Ethos – Page 17 – Go Lean…Caribbean

Category: Ethos

Hurricane in Africa? That’s ‘Climate Change’

Posted on March 22, 2019 in Ethos, Social, Tactical

Go Lean Commentary

This is the headline, in case you missed it:

“Mozambique Braces for More Floods as Cyclone Deaths Climb”. Bloomberg News Source. Posted 19 March 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2019.

Mozambique is not a Caribbean country in the typical bulls-eye for hurricanes. No, this is a country in the South African region; not normally threatened by tropical cyclones or hurricanes. This is proof-positive that something is wrong with the earth’s climate. This is the reality of Climate Change.

We told you so …

In fact, we told you (in 2018) that climate conditions will go from bad to worse on a daily basis and that we only have 12 years, before the damage we are causing to the planet will be irreversible.

We did not give this warning about Africa; this is not our charter. But we can still learn by observing-and-reporting on developments there. See here, the consequential damage from this cyclone:

Reference: Cyclone Idai
Intense Tropical Cyclone Idai is regarded as one of the worst tropical cyclones on record to affect Africa and the Southern Hemisphere as a whole. The storm caused catastrophic damage in multiple nations, leaving more than 400 people dead and hundreds more missing.^[4] Its death toll is comparable to that of south-west Indian Ocean cyclones Eline in 2000, and Gafilo in 2004.^[5] The tenth named storm and record-breaking eighth intense tropical cyclone of the 2018–19 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season, Idai originated from a tropical depression that formed off the eastern coast of Mozambique on 4 March.

The depression made landfall in the aforementioned country later in the day and remained a tropical cyclone throughout the entirety of its trek over land. On 9 March, the depression reemerged into the Mozambique Channel and was upgraded into Moderate Tropical Storm Idai next day. The system then began a stint of rapid intensification, reaching an initial peak intensity as an intense tropical cyclone with winds of 175 km/h (110 mph) on 11 March. Idai then began to weaken due to ongoing structural changes within its inner core, falling to tropical cyclone intensity. Idai’s intensity remained stagnant for about a day or so before it began to re-intensify. On 14 March, Idai reached peak intensity with maximum sustained winds of 195 km/h (120 mph) and a minimum central pressure of 940 hPa (27.76 inHg). Idai then began to weaken as it approached the coast of Mozambique due to less favorable conditions. On 15 March, Idai made landfall near Beira, Mozambique, as an intense tropical cyclone, subsequently weakening into a remnant low on 16 March.

Idai brought strong winds and caused severe flooding in Madagascar, Mozambique, Malawi, and Zimbabwe that has killed 431 people – 268 in Mozambique, 104 in Zimbabwe, 56 in Malawi, and one in Madagascar – and affected more than 2.6 million others. Catastrophic damage occurred in and around Beira in southern Mozambique. The President of Mozambique stated that more than 1,000 people may have died in the storm.^[3] A major humanitarian crisis unfolded in the wake of the cyclone, with hundreds of thousands of people in urgent need of assistance across Mozambique and Zimbabwe. In the former nation, rescuers were forced to let people die in order to save others.
…

Source: Wikipedia – retrieved March 21, 2019 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Idai

Over 1,000 dead!!! Ouch!

While Climate Change is a global crisis, our focus, our scope is limited to the Caribbean member-states.

From our Caribbean homes, we can NOT reach across the oceans and fix the climate in Africa, What we can do is mitigate the environment here at home.

Then name, blame and shame the culprit nations that are crippling our planet with more pollutants.

Due to the laws of hypocrisy, we cannot “Cry Wolf” to anyone until we conform ourselves. This theme and assertion was elaborated in these other/previous blog-commentaries from the movement behind the book Go Lean…Caribbean:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=15511	Plastics and Styrofoam – A Mitigation Plan
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=14925	Climate Change Doubt?! Numbers Don’t Lie …
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=14832	Manifesting Environmental Change
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=11858	Islands are Disappearing – The Cautionary Tale of Kiribati
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10367	Science of Sustenance – Green Batteries for Fossil-Fuel-Free Energy
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9455	Fix ‘Climate Change’ – Yes, We Can
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7103	COP21 – ‘Climate Change’ Acknowledged
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7056	Electric Cars: ‘Necessity is the Mother of Invention’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=915	Go ‘Green’ … Caribbean

It is possible to mitigate the contributors to Climate Change. We can burn less fossil fuels; we can engage more alternative energy options (solar, wind, tidal); use electric cars and public transit. But the efforts must be executed across the whole world.

At a bare minimum, we must do our part; each individual, family, community and nation. No one can be excused. For this we must be prepared to name, blame and shame the dissenters.

This should be a national emergency. Check that! This is a global emergency!

There are still deniers of Climate Change. Those ones should not be debated; just ignored; we must proceed forward as if these ones are inconsequential. Think Flat-Earth theorists; see a related VIDEO in the Appendix below.

These ones should not even get an audience.

I assure you: No one in Mozambique is a Climate Change denier today. Can we say the same for Caribbean stakeholders … in government, security or economic leadership?

This must be a basic requirement for Caribbean leadership. If a politician dissents, we must vote them out of office. If a security/government official dissents, then we must replace them. If a business leader dissents, we must boycott their establishments. This is what is meant by name, blame and shame.

This is how we must now act to forge change in our communities. And then, the whole world. This is the quest of many young protesters around the world, today. They have indicted the older generation for mis-management; see story and VIDEO here:

Title: ‘It’s Literally Our Future.’ Here’s What Youth Climate Strikers Around the World Are Planning Next
By: Suyin Haynes

Inside the U.K. houses of parliament, the grown-ups were at work. Outside, thousands of others — many of whom were not old enough to vote — were doing their best to make sure business was anything but usual. With their chants echoing down the streets, they were among an estimated 1.6 million students in over 120 countries who left school on March 15 in protest of adult inaction on climate change. “It shocks me how great a length we have to go to be heard,” said 16-year-old Miranda Ashby, who’d traveled more than two hours to London with roughly 50 of her classmates. “We are protesting now because if not now, when?”

The school climate strikes started with teen activist Greta Thunberg standing vigil outside Sweden’s parliament one Friday last August. “When I first started this strike, I didn’t really expect anything,” Thunberg told TIME on March 14, shortly after Norwegian lawmakers nominated her for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Thunberg’s idea has grown into a global movement; the March 15 action was its biggest yet. Extensive coverage of the strikes by media outlets and individuals on social media have helped elevate the cause in the minds of people across the world. Meanwhile, the lack of a centralized organizational hub makes it easy for teenagers to arrange actions in their own towns and cities; rallies took place in more than 2,200 towns and cities worldwide on March 15. “We’re tired of waiting for politicians to care,” says Nosrat Fareha, an organizer for the Sydney strikes, where 30,000 young people turned out — more than three times Fareha’s expected estimate.

In Uganda, where drought and desertification are already devastating, the walk-out took place despite officials blocking strikers from an intended rally location in Kampala. “I realized that my country has to change too,” 14-year-old organizer Leah Namugerwa says. And in the U.S., 17-year-old Feliquan Charlemagne, National Creative Director of the U.S. movement, believes the energy of March for Our Lives, the 2018 student-led initiative for gun control, must be harnessed for this cause too. Born in the Caribbean island of St Thomas, Charlemagne and his family have personally suffered the powerful effects of climate change, after Hurricane Irma devastated the island in September 2017. “This is not something we can play around with,” he says. “This is literally our future.”

It’s also their present. The warning of the landmark October 2018 report from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, that the planet was only 12 years away from catastrophe unless “far-reaching and unprecedented changes” are taken, weighs heavily on the minds of young organizers, who are quick to point out that they are the ones who have to live in that world. The deadline means there’s a lot of work to be done, and they don’t have time to wait to grow up first.

Their most pressing hope is for immediate policy measures to meet the terms of the Paris Agreement, limiting the global temperature increase to 1.5° celsius this century, as well as specific local action. In Australia, campaigners want to halt the proposed construction of a controversial coal mine. For activists across the U.S., preservation of public lands and political implementation of the Green New Deal are top priorities. And in the U.K., organizers want a fair portrayal of the climate crisis in school curricula and government information. And they’ve had some success already: youth organizers have met with members of the European Parliament and their strikes have been welcomed by leaders including Angela Merkel and U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres. “It really has changed the discourse,” says Sini Harkki, program manager at Greenpeace Nordic.

But at least for now, that’s all they can change; the youth that draws them to the cause is also an obstacle. Most of the movement’s participants are not just battling the obvious challenges of political inertia, powerful fossil fuel lobbies and disbelieving critics—they are also too young to play a bigger role in business or politics. And so they are determined to continue the Friday strikes. The U.K. Student Climate Network is demanding a meeting with political leaders, U.S. activists are planning a mass strike for May 3 and a pan-European organizer meeting is also in the pipeline. And Thunberg, no longer on her own, is committed to striking every Friday until Sweden reduces its carbon emissions in line with the Paris Agreement. “I know I have something to say,” Thunberg says, referring to her frank speeches in front of international leaders. “I have a message I want to get out and I want people to listen.” Students worldwide have heard her loud and clear. It’s up to the world’s politicians to act.

Source: Time Magazine Online Edition – posted March 20, 2019; retrieved March 22, 2019 from http://time.com/5554775/youth-school-climate-change-strike-action/

———-

VIDEO – Youth Climate Strike – http://time.com/5554775/youth-school-climate-change-strike-action/

Posted March 20, 2019 – ‘It Will Be Too Late for My Generation.’ Meet the Teens Who Organized a Massive Climate Change Protest

These young people get it: name, blame and shame the culprits and bad actors affecting Climate Change and the urgent mitigation that must be done. And as for Africa? We hereby present them a role model to follow.

The Public Campaign of environmentalists and activists is Spot-On: “Think Global. Act Local.” 🙂

About the Book
The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), for the elevation of Caribbean society – for all member-states. This CU/Go Lean roadmap has these 3 prime directives:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines, including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies.

Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

Who We Are
The movement behind the Go Lean book – a non-partisan, apolitical, religiously-neutral Community Development Foundation chartered for the purpose of empowering and re-booting economic engines – stresses that reforming and transforming the Caribbean societal engines must be a regional pursuit. This was an early motivation for the roadmap, as pronounced in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 12 – 13):

i. Whereas the earth’s climate has undeniably changed resulting in more severe tropical weather storms, it is necessary to prepare to insure the safety and security of life, property and systems of commerce in our geographical region. As nature recognizes no borders in the target of its destruction, we also must set aside border considerations in the preparation and response to these weather challenges.

xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.

xvi. Whereas security of our homeland is inextricably linked to prosperity of the homeland, the economic and security interest of the region needs to be aligned under the same governance. Since economic crimes … can imperil the functioning of the wheels of commerce for all the citizenry, the accedence of this Federation must equip the security apparatus with the tools and techniques for predictive and proactive interdictions.

xxiv. Whereas a free market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, the Federation must install the controls to better manage aspects of the economy: jobs, inflation, savings rate, investments and other economic principles. Thereby attracting direct foreign investment because of the stability and vibrancy of our economy.

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

————

Appendix VIDEO – An Astronomer Responds To Flat Earth Theory – https://youtu.be/thxbiR-XfJo

Tech Insider
Published on Jan 9, 2018 – Business Insider UK sat down with Dr Stuart Clark, who spoke to us about a range of subjects regarding astronomy and astrophysics. We asked him what he thought of flat earth theory, a school of thought which believes that the earth is not spherical but flat.

“All our physics is constructed now, the physics of orbits of things going around the earth is all constructed with this three dimensional world. And the pictures from space show our world as a globe and yet somehow there are some people that still seem to believe the earth is flat.”

“My own pet theory is that they’re doing it for comic effect.”

Tech Insider tells you all you need to know about tech: gadgets, how-to’s, gaming, science, digital culture, and more.

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Women Empowerment – Accepting Black Women ‘As Is’

Posted on March 11, 2019 in Ethos, Social, Tactical

Go Lean Commentary

“Don’t go changing to try to please me … I love you just the way you are” – Song by Billy Joel
(See Appendix A VIDEO below).

There is the need to reform and transform Caribbean society. Period!

When we say society, we are referring to the community institutions, governmental agencies and … the people.

The people need to change … some more than others. One group needs a lot of help: Black Men & Boys. Another group needs to curtail their behavior and their preponderance to abuse others: White Males. Then there is also one group who needs less of the effort to change but needs to be accepted more … “just the way they are”:

Black females (women and girls).

Don’t get it twisted! Black women are not perfect.

But, they are not inferior either. (See the related news article on “Black Hair and Politics” in Appendix B below).

Yet, these Black women devote so much concern and resources to conform their natural hair to a different standard. This theme has been elaborated on by the movement behind the book Go Lean…Caribbean, in these previous Go Lean blog-commentaries:

Network Mandates for a New Caribbean
In the media industry you must look the part. So if you have facial or grooming features that are different – zag while everyone else zig – you may not be selected for promotion and production. …
Caribbean beauty should be recognized in the eyes of Caribbean beholders.
At a bare minimum …
But truth be told, if the media networks in the region are owned by foreign entities, then foreign standards are still “the rule”.

‘Good Hair’ and the Strong Black Woman
Black kinky hair is considered worthless in the global marketplace. But the market for mitigating, treating (chemicals) and covering the hair (wigs & extensions) is worth $9 Billion annually. This seems like such a dichotomy for the Black community, especially among women. This ethnic group prides itself on a proud heritage of Strong Black Women, and yet there is this unspoken rejection of natural Black Hair. This is sad!

Caribbean Image: Dreadlocks
Many people in the Caribbean, though not a majority in the region, wear dreadlocks, despite their occupation. These “locs” can be an expression of deep religious or spiritual convictions, ethnic pride, a political statement, or simply be a fashion preference. Yet, their wear can be detrimental in job placement and advancement.

It turn out that there is one BIG compelling reason why this may be the norm – religion…

… the African experience in the New World started with the Slave Trade. This was also related in a previous blog-commentary:

European Reckoning – Christianity’s Indictment

The Church felt justified with the Slave Trade, Slavery and Colonialism because of their distorted values to make new disciples at all costs. …

Pope Innocent VIII, he permitted trade with Barbary merchants, in which foodstuffs would be given in exchange for slaves who could then be converted to Christianity. …

… reconciling the European experience, previous submissions addressed European economic leadership. This submission however asserts that the conduct of the Christian-side of White-Christian-European history has been worthy of indictment and the European institutions need to be held to account. Even though the New World and the Caribbean were established by European military power, the Church was aligned and complicit.

The Christian faith of the Europeans is based on The Bible; there is one scripture that has been wrongly interpreted to malign Black Women and their default hair styles. See here, this scripture from 1 Timothy 2:9 and notice the actual prohibition on the hair style of “braided hair” in some translations, while other translations used neutral terms like “elaborate hair” or “immodest hair“:

Biblical Reference: Scriptural “1 Timothy 2:9” Translation Comparison

New International Version – I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes,

New Living Translation – And I want women to be modest in their appearance. They should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves by the way they fix their hair or by wearing gold or pearls or expensive clothes.

English Standard Version – likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire,

Berean Study Bible – Likewise, I want the women to adorn themselves with respectable apparel, with modesty, and with self-control, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes,

Berean Literal Bible – Likewise also women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing,

New American Standard Bible – Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments,

King James Bible – In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with braided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;

Christian Standard Bible – Also, the women are to dress themselves in modest clothing, with decency and good sense, not with elaborate hairstyles, gold, pearls, or expensive apparel,

Contemporary English Version – I would like for women to wear modest and sensible clothes. They should not have fancy hairdos, or wear expensive clothes, or put on jewelry made of gold or pearls.

Good News Translation – I also want the women to be modest and sensible about their clothes and to dress properly; not with fancy hair styles or with gold ornaments or pearls or expensive dresses,

Holman Christian Standard Bible – Also, the women are to dress themselves in modest clothing, with decency and good sense, not with elaborate hairstyles, gold, pearls, or expensive apparel,

International Standard Version – Women, for their part, should display their beauty by dressing modestly and decently in appropriate clothes, not with elaborate hairstyles or by wearing gold, pearls, or expensive clothes,

NET Bible – Likewise the women are to dress in suitable apparel, with modesty and self-control. Their adornment must not be with braided hair and gold or pearls or expensive clothing,

New Heart English Bible – In the same way, that women also adorn themselves in decent clothing, with modesty and propriety; not just with braided hair, gold, pearls, or expensive clothing;

Aramaic Bible in Plain English – Likewise also the women shall be modest in fashion of dress, their adornment shall be in bashfulness and in modesty, not in braiding with gold or with pearls or in gorgeous robes,

GOD’S WORD® Translation – I want women to show their beauty by dressing in appropriate clothes that are modest and respectable. Their beauty will be shown by what they do, not by their hair styles or the gold jewelry, pearls, or expensive clothes they wear.

New American Standard 1977 – Likewise, I wantwomen to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments;

Jubilee Bible 2000 – In like manner also that the women adorn themselves in an honest manner, with shyness and modesty, not with ostentatious hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing

King James 2000 Bible – In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with decency and propriety; not with braided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;

American King James Version – In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with modesty and sobriety; not with braided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;

American Standard Version – In like manner, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefastness and sobriety; not with braided hair, and gold or pearls or costly raiment;

Douay-Rheims Bible – In like manner women also in decent apparel: adorning themselves with modesty and sobriety, not with plaited hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly attire,

Darby Bible Translation – In like manner also that the women in decent deportment and dress adorn themselves with modesty and discretion, not with plaited [hair] and gold, or pearls, or costly clothing,

English Revised Version – In like manner, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefastness and sobriety; not with braided hair, and gold or pearls or costly raiment;

Webster’s Bible Translation – In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in decent apparel, with modesty and sobriety; not with broidered hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array,

Weymouth New Testament – and I would have the women dress becomingly, with modesty and self-control, not with plaited hair or gold or pearls or costly clothes,

World English Bible – In the same way, that women also adorn themselves in decent clothing, with modesty and propriety; not just with braided hair, gold, pearls, or expensive clothing;

Young’s Literal Translation – in like manner also the women, in becoming apparel, with modesty and sobriety to adorn themselves, not in braided hair, or gold, or pearls, or garments of great price, ….

Source: Scripture 1 Timothy 2:9 – retrieved March 10, 2019 from: https://biblehub.com/1_timothy/2-9.htm

You see it, right?

Considering the full context and the diverse translations, it is self-evident that there is no Biblical prohibition on natural Black Hair, only elaborate/immodest hairstyles.

Yet, many women in the Black community never feel comfortable wearing braids (or dreadlocks) “into Church” (or before God). They would rather press and “perm” their hair, add weaves, wear a wig, and/or wear a hat.

(There is a parallel conflict in the Halls of Democracy; see the related news article on “Black Hair and Politics” in Appendix B below).

This discussion of this actuality completes this series of commentaries from the Go Lean movement. This is part 6 of 6 for Women History Month; this series addresses how women can make a difference in society; and how society can make a difference for women. This submission asserts that Black Women should not have to change anything to conform to some White/European standard, especially their hair; they are adequate, beautiful and complete “just the way they are”. Other commentaries in this series include these entries:

Women History Month 2019: Thoughts, Feelings, Speech and Actions
Women History Month 2019: Viola Desmond – The Rosa Parks of Canada
Women History Month 2019: Kamala Harris – Caribbean Legacy to the White House?
Women History Month 2019: Captain Marvel – We need “Sheroes”
Women History Month 2019: Ellevest CEO: Sallie Krawcheck
Women History Month 2019: Accepting Black Women ‘As Is’

In this series, references were made to a “Next Frontier” of gender relations, how women in modern society are now on the verge of breaking all “glass ceilings” in their communities; maybe even the “Leader of the Free World”. Yes, they can! To transcend to that next plateau, more is needed from the greater population; this means us all.

More?

Actually, the same is needed! The acceptance that all woman, Black women included, are good enough “just as they are”. If there is a problem – there is one – it is a defect with the societal orthodoxies, not our Black women. See this theme developed in these previous blog-commentaries.

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=16541	Black ‘Greco-Roman’ Wrestler victimized for his hair
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=16534	European Reckoning – Christianity’s Indictment
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9216	‘Time to Go’ – No Respect for our Hair
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=809	Muslim officials condemn “abductions” of Nigerian education-seeking school girls

It is conceivable, believable and achievable that we can live in a world with empowered women, Black women and all the other ethnic groups. There is beauty in all the races – the Caribbean is constituted with 5 different ethnicities (Amerindian, African, European, Indian and Chinese) fused and intermingled together – there must always be full acceptance of all our strengths and weakness. Keep it real!

There is beauty in each culture too; see Appendix C below. (Though, there may be a push-back based on a bad orthodoxy, we shall overcome).

The world must accept that women are dutiful partners for elevating society. The world? Yes, but right now our focus and scope is for the Caribbean to accept that women are dutiful partners for elevating our communities. We need, want and love our women … “just the way they are”.

Yes, we can do this – partner up with our women – and make our homeland a better place to live, work and play for all. Let’s do this! Let’s get busy! 🙂

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines, including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies.

Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.

xvi. Whereas security of our homeland is inextricably linked to prosperity of the homeland, the economic and security interest of the region needs to be aligned under the same governance. Since economic crimes … can imperil the functioning of the wheels of commerce for all the citizenry, the accedence of this Federation must equip the security apparatus with the tools and techniques for predictive and proactive interdictions.

xxiv. Whereas a free market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, the Federation must install the controls to better manage aspects of the economy: jobs, inflation, savings rate, investments and other economic principles. Thereby attracting direct foreign investment because of the stability and vibrancy of our economy.

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

—————-

Appendix A VIDEO – Billy Joel – Just the Way You Are (Audio) – https://youtu.be/HaA3YZ6QdJU

Billy Joel
Published on Mar 22, 2013 – In 1977, Billy Joel released his album titled The Stranger. Listen to Billy Joel perform ‘Just the Way You Are‘: http://smarturl.it/BJ_MOTS_YT?IQid=yt…

Lyrics:
Don’t go trying some new fashion
Don’t change the color of your hair
You always have my unspoken passion
Although I might not seem to care

I don’t want clever conversation
I never want to work that hard
I just want someone that I can talk to
I want you just the way you are.

Category: Music

—————-

Appendix B – News Article: Ilhan Omar will be first Muslim woman to wear hijab in Congress with Democrats set to end head covering ban

Summary: Democrats worked to change the rule banning head coverings on the House floor …

See full story here: Retrieved March 10 2019: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/ilhan-omar-muslim-hijab-congress-democrats-ban-head-covering-a8708696.html

—————-

Appendix C – News Article: Black Women Left Off Cosmo List Of The Most Beautiful Women In The World

Ummm, who approved this list?

See full story here: Posted March 13, 2017; retrieved March 10, 2019: https://blackamericaweb.com/2017/03/13/black-women-left-off-cosmo-list-of-the-most-beautiful-women-in-the-world/?fbclid=IwAR2oNVP5DC0HeTsZEPuiJxb8ZlNyD1Thn6Qrxhz8olYJtknoFjqQJJHwtsE

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Women Empowerment – Sallie Krawcheck – Power of ‘Her’ Wallet

Posted on March 9, 2019 in Ethos, Social

Go Lean Commentary

So “you” think you can dance … with a partner?

“You” (male-dominated society) made progress for women; allowed for suffrage (right to vote), property rights, equal education opportunities and equal protection under the law. Well, Sallie Krawcheck says: Still not enough!

This submission is about Sallie Krawcheck …

Who?

Despite her unknown status, what she advocates and promotes is very much known … and important – See Book Review below.

Sallie Krawcheck is a Wall Street icon and activists; she currently serves as the CEO (Chief Executive Officer) for the new financial advisory company Ellevest:

Sallie L. Krawcheck (born November 28, 1964)^[1] is the CEO and Co-Founder of Ellevest, a digital financial advisor for women, launched in 2016. She is owner and Chair of Ellevate Network.^[2] Prior to this she was the president of the Global Wealth & Investment Management division of Bank of America.^[3] She has been known as one of the most senior women on Wall Street.^[4][5] Most recently she has been widely published in both social and more traditional media, focusing on Wall Street regulatory reform; she is also advising a number of start-ups.^[6][7][8] – Wikipedia

Beyond her professional vocation, she also serves as a Drum Major for change for young people – think millennials. She is trumpeting a message that we all need to hear:

The world is NOT moving in the right direction for gender equality.

The gender pay gap is decades away from closing for White women, 100 years for Black women and 200 years for Latinas.

These are just words – a picture is worth a thousand words; a VIDEO, a million. This VIDEO – from satirist Trevor Noah – presents her quest more fully:

VIDEO – Sallie Krawcheck – How Ellevest Is Challenging the Gender Investing Gap | The Daily Show – https://youtu.be/mdxS8S_06VM

The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
Published on Feb 5, 2019 – Sallie Krawcheck explains why diversity initiatives that start from the top aren’t enough, how the financial industry is biased against women and the right way to build a diverse company.

Subscribe to The Daily Show: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwWh…

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So young people naturally rebel against the standards and norms of their parents. This could be bad; this could be good. The counter-culture of the 1960’s/1970’s brought change from a lot of bad orthodoxy and American (and modern “Western”) life in general. Now the next generation (Millennials) have the opportunity – and thusly Ms. Krawcheck’s advocacy – to go one step further and demand equality, accountability and fairness, especially in the cases of pay gaps, justice and interpersonal abuse.

Because of the family dynamic, women control 85% of all consumer spending.

Millennial women are coming together and forging change.

Think: “Me Too” … calling out “Men Behaving Badly”.

We hear you Ms. Krawcheck … and agree. The progress with diversity is NOT enough; many times “we” have even regressed instead of progressed.

We need change in the Caribbean too. Far too often our societal institutions have under-valued our women (sisters, daughters and mothers). We need the societal engines of the Caribbean to be better:

Economics – Jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities must be equally available to all people, despite gender or race. There is a Freedom of Movement edict in the CariCom regional pact; but the provisions only allowed for one skilled worker to migrate freely among member-states, and not the spouse. This blatantly ignores the women of the region. Modern economic realities mandate that both spouses work, so such “no spouse” rules, depravedly disregards women.
Security – Victims of sexual and interpersonal violence should be protected and empowered in our Caribbean. But many member-states still have backwards policies, like on marital rape restrictive prosecutions.
Governance – Citizenship laws and cross-border employment must be neutral and equitable for gender roles.

We have no choice, we simply must make progress; we must work around the obstacles in our society. If we do not work around, our women will “walk around … and out”. Yes, they have choices; they have been choosing life away from us, rather than with us. Change is therefore not optional! Equality is therefore not optional!

Success is not automatic; it takes hard-work and heavy-lifting!

This theme – empowering women actually aids society – aligns with previous Go Lean commentaries; see a sample list here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=16477	Transforming Hindus versus Women – What it means for us?
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13063	Gender Equity without a ‘Battle of the Sexes’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=14718	‘At the Table’ or ‘On the Menu’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6937	Women in Politics – Yes, They Can!
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2201	Students developing nail polish to detect date rape drugs

Thank you Ms. Krawcheck. We hereby pledge to model your “thoughts, feelings, speech and actions” here in the Caribbean.

This is a continuation of this series of commentaries from the movement behind the book Go Lean … Caribbean. This is part 5 of 6 for Women History Month; this series addresses how women can make a difference in society; and how society can make a difference for women. Other commentaries in this series include these entries:

Women History Month 2019: Thoughts, Feelings, Speech and Actions
Women History Month 2019: Viola Desmond – The Rosa Parks of Canada
Women History Month 2019: Kamala Harris – Caribbean Legacy to the White House?
Women History Month 2019: Captain Marvel – We need “Sheroes”
Women History Month 2019: Ellevest CEO: Sallie Krawcheck
Women History Month 2019: Accepting Black Women As Is

As related in these previous submissions, many women fight the bad orthodoxies in society; they challenge “us” to overcome obstacles and positively impact our communities. Some women fight; some cheer on; some can be Drum Major for change.

Like Ms. Krawcheck role model presents, “Yes, we can” make our homeland a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines, including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies.

Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.

xvi. Whereas security of our homeland is inextricably linked to prosperity of the homeland, the economic and security interest of the region needs to be aligned under the same governance. Since economic crimes … can imperil the functioning of the wheels of commerce for all the citizenry, the accedence of this Federation must equip the security apparatus with the tools and techniques for predictive and proactive interdictions.

xxiv. Whereas a free market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, the Federation must install the controls to better manage aspects of the economy: jobs, inflation, savings rate, investments and other economic principles. Thereby attracting direct foreign investment because of the stability and vibrancy of our economy.

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

—————

Book Summary: OWN IT – The Power of Woman at Work – By Sallie Krawcheck.

Amazon Product Review

A Wall Street Journal and Washington Post Bestseller, “Own It” is a new kind of career playbook for a new era of feminism, offering women a new set of rules for professional success: one that plays to their strengths and builds on the power they already have.

Weren’t women supposed to have “arrived”? Perhaps with the nation’s first female President, equal pay on the horizon, true diversity in the workplace to come thereafter? Or, at least the end of “fat-shaming” and “locker room talk”?

Well, we aren’t quite there yet. But does that mean that progress for women in business has come to a screeching halt? It’s true that the old rules didn’t get us as far as we hoped. But we can go the distance, and we can close the gaps that still exist. We just need a new way.

In fact, there are many reasons to be optimistic about the future, says former Wall Street powerhouse-turned-entrepreneur Sallie Krawcheck. That’s because the business world is changing fast – driven largely by technology – and it’s changing in ways that give us more power and opportunities than ever…and even more than we yet realize.

Success for professional women will no longer be about trying to compete at the men’s version of the game, she says. And it will no longer be about contorting ourselves to men’s expectations of how powerful people behave. Instead, it’s about embracing and investing in our innate strengths as women – and bringing them proudly and unapologetically, to work.

When we do, she says, we gain the power to advance in our careers in more natural ways. We gain the power to initiate courageous conversations in the workplace. We gain the power to forge non-traditional career paths; to leave companies that don’t respect our worth, and instead, go start our own. And we gain the power to invest our economic muscle in making our lives, and the world, better.

Here Krawcheck draws on her experiences at the highest levels of business, both as one of the few women at the top rungs of the biggest boy’s club in the world, and as an entrepreneur, to show women how to seize this seismic shift in power to take their careers to the next level.

This change is real, and it’s coming fast. It’s time to own it.
Source: Retrieved March 9, 2019 from: https://www.amazon.com/Own-Power-Women-at-Work/dp/1101906251/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Book+Own+It%3A+The+Power+of+Women+at+Work&qid=1552166250&s=gateway&sr=8-1

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Women Empowerment – Captain Marvel: We need “Sheroes” in Facts and Fiction

Posted on March 8, 2019 in Ethos, Industries, Planning, Social

Go Lean Commentary

A ‘Shero’ is quite simply a female hero. What is it that ‘Sheroes’ want?

A better life; better protections ; better promotion; better empowerment and also: Better Balance … or #BalanceforBetter.

This is important, today and beyond.

From empowerment seminars to street strikes, pop-up art shows to business master classes, female voices will echo across the globe Friday with a resounding message: Women want balance.

#BalanceforBetter is the theme for this year’s International Women’s Day, which is observed each year on March 8. The 2019 initiative is aimed at gender equality, a greater awareness of discrimination and a celebration of women’s achievements, according to the International Women’s Day website. That includes reducing the global pay gap between men and women and making sure all are equal – and balanced – in activist movements, boardrooms and beyond. – USA Today

Today, we acknowledge International Women’s Day 2019, as part of the consideration for Women’s History Month 2019. In addition to #BalanceforBetter in real life (facts), we also want to see more balance in our fiction (movies, novels and comic books).

Life imitating art; art imitating life.

In honor of International Women’s Day 2019, the media conglomerate Disney Pictures is releasing a new film Captain Marvel under their subsidiary Marvel Studios – Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). This live-action movie – see Trailer below – renders the comic book superhero Carol Danvers, aka Captain Marvel, in a powerful role where she has to overcome immense odds to protect, promote and empower balance and peace in the galaxy. Forgive the spoiler, but in the film, Carol Danvers begins fighting for the Kree against the Skrulls, has to endure a hero’s journey in which she learns the truth of herself, her friends and her enemies. In the end, she helps and support the Skrulls; she fights for balance and in pursuit of the Greater Good!

The confluence of Marvel (MCU) and International Women’s Day is the theme of this feature article here:

Title: On International Women’s Day, we’re celebrating the women of Marvel, from Black Widow to Captain Marvel
Subtitle: For International Women’s Day and Month, women across CBS Interactive have teamed up to spotlight the fierce ladies pushing Marvel ahead, both on and off screen.
By: Rebecca Fleenor, Caitlin Petrakovitz

Black Widow takes out a room of men — while tied to a chair. Gamora wins an electric sword fight with her sister Nebula. Okoye points a spear at her own husband after he charges her down on a rhino. The women of Marvel, needless to say, are fearless.

CBS Interactive, which CNET is part of, is celebrating the March 8 release of Captain Marvel, and all of International Women’s Month, by highlighting the powerful women of Marvel movies and shows. We’re focusing not only on the incredible women of the MCU, but also on Marvel comics and their impact on pop culture.

Multiple CBS sites have come together to produce this special report on the women of the Marvel universe. CNET has a mega-bracket showdown of powerful women; Entertainment Tonight is profiling prominent women behind and in front of the camera; and TV Guide will look ahead at the future of Marvel’s strong characters on the small screen.

Highlighting the scope of talented women who work at CBS Interactive, women throughout the company wrote, edited and produced every article, gallery and video in this collection — from our long-running compendium of Marvel movies to our roundtable of women talking about more strong ladies and our Q&A with Danai Gurira, Black Panther’s General Okoye, for CNET Magazine.

Captain Marvel sets the stage
Brie Larson stars as Carol Danvers, aka Captain Marvel, the 21st MCU movie now open around the world. For anyone unfamiliar with Captain Marvel’s backstory, check out GameSpot’s comic book history of Captain Marvel. CNET’s Patricia Puentes called the film “two hours of pure female empowerment packaged with all the visual power you’d expect from a Marvel blockbuster.”

Additionally, Entertainment Tonight‘s Meredith B. Kile reviewed Captain Marvel, noting that its “origin-story-in-reverse structure allows Captain Marvel to do away with many of the more overdone origin story tropes.” As the film opens, GameSpot will feature more explainers, spoilers, and breakdowns of how Captain Marvel (and those post-credits scenes!) will tie into Avengers: Endgame.

International Women’s Month
The first National Women’s Day was observed in the United States all the way back in 1909, many years before we’d celebrate Women’s History Month. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter declared the week of March 8 to be National Women’s History Week, and by 1987, Congress had passed a statute designating March as Women’s History Month. We continue to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8. Did we mention one or 100 times that’s the day Captain Marvel, the first female-led film in the entire MCU, comes out?

Since the ’90s, the United Nations has focused on an annual theme for International Women’s Day. This year’s theme is “Think equal, build smart, innovate for change.” That’s why it feels appropriate for us to look to the women of Marvel who’ve been working in innovative ways, both on screen and off screen, to get more seats at the franchise’s proverbial table.

Women of the MCU making magic
Captain Marvel may be taking the lead right now, but many other women have been key to making magic happen in the Marvel universe. CNET’s Patricia Puentes talked to costume designer Ruth E. Carter, who just won an Oscar for costume design for Black Panther. Entertainment Tonight looks at the women of Wakanda, aka all the women behind Black Panther, making Oscar history. And there’ll be much, much more Marvel flying your way.

Source: C-NET.com – Posted and retrieved March 8, 2019 from: https://www.cnet.com/news/celebrating-the-women-of-marvel-from-black-widow-to-captain-marvel-international-womens-day/

This – relevance of fictional heroes impacting real life – is a familiar theme for the movement behind the book Go Lean … Caribbean. We have published a lot of media advocating for balance and the Greater Good. We have even published many previous Go Lean commentaries that reviewed superhero films; see a sample list here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=14911	Film: Avengers Infinity War Art Imitating Life – Was ‘Thanos’ Right?
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=14359	Film: Black Panther Wakanda Forever – Conceive, Believe and Achieve
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13579	Film: Thor Ragnarok Colonialism’s Bloody History Revisited
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=12035	Film: Wonder Woman ‘Wonder Woman’ Leaning-in Then (75 years) and Now
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7151	Film: Star Wars – The Force Awakens The Caribbean is Looking for Heroes … ‘to Return’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5964	Film: Tomorrowland Feed the right wolf

These prior commentaries portray how the Caribbean also need heroes and sheroes to impact our real communities – the facts, not just the fiction. This means protecting, promoting and empowering the sisters, mothers and daughters in our society. Our status quo is lacking …

Without the appropriate female empowerment, many of our sisters, mothers and daughters leave the homeland to seek refuge else where – one reports states 70 percent of our tertiary educated citizens have already left and live abroad. It is understandable, justifiable and viable that they would have left; our governing engines continue to double-down of female-dishonoring policies.

We need to stop … and fight these bad orthodoxies. It is so heroic of our Caribbean women who have returned and those who contemplate doing so. We need them! We want them back!

Many women fight the bad orthodoxies in society; they challenge us to overcome obstacles and positively impact our communities. This is a continuation of this series of commentaries from the movement behind the book Go Lean … Caribbean. This is part 4 of 6 for Women History Month; this series addresses how one woman can make a difference in society; and how society can make a difference for women; other commentaries in this series include these entries:

Women History Month 2019: Thoughts, Feelings, Speech and Actions
Women History Month 2019: Viola Desmond – The Rosa Parks of Canada
Women History Month 2019: Kamala Harris – Caribbean Legacy to the White House?
Women History Month 2019: Captain Marvel – We need “Sheroes”
Women History Month 2019: Ellevest CEO: Sallie Krawcheck
Women History Month 2019: Accepting Black Women As Is

As related in the foregoing, the United Nations designates the annual theme for International Women’s Day. This year’s theme is “Think equal, build smart, innovate for change.” The foregoing article continues:

“That’s why it feels appropriate for us to look to the women of Marvel who’ve been working in innovative ways, both on screen and off screen, to get more seats at the franchise’s proverbial table”.

Ditto … for the Caribbean.

We need more heroes and sheroes … to help us make our homeland a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines, including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies.

Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.

xvi. Whereas security of our homeland is inextricably linked to prosperity of the homeland, the economic and security interest of the region needs to be aligned under the same governance. Since economic crimes … can imperil the functioning of the wheels of commerce for all the citizenry, the accedence of this Federation must equip the security apparatus with the tools and techniques for predictive and proactive interdictions.

xxiv. Whereas a free market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, the Federation must install the controls to better manage aspects of the economy: jobs, inflation, savings rate, investments and other economic principles. Thereby attracting direct foreign investment because of the stability and vibrancy of our economy.

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

—————–

Appendix VIDEO – TRAILER: Captain Marvel (2019) – https://youtu.be/_tnGmshDB4I

FilmSelect Trailer

Published on Dec 3, 2018 – Trailer 2 for Marvel Studios CAPTAIN MARVEL

Release date: March 8, 2019

Category: Entertainment

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Women Empowerment – Kamala Harris: From Caribbean Legacy to the White House?

Posted on March 7, 2019 in Ethos, Government, Social

Go Lean Commentary

Who is the most powerful person in the world?

No doubt, the President of the United States. But this is not just an American drama, as the holder of that office is often considered the “Leader of the Free World“.

Free World?!

Q: Are there other worlds? A: Sure, countries like North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, Yemen and others, may not consider the American Hegemony. But, most ironic, all those countries are considered Failed-States. So in summary, the President of the US is considered the Leader of all functioning societies on the planet – including our Caribbean member-states.

There is a chance, that a person of Caribbean heritage – an empowering woman: California Senator Kamala Harris – could assume that office. See the introductory news story / VIDEO here:

VIDEO – Who Is Kamala Harris? | 2020 Presidential Candidate | NYT News – https://youtu.be/cO_CZCebc5U

The New York Times
Published on Jan 21, 2019 – Senator Kamala Harris, Democrat of California, is joining the race for the White House. Ms. Harris becomes the fourth woman currently serving in Congress to announce her presidential ambitions.
Read the story here: https://nyti.ms/2FSqIHD Subscribe: http://bit.ly/U8Ys7n
More from The New York Times Video: http://nytimes.com/video

———-

Whether it’s reporting on conflicts abroad and political divisions at home, or covering the latest style trends and scientific developments, New York Times video journalists provide a revealing and unforgettable view of the world. It’s all the news that’s fit to watch.

Category: News & Politics

So can she go from Caribbean Legacy to the White House? That would be shocking and empowering, considering that “Jamaican” comes with certain stereotypes. See a related news article here, detailing the affinity and conflict “she” has with her Jamaican father/heritage:

Title: Donald Harris slams his daughter Senator Kamala Harris for fraudulently stereotyping Jamaicans and accuses her of playing Identity Politics
By: Jamaican Global

Professor Donald Harris Kamala Harris’ Jamaican father, has vigorously dissociated himself from statements made on the New York Breakfast Club radio show earlier this week attributing her support for smoking marijuana to her Jamaican heritage. Professor Harris has issued a statement to jamaicaglobalonline.com in which he declares:

“My dear departed grandmothers(whose extraordinary legacy I described in a recent essay on this website), as well as my deceased parents , must be turning in their grave right now to see their family’s name, reputation and proud Jamaican identity being connected, in any way, jokingly or not with the fraudulent stereotype of a pot-smoking joy seeker and in the pursuit of identity politics. Speaking for myself and my immediate Jamaican family, we wish to categorically dissociate ourselves from this travesty.”

This is the line – “Half my family’s from Jamaica. Are you kidding me?” – that has been repeated over by virtually every news media since Kamala Harris gave that response to the interviewer on New York’s Breakfast Club radio show when asked if she smoked marijuana.

Jamaica’s venerable Gleaner newspaper headlined:

US Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris wants Marijuana Legalized, cites Jamaican roots.

While the locally based online news source Loop reported:

Kamala Harris cites Jamaican roots in support of ganja legislation.

The Georgia based Macon Telegraph was less subtle. Its report screamed:

Kamala Harris supports legal pot. “Half my family’s from Jamaica. Are you kidding me?”

The 2020 presidential hopeful with a Jamaican heritage said she not only smoked but added “I inhale”. Perhaps said jokingly at first in the spirit of the interview, she proceeded to suggest that her Jamaican father’s side of the family would be disappointed in her if she did not support the legalization of marijuana. And that IS a serious statement. Now Harris’ father has come out vigorously dissociating himself from his daughter’s statement.

And well he might. V.G. McGee in a op ed piece published on January 12 in Urbanislandz writes “ Back in 2014 while running for re-election for California attorney general, she wasn’t in support of legalizing recreational use of the plant , but it is good that she has evolved on the issue and we can thank her Jamaican relatives for influencing her changing opinion.” So, the perception created by Ms. Harris’ statement is real and has caused some unease amongst Jamaicans at home and in the diaspora and now, it seems, her father and his Jamaican family. For some, it is more than mere unease; one Jamaican commenting on social media expressed the concern that “soon my job will be singling me out to drug test me since I am from Jamaica. What a stereotype”. Her concern is not unfounded given the experience of Jamaicans travelling to US ports having sniffer dogs around them in customs halls.

The Indian/Jamaican Marijuana connection: Did Kamala Harris deliberately and unfairly stereotype Jamaica as a nation of pot smokers?

An ironic twist in Ms. Harris’ associating marijuana smoking with her Jamaican heritage that seems to have escaped her as well as media watchers is the fact that it is also very much a part of her Indian heritage that she is so proud of claiming. Is she aware that it was India that bequeathed a marijuana culture to Jamaica? In her authoritative Encyclopedia of Jamaican Heritage (2003) Oliver Senior writes:

‘The practice of cultivating, smoking and otherwise consuming the herb (marijuana) is believed to have been popularized by Indian indentured immigrants who began to arrive from 1845. The local name ‘ganja’ is Indian. The concept of ganja as a holy herb is a Hindu one; it is widely used to enhance the religious experience in parts of India (despite government prohibition).

This seeming lack of knowledge about the connection between her Indian and Jamaican heritage provides additional ammunition for some Jamaicans who are of the view that Ms. Harris tends to downplay her Jamaican heritage when it suits her, crediting her Tamil Indian mother with the most significant influence on her life and outlook and rarely talks about her father’s influence. Her father Donald, hardly ever gets credit except when mentioned alongside her mother, but rarely as an individual. Even when asked by her host in the now famous ‘marijuana interview’ about her motivation to enter the presidential race, Ms. Harris referenced ONLY her mother whom she said, raised her and her sister Maya with many beliefs and rules – one being never to sit and complain about something, but to do something about it. Yet, anyone who has read ‘Reflections of a Jamaican Father’ Donald Harris’ heart-warming account of how he raised his two daughters, will immediately realize that there is another side to the Kamala Harris story. In that article Donald Harris writes:

“As a child growing up in Jamaica, I often heard it said by my parents and family friends ‘member whe you come fram’ (remember from where you came). To this day I continue to retain the deep social awareness and strong sense of identity which that grassroots Jamaican philosophy fed in me. As a father, I naturally sought to develop the same sensibility in my two daughters.”

Continuing, Harris says:

“My message to them was that the sky is the limit on what one can achieve with effort and determination and that in the process, it is important not to lose sight of those who get left behind by social neglect or abuse and lack of access to resources or ‘privilege’.

If Kamala Harris inherits some of ‘that deep social awareness’ and heeds the advice of her Jamaican father, she will make an excellent President of the United States of America.

Source: Posted February 15, 2019; retrieved March 7, 2018 from: https://www.jamaicaglobalonline.com/donald-harris-slams-his-daughter-senator-kamala-harris-for-fraudulently-stereotyping-jamaicans-and-accusing-her-of-playing-identity-politics/

How realistic is the notion of a Kamala Harris presidency?

History is on her side!

“Last time we knocked on the door – this time, we are going to kick the son-of-a-bitch in!”

In the last presidential election (2016) Democratic Candidate Hillary Clinton knocked-on-the-door and won the popular vote, but lost out in the Electoral College. (Today, investigations are concluding on the possibility that the eventual winner, Donald J. Trump, may have benefited from illegal campaign funding activities and collusion with the foreign government of Russia – he may have cheated). So yes, a woman can win the office.

Based on the “Blue Wave” of the 2018 General Election (Mid-terms) results, there is reason to believe that the 2020 race will have a Democratic Party winner, rather than the Republican incumbent. Plus, ex-President Barack Obama proved that a “Black” person can win the office.

Will this combination propel Kamala Harris to the Office of the Presidency?

There is still a long journey to go, with a lot of obstacles to overcome and challenges to meet. But many women have overcame obstacles and met challenges to obtain their goals to impact society. In fact, this is the very theme this month of this series of commentaries from the movement behind the book Go Lean … Caribbean. This is part 3 of 6 for Women History Month; this series addresses how one woman can make a difference in society; and how society can make a difference for women; this is because qualities like courage, problem-solving, determination and a zeal for justice flourishes with some women … as it does with some men.

Other commentaries in this series include these entries:

Women History Month 2019: Thoughts, Feelings, Speech and Actions
Women History Month 2019: Viola Desmond – The Rosa Parks of Canada
Women History Month 2019: Kamala Harris – Caribbean Legacy to the White House?
Women History Month 2019: Captain Marvel – We need “Sheroes”
Women History Month 2019: Ellevest CEO: Sallie Krawcheck
Women History Month 2019: Accepting Black Women As Is

For Kamala Harris to win the presidency, she will have to “win over” America; but first she must “win over” the Democratic Party; even before that, she must “win over” the Black community. Some people think that will be her biggest challenge; see a related news article/opinion-editorial here:

Title: Kamala Harris Can’t Count on the Black Vote in 2020
Opinion by: Luther Campbell

Kamala Harris will have trouble persuading black voters to make her president in 2020. First, the U.S. senator from California must explain why Donald Trump has a better prison-reform record than she had as the Golden State’s attorney general. Then she’ll have to overcome the perception she’ll do anything to climb to the top.

On the street, many blue-collar African-Americans, especially men, have already made up their minds not to vote for her. Between 2004 and 2016, when Harris worked as San Francisco’s district attorney and state attorney general, she supported legislation that sent kids who skipped school to jail. And she opposed federal supervision of California’s prisons after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling declared the overcrowded facilities inflicted cruel and unusual punishment on inmates.

When she appealed a court order to implement new parole programs, Harris cited the need to use prisoners as slave labor to fight wildfires and pick up highway trash.

Though black voters want politicians who’ll put away thugs and killers terrorizing the neighborhood, they don’t support those who deny defendants rehabilitation and send them to prison for crimes they didn’t commit to line private prison companies’ pockets.

Harris rose to prominence in California after an affair with married, but separated, former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, who recently wrote a column that mentioned their relationship. Brown said he influenced Harris’ career by appointing her to two state commissions when he was California Assembly speaker. He also helped her in her first race for San Francisco district attorney.

When Harris, whose mother is from India and father is from Jamaica, decided it was time to take her talents to Washington, D.C., she married Douglas Emhoff, a rich white lawyer. For better or worse, black men don’t want to vote for a black woman who married a white man or was the mistress of a powerful black man.

Like everyone else, black voters want help from one of their own. The Bushes made sure their people got oil money. Bill Clinton let the telecommunications industry gobble up small radio and TV stations. And Donald Trump is looking out for his developer buddies through a tax cut and opportunity zones that gentrify minority neighborhoods. Meanwhile, Harris has let black people know they can’t count on her.

Source: Posted February 5, 2019; retrieved March 7, 2019 from: https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/kamala-harris-cant-count-on-the-black-vote-to-win-in-2020-11068985

(This foregoing writer is not endorsed by this commentary; his editorial seems misogynistic).

Women in Politics? To the highest office in the land? This theme aligns with previous Go Lean commentaries asserting that ” Yes, they can!”; see a sample list here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=14718	‘At the Table’ or ‘On the Menu’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13063	Gender Equity without a ‘Battle of the Sexes’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=12035	Fact & Fiction: Lean-in for ‘Wonder Woman Day’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8306	Women Get Ready for New Lean-In Campaign
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6937	Women in Politics – Yes, They Can!
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6836	#FatGirlsCan – Women do not have to be a ‘Ten’ to have impact

For those of us in the Caribbean, we have No Vote and No Voice in this 2020 presidential race. But we can observe-and-report. We can apply the proven “5-L” methodology: Look, Listen and Learn how to overcome orthodoxies to finally get the best person elected for the job, despite any race or gender.

We can also Lend-a-hand! (Many people of Caribbean heritage live in the US – many can vote). In fact, we – Jamaicans, Cubans, Puerto Ricans – were target demographics in the 2016 race.

Lastly, there is the opportunity to Lead – especially to define good leadership; recognizing attributes and personal qualities are bigger and of more importance than race and/or gender. We need to apply these lessons and leadership development in the Caribbean member-states.

So “Yes, we can” … learn from this American drama and learn to make our Caribbean homeland a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines, including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies.

Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.

xvi. Whereas security of our homeland is inextricably linked to prosperity of the homeland, the economic and security interest of the region needs to be aligned under the same governance. Since economic crimes … can imperil the functioning of the wheels of commerce for all the citizenry, the accedence of this Federation must equip the security apparatus with the tools and techniques for predictive and proactive interdictions.

xxiv. Whereas a free market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, the Federation must install the controls to better manage aspects of the economy: jobs, inflation, savings rate, investments and other economic principles. Thereby attracting direct foreign investment because of the stability and vibrancy of our economy.

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

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Women Empowerment – Viola Desmond Fascination – Encore

Posted on March 6, 2019 in Ethos, Social

There is virtual … and then there is physical.

There is plan … and then there is actual.

We were previously fascinated with the story of the life and legacy of Canadian Civil Rights icon Viola Desmond. Wow!

The country even honored her by putting her image on their $10 Bill currency.

Alas, “we” got a chance to see it, touch it, feel it …

… it is even more fascinating now. See the VIDEO here depicting “our” exploring that currency note:

VIDEO – Fascinated by the Canadian $10 Bill – https://youtu.be/f2K3YQk9CQk

Published on Mar 6, 2019 – Wow, this is so impressive. What a marvelous honor to Viola Desmond. She was the Rosa Parks of Canada.

Category: Nonprofits & Activism

This consideration of Viola Desmond is a continuation of this series about impactful-empowering women in recent history. This is part 2 of 6 for Women History Month; this series addresses how one woman can make a difference in society; and how society can make a difference for women; this is because qualities like courage, determination and a zeal for justice flourishes with women as it does with some men.

Other commentaries in this series include these entries:

Women History Month 2019: Thoughts, Feelings, Speech and Actions
Women History Month 2019: Viola Desmond – The Rosa Parks of Canada
Women History Month 2019: Kamala Harris – Caribbean Legacy to the White House?
Women History Month 2019: Captain Marvel – We need “Sheroes”
Women History Month 2019: Ellevest CEO: Sallie Krawcheck
Women History Month 2019: Accepting Black Women As Is

It is only appropriate that we Encore that previous blog-commentary on Viola Desmond here-now:

—————–

Go Lean Commentary – Viola Desmond: One Woman Made A Difference

In North America, there is Black History Month and there is Women’s History Month …

This story – about Canadian Viola Desmond – is both!

Viola Desmond challenged racial segregation at a cinema in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, in 1946. She refused to leave a whites-only area of the Roseland Theatre and was convicted of a minor tax violation for the one-cent tax difference between the seat she had paid for and the seat she used which was more expensive. Desmond’s case is one of the most publicized incidents of racial discrimination in Canadian history and helped start the modern civil rights movement in Canada.

In 2010, Viola Desmond was granted a posthumous pardon, the first to be granted in Canada.^[2][3] The government of Nova Scotia also apologized for prosecuting her for tax evasion and acknowledged she was rightfully resisting racial discrimination.^[4] … In late 2018 Desmond will be the first Canadian born woman to appear alone on a $10 bill which was unveiled by Finance Minister Bill Morneau and Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz during a ceremony at the Halifax Central Library on March 8, 2018.^[5][6] Desmond was also named a National Historic Person in 2018.^[7]
…

[Reverend] Dr. William Pearly Oliver – [a Social Justice Champion in the vein of Martin Luther King] – reflecting on the case 15 years later^[21] stated regarding Desmond’s legacy:

“… this meant something to our people. Neither before or since has there been such an aggressive effort to obtain rights. The people arose as one and with one voice. This positive stand enhanced the prestige of the Negro community throughout the Province. It is my conviction that much of the positive action that has since taken place stemmed from this …”.

Desmond is often compared to Rosa Parks, given they both challenged racism by taking seats in a Whites only section and contributed to the rise of the Civil Rights Movement.
Source: Retrieved March 14, 2018 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viola_Desmond

Yes, one woman, or one man, can make a difference in society. Viola Desmond proved it! Her commitment to justice and righteous principles compelled her community to take note and make a change.

“Wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make a change.” – Michael Jackson’s song: Man in the Mirror (1987).

Canada today is a very progressive society. From the Caribbean perspective, Canada is now a role model for a pluralistic democracy and Climate Change action. As is the experience, positive reform always starts with one person. In a previous blog-commentary, the movement behind the book Go Lean…Caribbean explained how immigrants to a new community (and minorities) normally go through a long train of abuse, then toleration, followed by acceptance and then finally celebration. Today, Canada is celebrating Viola Desmond; see the news article in the Appendix below.

The success of this community – Canada – has been hard fought, but they did the heavy-lifting and now are enjoying the fruitage of their labor. People from all over the world “are beating down the doors to get in”.

Poor Caribbean communities. We have NOT done the heavy-lifting and our people “are beating down the doors to get out”. (Many times, they flee to Canada for refuge).

This is what the book Go Lean…Caribbean – available to download for free – warned: “Push and Pull” factors are resulting in an abandonment of Caribbean homelands for foreign shores like Canada; (Page 3). Now to learn and apply this lesson.

The Viola Desmond story resonates with us in the Caribbean. Since she was a Black Woman and the majority population of 28 of the 30 Caribbean member-states is Black, we share the same ancestral heritage – Africa – colonial origins – slave trade – and history of oppression as Canadian Blacks. Plus a large number of our Caribbean Diaspora who fled their homeland lives in Canada – one estimate is near a million.

The Go Lean book posits that one person – an advocate like Desmond – can make a difference (Page 122). It relates:

An advocacy is an act of pleading for, supporting, or recommending a cause or subject. For this book, it’s a situational analysis, strategy or tactic for dealing with a narrowly defined subject.

Advocacies are not uncommon in modern history. There are many that have defined generations and personalities. Consider these notable examples from the last two centuries in different locales around the world:

Frederick Douglas

Mohandas Gandhi

Martin Luther King

Nelson Mandela

Cesar Chavez

Candice Lightner

The Go Lean book seeks to advocate and correct the Caribbean, not Canada, and the people who love our homeland. Yet still we can learn lessons from Canada’s history (Page 146) and direct our regional stakeholders to a Way Forward based on best-practices gleaned from Canada’s dysfunctional past. The book, in its 370 pages, serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), to move our society to a brighter future, by elevating our societal engines – for all member-states. This CU/Go Lean roadmap has these 3 prime directives:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines, including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies.

The book stresses that reforming and transforming the Caribbean societal engines must be a regional pursuit – we must become a pluralistic democracy: Black, White, Red and Yellow. Our problems are too big for any one Caribbean member-state to contend with alone. This was an early motivation for the roadmap, as pronounced in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 12 – 14):

xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.

xix. Whereas our legacy in recent times is one of societal abandonment, it is imperative that incentives and encouragement be put in place to first dissuade the human flight, and then entice and welcome the return of our Diaspora …

xxxii. Whereas the cultural arts … of the region are germane to the quality of Caribbean life, and the international appreciation of Caribbean life, the Federation must implement the support systems to teach, encourage, incentivize, monetize and promote the related industries for arts … in domestic and foreign markets. These endeavors will make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play.

xxxiii. Whereas lessons can be learned and applied from the study of the recent history of other societies, the Federation must formalize statutes and organizational dimensions to avoid the pitfalls of communities like East Germany, Detroit, Indian (Native American) Reservations, Egypt and the previous West Indies Federation. On the other hand, the Federation must also implement the good examples learned from developments/ communities …

The Go Lean movement calls on every man, woman and child in the Caribbean to be an advocate and a champion, or at least appreciate the championing efforts of previous advocates. Their examples can truly help us today with our passions and purpose. Consider this sample of prior blog/commentaries where advocates and role models have been elaborated upon:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=14139	Carter Woodson – One Man Made a Difference … for Black History
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=11963	Oscar López Rivera – The ‘Nelson Mandela’ of the Caribbean?
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=11442	Caribbean Roots: Al Roker – ‘Climate Change’ Defender
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10801	Caribbean Roots: John Carlos – The Man. The Moment. The Movement
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10114	Caribbean Roots: Esther Rolle of ‘Good Times’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9948	Caribbean Roots: Sammy Davis, Jr.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9300	Edward Snowden – One Person Making a Difference
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8724	Remembering Marcus Garvey: Still Relevant Today
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8495	The NBA’s Tim Duncan – Champion On and Off the Court
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8328	YouTube Millionaire: ‘Tipsy Bartender’ Bahamas Origins
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8165	Role Model Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7682	Frederick Douglass: Role Model for Single Cause – Death or Diaspora
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=866	Bob Marley: The Role Model and Legend … lives on!

Thank you Viola Desmond, for being a good role model, and a reminder: Black Girls Rock!

We conclude about Viola Desmond as we do about our own Caribbean champions and advocates; we said (Go Lean book Valedictions on Page 252):

Thank you for your service, love and commitment to all Caribbean people. We will take it from here.

The movement behind Go Lean book, the planners of a new Caribbean stresses that a ‘change is going to come’ our way. We have endured failure for far too long; we have seen what works and what does not. We want to learn from Canada’s History – the good, bad and ugly lessons.

There are the 5 L‘s. We have now Looked, Listened, Learned and Lend-a-hand; we are now ready to Lead our region to a better destination, to being a homeland that is better to live, work and play. Let’s move! 🙂

Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

————

Appendix – Viola Desmond On New Canadian $10 Bill

March 12, 2018 – Canadian hero Viola Desmond is the face on the new $10 bill in Canada, which goes into circulation at the end of March.

Viola Desmond was thrown in jail in Nova Scotia in 1946 because, in a movie theatre, she wanted to sit downstairs where the white people were allowed to sit. She didn’t want to sit up in the balcony, where the black people had to sit. The police held her in jail overnight. The dignified and brave Desmond paid a fine of $20 the next day, even though she had done nothing wrong. Today, we think of her for being a brave advocate for the rights of African-Canadians and helping to inspire the human rights movement in Canada.

(Learn more about Desmond on Historica Canada’s Viola Desmond page.)

It is a great honour to have your face on a country’s money. This is the first time an African-Canadian woman has been featured on Canadian paper money. (Queen Elizabeth is featured on the $20 bill.)

There’s something else interesting about the new bill. For the first time, it is vertical, meaning it’s meant to be looked at up-and-down rather than horizontally (across).

The new bill also features a number of images that are reminders of human rights. For instance, there is an image of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, where Desmond’s story is part of the permanent collection. There is an image of a feather, to recognize rights and freedoms for Canada’s Indigenous Peoples. And it features a paragraph from the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (section 15, which says, “Every individual is equal before and under the law.”

Viola Desmond’s sister, Wanda Robson, was one of the first people in Canada to receive a copy of the new $10 bill. In a Bank of Canada video (below), she said her sister’s photo on it is “so life-like. It’s as if she’s in this room!”

Source: Retrieved March 14, 2018 from http://teachingkidsnews.com/2018/03/12/viola-desmond-on-new-canadian-10-bill/

Related Videos
The video below (1:00) is a “Heritage Minute” produced by Historica Canada. It tells the story of Viola Desmond.

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VIDEO – Heritage Minutes: Viola Desmond – https://youtu.be/ie0xWYRSX7Y

Historica Canada
Published on Feb 2, 2016 – The story of Viola Desmond, an entrepreneur who challenged segregation in Nova Scotia in the 1940s. The 82nd Heritage Minute in Historica Canada’s collection. For more information about Viola Desmond, visit: http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca…

Category: Nonprofits & Activism
License: Standard YouTube License

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Additional Video: Wanda Robson sees Canada’s new $10 note featuring her sister (Viola Desmond) for the first time – https://youtu.be/dfdlPrglcS8

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Women Empowerment – Thoughts. Feelings. Speech. Action.

Posted on March 5, 2019 in Ethos, Social

Go Lean Commentary

“Thoughts. Feelings. Speech. Action.”

This is usually the order and process for change. Change doesn’t just start with Action; a lot more goes into it. It can be likened to a factory process; there is input and there is output. While Action is the output, “Thoughts, Feelings and Speech” qualify as input.

Got Change?

Want Change?

The movement behind the book Go Lean … Caribbean asserts that we have to be prepared to contribute the appropriate Inputs. In fact we must start changing the current Inputs to better reflect the values we want to see in our society. That means changing our thoughts, feeling and speech.

In the Caribbean, we have a problem…

… the women in our society are not always protected, promoted and empowered as they should be and need to be. That is the requested Change, or output. So our goal now – for this Women’s History Month 2019 – is to focus on the appropriate Inputs.

What do we need to change with our thoughts, feelings, speech and actions?

Thoughts & Feelings
Believe it or not, a lot of the inappropriate thinking about women in our society come from the religious orthodoxy. This commentary has previously identified that the Caribbean’s Christian legacy has not been always been a force for good in our society. In the case of protecting, promoting and empowering our women, the religiosity has many times been the problem; the Natural Law preponderance has been to view women as subservient to men. See how this theme had been elaborated in these previous Go Lean commentaries here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=16534	European Reckoning – Christianity’s Indictment
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=16477	Transforming Hindus versus Women – What it means for us?
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=15580	Caribbean Unity? Religion’s Role: False Friend
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10216	Waging a Successful War on Orthodoxy

Speech
As humans, we cannot see other people’s thoughts or feelings; we can only hear their speech and see their actions.

“Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks”. – The Bible Matthew 12:34

So when we see or hear bad words (maledictions) coming from Caribbean institutions, its important to name, blame and shame it immediately. This problem is acute in many Caribbean musical genres; and have been for years. There is now the awareness that this bad trend needs to be remediated and mitigated. See this related news article (and VIDEO of the role model) here:

Title: Sarah concerned about songs that degrade women
External Affairs Minister, Sarah Flood-Beaubrun has expressed concern about the playing of songs that are degrading to women.

She told reporters Tuesday that despite all the work that has gone into trying to reduce domestic violence, globally there has been an increase.

‘So we have to look at everything that causes violence – violent language, violent songs,’ the minister stated.

‘I hear so many songs that are downright degrading to women – an affront to our dignity. Yet still we women who – talking about issues facing women, are supporting these songs being played. What do they do to our girls? What do they tell our girls about themselves?’ The outspoken founder of the Caribbean Centre for Family and Human Rights (CARIFAM), remarked.

She spoke of the need to address the problem of violence holistically and not ‘point fingers.’

Flood-Beaubrun noted that it must be recognised that everyone has a part to play in the situation, although those in leadership positions must ‘take charge’.

‘Leadership at all levels, not just at the political level – in the home, in the school, in the community etc. So it is a job for everybody,’ the minister explained.

Source: Posted February 13, 2018; retrieved March 4, 2019 from: https://stluciatimes.com/sarah-concerned-songs-degrade-women/

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VIDEO – Sarah Flood Beaubrun Appointed Minister – https://youtu.be/zSkWSY0FzPQ

HTS St. Lucia
Published on Jul 26, 2016 – The Allen Chastanet-led cabinet has grown to 16 government ministers. Castries central MP Sarah Flood-Beaubrun was sworn into office as a minister. Her appointment leaves the deputy speaker post vacant.

Category: News & Politics

Action
There are inexcusable actions that simply must be marshaled against in society. Remember these “sad but true” offenses detailed in prior blog-commentaries:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=16408	Sad but true: Bad Ethos on Home Violence Leads to Tourists Violence (Jamaica)
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13664	High Profile Sexual Harassment Accusers – Women should be believed!
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5307	Sad but true: Violent Crime Against Female Tourists (Bahamas)
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2709	Caribbean Study: 58% Of Boys Agree to Female ‘Discipline’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2201	Students developing nail polish to detect date rape drugs. A sad but true need!
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=809	Muslim officials condemn their own for the abductions of Nigerian girls

So in order to reform and transform the Caribbean’s bad practices in protecting, promoting and empowering our women, there must be the heavy-lifting tasks to first win people over for more positive thoughts and feelings, then regulate “bad” speech and finally “police” bad actions against women efficiently, effectively and purposefully in our society.

This is our quest!

Here, we present a full series of commentaries related to women empowerment for Women History Month; this series addresses and presents the Thoughts, Feelings, Speech and Actions of great contemporary women who impacted society – these are role models for us:

Women History Month 2019: Thoughts, Feelings, Speech and Actions
Women History Month 2019: Viola Desmond – The Rosa Parks of Canada
Women History Month 2019: Kamala Harris – Caribbean Legacy to the White House?
Women History Month 2019: Captain Marvel – We need “Sheroes”
Women History Month 2019: Ellevest CEO: Sallie Krawcheck
Women History Month 2019: Accepting Black Women As Is

In this series, reference is made to a “Next Frontier” of Gender Relations – women are now on the verge of breaking all “glass ceilings” in society.

Yes, they can! They have in the past and can do it again now!

See foregoing VIDEO …

Most importantly, there is a Caribbean consideration in all of these submissions. We must do the heavy-lifting of protecting, promoting and empowering our mothers, sisters and daughters. With at least 50 percent of the population, women should naturally be considered our partners … not some subservient “property”.

Yes, we can do this – partner up with our women – and make our homeland a better place to live, work and play for all. 🙂

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines, including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies.

The Go Lean book provides 370-pages of turn-by-turn instructions on “how” to adopt new community ethos, plus the strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to execute so as to reboot, reform and transform the societal engines of Caribbean society. There is even a chapter (Page 226) specifically addressing the need to elevate women in our society, entitled: “10 Ways to Empower Women“.

Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.

xvi. Whereas security of our homeland is inextricably linked to prosperity of the homeland, the economic and security interest of the region needs to be aligned under the same governance. Since economic crimes … can imperil the functioning of the wheels of commerce for all the citizenry, the accedence of this Federation must equip the security apparatus with the tools and techniques for predictive and proactive interdictions.

xxi. Whereas the preparation of our labor force can foster opportunities and dictate economic progress for current and future generations, the Federation must ensure that educational and job training opportunities are fully optimized for all residents of all member-states, with no partiality towards any gender or ethnic group. The Federation must recognize and facilitate excellence in many different fields of endeavor, including sciences, languages, arts, music and sports. This responsibility should be executed without incurring the risks of further human flight, as has been the past history.

xxiv. Whereas a free market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, the Federation must install the controls to better manage aspects of the economy: jobs, inflation, savings rate, investments and other economic principles. Thereby attracting direct foreign investment because of the stability and vibrancy of our economy.

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

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Cuba’s Progress: New Constitution

Posted on February 27, 2019 in Economics, Ethos, Government, Social

Go Lean Commentary

There are 30 member-states in the Caribbean; they all embrace a “Free Market” ideology in some way; but one of them is different; this is Cuba. This country features a communist governmental structure, unique for our region. This affects more than just governance, as communism features a comprehensive philosophical, social, political, and economic ideology.

What does communism really mean?

Classically, it is a socioeconomic order structured upon the common ownership of the means of production (inputs, factories and infrastructure used in the production of economic value) and the absence of social classes, money,^[3][4] and the state.^[5]

In Cuba however, communism can be defined as just anti-American. Their 1959 Revolution was a rejection of the societal defects of that day, which highlighted two major social classes that became irreconcilable in the country. The two classes are the working class — those who work for a living; they make up the majority within society—and the capitalist class — a minority who derives profit from employing the working class through private ownership of the means of production; this capitalist class was heavily backed by American interest and many times reflected American direct investors. The Cuban revolution put the “working class” in power and established social ownership of the means of production in Cuba, which is the primary element in any transformation of a society towards communist principles and theory.^[8]

After a 60 year experiment with communism, Cuba is progressing away from its previous ideology (and failures). We have observed-and-reported on this trend during the last 5 years. But rather than just being a trend, Cuba is now codifying this progress in the country’s constitution.

See the full story and VIDEO here, published before the referendum on Sunday February 24, 2019; (the results: the measure passed by 87 percent):

Title: Cubans vote on new constitution to replace Cold War-era charter
Sub-title: Vote presents ‘unique opportunity’ to show how many Cubans voice dissent, analysts say.
By: Heather Gies

Cubans began voting on Sunday in a referendum on a draft constitution to update its 1976 charter on the heels of significant economic reforms on the island over the past few years.

The new constitution, approved in the National Assembly late last year after a popular consultation, enshrines private property and promotes foreign investment. State enterprise remains the cornerstone of the economy, though the new constitution dictates state-owned companies have autonomous management.

On the political front, the document limits the president to two consecutive five-year terms, but does not open the door for Cubans to elect the president directly. The Communist Party remains the central political force in a one-party system.

Jose Jasan Nieves, editor at the non-state media outlet El Toque, told Al Jazeera by legalising economic measures put in practice in recent years, the new constitution “adapts” to a set of reforms already under way.

“This is the first opportunity the Cuban people will have in 43 years to express ‘yes’ or ‘no’ in the face of a government programme,” he said. “That is a unique opportunity because it will allow us to know what percentage of the Cuban society will start to express dissent.”

He estimated one-quarter of voters could reject the new constitution.

‘Most Cubans hoping for more’
Eight million Cubans are eligible to vote on Sunday. The polls will close at 6pm (23:00 GMT) local time. More than 225,000 electoral authorities will oversee the vote, while some 200,000 students will steward the ballot boxes.

The electoral commission will release preliminary results in a press conference Monday at 3pm local time (20:00 GMT).

“This constitution is a step forward, we cannot deny that. But I think most Cubans were hoping for more,” Camilo Condis, an entrepreneur in Havana, told Al Jazeera. “Most of the changes in the Constitution are to legalise what was already happening in the country.”

Economic reforms introduced under former President Raul Castro in 2010 and 2011 to encourage self-employment and entrepreneurship “helped to boost the private sector”, said Condis, who rents out a residence and works as a contractor for restaurants. But he added that the rollback in US-Cuban relations under President Donald Trump has created fresh challenges.

Now, he sees the Cuban government’s approach to private enterprise as an effort to “regulate but not shrink the private sector”. Close to 600,000 people are currently self-employed in Cuba, up from 150,000 in 2010.

For Maria Jose Espinosa Carrillo, director of programmes and operations at the Washington-based Center for Democracy in the Americas, one of the positive outcomes of drafting the new constitution has been the public debate that grew out of a three-month consultation process. Nearly nine million people attended public meetings to discuss an earlier draft of the Constitution, putting forward more than 700,000 proposals.

“For the first time, people had the opportunity to debate on issues that hadn’t been part of grassroots debates before,” Espinosa Carillo told Al Jazeera. “This, together with access to the internet, has brought new platforms for discussion that was previously not public.”

She expects such public debate to be an “increasing trend”, especially through new digital media outlets, Twitter, and other online platforms.

After the popular consultation, the drafting commission made 760 changes to the draft constitution, revising about 60 percent of articles in the document.

Critics say it was not clear how the commission evaluated and incorporated feedback. More than 11,000 proposals called for a direct vote for the president, for example, but the suggestion was not included in the text.

‘Space and visibility’ to tensions
Meanwhile, marriage equality sparked a debate that is likely to continue after the referendum. An earlier version of the draft constitution defined marriage as a union between two people. But the final draft sidestepped outright legalisation after evangelical protests, leaving the definition of marriage to be determined in a separate referendum at a later date.

“It created a big debate, which is positive because it gave space and visibility to tensions that are happening and that people maybe weren’t even aware of,” Maria Isabel Alfonso, professor of Spanish and Cuban studies at St. Joseph’s College, New York, told Al Jazeera.

State-led mobilisations “are progressively being replaced by these spontaneous associations and ways of thinking”, said Alfonso, creator of the documentary, Rethinking Cuban Civil Society, and cofounder of Cuban Americans for Engagement, an organisation that promotes the normalization of US-Cuba ties.

“Many of them are very emphatic that they don’t want to be in the opposition because the opposition receives, in many instances, funds from the US government,” she added.

Nieves agreed the debate is “complex and varied” beyond clear cut “yes” versus “no” or government versus opposition lines.

“These sectors – journalists, intellectuals, artists, entrepreneurs, LGBTI activists, animal rights activists, religious activists – are sectors of a thriving, growing civil society that don’t necessarily have an agenda of opposition politics, but rather of participation and defence of their respective interests,” he said.

Changes to political and social rights in the Constitution include broader recognition of freedom of thought and expression, a right to request and receive information from the state, and the ability to hold dual citizenship.

The document expands non-discrimination to include on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in addition to sex, gender, age, ethnic origin, skin colour, religious belief, and ability. On women’s rights, the new text guarantees women’s sexual and reproductive rights and protects women from gender violence.

Cubans living abroad also were able to submit proposals for the new constitution in the public consultation process. “That was a great step to include the diaspora,” said Espinosa Carillo.

However, other than diplomats, Cubans abroad will not be allowed to vote in the referendum unless the return to the island to cast their ballots.

——

Heather Gies is a freelance journalist who writes about human rights, resource conflicts, and politics in Latin America. She is also an editor at Upside Down World.

Source: Posted February 24, 2019; retrieved February 25, 2019 from: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/02/cubans-vote-constitution-replace-cold-war-era-charter-190224035045660.html

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VIDEO – Cuba Constitution: Millions expected to oppose Government – https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/02/cubans-vote-constitution-replace-cold-war-era-charter-190224035045660.html

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Related:

Cubans approve a new Constitution: What does the vote mean?
Although Cubans voted overwhelmingly – 86.85 percent in favour – to approve the Constitution, Sunday’s vote saw a growing portion express dissent.

Cuba celebrates 60 years since Castro’s communist revolution – posted January 2, 2019; Retrieved Feb, 26, 2019

This referendum is a move away from “pure” communism and towards a “Free Market” economy – the constitutional changes embrace property ownership and Direct Foreign Investments while doubling-down on a more enterprising form of Socialism. The trend of Cuba progressing towards “Free Market” ideology has been observed-and-reported in many previous blog-commentaries by the movement behind the book Go Lean…Caribbean; see a sample list here (in chronological order):

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=436	Apr 2014 – Cuba Approves New “Law on Foreign Investment”
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1609	July 2014 – Cuba mulls economic reforms in Parliament session
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2330	Sep 2014 – ‘Raul Castro reforms not enough’, Cuba’s bishops say
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3455	Dec 2014 – Restoration of Diplomatic Relations with Cuba
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4506	Mar 2015 – Colorism in Cuba (Blacks making gains)
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6664	Oct 2015 – Cuba to Expand Internet Access
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7412	Feb 2016 – The Road to Restoring Cuba
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9813	Nov 2016 – Fidel Castro Is Dead; Now What?
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10201	Jan 2017 – Farewell to ‘Wet Foot/Dry Foot’ Policy for Cubans
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=14732	April 2018 – ‘Red Letter Day’ for Cuba – Raul Castro Retires
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=16364	Nov 2018 – Technology: Caribbean countries – Cuba – fully on board

The Go Lean movement has consistently asserted that change will come to Cuba (and the full Caribbean), especially now that no Castro is the Chief Executive of the country. In fact this referendum appears to be the initiative more of new President Miguel Diaz-Canel, rather than the Old Guard of Cuban leadership.

The Go Lean movement wants to prepare the full Caribbean for more inclusion of Cuba in the political, social and economic fabric of the regional society. Cuba is equal to 25 percent of the region’s population and landmass. No one can be serious about Caribbean integration with out contemplating the roles and responsibilities towards Cuba.

We are serious! In fact the Go Lean book details a full advocacy (Page 236) on reforming and transforming Cuba. The goal is to reboot this island, modeling the Marshall Plan strategies, tactics and implementations as forged in “Post WW II” Europe.

So yes, we can … again … embrace the winds of change; we must shepherd this effort to make Cuba – and all of the Caribbean – a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

About the Book
The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), for the elevation of Caribbean society – for all member-states, Cuba included. This CU/Go Lean roadmap has these 3 prime directives:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines, including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies.

Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.

xiii. Whereas the legacy of dissensions in many member-states (for example: Haiti and Cuba) will require a concerted effort to integrate the exile community’s repatriation, the Federation must arrange for Reconciliation Commissions to satiate a demand for justice.

xvi. Whereas security of our homeland is inextricably linked to prosperity of the homeland, the economic and security interest of the region needs to be aligned under the same governance. Since economic crimes … can imperil the functioning of the wheels of commerce for all the citizenry, the accedence of this Federation must equip the security apparatus with the tools and techniques for predictive and proactive interdictions.

xxiv. Whereas a free market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, the Federation must install the controls to better manage aspects of the economy: jobs, inflation, savings rate, investments and other economic principles. Thereby attracting direct foreign investment because of the stability and vibrancy of our economy.

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

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‘Two Pies’ for a New Caribbean – ENCORE

Posted on February 23, 2019 in Economics, Ethos, Government, Strategy

Here’s a known fact of life in the USA; let’s examine:

The State of Florida does not have to pay for any of the deliverables for the people in the State of Minnesota; California does not have to worry about the needs of Vermont; Pennsylvania does not have to concern themselves with Arizona; and so on.

Every state only have to address and pay for the needs of the people in their state. Anything cross-border is handled by a different entity, the US federal government.

Yes, as an individual resident, a citizen would see Two Pies while in the USA; one for their State and one for the federal government.

This model is now proposed for the member-states of the Caribbean. This is the roadmap from the 2013 book Go Lean…Caribbean. The book introduces the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) which will serve as a governing entity for cross-border services and deliveries. While it has always been a point of contention that any regional integration in the Caribbean would have the richer countries paying for the poorer countries. This is a fallacy! Each member-state has their own “pie” and the CU Federal entity will have its own “pie”.

This design of Two Pies have been thoroughly detailed in a previous blog-commentary from February 23, 2017; (two years ago exactly). See an Encore of that submission here-now.

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Go Lean Commentary – Two Pies: Economic Plan for a new Caribbean

“Get your hands out of my pocket!” – Term used by another man in the room to cause a disturbance and distraction during the killing of Malcolm X in New York on February 21, 1965 – 52 years ago this week. See VIDEO in the Appendix below.

The words above that were shouted to cause a disturbance are riot-inducing and can cause alarm for many communities. No one wants to think that someone unauthorized and unworthy may be pilfering hard-earned funds from innocent victims.

No one wants to be that victim!

This was a point of consideration in the conception of the book Go Lean…Caribbean. There was the inspiration to conceive an economic empowerment plan for all the Caribbean that would NOT take money out of one person’s pockets and give to another … unauthorized and unworthy. The solution?

Two pockets … or two pies.

… pie as in a pie-chart; this is the graphical representation of the distribution of a budget. Pie-charts are very effective in expressing one amount in comparison to another amount. So when there are two pie-charts, it undoubtedly expresses that there are two different funds, no intermingling. That is the economic plan for the new Caribbean:

Two Pies.

This means that there are two different funds. The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This is a regional integration effort to benefit the 30 member-states of the Caribbean. There are a lot of money issues to contend with – but no one person’s hands are in another person’s pockets. So all the money issues for CU are exclusive to the CU. This is true of money-economics and other facets of Caribbean life: security and governance. In total, these 3 prime directives explore the full dimensions of the roadmap:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure justice institutions and protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies to support the economic and security engines.

In order to reboot the societal engines there must be these Two Pies. The CU Trade Federation is designed to lead, fund and facilitate regional empowerment plans. But the plan is NOT for the individual member-states to write checks to the CU so as to share one state’s treasuries with another state. Rather, the CU Trade Federation creates its own funding – from regionalized services – and then encumbers the funds for each member-state to deliver the economic, security and governing mandates. This is analogized as Two Pies:

One ‘pie‘ to represent the existing budgets of the member-states and how they distribute their government funding between government services (education, healthcare, etc.), security measures (Police, Coast Guards)
One ‘pie‘ to represent the CU funding from exclusive activities (Spectrum Auctions, Lottery, Exploration Rights, Licenses, Foreign-Aid, etc.).

All in all, the book, and accompanying blogs, declare that the proposed CU Trade Federation is a new governmental layer, and thusly creates a new government budget. This is a confederation; designed to enhance the governmental deliveries for the 30 member-states. This necessity is expressed as a pronouncement in the opening Declaration of Interdependence, (Pages 10 – 11) with the following statement:

Preamble: While our rights to exercise good governance and promote a more perfect society are the natural assumptions among the powers of the earth, no one other than ourselves can be held accountable for our failure to succeed if we do not try to promote the opportunities that a democratic society fosters.

xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.

The vision of a confederation is an integrated Single Market for the 30 member-states of the Caribbean; this means the Dutch, English, French and Spanish speaking territories. This also includes the US territories of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Tactically, the CU allows for a separation-of-powers between the member-state governments and the new federal agencies.

Currently the Caribbean member-states pockets are bare – these are all Third World destinations – even the US Territories of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Consider this First World comparison; consider Apple Corporation – the firm behind the iPhone, iPad, iTunes, etc. – due to their success in technology and business, they have a lot of money (cash on hand); a lot more than many Caribbean member-states … combined.

We need this CU roadmap to impact a turn-around for this region; we need the new “Pie” of the CU Single Market. The member-state’s economic engines – their “Pies” – are in crisis, but since a crisis would be a terrible thing to waste, we need to transform these economic engines for a new Caribbean by introducing the CU “Pie”, as follows:

Regional Capital Markets with a regional currency – Caribbean Dollar – would increase liquidity and lower the cost of capital. Rather than international debt, member-state governments and corporate institutions can avail themselves of lower financing costs, sometimes as low as 2% interest rates.
Notice a glimpse of this vision in this previous blog-commentary:
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=372 | Dominica raises EC$20 million on regional securities market
Municipal financing – Debt by any governmental entity does not only reflect on the past, but impacts the future as well. Excessive debt can be so bad that at times the providers … and collectors of debt may be derisively called “vultures”. The CU pledges to re-purchase existing municipal debt and convert them to Caribbean Dollar instruments.
Notice this portrayal in this previous blog-commentary:
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7601 | Beware of Vulture Capitalists Commercial banking enhancements
Individual finance: Student Loans – Many Caribbean students obtained loans from their home countries, matriculated abroad and then never returned home. There was no return on investment and many times, no loan repayment. The CU pledges to buy outstanding loans (new, active and default) and enforce cross-border collections.
Notice the details of this student loan crisis in this previous blog-commentary:
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8373 | A Lesson in Economic Fallacies – Student Loans As Investments
Individual finance: Mortgages – Housing can be a great stimuli on the economy, but it is difficult for banks to recycle the capital that is tied up for 30 years without a Secondary Market. The CU pledges to deploy a Mortgage Secondary Market across the entire region (Go Lean book Page 83 and 199). This strategy will re-enforce banking within the region.
Notice the issues associated with a dysfunctional mortgage eco-system in this previous blog-commentary:
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10187 | Day of Reckoning for NINJA Loans
Individual finance: Retirement – Growing old in the Caribbean has become strained due to the high abandonment rate. National Pension plans depend on a macro structure where young people pay into the fund while the elderly withdraws from the fund. With so much emigration, the actuarial tables are distorted.
Consider this previous blog-commentary that depicts a failing pension system in one member-state:
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2830 | Jamaica’s Public Pension Under-funded
… and one blog-commentary that describes how best to prosper:
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4222 | Getting Rich Slowly in the Caribbean
Self-Governing Entities (SGE) – The Go Lean/CU roadmap features the installation of SGE’s as job-creating engines in many communities; these sites are ideal for technology laboratories, medical campuses, corporate parks, industrial sites, educational facilities and other forms of establishments situated inside bordered facilitates. They allow for an efficient process to launch and manage industrial efforts in the region. These types of installations will thrive under the strategies and tactics of the Go Lean roadmap. SGE’s do require governmental concurrence and maybe even public approvals – referendums – but only at the initiation. Beyond that, they are not a concern, or an expense, for local governments – they bring their own economic “Pie“.
Consider this previous blog-commentary that details the dynamics of SGE’s:
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5921 | Socio-Economic Change: Impact Analysis of SGE’s
Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) – The Go Lean/CU roadmap calls for the strategy of petitioning the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) for expanded territory in the Caribbean Sea for the CU to develop, explore, protect and exploit for the benefit to the Caribbean en-masse only. This means the CU “Pie” for revenues-and-expenses and not individual member-states.
Consider this previous blog-commentary that details the dynamics of the EEZ:
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8819 | Lessons from China – South China Seas: Exclusive Economic Zones

The Go Lean book details the series of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies designed to create a federal “Pie” in the Caribbean region; see here:

Anecdote – Caribbean Single Market & Economy	Page 15
Community Ethos – Money Multiplier	Page 22
Community Ethos – Job Multiplier	Page 22
Community Ethos – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategic – Vision – Integrated Region in a Single Market	Page 45
Strategic – Vision – Agents of Change	Page 57
Tactical – Confederating a Non-sovereign Union	Page 63
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Growing to $800 Billion Regional Economy	Page 67
Tactical – Separation-of-Powers	Page 71
Anecdote – “Lean” in Government – Optimizing Societal Engines	Page 93
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change	Page 101
Implementation – Start-up Benefits from the Exclusive Economic Zone	Page 104
Implementation – Steps to Implement Self-Governing Entities	Page 105
Implementation – Ways to Better Manage Debt	Page 114
Planning – Big Ideas for the Caribbean Region	Page 127
Planning – Ways to Model the EU	Page 130
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance	Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Advocacy – Reforms for Banking Regulations	Page 199
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Wall Street	Page 199

While the Caribbean needs its people, these people need a better Caribbean society – more prosperous. The region status quo is that “they got it bad”! Due to the many failures in the region, many people have fled to find refuge in foreign countries, resulting in a debilitating brain drain in the Caribbean, and thusly less people-less potential-less profits; so even more failure on top of failure.

The Go Lean roadmap for the CU stresses the need for this new “Pie“, the economics of a Caribbean Single Market. This theme was previously blogged on in so many previous Go Lean blog-commentaries; see sample here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10043	Integration Plan for Greater Caribbean Prosperity
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9595	Vision and Values for a ‘New’ Caribbean
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8813	Lessons from China – Size Does Matter
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=841	Having Less Babies is Bad for the Economy
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=833	European Integration Currency Model: One Currency
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=599	Ailing Puerto Rico open to radical economic fixes
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=364	Time Value of Money
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=360	How to Create Money from Thin Air

Now is the time for all of the Caribbean – the people and governing institutions – to lean-in for the Caribbean integration re-boot, this Caribbean Union Trade Federation. We need the “Two Pies“. We need better engines to make our region more prosperous, to make it a better homeland to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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Appendix VIDEO – Malcolm X: Get your hand out my pocket – https://youtu.be/zHM8lAIFoU4

Uploaded on Jan 26, 2011 – Classic scene from a classic movie.

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‘February 14’ commemorating ‘Hate, Not Love’ this year – ENCORE

Posted on February 13, 2019 in Ethos, Government, Locations, Social

This is Greater Miami – 2019.

What should be a day set-aside for lovers – Valentines Day – is now only being remembered for the bad episode of a School Shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida – a suburban town in Greater Miami.

May we never forget!

But this is America; a warped pattern of gun use in society is common and now expected. For Caribbean communities, we have always been able to sit on the sidelines and just laugh-weep-mourn at these bad practices. On February 14, 2018 however, things change. One of our Caribbean Diaspora was enrolled at that High School … and victimized accordingly.

This American social dysfunction came to “our home” to roost.

So we must advocate for change, not just in our Caribbean homeland, but also for America, as the full Caribbean eco-system includes our Diaspora that have left the homeland 50, 40, 30, and 20 years ago – plus their children … and grandchildren. Surely, as compassionate people, we feel the thug on our hearts if/when a little one is victimized by this cruel American dysfunction.

Surely, we mourn for our own, and for those who emigrated from our communities; ones who may still consider the Caribbean their true identity and their tropical homeland as their true “yard”.

Surely!

This was the theme of a previous Go Lean commentary from March 26, 2018, asserting that while we need to work to reform our Caribbean homeland, to make it a better place to live, work and play, that we also need to lend-a-hand to change America. That previous blog is Encored here-now:

===========================

Go Lean Commentary – Observing the Change … with Guns

Here’s is our assignment – the 5 L‘s – for the Caribbean Diaspora in the US hoping for change back in our beloved homeland:

Look, Listen, Learn for the societal defects in the American eco-system.

… and if you can: Lend-a-hand

… then go back home and Lead.

You see, we are not trying to be like America; we are trying to be better.

This is a Big Deal … right now. There was a school shooting in the US again; this time on February 14, 2018 in Parkland, Florida. 17 people were killed, 14 students and 3 staff members. Though the school, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, has 3100+ students, the survivors are not going away quietly; they are “mad as hell and not taking it anymore”; they are not satisfied with the status quo for gun control in this country and they are not going to settle for anything other than:

Change.

When asked about the #Enough hashtag – “hactivism” – these young ones responses has been consistent, summarized as:

America should have considered it “Enough” with Columbine (1999), Virginia Tech (2007), Aurora Theater (2008), SandyHook (2012), Pulse Nightclub (2016), Las Vegas Concert (2017), or any of the other 260 shootings since Columbine. The fact that these shootings have proliferated is proof that the adults have failed to protect their children. Now the children will not be satisfied until there is real reform, real change.

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VIDEO – Hundreds of thousands stand with March for Our Lives – https://youtu.be/KYxIQ_FHPE4

Posted March 24, 2018 – From Washington D.C. to Paris, young voices resound in protest against gun violence.

Category: News & Politics

License: Standard YouTube License

The implementation of any reforms will surely be heavy-lifting.

For the Caribbean, let’s pay more than the usual attention for lessons learned for our own Big Deal implementation for change in our region. But let’s lend-a-hand here too. We do have our Caribbean Diaspora here, and students and visitors. These ones amount to millions. Any lack of reform can and do imperil our own loved ones. This is sad, but true – one of the 17 victims in Parkland, Helena Ramsay (Age 17), was of Caribbean (Jamaica/Trinidad) heritage. See story here:

Title: Student of Caribbean-American descent among 17 victims killed at Parkland high school

According to reports obtained by the Jamaican Consulate in Miami, one of the victims of the tragic mass shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on Wednesday, February 14 was the child of Caribbean Americans parents.

Helena Ramsay, 17, a student at the high school was confirmed by the Broward County Sheriff’s Office as one of the 17 killed by a 19-year old gunman who opened fire on students and school staff. Her mother is reported to be Jamaican and her father Trinidadian.
…
Source: Posted February 16, 2018; retrieved March 27, 2018 from: https://www.caribbeannationalweekly.com/caribbean-breaking-news-featured/student-caribbean-american-descent-among-17-victims-killed-parkland-high-school/

Again, the US is being urged to reform and transform its policies on guns and school safety, while the Caribbean needs to implement a roadmap to forge change in the societal engines (economics, security and governance) for the 30 member-states of our region.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean – available to download for free – serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), for the elevation of Caribbean society – for all member-states. This CU/Go Lean roadmap has these 3 prime directives:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines, including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies.

There will be a lot of security and governing dynamics associated with the topic of guns.

The Go Lean book provides 370-pages of turn-by-turn instructions on “how” to adopt new community ethos, plus the strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to execute so as to transform the societal engines of Caribbean society, regarding guns and gun control. In fact, there is 1 advocacy entitled “10 Ways to Improve Gun Control” (Page 179), with specific highlights, mitigations and solutions. There is also this encyclopedic reference to the US’s Second Amendment, here:

The Bottom Line on the 2nd Amendment

The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution is the part of the United States Bill of Rights that protects the right to keep and bear arms. It was adopted on December 15, 1791, along with the rest of the Bill of Rights.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, the Supreme Court ruled on several occasions that the amendment did not bar state regulation of firearms, considering the amendment to be “a limitation only upon the power of Congress and the National government and not upon that of the States.” Along with the incorporation of the Second Amendment in the 21st century, the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess and carry firearms. In 2008 and 2010, the Court issued these two landmark decisions to officially establish an “individual rights” interpretation of the Second Amendment:

a. In District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), the Court ruled that the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to possess a firearm, unconnected to service in a militia and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home within many longstanding prohibitions and restrictions on firearms possession listed by the Court as being consistent with the Second Amendment.

b. In McDonald v. Chicago (2010), the Court ruled that the Second Amendment limits state and local governments to the same extent that it limits the federal government.

The US has the most liberal gun ownership laws in the western world, accompanied by highest gun crime and murder rate.

The Go Lean book asserts that every community has bad actors, and coupled with guns, a bad actor can do a lot of damage. The assumption in the Social Contract – where citizens surrender some of their freedoms and submit to the authority of the State in exchange for protection of remaining natural and legal rights – is for the State or governing entity to regulate weapons to ensure protections for all members of society. There must be “new guards” to assuage any gun risks and threats in Caribbean communities. This point is pronounced early in the book with the Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 12 – 13) that claims:

x. Whereas we are surrounded and allied to nations of larger proportions in land mass, populations, and treasuries, elements in their societies may have ill-intent in their pursuits, at the expense of the safety and security of our citizens. We must therefore appoint “new guards” to ensure our public safety and threats against our society, both domestic and foreign. The Federation must employ the latest advances and best practices of criminology and penology to assuage continuous threats against public safety. …

xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.

xvi. Whereas security of our homeland is inextricably linked to prosperity of the homeland, the economic and security interest of the region needs to be aligned under the same governance. Since economic crimes, including piracy and other forms of terrorism, can imperil the functioning of the wheels of commerce for all the citizenry, the accedence of this Federation must equip the security apparatus with the tools and techniques for predictive and proactive interdictions.

Reforming guns in the US is a BIG DEAL considering that many Caribbean people have emigrated to the US from their island homes. It is a frightening prospect that our people may have jumped from the “frying pan” of failing communities, “into the fire” of a gun-crazed society. This point was addressed recently in a previous blog-commentary entitled – ‘Pulled’ – Despite American Guns with this excerpt:

The repeated incidences of mass shootings – with no gun control remediation – makes American life defective …

This commentary aligns with charter of the book Go Lean … Caribbean to make the countries of the Caribbean region better places to live, work and play. The goal is to be Better Than America; to be a protégé without the ignominious Second Amendment; to exercise better governance.

Let’s see how this process goes in the US. Guns are in the DNA of this country; the Second Amendment was ratified in 1791; the US has more gun ownership per capita than any other country in the world; more gun deaths too. Changing this culture will truly be a BIG DEAL!

This writer is doing more than just “look, see or observe”; I will lend-a-hand as well.

I have children and grandchildren in the US States of Florida and Arizona. Though my efforts are only in the scope of reforming and transforming the Caribbean, my heart does want to ensure change in the US regarding guns and school safety.

I would not want to sacrifice my children nor grandchildren to the American twisted perception of gun rights. No, and while I accept the premise that I cannot fix America, I can work to fix the Caribbean homelands to be better places to live, work and play. Hopefully then we can provide a model to the US on how to effect change.

Let’s observe-and-report on this American effort – these Parkland students – let’s observe their successes and their failures, while we hope for change.

Speaking of change, this commentary commences a short 3-part series on “Change” in society. The full catalog of commentaries in this series are as follows:

Change! Observing the Change – Student Marches for Gun Control Reform and Action
Change! Be the Change – RIP Linda Brown; the little girl in “Brown vs Board of Education”
Change! Forging Change – Citibank’s Model of “Corporate Vigilantism”

All of these commentaries give insights on “how” the stewards of a new Caribbean can persuade people, establishments and institutions to forge change in their communities. 🙂

Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

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