Marion Bethel | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1953-07-31)31 July 1953 (age 71) |
| Alma mater | McGill University;Wolfson College, Cambridge University;Columbia University |
| Occupation(s) | Poet, essayist, filmmaker, human and gender rights activist |
| Notable work | Guanahani, My Love (2009); Bougainvillea Ringplay (2009); Womanish Ways: Freedom, Human Rights & Democracy, the Women's Suffrage Movement in The Bahamas 1934 to 1962 (2012) |
| Awards | Casa de las Américas Prize (1995); Triennial Award for Women (2014) |
Marion Bethel (born 31 July 1953) is a Bahamianattorney, poet, essayist, filmmaker, human and gender rights activist, and writer fromNassau.[1][2]
Bethel is best known for her collections of poems,Guanahani, My Love andBougainvillea Ringplay. Her work has appeared in publications includingThe Caribbean Writer,The Massachusetts Review andJunction, an anthology of Bahamian writing.[3] She is also recognized for her 2012 documentary film on thewomen's suffrage movement in The Bahamas, entitledWomanish Ways: Freedom, Human Rights & Democracy 1934 to 1962, which received the 2012 Award in Documentary at theUrban Suburban International Film Festivall.[4] Her passionate involvement in the Women's Movement in the Caribbean earned her the 11thCaribbean Community (CARICOM) Triennial Award for Women in 2014.[5][6][2][7] Bethel has also received theCasa de las Américas Prize for poetry, and has spoken at many events, including The IV International Poetry Festival of Granada.[3][4][8]
She resides with her husband Alfred Sears in The Bahamas, where she is a managing partner atSears & Co.[4] She now focuses on political activism in civil society in The Bahamas and began serving on theUnited NationsCommittee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) on 1 January 2017.[3][9]
After receiving her Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish with honors atMcGill University, Bethel received her Bachelor of Arts degree in law atWolfson College, Cambridge University.[9] While inEngland, she pursued her certificate of legal education at theCouncil of Legal Education and later pursued her Master of Arts Degree atColumbia University.[9] Before taking her bar examinations in 1987, Bethel spent a summer writing a collections of poems later to be published asGuanahani, My Love (originallyGuanahani, mi amor: Y otros poemas), which won the prestigious Casa de las Americas Prize of Poetry, making her one of the fewCaribbean writers to receive this award.[7][8][9]
While working on her first manuscript,Guanahani, My Love, Bethel attended the Caribbean Writers Summer Institute at theUniversity of Miami in 1991, where she worked with two well known Barbadian writers,George Lamming andKamau Braithwaite.[10] Following the death ofSouthern Christian Leadership Conference founder and civil rights pioneerEvelyn Lowery, Bethel's filmWomanish Ways: Freedom, Human Rights & Democracy 1934 to 1962 was showcased atSpelman College and she met some of Atlanta's most influential African-American entrepreneurs and activists, in addition to former vice-president ofTyler Perry Studios and CEO/ President of Bobbcat FilmsRogger Bobb.[10] Later that week, billionaire Dr Bill Allen treated Marion Bethel and The Bahamas Consul General to lunch, during which Consul General Randy Rolle stated that people like her have much to contribute as it pertains to sharing the history of The Bahamas.[10]
After passing her bar exams in September 1984, Bethel was admitted as anattorney-at-law to the Bar ofEngland andWales in 1985 and The Bahamas in 1986 while practicing administrative law, company law, commercial law, contracts, conveyancing, immigration law, insurance law, and matrimonial law.[9] From 1896 to 1994, she then went on to work in theOffice of the Attorney General; in 1997, she was named the Alice Proskauer Fellow at theBunting Institute ofRadcliffe College,Harvard University, while also writingBougainvillea Ringplay during her spare time.[3][4]
In June 2005, Bethel began a three-part poetry workshop at theCave Canem retreat for African-American poets, at theUniversity of Pittsburgh.[3] In 2012, she directedWomanish Ways: Freedom, Human Rights & Democracy: The Women’s Suffrage Movement in The Bahamas 1948 to 1962, a documentary film on the struggle to gain Bahamian women the right to vote.[11][12] Her passion for the Women's Movement in the Caribbean and The Bahamas became evident from this movie and she received widespread support from manyAfrican,European, andAsian countries.[4] Bethel was elected to serve on the Committee of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2019.[9] She currently works as a managing partner at Sears & Co. and is working on a third collection of poetry and a novel.[9][3]
Before finishing herbar examinations, Bethel spent a full summer writing a draft ofGuanahani, My Love, her first book of poems, published in 1994, and later to be reissued by House of Nehesi Publishers in 2009.[3][8][13] Her second poetry book,Bougainvillea Ringplay, was published byPeepal Tree Press in 2009, receiving positive review coverage, including fromFred D'Aguiar,Lorna Goodison,Antjie Krog, andOlive Senior.[3]
She has been a guest star at various international events including the Caribbean Women Writers and Scholars Conference,Florida International University, in April 1996, the IV International Poetry Festival of Granada, theMiami International Book Fair in November 1997, the Caribbean Women Writers Series atDuke University in February 2002 and the XVI International Poetry Festival of Medellin in June 2006 inMedellin, Colombia.[3] Additionally, House of Nehesi Publishers invited her as a guest poet and workshop presenter to their 5th Annual St. Martin BookFair in May 2007.[3] Her work has been featured inThe Caribbean Writer, Volume 8, Moving Beyond, and in the anthologies of Bahamian poetryJunction andFrom the Shallow Seas.[3] Bethel is also a contributor toNew Daughters of Africa (2019), edited byMargaret Busby.[14]
Bethel acted as Ms. Wells in the 2008 movieRain – which also featured Renel Brown,Nicki Micheaux andC. C. H. Pounder[15] – and is better known for the documentary film she directed on thewomen's suffrage movement in The Bahamas. EntitledWomanish Ways: Freedom, Human Rights & Democracy, the Women's Suffrage Movement in The Bahamas 1934 to 1962, this documentary was showcased by Bahamas Consulate Office of Atlanta atSpelman College after the death ofSouthern Christian Leadership Conference founder and civil rights pioneerEvelyn Lowery.[10][15]
In July 1991, Bethel received a James Michener Fellowship in the Department of English at theUniversity of Miami by the Caribbean Writers Summer Institute.[3] She was one of few Caribbean writers to receive theCasa de las Américas Prize for her collection of poems inGuanahani, mi amor: Y otros poemas (1994).[7][8]
Additionally, Bethel is the first Bahamian to receive the CARICOM award, which she was given in 2014 for her contribution towards gender justice and culture and the socio-economic development of the Caribbean.[2] One way she has contributed to gender justice and culture is through her documentary filmWomanish Ways: Freedom, Human Rights & Democracy, the Women's Suffrage Movement in The Bahamas 1948 to 1962, on the struggle to gain Bahamian women the right to vote,[16] which received the 2012 Award in Documentary at the Urban Suburban International Film Festival in Philadelphia, despite interventions on behalf of female members of parliamentHope Strachan andLoretta Butler. However, representative for EnglerstonGlenys Hanna Martin states that Bethel's documentary was a "beautiful, powerful piece of work".[2]
In 2023, Bethel was elected as Vice-Chairperson and Rapporteur of the United Nations Human Rights Committee on Women & Girls Rights.[17][18]
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