Imagine the bemused mind of a slave who endured the ordeal called the Middle Passage, hopelessly wishing somehow to return to his land of origin. Reality sunk in; there would be no going back. The only thing left to do was whatever felt good to him.
We now know that some slaves took their own lives, others fought fearlessly and lost their lives while many more remained slaves. That's part of the reality of our past. Breaking free was a constant thought.
For most of us, taking the mental journey to what it must have been like as a slave is utter agony. For others who live for the here and now, there is little to look back to. In their minds, we have already broken free from the physical chains that made us slaves.
Somewhere in the history we create today, generations will evaluate how we as a so-called free people loved our federation when we walked its streets. We will be judged on the people or things we allowed to enslave us at a time when we were called literate and liberated citizens. What account will be recorded?
In what has been a direct contravention of the oath of allegiance to uphold our nation’s honour, some of our leaders seem unconcerned that their acts of dishonour have filled many citizens with the ultimate rancor. We have seen some of our leaders at their very worse, and have asked time and again how to break free from this cycle that shifts power from one political party to the next into the hands of a few men and their die hard supporters, leaving the regular man on the street no better off once his loudest voice is spoken at the ballot box on election day?
The principles of our political parties have never before been tested like they have today because not in our time have we seen a leader like Denzil Douglas who makes no bones about minimizing the role of his own colleagues, threatening to cut off the head of disunity if it surfaces in the 80 year old Labour party he currently leads.
Never before have we had a leader who talks down to the very people who elected him and behaves like a tyrant in parliament. Never before have we seen a leader who openly curses at the national debt or regards untruths as mis-speaking, for which of course he is unapologetic.
We have not in our time seen a Prime Minister who delegates responsibility to his colleagues and not entrust them to their roles as ministers. We have never seen a leader like him! Not in our time.
So in our time, to dwell on what “un-Prime Minister like” things our leader has done is to remain entangled in a web of frustration. It’s a case of “the more the subjects complain, the more emboldened the ruler becomes”.
In our time, our greatest challenge is to break free from the polarized state of being that has become St. Kitts and Nevis. We break free by first acknowledging wrong irrespective of party affiliation.
We must break free from the need to surround our leaders with peculiar personalities, typically known as advisers, who tell our leaders what they want to hear and not what is best for the federation.
We must break free from personalities who do not think of perception when our leader trumps the qualifications of his significant other to ensure she heads up a consulate in Dubai.
We must break free from advisers who see nothing wrong with the public show of disaffection between the Prime Minister and his deputy and how this strain can interfere with public policy and decision-making. How does a nation’s Foreign Minister not travel on “foreign business” to set up an embassy in “foreign lands”?
We must break free from advisers who pride themselves in telling the Prime Minister that the supervisor of elections acted with integrity during the 2011 Nevis elections, significantly impacting the political climate in Nevis.
All along this fast moving political avalanche in our federation, “political advisers and hangers on” have merely looked on. They have mortgages and car notes to pay, and certain lifestyles to maintain and so difficult though it might be to watch while some extremely bad decisions are being made, some have consciously chosen to zip their lips as their cups continue to full up and run over. Under their watch, the cycle of dependence on political leaders continues.
Over fifteen years ago, our current public administrators vowed to bring a new political culture to Church Street and break free from the known indiscretions of PAM. Unfortunately, the long condemned corruption and greed still seems to have a safe haven with some of our parliamentarians who notably came to parliament with integrity and will seemingly leave without it.
Mr. Andrew Holness, leader of the Jamaica Labour Party and keynote speaker at PAM's 2012 convention emphasized that the party ought to set its sights on fighting corruption as a bread and butter issue. He further added that the fight against corruption must not only be doggedly aimed at the current Labour lead government but that efforts must be made to keep corruption out of the PAM party as well. Sadly, there are many who support the opposition party PAM who fall under the same category as current Labour advisers as some see political office as an opportunity to commit the very same wrongs we denounce today. The stain of the Marriot is a stinging reminder that in the business of public service all parties are under public scrutiny and errors in judgment affect each party whether they are in or out of office. Breaking free involves serious introspection and a solid commitment to doing the honourable thing at all times.
In our time, will we break free from the political tribalism that keeps us enslaved; bound by a political colour? Will we be branded as citizens who conveniently forget the concept of service to others only to embrace the exclusive service of self?
The slaves who preceded us figured out very quickly that they were not going back to the home they once loved; Mother Africa. They made the best of the lives forced upon them and endured unimaginable hardships to pave the way for us hundreds of years later.
History shows that despite massa imposed boundaries, the tenacious and strong willed slaves finally broke free.
The future of our fragile nation implores us to "break free" today.
