What You Have You Hold.

From the time that president-elect Obama nominated Eric Holder to be the new Attorney General in his administration, Barbados and Barbadians have been keen to associate with Mr. Holder, although he was born in New York City and is an American citizen. Natural enough. His father was born in St. Joseph, Barbados, and went to the USA as a boy. His mother was born in New Jersey, but her parents were born in St. Philip, Barbados.

Jamaica and Jamaicans had had their days when General Colin Powell rose to be President Reagan's National Security Adviser (1987-89) the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1989-93), and then Secretary of State under President Bush (2001-2005). Many were disappointed that General Powell did not make a run for president, but he had his wife's reasons. General Powell was born in New York City of Jamaican migrant parents. Ironically, the Holders and the Powells raised their families in The Bronx, so we wait to hear if there was much if any contact between them during those times.

So, the US now has its first 'African-American' in this position, and one with strong and clear Bajan roots.

Mr. Holder seems to have been a pretty bright guy. He went to Columbia College and Law School and then went to work for the Department of Justice. He was previously a judge (appointed by President Reagan to the DC Superior Court in 1988), and then went to become the first African-American U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia in 1993. He became Deputy Attorney General under Janet Reno in 1997.

In 2001, Mr. Holder went into private practice with Covington & Burling in Washington DC.

In 2007, Mr. Holder was joined the Obama presidential campaign as senior legal advisor. He served on Sen. Obama's vice presidential selection committee.

Controversy has touched 'our Eric', firstly for his part in president Clinton's last-minute pardoning of March Rich, a fugitive and Democratic contributor. There are suggestions that Holder was pressured by Rich's associates. He was also involved in recent decisions to dismiss certain Justice Department staff.

Now, hopes are high in the Caribbean that the Obama Administration may herald good things for the region. I personally don't see much of that happening, because US interests and those of this region are not necessarily very close. However, heaven help 'our Eric' if he supports legislation that impairs this region. Son of a native son? Let's see how you fare.

What I really love about the passage to the Obama regime and the prevalence of black faces in the upper reaches of the Administration is how the language used to describe its action now starts to get tricky. Think, for example, of the editorial gymnastics when a cub reporter offers, 'Holder heralds in dark days ahead for ...' or 'Obama's AG issues black list of ...'

We live in interesting times.