Dear Editor,

  We the people of St. Maarten are sick and tired and our noble ancestors are spinning in their graves to see that after all the sacrifices they made for us, others feel it is their right to continue forcing their will on St. Maarten people, to turn our homeland into their modern day plantation of human exploitation.

  Enough is enough. SHTA should get out of St. Maarten immediately. They do not care for St. Maarten and its people. The only reason they are here is to exploit St. Maarten and pay no taxes.

  Yes, my beloved people of St. Maarten, genocide by substitution is a serious crime against our humanity.

  We the people of St. Maarten hereby thank the Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labour VSA Pamela Gordon-Carty for a job well done on behalf of the people of St. Maarten, and to the SHTA we say, “donderstraalop” from St. Maarten immediately.

Theophilus Priest

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

“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