They say that the young people don’t care but they are wrong.  It takes time for us to care.  They have made the mistake of only counting those in their early twenties but they seem to have forgotten all about those in their late twenties who have been monitoring, noting and coping with the changes of our society.  We have grown up in this atmosphere and it has molded our thoughts and now is threatening to bring our fears to life.

This will be my first installment in a series of letters to my country.  This is my first in a line of pleas to my fellow country men and women that we wake up and look around the world.  It will not be long before we too are facing a meltdown if we do not stop, observe and think.

This is no time for politics, for politics only has time for itself.  All around the world the fight has been between the ravenous elites and the disillusioned poor.  As the economic crises progresses the middle class will decline more and more until there are only two classes; the greedy and those fighting to survive.   We are seeing firsthand how unethical practices in the banking sector, the thieving tactics of insurance companies and the hand in hand relationship that they have mutually fostered has  only secured  more riches for the wealthy while the rest of us are in the grips of an economic meltdown.  St. Kitts is no different.  It has all been a lie, a sham, and a sweetly flavoured poison.  It is time to spit it out!

There is a funk in our streets.  It wreaks of corruption, dead young men, devalued girls, rotting ethics and desperation.  Everyone is searching for answers and everyone is blaming everyone else.  Who is truly to blame though?  I think deep down we know the answer.  I am to blame, you are to blame, they are to blame, and we are to blame.  Every time we turn a blind eye, we are guilty!  Every time we selectively complain about some wrongs and not others, we are guilty!  Every time we choose a party over the truth, we are guilty!  And every time we choose a colour over what is right and just, we are guilty!  Just as our African ancestors sold our forefathers into slavery, so have we sold our selves for trinkets, money, a ‘lime’ and essentially for vanity.

How can this country be fixed?  First we need to fix ourselves as individuals.  You get what you pay for.  If you have paid for corruption and favouritism then that is what you will get.  We cannot ask for integrity from our leaders when we have lost sight of it ourselves.  We have set ablaze our own furnace and we alone can begin to put it out.   I am praying that we as citizens remember the struggle of our forefathers.  Remember the reasons behind their fight.  Remember the lessons taught to us because once we forget our past…we must repeat it.  The enemy then was the institution of slavery and its offspring, colonialism.  Today, the enemy has had a facelift but its heart is the same.   We know what our past was…are we so willing to repeat it?

As a young person living in the Federation of St. Kitts – Nevis I am very concerned. In fact I have been concerned for over ten years.  What am I concerned about?  Everything!  How can I choose when there seems to be a cloud of distrust, corruption, bullying, and death hovering over our small country?  I don’t know about you, but I am tired of being concerned. Concern needs to mature into action.

They say that the young people don’t care but they are wrong.  It takes time for us to care.  They have made the mistake of only counting those in their early twenties but they seem to have forgotten all about those in their late twenties who have been monitoring, noting and coping with the changes of our society.  We have grown up in this atmosphere and it has molded our thoughts and now is threatening to bring our fears to life.

This will be my first installment in a series of letters to my country.  This is my first in a line of pleas to my fellow country men and women that we wake up and look around the world.  It will not be long before we too are facing a meltdown if we do not stop, observe and think.

This is no time for politics, for politics only has time for itself.  All around the world the fight has been between the ravenous elites and the disillusioned poor.  As the economic crises progresses the middle class will decline more and more until there are only two classes; the greedy and those fighting to survive.   We are seeing firsthand how unethical practices in the banking sector, the thieving tactics of insurance companies and the hand in hand relationship that they have mutually fostered has  only secured  more riches for the wealthy while the rest of us are in the grips of an economic meltdown.  St. Kitts is no different.  It has all been a lie, a sham, and a sweetly flavoured poison.  It is time to spit it out!

There is a funk in our streets.  It wreaks of corruption, dead young men, devalued girls, rotting ethics and desperation.  Everyone is searching for answers and everyone is blaming everyone else.  Who is truly to blame though?  I think deep down we know the answer.  I am to blame, you are to blame, they are to blame, and we are to blame.  Every time we turn a blind eye, we are guilty!  Every time we selectively complain about some wrongs and not others, we are guilty!  Every time we choose a party over the truth, we are guilty!  And every time we choose a colour over what is right and just, we are guilty!  Just as our African ancestors sold our forefathers into slavery, so have we sold our selves for trinkets, money, a ‘lime’ and essentially for vanity.

How can this country be fixed?  First we need to fix ourselves as individuals.  You get what you pay for.  If you have paid for corruption and favouritism then that is what you will get.  We cannot ask for integrity from our leaders when we have lost sight of it ourselves.  We have set ablaze our own furnace and we alone can begin to put it out.   I am praying that we as citizens remember the struggle of our forefathers.  Remember the reasons behind their fight.  Remember the lessons taught to us because once we forget our past…we must repeat it.  The enemy then was the institution of slavery and its offspring, colonialism.  Today, the enemy has had a facelift but its heart is the same.   We know what our past was…are we so willing to repeat it?