Independence
real independence is about emancipation from tyranny. It is about self identity,
and the lifting up from the pit of second class citizenship one’s own language,
history, tradition, and culture. It is laying a claim to self determination and
the responsibilities and benefits thereof. It is creating a new society from
the aspirations and dreams that so motivated us to demand our own liberation,
and national dignity. It is not, nor
will it ever be the replacement of one dominating power for another. Rarely is
it about unbridled freedom but rather the willingness to sacrifice in the
present for some future social goal.
The PNM
liberated us from the tyranny of colonialism but what have they done to change
the policies that held us as a subjugated people in the first place. What have
become of the sacrifices we have made for the sake of this independence? Some
would have us believe that our freedom is reward enough, but what is freedom
really? Can you eat it? Will it sustain and nourish you. Will it shelter your children from the rain,
wind, and cold? The citizens of the Cayman Islands have less political freedom
than we do, and yet they enjoy a better quality of life.
The PNM once
consulted us on their plans for nationhood, and so we entrusted them with the
gift of authority to govern, but now there is no consultation, only divine inspiration.
We are now told what is best for us, that they somehow know what’s best all of
the time. How short the road from benefactor to tyrant has become.
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