Folks, this is the day that the Lord has made, Let’s rejoice and be glad in and of it.
This weekend, the Jamaica Diaspora USA/Southeast region will have its conference in Orlando, Florida, and after looking at the proposed/suggested agenda, printed in one of the community periodicals, it dawned on me that something is amiss.
Nowhere on the agenda, spread over three days, Friday thru’ Sunday, is there any mention of general meeting and election.
The fact of the matter is that election is due, if I remember clearly the stipulation outlined in the first policy document. I referenced the first policy document because it is my understanding that the government is considering a new policy document to inform the Diaspora.
I have noted in this forum, many time over, absence or lack or both, of a sustainable structure for the proper and effective functioning of the Diaspora movement.
Try as the government may, it remains a waste of time, a talk shop.
Until the Northeast region moves away from being a New York/New Jersey & Connecticut thing, it is going nowhere!
Some years ago and I think that was the last time that a conference was held in the Northeast region, up in Hartford, Connecticut, it took a government minister to use the platform to show the then Advisory Board Member (ABM), the door, telling him in as many words that it was time to go, the welcome was over!
You know there is no more honey left in the moon when the wife and the husband cannot stand the sight of each other and the prenuptials become a bone of contention! It means someone needs to go!
History is repeating itself. Simply put, the conference is where your election must be held. And I mean your local conference, not when you go to the international conference in Montego Bay!
It is well document what happened in the Northeast region because protocols were not followed. And so by a huge default, aided and abetted by proxies and absenteeism, members were ushered into office.
If you are representing 7, 8 or 9 states, then voters should come from everywhere, not just a few communities.
And the election cannot be held in Jamaica where only a privileged few are present. And so, in the context that the government is looking at the blueprint of other countries to see how the
Diaspora can vote in a general election, this must be a point of concern.
Diaspora can vote in a general election, this must be a point of concern.
Something is wrong with the movement when 100 delegates attend a very successful regional conference and one hundred and fifty delegates attend the international summit.
The Jamaica Diaspora in the USA needs a structure, one that will be effective and one that must start with a salaried executive director and I know I am that person, as I will not be afraid to tell the government, any government that there is no ‘p’ in Jamaica!
My heart pains me every time to think that the USA Diaspora has to wait on Kingston to tell it when it’s time for a bathroom break! That’s a classic case of the tail wagging the dog. And that is so because there is no structure to the movement.
Just think what is going to happen when the time come for someone from the Diaspora to be elected/selected to be a part of the government of the day!
So, a golden opportunity was missed in New York and no doubt will be missed in Florida, to elect the next ABMs.
Come to think of it. The Diaspora and the Reggae Boyz are, oh, so similar. They just can’t seem to get it right, after all these years!
Folks, Independence is just around the corner. Start with your minds!
That’s today’s conversation. You have the last word. Share your thoughts.
–end–
You must log in to post a comment.