The people’s voice

By T. C. Phipps-Benjamin

Adults bear one of the greatest pleasures in the lives of their infant and growing children. They are their children's voice. Buttressed safely in the crest of a mother’s womb, the ultimate goal of the developing child is to communicate. When a child bellows at the sensation of a wet diaper, screeches at the slow pace of an anticipated feeding or coos in fascination at the concept of playtime, it is the parent's voice that translates the child's every reaction.   
 
In our tiny island enclave where our restricted resources do not render us limited in our thrust for opportunity, we too need a voice; a distinct voice that will impress upon overly ambitious, ill-seeking politicians that service of self has NO PLACE in governance. We yearn for a choir of leaders who would sing to a tune that unifies our communities and our nation.
 
A voice for the people is not one which neither accepts or distributes perks for some underhanded deed in return, nor is that voice the empty refrain of power hungry egotists who bask in an ocean of control, unleashing doom to the helpless, and hope to their associates and party hacks. Instead, a voice for the people should resonate from our public servants who are sworn to office and charged in the process to be committed to the people they serve throughout their political tenure. 
 
As a people of African origin, our History offers a monumental spread of individuals who genuinely heard the voice of their people and acted selflessly on their behalf, as a mother would for her helpless child. 
 
Harriett Tubman bore wealth untold in her ability to outwit her captors and free hundreds of slaves on the Underground Railway. What a voice!
 
Rosa Parks, worn physically, drained mentally, yet ready to turn a new chapter in her life, was a powerful voice for negroes who, by law, were relegated to the back of the bus and were second fiddle to everything under the sun. Her weary feet spoke as loudly as her voice.    
 
Nelson Mandela, although confined to the walls of a prison cell because of his defiance of an apartheid system that stifled the people of the predominantly black South Africa, never lost his voice.
 
Martin Luther King, Marcus Garvey, Bob Marley and scores of like-minded men and women the world over, both the renowned and the nameless, understood that their message was really not theirs but that of the people on whose behalf they stood. They were the voice of the people.
 
Why can't this be the mantra of our modern day politicians? Why must the aspiration to line one's pocket with ill-gotten fortune be greater than the appeal to empower the less fortunate Kittitians and Nevisians? Why gloat in the acquisition of wealth while poor, down trodden and ordinary Kittitians and Nevisians engage in the fight of their lives amidst insurmountable economic and social challenges?
 
In the federation of St. Kitts and Nevis, many have been crying “foul” for quite some time with regard to the flavour of politics we practice, and the manner in which it has viciously eroded our social fabric. We need not be elusive about it. The effects are everywhere; in the Church, on the job, in our sports, in our schools, and in our communities. Some choose to ignore it, hopeful it would somehow "work itself out" others continue to plough through the political rubble demanding, pleading, weeping, praying for an overhaul. Some have been writing, debating, grinding the airwaves, registering their cries and pleading for transparent governance and stronger representation from every side of our political divide. Are our pleas falling on deaf ears while the once impressively floating ship continues to sink? Do we watch helplessly as every fragment of our identity is butchered by divide and conquer politics?
 
Disappointment that too many of our politicians aren't seemingly "measuring up" to offer the leadership we deserve ought not discourage us to the point that we become disillusioned by politicians in general.  Instead, this looming poison should somehow encourage us to discover and groom the promise of pilgrims among our vibrant young people and "objective-minded" adults who share the same vision of a united federation. Therein we may discover a voice that will speak for ALL the people, and snuff out the voice that speaks for but a few.