The present generation has been offered three ways this month to honour the ordinary people — members of the Progressive Group and those fellow activists who rallied to energise the successful Theatre Boycott. Those involved in 1959 collaborated in leveraging the 20th-century transformation of Bermuda.

On July 2, many enjoyed one of two ways of marking the 66th anniversary of the “Opening of Bermuda”. There was an interactive lunchtime gathering at Cathedral Hall highlighting the transformative milestone of 1959. That evening, the Harbour Night crowd enjoyed a 45-minute presentation of music and drama, celebrating those who made the boycott a success.

After two weeks of the successful boycott, every and anyone in Bermuda — after 350 years of segregation — for the first time could freely choose their seat in movie theatres, thus affirming our common humanity. That “opening” not only proved to be the watershed in ending segregation, but the momentum gained leveraged democracy on the island.

At the Flagpole at 7pm, the drama began with an a cappella rendition by Ed Christopher of the song Let Them Hear You from the award-winning musical Ragtime — a performance that transformed Front Street into Broadway.

This spectacular curtain-raiser was followed with a street drama of how the then-pregnant Izola Harvey successfully recruited two Canadian teachers, who were bosom buddies of local teacher Betty Kawaley, to secretly purchase a “ditto machine”. This coup guaranteed the production of numerous flyers needed to secretly publicise the boycott. The 99-year-old Izola, along with fellow surviving Progressive Group members — Eduoard Williams and Will Francis — enjoyed the performances from the Butterfield Bank. It was an ironic twist in that segregation barred Blacks from balconies.

Florenz Webbe Maxwell, the only other living member of the Progressive Group, missed the event owing to circumstances. However, today the Ministry of the Cabinet Office and Digital Innovation will be hosting a reopening of the youth library, named in her honour.

The July 2 drama, much appreciated by those in attendance, was jointly narrated by former radio personality/retired lawyer Leighton Rochester and present radio personality Nikita Robinson. Action was dramatised by Kathy Kawaley, Richie Lathan, Michelle Cooper, Nicola Bardgett and Nicola Flood.

Florenz was not only involved in the boycott, but she was key in leveraging that momentum for the initiative for the right to vote. It was along with another Progressive Group member, Roslyn Williams, and mutual friend Edwina Smith that Florenz joined in informal after-church gatherings a few months after the successful ending of the boycott. Their conversations became focused on universal suffrage.

It was Florenz who was instrumental in setting up a debate on the question of the right to vote at St Paul AME Church, with a format that included a panel with contrasting positions of the matter. Roosevelt Brown (Pauulu Kamarakafego) attended that debate and approached Florenz, who invited him to the ongoing dialogue at Rosalyn’s home. From this, the Committee for Universal Adult Suffrage was formed — and the rest is history.

The salute to those on whose shoulders we all stand serves two purposes: it reminds us to appreciate how much our own personal journeys were leveraged by so many; and it offers insights that offer collective guidance in meeting today’s challenges.

• Glenn Fubler represents Imagine Bermuda