw basket during her visit to independent Bahamas
∙ Served on the council of Elks Lodge Excelsior Temple #37
∙ Member of the Buena V. Kelly President’s Club
∙ Deeply committed to church service and passing these values to her children