“Get up, stand up, Stand up for your rights. Get up, stand up, Don't give up the fight.” Such were the lyrics of Bob Marley and last Saturday, Statians attended a concert called the Bob Marley Earth Day Celebration.

  Through this medium, I would like to thank all those involved in the evening's entertainment and the Bob Marley fans on the Historical Gem who turned up to swing to the reggae beats. Thanks to all of you, it was a wonderful event.

  Marley died young at the age of 36 years. Had he survived; he would have been 75 years old last week. Whereas his legacy is absolutely measured by the musical work he composed, it was his message that will probably remain eternally relevant.

  His music was embraced by spirituality and as an icon, he continues to represent a symbol of Pan-African culture and identity. To many, such a view may seem

old-fashioned and unrelated to our fast world of din and spin. To others, his words are a source of inspiration.

  One of his greatest quotes is as follows: “The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.”

  Thank you all who joined in the celebration of Bob Marley's birthday on Statia and we’re looking forward to an even bigger event with more artists next year, and to make it an annual show.

Curtis “Strawl” Arnaud

Dear Editor,

  It’s that time of the year where we always have the new plates coming for vehicles. We go through various suggestions that we should not do the plates and stick to the same plates considering the dump situation.

  It has been suggested to just have a windshield sticker to the car like Curaçao does, but lack of prompt visual control is cited as a reason to stick to different color plates each year.

  I believe we should perhaps look at this in a way where we also add value to our island’s economy.

  The plates are not made locally, but at least we can settle for 2 sets of plates and use one set one year and turn the used set in during payment and pick up the second set. During this second year we can have a local factory repaint the first set of old plates to a new color. So, by the third year the second set is given in during payment and the first set collected back in a different color. This would keep the desired visual control in line with the existing norm.

  With this, only new numbers need to be ordered and we can actually support a small industry locally with this initiative. We will be ecologically more conscious and not have to encounter delays for the plates during the payment deadlines. I look forward to the correct attention in this regard.

Viren V. Kotai

The month of February is being celebrated every year as “Black History Month”. All kinds of functions are organized to remember our great heroes of the past predominantly from the United States of America (and I say this tongue in cheek) in reference to the word “united”, because there has never been such a thing as united where most importantly and visibly the builders of America the black man is concerned.

  I will not get into the discussion of who was in the Americas because it has been discovered that the black man was in America even before the Indians. I know this statement will make for a great debate. However, to prove that Africans were in the Americas before Columbus, read the book by Guayanese-born Ivan Van Sertima entitled They came before Columbus and many others on this subject.

  We should be taught on how Africans brought civilization to America. Artifacts to substantiate the fact that Africans arrived in America before Columbus were dug up by archaeologists. Don’t take my word for it, do your own research. I think it is time we start teaching about African History. All we have been and are being taught for centuries came from Euro-centric archaeologists, is the history of the colonizers/Europeans which is expected.

  Probably they fear if we unite it would be to their demise. This is far removed from the truth. If such was our mentality, we would have conquered the world.

  The myth that our history started with slavery is a farce and devoid of truth. The continuous indoctrination of the black man will not stop unless we in the words of the late Lester Bob Marley “emancipate ourselves from mental slavery; none but ourselves can free our minds.” Those words are prophetic and still applicable today.

  The black man/African must be told his real history. In the words of Garikai Chengu, ancient African historian and author wrote, and I quote, “Contrary to popular belief, African American history did not start with slavery in the New World.”

  An overwhelming body of new evidence is emerging which proves that Africans had frequently sailed across the Atlantic to the Americas, thousands of years before Columbus and indeed before Christ. The great ancient civilizations of Egypt and West Africa travelled to the Americas, contributing immensely to American civilization by importing the art of pyramid-building, political systems and religious practices as well as mathematics, writing and a sophisticated calendar.

  The strongest evidence of African presence in the Americas came from the pen of Columbus himself. In 1920, a renowned American historian and linguist, Leo Weiner of Harvard University, in his book Africa and the Discovery of America” explained how Columbus noted in his journal that Native Americans had confirmed that “black-skinned people had come from the south-east in boats, trading in gold-tipped spears” end of quote.

  This is not even the tip of the iceberg of our contribution to this world. As time goes by the truth is emerging, it can no longer be hidden. It was not allowed to be repeated. But as someone said, “time is a great healer and a great revealer.” It is said that researchers who dared to bring out new finds that were against the accepted history were intimidated, funding terminated and in some cases jobs and careers put in jeopardy.

  I don’t want to only hear about Black History Month, I want to be taught about our African History. Tell the truth.

George Pantophlet

Dear Editor,

  On behalf of the vulnerable and seemingly voiceless, opinion-less youth of this island, most of whom have been subjected to many injustices during their course of primary education on Saba, we, the citizens, request immediate action by those in authority, against the functioning of the Sacred Heart School. We are very dissatisfied with the quality of education at the Sacred Heart School and the unobtrusive, unintelligent and uninformed decisions that continue to be made by the current administration. Calls to the school board to address the below-mentioned issues remain unaddressed and we have lost all confidence in the management of this school.

  The Sacred Heart School has come into direct violation of multiple rights of the child as per the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). The information below gives an accurate illustration of this, as well as cases and occurrences that can be found credible if investigated. However, for fear of victimization, the sources and other sensitive information shall not be named.

  “Article 3 – All organizations concerned with children should work towards what is best for each child.”

* The Sacred Heart School has failed many students of this school by individuals pushing their personal agendas, engaging in unethical teaching practices. Many children at this school voice their concerns, worries and discontentment. In the same breath, they are swiftly dismissed.

* Many children are unhappy and unmotivated to actively participate in their school experience; this is currently known among the Principal and her staff at the Sacred Heart School.

  “Article 12 – Children have the right to say what they think should happen when adults are making decisions that affect them and to have their opinions taken into account.”

* The students of the Sacred Heart School continue to be shut down and dismissed repeatedly when they try to voice their opinions on matters that concern and directly affect them. Students continue to be blamed for the shortcomings of the management and staff; the adults of this institution do not hold themselves accountable for many incidents involving students, but rather, it is the child’s and parent’s fault. The students of this school have expressed no confidence and no trust in voicing their school-related concerns.

  “Article 16 – Children have the right to privacy. The law should protect them from attacks against their way of life, their good name, their family and their home.”

* The Sacred Heart School has acted unprofessionally, unethically and biased on numerous occasions in creating a vulnerability among the students by exposing their personal information, be it school- or home-based, to individuals outside of the school. This has been done via popular social media platforms and also in verbal conversations.

  “Article 23 – Children who have any kind of disability should receive special care and support so that they can live a full and independent life.”

* The principal, acting on behalf of the Sacred Heart School, has on more than one occasion expressed that the school is unable to accommodate students with special education needs, which leaves these students without any access to primary education. To date, there is no plan to address this educational gap. There is no differentiated learning taking place at the Sacred Heart School; the different levels of cognitive abilities and learning styles are not being catered to – “one shoe must fit all”.

  “Article 28 – Children have the right to an education. Discipline in schools should respect children’s human dignity. Primary education should be free. Wealthier countries should help poorer countries achieve this.”

* Parents have been forced to seek alternative options to the Sacred Heart School within the last academic year, 2 of which have been confirmed to have left the island, because of the incompetence in working on a more holistic and much-needed educational approach that includes children of different cultures, background and cognitive capacities.

* The students of this school have been subjected to physical punishment, emotional abuse and educational neglect; a direct result of the failure to lead and protect each child under charge of the management of this school.

  The Sacred Heart School, has directly violated the Human Rights of their students, as per the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

  “Article 5 – No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

* The methods of discipline in the Sacred Heart School are not all “conscious” as they preach and the principal is well aware of this. There is evidence to support claims that students are regularly physically punished (and injured), placed out of classrooms, made to stand in the direct sunshine and deprived of their break times and food. Students have been verbally lambasted in front of entire classrooms, through degrading and derogatory comments by their teachers.

  The Government of the Netherlands states, “In 2010 Leiden University and TNO (Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research) carried out a study into the scope and nature of child abuse. Every year an estimated 119,000 children experience some type of abuse.”

  There are five general types of child abuse, four of which the Sacred Heart School continues to demonstrate.

* Physical abuse: all forms of physical violence;

* Emotional or psychological abuse: an adult regularly berates the child, acts in a dismissive and hostile manner towards the child or intentionally scares the child.

* Physical neglect: the child does not receive the care and nurturing that it needs.

* Emotional or psychological neglect: continuous lack of positive attention for the child.

* Ignoring the child’s need for love, warmth and security.

  The UNICEF Situation Analysis of children in the Caribbean Netherlands (2019) notes the following about the common quality of education, factors that are specific to the shortcomings of the Sacred Heart School.

Suitable education

* Cases of exclusion and challenges with behavior problems; to which the Sacred Heart School has no plan of action.

* Participation at schools

   Fragmented activities; not institutionalized.

  Furthermore, we are not confident that the current Principal, who has shown a dire lack of administrative skills, organizational skills and professional vision and knowledge, is capable of promoting the Second Educational Agenda, which covers the years 2017 up to and including 2020, one of the main objectives of this education agenda being “Ensuring that students in the Caribbean Netherlands receive education in 2020 that is of adequate quality.”

  By her inability to:

* hire and retain qualified and experienced staff,

* provide a structure and school climate that is conducive to learning,

* be an advocate for all students of the Sacred Heart School,

* motivate and inspire staff members,

* be a team player,

* reflect on and admit to her professional shortcomings,

* communicate effectively with parents, teachers and other stakeholders,

* be transparent in all her professional undertakings,

we do not think this is the type of administrator that the Sacred Heart School needs and deserves at this point in time.

  We believe that our children deserve better, better than what is currently being procured for the Sacred Heart School.

  As previously stated, we are not confident in the board’s ability to act impartially, as they have been made privy to many issues at this school and continue to ignore them.

  Therefore, we are calling on the Executive Council or anyone in Holland for that matter that may read this letter, on behalf of the people of Saba, to act in the best interest of our future generations. Despite the fabricated reports that paint a different story, the truth is that our children have been and continue to be victimized, ill-treated and imperiled to a less than adequate primary education. Enough is enough!

Concerned Saban

Name withheld at author's request.