Alred 'AC' Frett. Photo: VINO/File

The Jubilations were over, and I felt good because the Festival had come and gone with no reports of casualties or even bad weather... However, life goes on, and it was sad to hear of the loss of life in Anguilla and having to face TS Ernesto, which felt more like a Hurricane and terrified us with memories of Irma... Still, we were lucky, and it’s likely that storms coming later in the year will go to the north of us.

Meanwhile, the paradoxical hand of Faith continues: we are no longer Nature’s Little Secret, for the Hurricanes have found us, and even as we were holding our 70th Emancipation Celebrations, our Top Leader/ former Premier, was being sentenced to face his 70th Birthdate in Prison… Still, where there’s Life, there’s Hope, and we clung to a glimmer of pride that our McMaster made it to the Olympic Finals.

However, even as we watched our Children parade & celebrate an Imaginary Emancipation, we knew it still lacked full-throated international recognition… We see this highlighted daily in images of Social Unrest in America and England - our Mother Country... They are now being literally set ablaze by those who regard themselves as the Political Right, and are focused on a return to Discrimination & Slavery.

They see us as being so well programmed to ‘go along to get along’, that we became allergic to Facts, and our Feel-Good Medicine is their formula of lies... We look to America and England for our Salvation, but they have been built on Slavery, and are still stuck in misdirection… Once the UK Courts created a Ruler-King without Power, and now the US Courts have created a President-King with too much power.

As the World burns, we need a Fire Brigade, but too often those who can neither ‘man pumps nor carry ladders’, control the Keys & Helmets… We have long passed the time for excuses, but they confused Conservative, which means retardation, as being better than Progressive, which speaks for itself… Our only hope for Rescue now depends on our will to elect Leaders to take us forward instead of backward.

When Destiny is just a Name and not our Aim:

We were never born to suffer, and those who think that silence is Golden and Sores will heal themselves are wrong… Furthermore, it is useless for us to perspirate over the problems & injustices in America and England while ignoring those at home… However, Real Leaders shouldn’t complain about problems they meet at work, since they always knew these were there before they begged for the job to solve them.

The Roles of Leaders are simply to provide & protect the measures that would make us capable of securing our individual & international Rights & Properties, but far too often they do the opposite and undermine the present & potential security of these same Rights & Properties... Prior to Emancipation, they assisted in the direct selling of the People, and today, they are selling their Lands & Opportunities.

We have grown so conditioned to Social Abuse that when such Leaders misrepresent Exploitation as Investments, we accept the disenfranchisement... Consequently, our Children grow up Landless, and devoid of Identity, and as they fail to know themselves, they also fail to care or aspire... The result is a downward spiral or race to the bottom; especially when we do nothing to reduce or halt the process.

There may be no pleasure in trying to save the Youth from themselves, and many would rather hear of things that sound nice & make them feel good, whereas preventing the loss of innocent lives requires the Naked Truth... It is most unfortunate when they see themselves as invincible and would rather reject hard facts & tough love... Too often, they admire us for fooling them rather than respect us for schooling them.

Completing the Task of our Forefathers:

Whether or not we refuse or welcome the Challenge to join the fight and save our Home, the fact remains that we can never save our Country without first saving Ourselves, and we can never save Ourselves without saving the Children, and we can never save the Children by alienating their Lands...

This tragic failure of Political Leaders throughout History, is now being seen in the latest Wickhams Cay Swindle. You may be too young to know, but Wickhams Cay was once a part of Road Harbour, and we almost lost it to External Interests in a Reclamation Process… Thanks to Noel Lloyd & others, we were able to buy it back, and you know it as the Business Centre of Road Town, our Capital… To ensure Local Ownership, some of us were allowed to buy into a small Business Area known as the Palmgrove Shopping Centre.

Of course we paid our Dues, but Government failed to meet their Obligation, and following Hurricane Irma, they virtually seized our Property without explanation... Rumours suggest that they promised it to External Ownership, which would clearly demonstrate their willingness to disenfranchise this and future Generations by taking us back into the practices of Discrimination & Colonialism or Modern Slavery.

We have been advised to beg or sue the Government, but I am reluctant because the function of Government is to protect the Rights of People, and when they corruptly choose to steal the Properties & Rights of the Children, they will simply use our Tax Dollars to defend themselves against us... Evidently, this is more than enough reason for the Crown to step in with a real COI in order to protect the People.

Meanwhile, we may be crying out for external features like better Roads, Homes, and Jobs, and that may be good, but it means very little if we are still trapped in Mental Bondage... August is seen as the month of Emancipation & Freedom, but Signs & Symptoms continue to suggest that we would be Dumb to think we are Free... We must face the Facts & do the Acts that will fulfill the Freedom Dream of our Ancestors.

PS:Will continue addressing some of your Questions & Comments on Live BVP Radio Programs