Dear Editor,
The purpose of this Op Ed is to express the fine tuning of my rambling thoughts, on and around the recent proposed Residency Programme on the island nation of Anguilla. Quite frankly, I am not going to say yeah or nah, will not call anyone out, nor is this Op Ed to be seen as an attack on any particular political party or anyone, for that matter. What I intend to do is to call it as I see it, regain focus to do some consciousness raising and share my thoughts and highlight some pertinent issues vis-a-vis the proposed Residency Programme.
I firmly believe that based on the magnitude of the proposed Residency Programme on the island nation of Anguilla, the discussion on and around this issue, should be one of inclusion that also involves communities of the Anguillian Diaspora living abroad. Based on today’s technology, the meetings could take place based on a moderated Skype (video conferencing), in an open forum between participants and the Government of Anguilla’s representatives.
Prior to the meeting, the participants would have been given well publicized advance notice of the date, time, its location and what is on the agenda. In all fairness, this issue definitely impacts Anguillians and their descendants living abroad, so it important for them to be given first-hand information, as well as the opportunity to ask questions and get answers. I am confident that many of the Anguillian Diaspora living abroad would concur with my suggestion.
Having read some articles on and around the Residency Programme, one question that I have is, what exactly is the “elevated status”? How will it affect those of us at home and abroad? In my mindset or through my lens “elevated status” is a code word that may seem to infer so many angles. Who is being “elevated”, why and what are they being “elevated” to? Just asking’
Will the “elevated status” mean that Anguillians and their descendants coming into Anguilla from abroad, as well as other black individuals, be subjected to discriminatory searches at Anguilla’s ports of call, whereas those with “elevated status”, are waved on with a smile without being searched? My position is, an equally respectful warm welcome should be given to all who enter Anguilla’s ports of call on the island nation of Anguilla.
I came of age in a racist developed nation where being black can mean being marginalized based on institutional racism; so it was painful for me to come into Anguilla on more than one occasion and witness first-hand Anguilians and other black folk being subjected to a difference in treatment, based on unequal searches at one of its ports of call. I personally have written about this policy, as well as singularly protested against this policy on more than one occasion at Blowing Point.
The thought lingers in my mind, where would Anguilla be today, to be able to welcome visitors in terms of its “upscale tourism industry”; if a member of my paternal family the legendary Lloyds of Roaches Hill, Anguilla, did not envision and build its first accommodation for visitors from abroad, Lloyd’s Bed and Breakfast in Crocus Hill.
On that note, moving right along giving credit where it is due ... Anguilla’s secondary education came into being, because of vision of the same member of my paternal family who as a legislator back in the day, secured the funds to build the secondary school and supervised its construction. By the way, Anguilla’s airport (Clayton J. Lloyd International Airport), also has the honor of having been renamed after Anguilla’s first aviation pioneer a descendant of the Lloyds of Roaches Hill, and because of his pioneering efforts in aviation, Anguilla has bragging rights for having the most native-born pilots, over 60, within the Eastern Caribbean region.
Anguillians in the Diaspora living abroad, are your kith and kin, we too are also the gatekeepers of Anguilla. Many of us and our offspring who were born abroad are just as dedicated and concerned about Anguilla as Anguillians who are living on the island nation of Anguilla. So, sometimes it may seem that the empowering consistency of the support of Anguillians living abroad and their descendants for Anguillians at home is downplayed or overlooked. By virtue of our home-grown pride, as Anguilla is part of the global community, our numerous contacts and diverse professional backgrounds, many of us are in a position to network and raise the bar on advocacy and activism on around global issues that would affect Anguilla.
It was the late Mr. Jerimiah Gumbs, an Anguillian who lived abroad for many years; who initiated and was given the opportunity to address and successfully argue Anguilla’s quest for self-determination and governance before the United Nations in New York during the mid-’60s.
According to historian and author Mr. Eric Hughes (proud son of Anguillian parentage born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey); Mr. Jeremiah Gumbs was accompanied on that mission by an elected city official, the late Council Member Austin Gumbs who was born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey of Anguillian parentage.
Mrs. Eileen Niles of South Hill, Anguilla, once shared with me that during the transition of the period of Anguilla’s revolutionary move for self-governance, a group of Anguillians, including Mrs. Niles who was living in the U.S Virgin Islands during that time, voluntarily spearheaded a fundraising campaign to send weekly remittances home, to support the island’s newly-formed independent government, so that they could meet its financial obligations and pay the civil servants’ salaries.
After Hurricane Irma struck last year and devastated Anguilla, it was the Anguilla Progressive Association of New York, Inc. (APANY), under the leadership of Mr. Carlson Connor, President, and Mr. Rey Allen, Vice President, that was authorized by the Government of Anguilla as its official relief organization. Yours truly contacted Gov. Cuomo of New York State seeking assistance for Anguilla from the NYS National Guard and the Army Corps of Engineers. It was within a matter of days, I shared with Mr. Connor an affirmative written response that I received from the Governor’s office offering any assistance that they could provide to Anguilla. An actual response team being sent to assist Anguilla may have been hampered by the assumption that everything was back to a sense of normalcy on the island.
Lest we also forget, as a futuristic proposed yacht marina (s) is on the drawing board for the island nation of Anguilla. It was my dad the late Capt. Lionel T. Lloyd, one of Anguilla’s foremost “traditional seafaring captains of yesteryear,” who was the first Anguillian back in the day to bring yachts on private excursions from the U.S. Virgin Islands to Blowing Point, Anguilla. So, that being said, the yachting clubs in Anguilla today stand on his shoulders. Yet, the Anguilla Stamp Advisory Committee (this is not an attack), still has the opportunity to bestow upon him and others who may have been overlooked the honor that they are so rightfully due, just as it was given to the other “traditional seafaring captains of yesteryear” who were similarly situated.
With all due respect, based on fairness, transparency and inclusion, if you honor one, you must honor all. Capt. Lloyd was a proud son of Anguillian soil whose parents were an immigrant father from (Guyana/Suriname) and an Anguillian mother from Long Bay. As I recall, Dad travelled and lived abroad for a major part of his life, including a long stint in the U.S. as a professional civilian employee of the U.S. Naval Service, working alongside the ranks of enlisted men and women ... yet, he always carried his Anguillian heritage with a special badge of home-grown pride.
Que sera, sera ... whatever will be will be, but at the end of the day, I trust that the proposed Residency Programme, or any other futuristic efforts of that magnitude that will impact the island nation of Anguilla, its sons and daughters of the soil at home and abroad, as well as their descendants, would be given a fair and equal opportunity to participate in any discussion forums and have their say.
We too are Anguilla’s children, the proud offspring and their descendants who deserve to have an equal seat and our rightful place at the table of brotherhood and sisterhood when issues that affect Anguilla are up for discussion.
Based on today’s high technology, this can be done via a Skype video-conferencing forum, in order to effectuate transparency to arrive at a collective consensus, so that we can claim what is due process in a democracy, based on the true meaning of the principle (for the people, by the people and for the good of the people).
May the Creator and the ancestors bless the island nation of Anguilla, her sons and daughters and their offspring at home and abroad.
Yinka
PS The opinions shared in this article do not reflect those of the SXM Daily Herald, its employees or assigns.
