These days, I keep hearing people talk about «our» Caribbean from all sides…
Here and there, we’re either «Caribbean» or «Afro-Caribbean»…
But that part of the Caribbean…
- Who is she?
- Where is she?
- What is she doing?
A lot of questions, but NONE answer…
These are the days when I’m waiting for a response—or responses—from our fellow citizens: CTM leaders, mayors—sometimes associated with this or that municipality on this or that island in the Caribbean—party leaders, the CCIM, political activists, and union leaders both big and small, «revolutionaries,» «independence advocates,» and «assimilationists»…
«Our» Caribbean is sometimes brought up when the goal is to denounce this or that opinion, this or that party, but without any «objective» data…
Do you want some questions?
Here are a few of them…
- What is the minimum wage (or its equivalent) in Saint Lucia, Dominica, or Jamaica? What are the prices of «their» «CGM,» etc.?.
- How do our GDP figures compare to theirs over the past 5, 10, 15, or 20 years?
- How are civil servants, teachers, professors, doctors, engineers, farmers, agricultural workers, the unemployed, farm laborers, businesses, and «local» and «non-local» business owners treated there…
- What's the status of his insurance policy?
- What is the current status of the fight against drug trafficking?
- What's the latest on «corruption»?
- What kind of aid does it receive from the international «community» (China, the U.S., Europe, etc.) and why is this aid provided? And what is expected in «return»…
Admittedly, for example, the strategies of France and Great Britain have always been very different, and at present—particularly with regard to Africa—it is by no means certain that the former French colonies are faring better than the former British colonies…
As for the problem that has been so terribly rocking «our» country in recent months, the high cost of living, Do we have any points of comparison that would let us know whether «they» are doing «better» or «worse» than we are…?
What studies have our beloved «INSEE»—and especially «our» CTM—conducted to inform our opinion and prevent truths and nonsense from getting mixed up …?
Who has taken—even just one of our famous rubber boats—to cross the two tiny straits that separate us from them in order to «inform » (to inform, not to manipulate) the people of Guadeloupe and Martinique…?
Who? Who? Who?
Ayen! Nobody!
Personally, I have my own opinion on these issues.
Not out of ideology, but because, having spent quite a bit of time with our «brothers» from «our» Caribbean, «their» answers gave me some insights that neither INSEE nor the CTM had provided me with…
Try this for yourselves… It’s possible for each and every one of us…
And, well, if this one turned out not to be too out of its depth in this head-to-head comparison…
I feel even more at ease, because I know that what «we» The fact that we are here in 2024 is the result of a silent, continuous, and tenacious struggle waged by the four or five generations of moms and dads who came before us (Thank you, Mom Ninie; thank you, Dad Saint-ange; Thank you, Uncle Marcel, Uncle Gratiant, Thank you, Aunt Flora, Thank you, Mom Asie, and I can’t name them all here…) and to whom I owe, without a doubt, every achievement I have today, the result of their quiet BUT deliberate and conscious strategy.
YES, I AM AWARE.
Those who think otherwise are overlooking this fabulous legacy.
And that's sad…
So sad… For them…
Henri (Luc) Pied
