began a movement which led, in less than a decade, to the collapse of a legacy of slavery and segregation which had been in place for centuries.

The Progressive Group's boycott of the theatres was significant on a number of levels: It was at first laughed at by the white establishment, but proved to be completely effective; It led not only to the end of segregation in the movie theatres, but in all public places in Bermuda; It was completely non-violent'; and The success of the movement led to the successful efforts of the Committee for Universal Adult Suffrage to secure the vote for all adults, regardless of wealth, and was the first step towards the end of segregation in the workplace.

Only those who are now in their late 40s can truly remember the Bermuda of the late 1950s where blacks could not eat in restaurants or stay in hotels, where the "back of the bus... or theatre'' was an everyday experience and where, as Dr. Eva Hodgson put it so well, first class men were treated as second class citizens.

It can be argued that the labour movement, spearheaded by Dr. E.F. Gordon and the founders of the Bermuda Workers Association, began the drive to equality while efforts of 1950s MCPs like W.L. Tucker were also vital.

But until the Progressive Group's boycott, the white power structure appeared impregnable.

As Dr. Stanley Ratteray, the president of the Progressive Group, said of the boycott in today's Lifestyle feature: "If anything, it gave black people a collective confidence that they could make changes... heretofore, their efforts to protest left a mark, but it didn't collectively make all of Bermuda feel that `we now have a case'.

"It was, especially upon reflection, a particularly important time in Bermuda because it hastened desegregation...'' Forty years later, the members of the Progressive Group are coming forward, some for the first time. Their anonymity was a secret of their success and symbol of the injustice of the time that they dared not be identified.

Today they deserve to be recognised and honoured for courageously and quietly blazing a trail for all Bermudians to follow, and in doing so laid the foundations for Bermuda's peaceful transition from segregated state to successful democracy.

This is not to say that Bermuda is perfect today. There are cracks in the glass ceiling but it is not broken, there are pockets of racism and bigotry, and, for some, that same fear that speaking out will cost them.

But the Bermuda of 1999 is a vastly better place than the Bermuda of 1959, and for that we have the Progressive Group to thank.