Javelle Frank’s Last Testimony

The news last Sunday, October 3, 2021, of the sudden death of Javelle Frank became an earthquake of seismic proportions rattling, cracking, and even devastating people’s sense of well being and safety on several levels. Probably the main tremor was that another life had been taken by the dreaded pandemic virus. This became even more emotionally impacting on Vincentians because Javelle Frank was the most locally famous person to have died so far from Covid-19.

And this, compounded with the other deaths that weekend, would have really brought home the scary truth that Death was walking among the Vincentian population ready to snatch anyone of us at random.

But the news of Javelle Frank’s death also brought a sense of what seems on the surface as a senseless loss to the Christian community. I noted that many of the glowing tributes to Javelle immortalized her as a young woman full of life and spiritual ecstasy. Such reviews are spot on because I remember listening to her on Joyful Praise and thinking that it was a praise and worship service happening in the radio station’s studio.

Yet, as the hours passed that Sunday, it became clear that this on-air champion of the Christian faith had decided not to take the vaccine. We also learned that in her last days she had turned to prayer and the support of other believers to help her recover and experience a healing in her body.

She was quite confidant and hopeful of that. It’s very likely that all her fans and supporters must have been believing and telling God that if it is one person who should receive a miraculous healing it was Javelle.

So, her death looks like prayer had failed. And when people heard the prime minister reflecting on the sad loss of Javelle, it would have again seemed like she did a foolish thing to reject the vaccine which is designed to save people from dying should they catch Covid-19.

Was Javelle Frank on the opposite side of common sense and human wisdom?
In heaven’s eyes, healing is not limited to just returning to that “normal” physical state that a person was in before becoming sick. Every human being is a soul and more than just flesh and blood. Because a soul never dies—cannot die—God reserves the right to give the best healing by taking a soul to heaven rather than returning the body to that state of previous normalcy.

This is an important point to make right now because much of the stress and fuss across the world is because people want their lives and their countries’ economies to return to the only way of life that they know as “normal”.

I never met Javelle or knew her in person. Nonetheless, it is important that her family, friends, supporters and fans know that her death is not to be taken on the surface that living by faith is something stupid or unreasonable in the human world.

In fact, our Saviour and Redeemer would be disappointed if we can trust Him in life but not in Death. That is why Jesus wept, you know. The people around Lazarus could not understand or accept that Eternal Life was walking in their midst. You should know that each time God rewards your faith or is kind to you it is so that you might be encouraged to trust Him when you come to your most helpless state and most lonely need for Him. Yes, facing death is the Christian’s last act of faith.

It makes no sense, in heaven’s eyes, if you can believe God for earthly blessings but not for eternal life when Death comes calling (whether it is natural causes, a gunshot, an accident, or a disease like Covid-19).

And if Javelle Frank’s Jesus can take Death and make something good come of it, that same Jesus can take whatever is wrong in our human lives and make it right.

Racist Donald and America’s Achilles’ Heel

This CNN picture shows the January 6, 2021 capitol invasion in full swing

It is amazing how easily the richest and strongest military country in the world almost had its democracy and government overthrown. I looked with my two eyes as thousands of America’s white people walked unhindered right from the White House and right into the established seat of power and decision making in America. I couldn’t believe it when I saw DC police literally opening up the guardrails and escorting these “patriots” into the capitol building.

But the more I reflected on the dramatic events in the days following, the more I realized that neither myself nor the world should really be that surprised. Because, you see, these marchers on Washington were for years now being fed masterfully crafted lies and incendiary ideas by their 45th president .

One of the first sound bites from Number 45 that left an impression on me was from way before he was ever elected. In continuing the dialogue about his taxes, he had declared that he knows the tax system quite well. Being a very intelligent man, he had discovered how to avoid paying taxes. Right away I learned that here is a man who specializes in finding loopholes in the system, and use the system weaknesses to defeat the said system.

Sometime later, around the time of the 2016 elections, Number 45 commented that he would indeed run the country like how he runs his businesses. This is interesting when you consider the disclosures in 2020 from the New York Times that the elusive tax returns from that president showed how he did not pay any taxes for approximately one decade, and how, in 2017, he paid a measly $750 in personal income taxes.

The inappropriateness of the man declared the forty-fifth president of the united states is a shouting treasure trove to any person willing to see and hear even the minimum quota of disqualifying characteristics. Think about it. This is the man who said–even before he was elected president–that if he shot somebody in broad daylight he would not lose any votes (or any consequential support).

Fast forward to the days since the seditious acts of January 6, 2021, and you can clearly see how his declaration is manifesting as true and accurate. Even though the House has moved quickly to impeach the man, the senate republicans are still putting their self interest above the country’s future wellbeing. Seventeen of them are needed to vote with the democrats in convicting the former president. But they are largely unwilling.

Now, to some extent you can’t blame them. It has been reported by more than one reputable media house that many republican senators have been given good enough reasons to believe that if they vote against the 45th president in the impeachment trial, serious or even fatal harm will befall their loved ones.

Pause and think awhile about this. The villain in all of this era of political corruption and blatant disregard of traditionally good values, is a bully who is using his seventy million voters to intimidate and even physically harm any republican who votes against him. Number 45 has become skilled in finding the loopholes in America’s democracy. It’s his modus operandi.

The US constitution mandates that the senators be the ones who must act as jurors in an impeachment trial. The said constitution also makes it compulsory that 67 senators vote to convict an impeached president. So you can see that the task is more than what 50 democratic senators can do. Consider as wll that the January 6 attacks actually made the senators real life witnesses to the criminal acts. Yet, these eye witnesses are called to be the jurors.

Ib the real world this might be an ideal situation for an easy conviction. But also in the real world, if witnesses or jurors are being threatened or made to feel unsafe by the defendant, then obvious mitigating measures are put in place to make sure that the final verdict is a reflection of clear consciences based on the solid evidence as witnessed and/or presented in the trial.

Yet, the republican senators are being allowed to remain prey to a bully of a former president. A major loophole that Number 45 is gladly taking advantage of. Only five republicans have gone on the record that they are willing to vote against the former president in the upcoming impeachment trial. There should have been a way to excuse senators from serving as jurors in this unprecedented case. It should have been possible instead to select jurors made up of some federal judges or other judicial practitioners from across the entire united states.

The evolving events are showing the world that the mighty America magnifie might is at the center of a magnificent illusion they have become experts at conveying to the world. They waste no time in confronting external threats and any semblance of anti-democratic misadventures anywhere on the globe. But they are almost immune to any baby strength attack by one of their own from their homeland.

Herein is a loophole Number 45 is exploiting. It is very possible that as the republicans refuse to convict Number 45, thus making him able to still run for office in the future, they will also be sending a clear message to the next domestic popular leader in the far Right that America is still open for the business of a takeover. That once you groom yourself in the calm traditions of appearing a normal professional you can get away with murder and any out of place acts. In other words, America’s existing loopholes can make overthrowing the federal government as easy as taking an ice cream away from a baby.

And I am pretty confident that if America does not pull itself together by honestly facing its historic façade of perfect racial harmony and political infallability, then it will one day die a sudden bloody death. America reminds me of that illustration of the frog that would jump out of a pot of hot water, but will make itself comfortable in a warm pot that is slowing increasing its heat. The frog gets accustomed to the subtly increasing temperatures of the water until it allows itself to be cooked.

These very same daily dialogues now ongoing among America’s bright minds are reflective of this slow cook. While they argue the pros and cons, the domestic terrorists among them are setting out their new rounds of attacks, with bombs and all other weapons of warfare.

America, beware. Remember your former republican president, Ronald Reagan, who told you that freedom must be defended in every generation. Do not be laser focused on your rights that you forget your responsibilities. If not, your great democracy may very well come to an end before this century is out.

Living through the Covid-19 Pandemic

The year 2020 is unlike any other, if only because of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic which we are all living through. With over five hundred and thirty thousand global deaths and in excess of eleven million worldwide cases, the pandemic has brought life to a halt in almost every sphere of human society.

Nonetheless, Covid-19 has really been an x-ray of the modern day daily routines of life. Because of this pandemic, we all have our eyes and minds wide open to the reality that what and who society has valued are not the same as who or what makes it possible for us to enjoy “normal life”. It has now become clear that essential workers–people whom society has previously classified as unimportant because they aren’t employed in the so-called prestigious and high paying jobs–are the ones who make the world go round.

And to think humans had always seen the rich and famous, those who usually don’t do a thing for themselves, as the ultimate success goal.

On a personal level, the Covid-19 pandemic has allowed for a chance at the resetting of life’s perspectives, attitudes and values.

COVID-19 Explained

While a few Caribbean islands have had a small number of fatalities from the coronavirus pandemic, the overall statistics are quite excellent when compared to the rest of the world, particularly North America and Europe. Of course, there was a peculiarly heightened sense of fear and subtle panic across the islands when news of the disease in the region first made headlines.

Up to now I am not sure why shoppers grabbed up almost all the toilet papers they could find. It is as though people valued toilet comfort more than food acquisition. Then almost immediately, the prices of all hygienic products increased! But there were other revealing observations made as life through the Covid-19 pandemic began.

One such observation was how the usual governing practices or public leadership was not the most effective for immediate public wellbeing. It didn’t take long for the public here in SVG, for example, to understand that all public decisions must be agreed to and publicly supported by the prime minister. And that caused quite a bit of unclear messaging and absence of reassurances to the man on the street.

When the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and other health officials would advise the use of social distancing, mask wearing and stay at home orders, the prime minister often had different opinions. There were pictures of government ministers in crowds at formal ceremonies and photo ops.

Vincetians were also being told by the prime minister that during the pandemic was the best time to fly to other regional islands because the tourists had stopped travelling.

Additionally, there was governmental hesitation to close schools, with the prime minister fearlessly saying that only lazy teachers want schools to be closed. And since the closure of schools there have been ongoing efforts to have “normal” school functions back on stream as quickly as possible.

Churches were left to decide for themselves whether to have services ongoing. Borders were left open. Citizens were being clearly told that their health is in their hands.

In other words, do not wait for or expect the government to make public health decisions for you. Even persons who were to be in quarantine were being told by the prime minister that he is trusting them to do the right thing–that governmning has different levers from which to pull.

Until people started breaking quarantine.

The lesson from these observations is pretty clear to me. During public health emergencies when our lives are literally at stake, political government should be disbanded and an independent governing team take over. That is the conclusion I made as I lived through the Covid-19 pandemic here for the last couple months.

Just as parliament is dismissed before an election, the same should happen during a state of public life emergency from a disease of pandemic proportions. Maybe the Govenor General can then lead a team of health, economic, religious, academic and social experts who will not only make but–very importantly–agree to implement decisions meant for immediate public safety and peace of mind.

Therefore, constitutional reform must be a high priority in this regard. This is especially important when a pandemic occurs in the months and weeks leading up to general elections, when an incumbent government does not want voters going to the polls feeling that the government made public health and safety decisions which took away their jobs or made their lives uncomfortable in mandatory quarantine–or kept their children at home.

These months are also the ones when the hurricane season is active. There can be serious health and life implications for a people who must simultaneously contend with a pandemic and the displacement from a strong hurricane.

It is also worth noting that as the rest of the world strives to reopen their economies and their borders, we in the Caribbean may be just one visitor away from going back through an island-wide epidemic or regional pandemic all over again.

Living through a pandemic is a rare, abnormally hard thing to do. To survive it will call for equally rare and abnormally hard sacrifices from all of us.

On the Fortieth Anniversary of the La Soufriere Volcano Eruption in St Vincent and the Grenadines

 

Today is exactly forty years since the sole volcano on St Vincent island erupted. On April 13, 1979, the La Soufriere awoke and began a series of eruptions which would ultimately disrupt day-to-day life in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG).

The timing of the eruption was rather interesting. Some would even say superstitious. You see, April 13, 1979, was a Friday. Friday 13. Black Friday. That Friday was also Good Friday. So, a Christian holiday commemorating the crucifixion of God’s only Son, clashed with the world’s commonly held notion of the “bad luck” Friday.

Could these two phenomena have caused a sleeping volcano to violently awake?

In 1979 the Vincentian government and people were pursuing the country’s political independence from Britain. Although this independence was later granted on October 27 of that same year, the volcanic eruption must have caused many stakeholders to take a second look at becoming independent at that time.

The 1979 eruption of La Soufriere should be fully documented. Many citizens today were not yet born to have experienced it. And those of us who were around back then, might not be here for any future eruption. While the volcano is probably best viewed as a tourist attraction yielding a prime fitness hike and opportunities for socializing, we must not take for granted the innate power of this volcano to become potentially lethal to life here in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

I have few memories of the 1979 eruption, possibly because I was just a toddler who had not even started primary school at the time. We lived next to the village church in those days. Since my parents were Spiritual Baptists, the building was commonly called “Praise House”.

So on that Good Friday 13 April, 1979, I remember everybody in the village moving about with a hustle and bustle. All the adults had a piece of cloth tied around their nostrils. I didn’t know why. But I was given one, too. My parents took turns holding my hands as we walked to and fro most unusually quickly.

I still see images in my head of a very crowded Praise House. Even at that tender age I knew that there must have been an unusually high turnout to church on that day.

But what left the greatest impact on me from that day forty years ago now, was what I saw when I looked up. I don’t remember paying attention to the sky before that day, but I just knew what I was seeing up there was not normal. That is what terrified me most of all.

The clouds up above looked just like the sauce in a boiling pot. All I could have seen were clouds tumbling, rolling, bubbling. My gazed fixated on that mysteriously frightening scene, even as my parents tugged on my little arms to keep up with them. Of course, I would have heard my parents and the other adults speaking about what was the cause of this boiling sky, but my young brain could not make sense of the words “volcano, eruption, La Soufriere”, etc.  Well, we call the volcano “Soufray” for short. Nicknames are a cultural identifier in these rural villages.

Our village was not too badly damaged. Nothing beyond the falling of ash–as experienced island wide. Certainly, it did not stop or change our way of life too much. The men in particular continued going to their mountain lands to farm. The women and children continued staying at home in their village houses. (Other communities were not so fortunate as they had to be evacuated to places far from their homes).

Many of the schools had to be used as the new homes for displaced citizens. So you know schools would have been put on suspension in the interim.

I had actually hoped for a more visible national remembrance on this particular anniversary. But apart from a newspaper editorial and one person’s twitter post, nothing of prominence has taken place to observe this 40th anniversary. Especially with all the radio call-in programmes and social network commentating, I had hoped for a better Vincentian acknowledgement.

Soufray is an indelible part of our culture. It’s dormancy may very well be allowing us to continue to live on the island. Interestingly, and maybe ironically, the government is right now moving in cranes and other heavy duty equipment to commence serious drilling at the volcano. This, as they seek to materialize new geothermal energy.

Frozen Salaries, Running Prices

It is a scary thing when your job becomes your life. But that fear dwarfs in comparison to the realization that your monthly income is housed in a freezer while the prices of basic daily needs and wants are placed on tags in an ever rising river. Something has got to be wrong, year in and year out,  work as hard as you can, you have no overtime, no bonus, no increases to look forward to. Yet this is a depressing reality for hundreds of public sector workers across St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Workers must have been relieved when they heard from the IMF’s last report about the recent improvement in the Vincentian economy. But they must have been equally alarmed at that report’s plea for government to “broaden the tax base”. Unless you are in the shoes of the average Vincentian worker you may not be able to appreciate the “joggling” which such workers are already doing. I used the word “joggling” because that is the quoted word used several years ago by the minister of finance when he chose to speak on this matter.

The question is: Just how much joggling can the average worker endure before having to add the straw that breaks the camel’s back?

I remember when I first became conscious of the parliamentary process f presenting the country’s annual budget. As a teenager, I used to whistle to myself and think, “Boy! three hundred and something million dollars! That’s a lot of money!” Well, guess what the budgetary estimates now look like–over one billion dollars.

There is a very simple truth guiding the ever increasing national budgets over the years. That is, life today is just more expensive. On all fronts, factors of production, distribution and supply are costing more dollars to get the job done. Now, managing money is never always easy. Even the smallest child with a five dollars can tell you that at the end of the day.

I remember asking the manager of the local bank where my deceased mother had opened my first account, why the bank closed the account. The manager’s reply was that the international climate these days demands that bankers find ways of covering their operational costs. In their instance, it meant taking out $10 from every account on a monthly basis. That manager also said that every financial institution these days will have to resort to similar actions if they wish to remain a viable financial institution.

Nonetheless, to use a line from Walter in A Raisin in the Sun, “Money is life!”

In other words, if you want to find out a person’s values and who or what they really deem important, just follow their spending pattern. The same holds true for corporations and governments alike. To see who or what a government values, look at where money is allocated. Or, some might say, look at where money is NOT allocated.

Understanding what I am saying here calls for more than just word recognition skills. You are not going to be able to objectively digest this message if words such as government, salary, and public sector workers have automatically activated the political Hulk in you, causing you to see only political colours, opposition support or condemnation of the government you voted for.

One of the things I have matured to grasp is that the typical leader of government in the majority of our Caribbean islands were once in the proverbial political wilderness. While they persevered and may have “earned” a right to be elevated to the highest office in their respective countries, it is ultimately the electorate who enabled these leaders to realize their dream jobs.

I just wish such leaders would commit themselves to help the average voter realize the acquisition of their individual dream jobs as well.

Every citizen has a role in developing his or her country. Everyone cannot become a politician or a political leader. But everyone deserves a chance to have equal access to the life transforming power of the wealth and opportunities in their country. Oh, for readers who can process this information with critical thinking minds instead of the reflex responses of politically myopic mindsets.

You see, selection of governments in our Caribbean civilizations has become too much about voting for someone who you can idolize as a political star. It is a known secret that in many constituencies, people don’t vote just for the candidate, they vote for a candidate primarily because of who they want to become prime minister. (I have wondered what would be the results in the Grenadines constituencies if the opposition party fielded candidates who maybe school dropouts or do not meet the typical politician criteria).

That is somewhat sad and regrettable. We make politicians and political leaders into our version of Hollywood movie stars, yet for the many average voters their general standard of life does not change. But for some reason we seem quite contented to fight for our celebrity star to get into power, while we remain graveling for a better life for ourselves. I have to say “we” because I have also been on this bandwagon.

Nonetheless, I long for an emerging electorate in the Caribbean, and in St Vincent and the Grenadines, who will be able to make independent decisions to vote. No democracy is strengthen or protected when voters vote for a party just because their parents did or it is the tradition in their village or locale. As a voter, you should never allow a party (or friends, neighbours, villagers for that matter) to make you feel that you are obligated to vote for a certain party.

I went on that tangent to bring home the point that as workers in SVG who depend on our salaries to make a living, we must be able to independently decide who we vote for in general elections. I have envied and commended governments in neighbouring Caribbean countries who have either given consecutive Christmas bonuses in the form of double salary, or who have increased their workers take-home pay over the last couple years. One political leader made it clear that even as his country reels from the economic body slam of a category five hurricane, it was paramount that the government choose to honour its workers at that time.

That is in line with my philosophy of treating public servants. Elections are due every five years. I believe that at least once within those five years some tangibly public expression of valuing should be made to workers. If, indeed, the economy does not allow for a suitable increase in workers’ salaries across all levels, then certainly a one month tax free (or even half month) salary should be given to workers–especially those who do not benefit from the so-called perks and allowances.

Ordinary folks in all manner of economic hardships are joggling with fixed salary amounts every thirty days. From utility bills to mortgages and rent, to basic food, clothing and transportation expenses, they are financially tired and often broke before the next pay day. Do you know how an average shopper feels to have calculated the total of the displayed prices mentally, only to find out at the cashier’s desk that they have to spend tens of dollars more all because of taxes–VAT to be precise?

I often wonder, why is it that the consumers cannot have the prices of goods and services frozen? Why must salaries be frozen but businessmen can increase prices every Monday morning?

Governing, like any other leadership, is about making the hard decisions. I’m not saying that public servants alone must be given salary increases. Every citizen in a country should feel some form of economic relief during any five year term of any government. In fact, no worker—public or private—who is putting their 100% into their jobs, should not be meted 1%  for labour increases. And any meaningful salary increase should be just that. You should not have a salary increase but cannot feel it in your spending power.

If that is the case, workers are just being politically sweet-mouthed. Life in the 21st century is too hard, too short and too frustrating for hardworking voters to rest in the 98 degrees shade of leaders who are already living their dream jobs and dream life. Oh for the day when the average Vincentian can feel just as honoured as Guyanese feel when each of them is allowed a once-in-a-lifetime chance to import a vehicle free of custom duties!

You may not be a public worker–you may not even be a worker–but you are at some time a consumer. Aren’t you that bit unhappy about the nonstop price increases on the goods and services you need to enjoy your present, or past, quality of life? Vincentian consumers need to make sure they get value for every hardworking dollar that is spent. What courage those Georgetown housewives had in the 1930s when they marched all the way to Kingstown in protest of a one cent increase in the price of matches!

Some might say but that is only a one cent increase. To the housewives, that one cent was a serious dent in their budget. They  literally knew the heat they were feeling in their kitchens.

Remembering Junior

Murders happen every day, but when fifteen year old Lesandro Guzman-Feliz, better known as “Junior”, was chased into a grocery store in the Bronx, dragged out back into the street, and stabbed and hacked to death by at least five men–it was the wickedest, most heartless and coldblooded killing I had ever seen. I don’t even recall seeing such a gruesome scene in the most action-packed movie on television. By the time his mom got to the hospital, her beloved baby boy was already dead. His mom was pictured crying on her son’s dead body (see above pic).

But it is the friendly, ever happy character of Junior–along with the discovery that he was mistaken for another person–that really torments our grieving anger over the death of this young life. In the days and weeks following his brutal death, numerous videos and pictures have been surfacing online to show the sort of person Lesandro was to his family and friends.

No life should be taken in such repulsively horrendous fashion. Junior was not just killed or murdered. He was slaughtered. So frighteningly horrific was his final moments that a new category apart from “homicide” should be created for his butchering! I wail inside to think about the total fear, helplessness, pain, shock, panic and torture which Lesandro Guzman-Feliz had to endure all by himself on that night of June 20, 2018.

One of the inhumane trends which his death brought to the discussion table is how easily it has become for people to use their phones as video recording devices in times of emergency, rather than use the phone for what it was originally made for: that is, call for help.

One of the chops from the cutlass (machete) ripped through the right side of his neck, thus totally cutting the main artery that runs from the heart to the brain. In fact, there is a picture which shows Junior standing on the lonely street with his hands raised (I would like to think he had started talking to the Lord). You can clearly see his bloody neck from his deadly chop. Blood had started to gush out of his frightened body as water escaping from a busted dam.

And that blood was not going back in.

Junior has to be praised for his emotional strength and will power. He did not stay on the ground after the violent tornado-like attack. He stood up and tried to get help from inside the same store he was dragged from just minutes before. Realizing that help was not being offered to him, Junior went back outside and ran off in the direction of the hospital.

He was already dying.

In his last moments alive, Junior is seen sitting on the steps of a security boot at the hospital’s entrance, his body and legs washed in his freely flowing blood. Passers-by tried to stop the bleeding.

But it was too little too late.

From the time he entered the grocery store, to the moment he passes away on the steps at the entrance of the hospital, every horrifically sad moment is captured on one video recording or the other. Such a private affair as one’s death was made into such a public spectacle. To be honest, Junior’s death reminded me of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. I make this connection because of the sudden development and play-out of violently inhumane acts which killed such an innocent human being.

Lesandro Guzman-Feliz must not be allowed to be forgotten. One of the things that adds insult to injury when murders have happened is that as time goes on, people stop observing or remembering the deceased. Yet the bereaved family can never regain their loved one. This is why I was happy to hear the local governing officials announce that in January, 2019, the street where Junior suffered so helplessly will be renamed in his honour.

You probably already know that twelve men from the Trinitaros gang, including its district leader, have been arrested, charged and remanded into custody for the trial of murdering Junior. While we all hope the prosecution will be able to secure  relatively smooth guilty convictions, it is unfortunate that there will still be lawyers who are going to do everything in order to defend these gang members. I understand and respect the due process of the judicial system. But that does not mean that I still do not wish that there can be an exception in this instance.

After watching the videos of Junior being hunted, cornered, and butchered, I feel it would have been suitable karma to not arrest the killers but instead, over a couple weeks or months, single each one out with an equally vicious team of avengers who would mutilate, butcher and abandon them in a lonely street…and it should all be captured on video as well.

Furthermore, why must modern societies allow breathing spaces for gangs to exist and thrive? Even dangerous snakes are removed from human settlements once their presence is discovered. The same way the military tracks down, hunts and terminates terrorists, it is that same treatment that should be given to all who proudly acknowledge their allegiance to violent gang membership.

All of humanity needs to make sure that Junior’s literal human sacrifice was not in vain. We must take drastic policy and security measures to safeguard all human beings, no matter their ethnicity or geographical residence. No other child, teenager, young adult or elderly citizen should ever have to suffer Junior’s death in the future. Junior wanted to spend his working adult life as a police detective to help other victims of crimes; but it became a tragic irony when he himself became a victim on that summer night.

Junior’s family will forever remember June 20th each and every year. They will also feel the renewed pangs of the senseless loss and bitter loneliness on all occasions meant to bring families and people together in joy and good times. We must also feel their loss and bear their painful remembrance.

I have prayed that on that night of June 20, 2018, the promise found in St Luke chapter twenty three and verse forty three would have come true for you, Junior.

It is Time to Defend Christianity

The winning song, and especially its shocking props and audience-involved presentation, in the recent Soca Monarch competition, made it abundantly clear to me that it is time to defend Christianity.

For about the second time in his performance career, the artiste, Delroy “Fireman” Hooper, took the title with a song that basically poked fun at the Christian faith. On the first occasion some years ago, he had fans laughing, mimicking and reveling in the belittling of the Spiritual Baptist denomination. This is a denomination that endured years of persecution through discrimination, prejudice, incarceration and physical abuse from colonial rulers in the Caribbean. It is probably the only denomination as well that has some connection to our ancestors original religious practices that they had back in Africa.

I am not saying that “Fireman” is not a talented performer, or that he is not an individual with commendable or even praiseworthy human characteristics. Just from knowing him as a man about town he does appear to be a relatively humble and respectful law-abiding citizen. However, I cannot help but think that he somehow enjoys ridiculing Christians in his songs.

My position is that at the level of  a national festival or activity such as Carnival, no one should be endorsed or allowed to pull down or mock any religion or religious denomination being practiced in the country. It is also clear to me that the fact that “Fireman” is developing a habit of winning the soca crown by mocking elements of the Christian faith, means that he is not alone in his particular opinions. Certainly, the judges, CDC officials and thousands of his fans agree wholeheartedly and see nothing wrong with using our premier cultural festival to ridicule our nation’s largest religious faith.

Why is that?

Well, based on the opening lines of his recent winning rendition, “hypocrites and haters” are the targets of his chanting mantra: “run dem out, run dem!”

One of the unfortunate realities in the Christian circle is that the issue of hypocrisy at times seems unstoppable. Nonetheless, Christians are not perfect people. Each of us has the responsibility to be honest with ourselves and face our own hypocrisy in this regard. I have realized that JESUS  says to the conscious hypocrite: “Now that you know you have been a hypocrite, stop being one. My blood was shed to also forgive you of your sin of hypocrisy.”

In essence, then, none of us have an excuse when we meet the Creator the Lord Jesus Christ after the death of our physical bodies. Jesus Christ will say to us that none of our messed up situations on Earth was stronger than the power of His blood shed upon the cross and the power of His love given to and through His Church and gospel.

In other words, at our Judgement Day court hearing, we will learn that no hypocrite (and indeed no human being) has an excuse why they should not have qualified to enter heaven.

I wanted to take the above two paragraphs to speak on the issue of hypocrisy because many people have stopped going to church because of it. Nevertheless, it must be made clear that we must learn how to go to church to experience Jesus and not just to be in a comfort zone with people.

After that purposeful detour, let’s return to the central argument in this post. It is the cross of Jesus Christ that has been the symbol of the Christian faith throughout the ages. It is this same cross that “Fireman” has used as nothing more than a mocking target, as though the cross is a clown’s hairdo in a circus.

There is an inherent danger in this whole scenario because that song and that performance night in particular might have sent a message to some sinner in need of repentance that Jesus and His cross is nothing more than a big joke or laughing-stock.

Vincentians are today becoming less and less tolerant of each other when they perceive any differences exist between them and their neighbour. The song in question also poses a threat that it can further serve as a means or reason to promote social and religious divisions. It can and may even lead to cursing and violence as certain ones attempt to do just what the song encourages them to do–run dem out!

Within recent times, matters have reached before the law courts where Vincentians had decided to take matters into their own hands because they believe that their fellow Vincentian citizens were indeed being haters, bad minded or hypocrites. We saw that in the beating of a bereaved widower as the deceased was being buried. It also played out in similar violent fashion in other communities.

We cannot try to get  an enjoyable life for ourselves by drilling into people that it is okay to punish, banish or physically hurt others just because we think they are different. That is a no-win situation as all of us have to live in this land. It is a painful lesson we continue to learn the hard way when we have political campaigning and then seek to govern a people already divided by the said campaign strategies.

Traveling the highway of facilitating demonizing and discrimination of people because they are different will never take us to a destination of peace and happiness in our land.

I am convinced that the time has come for Christians to let their voices and presence be heard and felt. Remaining silent is a luxury that the peace of this country cannot afford. Whether haters, bad mind, hypocrites, concerned, not concerned–the future of our land needs everyone to have a dialogue and talk about the changes we need to begin to take to save our nation from all the overwhelming vices and threats coming to us from all directions and places.

Amen.

Can the Caribbean Survive Intense Hurricane Seasons in the Future?

The 2017 hurricane season is far from over, but already several Caribbean islands have had their future jeopardized by intense hurricanes in the space of a few days. Even the common man on the street, who is not schooled in meteorological information, will easily admit that this year has seen troubling, deadly unprecedented hurricanes.

And it continues.

We in St Vincent and the Grenadines had just held a concentrated series of response efforts to help Vincentians and other citizens in the BVI who were crippled by hurricane Irma. Physical donations were placed on an 1800 ton barge for the BVI. But before the vessel could have reached its destination, up pops hurricane Maria, forcing a speedy return to the safe waters of St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Now, even though this post focuses on the Caribbean, it is important to state that hurricanes Irma and Harvey (its predecessor) also brutally assaulted Texas, Louisiana and Florida, causing billions of dollars in accumulated damages. This acknowledgment is necessary so that a balanced perspective of the overall issue is not lost or trivialized in any way.

Of course, the Caribbean people are no strangers to hurricanes and tropical storms. But any blind man can see, as they say, that the frequency and intensity of the 2017 hurricanes have been abnormally shocking. There have been some hurricane seasons in the past when there were few–or no–hurricanes. And even when there was a hurricane or two, they were usually geographically spaced out and occurred far in time from each other.

But it looks like hurricanes no longer respect the Caribbean islands.

Right now, the BVI, Barbuda, the UVI, Puerto Rico and Dominica are all reeling from the effects of category five (major) hurricanes. In my living memory, we have never had multiple islands in need of regional and international help all at once.

The barge I mentioned earlier has left for a second time to deliver relief supplies to anxious relatives and friends in the BVI. Simultaneously, we are raising other relief resources to help Dominica.

My heart aches painfully for Dominica. They have suffered a double whammy!

On August 27, 2015, tropical storm Erika left at least thirty persons dead in Dominica with communities such as Petite Savannah all but buried under massive mudslides from torrential rains.

Two years later, on Monday September 18, 2017, hurricane Maria, packing category 5 winds of over 160 mph, took direct aim at Dominica and steered its small eye from the southern end to the top of the island with  surgical precision.

As I saw the satellite imagery I could not believe it.  The eye, flanked by the brunt of its most destructive winds, literally followed the contours and shape of the island to a T. It was as if hurricane Maria was a car in some child’s video game, and Dominica was its roadway.

Early in the storm, Dominica’s prime minister alerted Facebook followers that his own house roof had gone and that he was at “the complete mercy” of hurricane Maria. Around 2 AM on the morning of September 19th he told the regional and international community that his island and people will need all the help they can get because Dominica had “lost all that money can buy or replace”.

Hurricane Maria, just before it made landfall on Dominica with 160 mph winds

I also recognize a highly skilled friend in Dominica who tragically lost his house in 2015 when Erika brought down tons of mudslides on their house, burying his mom and dad instantly, while trapping his feet in the rocks. His dad’s body was never found.

Now an orphan, he and his surviving siblings (all young adults) have had to face the nightmare of Maria a mere two years later.  This is a tragedy that one will not even desire for one’s enemies!

Can you imagine what it must feel like to be trying to rebuild your life after one tragic storm, only to be knocked down again by another disaster in such a short space of time?

As you can imagine, hurricane Maria completely knocked out all means of communication with Dominica, so there has been no word of that family’s fate; however, I trust that they did survive, and they are not numbered in the seven or so fatalities which I have heard about so far in Dominica.

At the time of this post, hurricane Maria is pounding the Dominican Republic and other nearby territories as it barrels northwards now. Meanwhile, radar images are showing non stop tropical activity in the eastern Atlantic ocean.

It is clear that we are not out of the woods as yet.

The speed with which Maria and Irma reached category 5 status has left everyone astounded. Some have even questioned whether or not somebody somewhere has found a way to manipulate weather systems. A plot which would make for a great James Bond film, no doubt.

Nonetheless, meteorologists are citing that the increasingly hot temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean is giving hurricanes a boost. There also seems to be little shear or high pressure systems which usually make it difficult for hurricanes in the tropics to develop into monsters.

After seeing the unbelievable way in which the eye of hurricane Maria navigated the island of Dominica, it has dawned on me that another  such major category five hurricane can do another impossible thing in the Caribbean. That is, it can very well happen in the future that a hurricane, moving in a WNW direction, can pummel the Eastern Caribbean archipelago in one horrific slow-moving and deadly day.

Or night.

I also realize that most–if not all–of the times when a hurricane makes landfall, seems to be in the dark of night, as if the hurricanes know they must also generate panic, fear, and blindness to terrified citizens trapped beneath their destructive clutches of floods, wind and rain.

And even if one hurricane does not do this, it is also quite possible that several hurricanes can strike different islands in the same hurricane season. Or, each year might have one or two  islands being disrupted again and again by natural disasters. And, like Dominica and the Virgin Islands, it might very well be that the same islands will be affected year after year.

The question is, therefore, how much rebuilding can small, generally helpless Caribbean islands sustain in an intensifying hurricane zone. I actually heard a citizen on Puerto Rico asking a television reporter this very question, because Puerto Rico had been affected by hurricane Irma just days before hurricane Maria knocked out all electricity on the island.

Incidentally, hurricane Irma had earlier made the water supply on Puerto Rico a scarce, scarce commodity.

Facing future hurricanes is now a matter of individual islands and regional security. It is not just something the Caribbean can entrust to each territory’s office of disaster management. Indeed, the head of the BVI’s disaster management acknowledged that their headquarters and equipment which they took over forty years to acquire, were all destroyed by hurricane Irma.

Caribbean citizens, from child to adult, must become immediately sensitized to environmental responsibilities and acts of protection and conservation. Studies in regional climate change impact is a must. The construction industry must galvanize support for creating structures that are more resistant to high winds and flooding.  Additionally, each island (and the entire region) now needs not just a hurricane management or response plan, but general disaster coping and survival protocols.

Let me also say that we must begin to look closely at hurricane shelters. I do not think that every building that is owned or operated by government should automatically become a hurricane shelter. The same is true with churches. There are instances where existing hurricane shelters are also suffering similar damages and loss as the home from which many persons run away in the fist place.

Every local community also needs a disaster response and management group with persons trained and equipped to deal with some basic aftermath issues, such as medical and counseling. Every family should have access to hurricane shutters and knowledge of the kind of foods which can last without electricity, for about 4 days.

Let us not forget that the Caribbean is in an active earthquake zone. Many Caribbean islands have dormant and active volcanoes which each has the capacity to decimate the island it is on.

Right now Mexico is counting its dead from a major earthquake which hit even as hurricane Maria was beating up on the Caribbean. Who is to tell if in the future a hurricane and/or volcanic eruption will be affecting one or several small islands simultaneously in the Caribbean?

There has to now be a paradigm shift in leadership, education, corporate and civil collaboration, as well as a new thrust and partnership with the international community. Such a shift must go beyond individual islands’ politics. Now more than ever, Caricom and the OECS must have faith in each other and their abilities, otherwise I am afraid the fate of the Caribbean will be one of literal ruin and destruction. Presently, no human being is living on the island of Barbuda after hurricane Irma. Our human civilization in the Caribbean can be easily placed at risk of extinction by the onslaught of intensifying hurricanes in the Caribbean in future hurricane seasons.

 

 

The Race is Not Over in America

Earlier this month I just happened to be switching channels just in time to hear the USA’s president verbalize an unprecedented defense and rationalization of the white supremacists’ actions in Virginia that left one woman dead. To be honest, I was not particularly surprised–or even shocked–by these proclamations.

I knew instantaneously that I had tuned in to history in the making. For never before had an American president come to the defense of racist Americans who wanted nothing better than to marginalize, alienate and eradicate minority ethnicity such as my own black people.

Ever since the Republican convention in the summer of 2016, it became succinctly evident that the now 45th US president had no personal appreciation for black America, and by extension, minority America. He has been an unscrupulously driven businessman who mastered the art of doing things his way. By giving him the victory on election night, those fifty eight million Americans gave this president the ultimate green light for the rest of his life.

Losing the election was the last sane mechanism by which he could have been stopped. Alas, that did not happen.

Now more than ever, president 45 does not give a damn about any opposing critique or opposing sentiments.  In this president the stage is being set for the opening of the modern day portal of cruel racial divide and prejudice in the United States of America.

But to be fair, it is not this president who is responsible for the feelings of racial hatred and renewed will for white dominance once more in American communities. It is my view that ever since the Civil War, the American society never really pursued or attained closure as regards the issues of race and slavery in particular. There have always been at least one in three white Americans who have felt a sword piercing their nationalist hearts every time the civil rights activists made breakthroughs in racial equality.

These Americans have for years allowed their displeasure and inner condemnation of minority groups to lie dormant, pretty much as a mighty volcano which has not erupted in years or decades. Instead, they have heeded the palliative of polite American education.

I feel also that having a black person occupying their highest position in the land for the last eight years have lit some serious fires in the emotional furnace of many a white American. And some black ones too, unfortunately.

Race issues in America is not over. In fact they are far from over. The truth is that president 45 is just giving voice–and face–to the pent up anger, hatred and disapproval of blacks and other minority groups by a silent majority of rural, middle class Americans. These are the ones who turned out to register their desire to make America white again, to make America’s leaders white again, in the last presidential elections.

I can’t help but think that if President Obama had known his successor was going to make it his priority to undo his legacy, Obama just might have showed a different persona and power which the oval office afforded him.

We must face the unspoken truths that America has a race problem. It has always had a race problem. But just having periodic laws passed by congress along with a few photo ops with white and black leaders have not–and will never–bring America to the finish line where race is concerned.

Leaders in congress, in the White House, as well as in the media and business establishments must open their mouths in admittance of this socially chronic non-communicable disease which is silently killing America’s future. Citizens across the fifty united states must be able to discuss all their hate, hurt, pain and gains in truth-and-reconciliation town hall meetings and forums.

An immediate solution might not be reached but tensions will mitigate because people of all colours would no longer need to pretend that America is not divided or that race is not really of consequence in America.

It is quite possible that a more racist supporter of white dominance can occupy the White House in the future, and that other such like-minded leaders could start to emerge from their various closets across the spectrum of gender and economic employment industries.

Now more than ever the state of the union matters because the race is definitely not over in America.

 

 

St Vincent and the Grenadines now has an International Airport!

First international flight lands at the Argyle International Airport (courtesy Elroy Martin’s facebook)

The Argyle International Airport opens in St Vincent and the Grenadines today, February 14, 2017, ushering in a totally new era in the socioeconomic journey of this small multi-island state. At $729, 000, 000, it is by far the largest capital project in our country’s thirty seven years’ history as an independent nation. The international airport was an accomplishment which many believed could not be successfully done, but one politician’s ambitious goal became the nation’s golden egg. As the saying goes, even a blind man can see that the realization of an international airport for St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) is bigger than any one man, any one government, any one political party.

A new future is now possible. Tomorrow’s history has been changed infinitely.

Vincentians can now feel as citizens of this modern globalized world. Without a doubt, this was a dream for many generations of past Vincentians; to many, it was the kind of dream that you thought was silly because it was practically far-fetched, or was useless to pursue as it was not going to happen in your life time.

Now much has been said about the almost unlimited challenges and delays associated with the building of the Argyle International Airport. But it is the future challenges which this airport brings to our Vincentian citizens that I wish to speak to in this post.

I felt a sense of the political maturing of our island’s politics when the new leader of the oppositions commented in parliament that the international airport is too big a project to fail. He stressed the need for all Vincentians to work together in order to guarantee the success of the Argyle International Airport (AIA). I commend his wisdom. Effective leadership will periodically require a leader to bow graciously to the achievement and success of opponents. We should never allow the trees of our selfish wants to block our view of the forest of our country’s progress and well-being.

Vincentians of all walks of life are converging at Argyle today to witness the many historic landings and take-offs by regional and more so, international carriers. Some three international flights will touch down at the airport today.

But these flights have been chartered. Come tomorrow, the airport will be empty as all the supporters and party enthusiasts return to their various places of residence or occupational localities. I would hope that the relevant arms of government would have been in deep negotiations with business and tourism markets to foster a desire for people to want to travel to SVG.

However, that is one side of the coin.

The other side is that we need to begin changing the expectations and attitudes of our people here in St Vincent and the Grenadines. Having an international airport must not be allowed to be only thought of as a one day public holiday event to go watch inaugural flights, drink and be merry, and then return from whence we came.

Now is the critical time that a new educational thrust be initialized in schools, villages, liming places, community centers, places of work, social media, electronic and print media–all with the purpose of helping locals to understand and feel the new possibilities that an international airport brings. This is a life-changing development for all our people.

Beginning today, simple, varied, but new linkage industries must start to blossom on mainland St Vincent and in the 32 Grenadines islands. We must begin to cultivate and show forth opportunities, attractions and localized experiences that will make visitors, investors and people from various parts around the world want to come to SVG.

We cannot just sit back and wonder where are all the international flights. We must not allow ourselves to have to indefinitely continue to travel to  regional hubs for our connecting flights to other parts of the world.The government, in particularly the prime minister, has given us all this new international airport. Now we must give sustainable life to the airport. It’s a time when all the creative, critical thinking and entrepreneurial skills of Vincentians must be set ablaze.

This is a national day of thanksgiving to the Lord. Long live the Argyle International Airport.