In an effort to raise regional consciousness, all members of the Girl Guiding family as well as the general public were invited to celebrate the Caribbean Link of Girl Guiding Week of Activities at the Girl Guides Headquarters in St. Vincent from Tuesday 26th April to Friday 29th April, 2011.
"As a regionalist from Barbados" I was invited to deliver an address at their Regional Integration Symposium - ALL AH WE ARE ONE: The Threads That Keep Us Together hosted on Tuesday 26th April, 2011.
Needless to say I eagerly accepted this invitation to speak on one of my favorite topics and here follows the content of my address:
No matter how many times I am asked to speak to an audience, I always get sooooo nervous. I mean I am literally shaking as I speak... but I assure you it is no reflection on my resolve as it pertains to regional integration. There’s nothing shaky about my belief that out of many we are indeed one people and that come what may, One Caribbean still.
President of the SVG Girl Guides Association – Mrs June Russell; Chief Commissioner of the SVG Girl Guides Association – Mrs Althea Commissiong; Other Members of the Caribbean Link of Guiding and SVG Girl Guides Association; Distinguished Guests; Media Personnel; Ladies, gentlemen and leaders of the future...
Allow me a moment to express my gratitude for having been invited to address you this evening. I am humbled at the expression of confidence in a 22 year old such as myself with little more to offer than my knowledge of the region’s past, my opinion on its present and my vision for its future.
I think is it quite significant that I am addressing the Caribbean Link of Guiding, as it is the continuation of the Federal Link of the Girl Guides Association of the West Indies which was formed back in April of 1958 in the context of the West Indies Federation. I find this significant because although the Federation failed, YOU DID NOT.
Do you know what that is testament of?
The threads that bind.
It says, ladies and gentlemen, that even where our leaders do not get it right... WE WILL because we are an inextricably linked people.
It was true of Federation and I stand here before you today to say it IS true of CARICOM. It is true because what binds the Caribbean together is not the will of our respective elected officials... it is not any social, political or economic agenda... or even the Treaty of Chaguaramas. It isn’t even about our shared institutions... but rather our shared culture and history.
All ah we are one!
But I am not going to stand here and tell you we all “came on the same slave ship”. The truth is we did not. By the grace of God, the Caribbean is a rich melting pot of Amerindian, African, Indian, European, Chinese and many other descendents. Yet I need not chronicle the whole story behind “The People Who Came” to impress upon you that this is exactly what makes the Caribbean so special.
Out of many we are indeed one people.
We one people when we sing a reggae song...
When we play mas through the streets...
When we curse the West Indian team for losing another match.
But if there is one thing that makes the Caribbean Caribbean it would have to be our resilience as a people. We are all built special in the corner of the world. From Jamaica in the north all down the archipelago to Trinidad and including the mainland territories – we are a strong people. We have endured pressures from Western powers, rebellions, invasions, coups, earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions and even periods of financial crisis but STILL WE RISE.
Furthermore, we are ALWAYS there for each other when we need it most. But like any family we fight. And like any family, sometimes we will work out our differences and sometimes we will not but we are still a family... still One Caribbean.
That said, I have been asked to address you on the threads that keep us together but it would be remiss of me, in light of regional current events not to address the forces that seek to pull us apart. Forces such as the immaturity that some of our leaders display at times... the intolerance some our people project... the ignorance we still have of each other’s culture differences... and the colonial residue of our past which includes indoctrinated concepts of self-hate and the like.
To address these shortcomings we need to be honest with ourselves and each other. Indeed, if nothing else, the attitude of many governments to the Caribbean Court of Justice, the allegations of mistreatment of Caribbean nationals at the Grantley Adams International Airport and such recent events have shown us that we still have a lot of work to do in the integration movement.
While most people want to keep believing in and working towards Caribbean integration, it is undeniable that frustration has been building for a long time now. People are tired of the rhetoric and political spins. We, as a region have been chasing our tails for decades and we know now what we knew then- nationalistic agendas have hindered our regional groupings from the inside-out. This needs to come to an end because currently the ideal of integration is repeatedly sacrificed when plotting political strategy to obtain another term in office.
To see any real progress the movement needs everyone. We all need to make the personal effort, to pull up a neighbour when they fall short, to demand more of our people, to demand more of our leaders. And this is especially important now where many governments in the region have in recent times made arguably anti-integration statements or policy decisions. It is our responsibility to ensure that they do better than this. As a people we have a duty to hold them accountable.
But while we cannot always count on a top-down regionalism so we must ensure that we constantly nurture the concept of One Caribbean at the grassroot level. It is then and only then that real movement will occur. I believe that we can achieve more meaningful integration this way. The rate at which RedJet flights sold out last week says to me it is more than possible....it is inevitable.
In my humble opinion, the greatest challenge for Caribbean states in functioning as a collective remains overcoming individual smallness which is not just a matter of physical size, but is also psychological. The psychological impact of smallness shows itself in two ways in most Caribbean countries. 1. Fear of each other and 2. Self-perception in relation to larger, more powerful countries. These are weaknesses that can no longer go ignored especially in the context of a globalising world.
What do I mean by that?
Globally, there is an intensification of relations between States as well as regions. This has brought with it a steady progression to a borderless world economy through the removal of barriers to the movement of goods and capital between countries. As a result, there is increased interdependence amongst countries. What this means for us as a region is that we will literally have to depend on each other for survival in the new world order.
We are now more than a ‘sphere to be influenced’ and have instead sought to carve out a place for ourselves internationally. Arguably, what each of us have achieved in this regard to date, would not have been possible without the collective bargaining strength our regional grouping provides. As globalisation spreads, demanding changes in approach and thinking, so too must the understanding of who we are evolve. We must see ourselves as One Caribbean to be treated as One Caribbean.
Rather than being distracted or discouraged by conflicts that have arisen among us we need to capitalise on our collective power. As a friend of mine quite rightly pointed out the European Union has managed free movement, a common currency and a host of other strides in terms of their integration DESPITE the fact that they spent most of the last millennium trying to kill each other - The Hundred Years War, Thirty Years War, World War I, World War II – just to name a few! Next to Europe’s bloody past, our issues in the Caribbean are squabbles which pose no real hindrance to integration and as such do not undermine the fact we are indeed ONE PEOPLE.
But even as I make this point about the European Union I want to point out another success story much closer to home- the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States. Indeed CARICOM could learn a lot from them on how to not only make integration work ...but how to make it work for each member state. Thanks to sacrifices on the part of everyone initially, the level of institutional integration accomplished in the OECS has ensured significant social and economic growth in its member states as well as a deeper sense of community. Its success is such that the Manning administration of Trinidad & Tobago would have even entertained thoughts of joining them when it was perceived that CARICOM was moving too slow along the integration path.
These are examples to emulate both structurally and philosophically. The European Union, the OECS – these show what is possible for CARICOM if we set egos aside and refocus on our collective identity. In truth, integration is happening in the region and many states, sadly the more developed countries in the region, need to come to the humbling realisation that they cannot hold the movement hostage. Gone are the days where 1 from 10 left naught. As such, it is time for all of us to get on board, or be left behind.
Therefore, in closing I want to take this opportunity to say to the integrationists among us: “fear not, all is not lost” and to those attempting to stand in the way of our integration: “you are fighting a losing battle.”
All ah we are one!
I thank you for your time.
