By Earl Bousquet

Annual observances have been laden with symbolism that unfortunately outmatches general appreciation of the full meanings of the historical and actual concepts that belie Independence, Nationhood, Sovereignty, Constitutionality, Legal and Judicial Affairs, ‘Foreign’ and ‘Home’ Affairs, National Development, Responsibilities (of Citizens to the State and vice versa), even roles of Art and Culture.

For 46 years the nation has flowed with the ebbs and flows of the tide of adjusting to the end of centuries of slavery and colonialism and adapting to the challenges and opportunities of growing-up on its own in a world less interested in giving helping hands.

Neo-colonialism has taken hold deeper and faster than former colonies have been able to find their way in an increasingly hostile world, the Caribbean region’s political response also being less than required, resulting in stunted growth of the national capacity or willingness to see and treat Independence as it was meant to be.

Constitutional Review hasn’t resulted in much of a difference in how much people misunderstand constitutional affairs, Parliaments continue to operate in the shadow of the Westminster system (and membership of the Commonwealth) that require the majority of nations to pledge loyalty to the British Monarch -and Democracy continues to be mocked by those who violate its every tenet while treating it merely as a positive political password.

But, as Saint Lucia (and other former British West Indian colonies) contemplate proceeding to Republicanism, it will be necessary for the over-emphasis on Symbolism must be replaced with true national initiatives and objectives towards better national appreciation of Independence and Republicanism -and how they both complement and differ in the process of constitutional development.

Annual Independence Lectures address topics encouraging reflection and projection and aiming for excellence, but hardly about adjusting to the global realities in ways that will help citizens of all ilk better understand why what happens elsewhere always affects everywhere in a world reduced to a village of shared humanity.

Independence has never been as much about going it alone as about proceeding together for the common benefit of the people of the nation and region within an international community in which not all of the common parts are equal, some always seeing themselves as more equal, extraordinary, even exceptional.

Independence for small island and developing nations of the Global South came in different ways, some through wars for national liberation, others by force of circumstances, but most in the Caribbean through a constitutional process keeping them tied to the ways of the past, but in new ways.

It’s still embarrassingly but tellingly difficult to engage with Mister John, Miss Jane, or Miss Quashie, or even the average Caribbean student on the commonalities and differences of Independence and Republicanism and how they affect the citizen, or how they change the proverbial price of coffee -or tea.

History and experience have shown the need for necessary periods of related national literacy for everything from how parties choose candidates for elections to how independence and republicanism affect citizen and nation.

Governments also need today to encourage establishment of ‘ideas factories’ to plant, grow and nurture ideas from young and old on everything beneficial an worthy of national pursuit, particularly to address national and community problems, as with the winning subjects of annual school science and technology fairs that only win awards and end-up in footnotes of school history.

Sadly, political parties mired in traditional colonial ‘ruling and opposition party’ approaches to government and opposition continue to make a mockery o democracy by opposing for opposing sake and/or practicing blatant expressions of party paramountcy in governance, resulting today in some actually boycotting independence activities in the name of protesting against the elected government of the day.

Banking on achieving regime change by any means possible, some continue to approach elections by spinning yarns and telling tales that tell more of their inability to unite and their dependence on division -and even more why they lose appeal even on their own home turf as voters increasingly opt to dump traditional opposers of everything and proposers of everything else.

Others unable to influence voters to understand their arguments revert to use of Information Technology (IT) to mislead through misinformation, their every online post and platform intended to be a Last Post for governing parties while demonstrating their capacity to regard citizens as would by removing the ‘m’ from ‘masses’ after they take office.

But Saint Lucian and Caribbean people are waking up quickly to the latest manifestation of Washington’s sense of destiny in the mass deportations of immigrants already underway in a land built by immigrants and where everyone other than Native first people is the descendants of an immigrant.

On unfortunate occasions like these, victims of Washington’s current partial ethnic cleansing approach to immigration and foreign aid forcibly come to realize their only home is where they were born, except in the USA under today’s veritable King Donald II.

The casino owner in The Donald is gambling on achieving everything he promised on the campaign trail as fast as possible and is not-at-all interested in the reverberations of his presidential decrees beyond US shores.

This is a period that will test the ability of Caribbean governments and people to adapt with as much shock as with necessary forced adjustment to AIDS and COVID-19, Regime Change and Climate Change, Supply Chain problems and backfiring global economic sanctions and the misplaced War on Terror that have come in the First Quarter of Century 21.

Preparation for tomorrow will therefore require revisiting how we celebrate and observe independence against the background of what it’s meant to be and actually turned-out to be in the past 46 years.   

In that regard, it might be the right time for Saint Lucia and other Caribbean Community (CARICOM) nations contemplating Republicanism to consider appropriate timing for discussion and introduction of policies like the following -and many more that can and will evolve from any and all related national consultations (though not necessarily in this order):   

•          Stop illegal spelling Saint Lucia’s name with an abbreviation (St. Lucia)

•          Respect laws governing public use of depictions of the national flag

•          Outlaw use of wrong colors (other than Cerulian Blue) for Saint Lucia’s national flag

•          Outlaw use of party colors in parliament

•          Remove and outlaw political party symbols and colors on national symbols

•          Cleanse Constitutions of necessary reverences to ‘Queen’ and ‘King’

•          Adopt new National Anthem (where needed)

•          Remove party colors and symbols from national flags

•          Adopt new National Pledges (where necessary)

•          Rename cities, towns, villages, streets, highways and national entities to cleanse permanent vestiges of colonialism

•          Commission the formal rewriting of Caribbean and Nations’ History

•          Honor Emancipation and other unsung national heroes

•          Revisit and update national schools’ curricula

•          Teach Kweyol (indigenous national languages) in schools

•          Make History a mandatory Caribbean Exams and University curriculum subject

•          Document and Teach History of French and Dutch Slavery in the Caribbean and implications for Reparations

•          Demand Reparations for Slavery from France and The Netherlands

•          Encourage and support acceleration of attention to Indigenous people and their rights today

•          Encourage and support research and documentation of reasons for Reparations for Indentureship

•          Ensure Equal Recognition for all Religions

•          Enact and update new Laws addressing online issues, from IT literacy to criminal activity

•          Initiate 21st Century Constitutional Reviews

•          Establish Museums of History and Culture

•          Establish Public Broadcasting Services easily accessible to all, online and offline

•          Establish inter-island and regional Maritime Transport Services

•          Establish better infrastructure for air and sea ports and internal road transportation

•          Enable water companies to engage in real income-generating activities

•          Introduce national bus services to overcome minibus chaos and ensure upgraded and punctual services for students and elderly, pensioners and retirees, disabled and other qualifying citizens

•          Regulate parking services in crowded towns and cities

•          Initiate a National Consultations and Essay Competitions on ‘My Dream for My Nation’ and ‘My Caribbean Dream’

•          Establish National Youth Services

•          Institutionalize approaches to Youth Economy

•          Engage Retirees and Pensioners with needed skills for national service

•          Develop an effective Witness Protection Program

•          Observe National Black History Months

•          Adopt Parliamentary sub-Committees for Reparations for Slavery and Native Genocide

•          Revisit National Awards Systems to expand possibilities for active recognition of deserving cases

•          Acquire, preserve and appropriately utilize abandoned colonial structures 

•          Revisit and Upgrade Land Reform policies

The above three dozen-plus proposals on possible considerations about Independence and Republicanism, randomly chosen while writing this article, reflect just some views of only one Caribbean citizen with as-many ideas as every other.

Just imagine if all citizens offered even just-a-few…