Category: Social

ENCORE: Memorial of ‘National Sacrifice’

Posted on May 30, 2016 in Ethos, Government, Social

Miami, Florida USA – This blog/commentary is an ENCORE of the original blog from January 15, 2015. This is being re-distributed on this Memorial Day 2016, a US holiday set aside to remember the more than one million men and women who gave their lives in service of their country, the United States of America. The memory of these ones is raised by the living, who resolve not to let their sacrifice be in vain, but to rise up in their stead and continue the fight for liberty and justice for all.

Fight or Flight – The original commentary below was not a glorification of war, but rather an acknowledgement of the National Sacrifice necessary to forge change in a society. Our Caribbean needs more of a National Sacrifice ethos, rather that the propensity to flee – the current attitude – at the earliest signs of distress. We must rather, fight for change!

—————————————–

Go Lean Commentary

CU Blog - National Sacrifice - The Missing Ingredient - Photo 3The term National Sacrifice is defined here as the willingness to die for a greater cause; think “King/Queen and Country”. This spirit is currently missing in the recipe for “community” in the Caribbean homeland.

To be willing to die for a cause means that one is willing to live for the cause. Admittedly, “dying” is a bit extreme. The concept of “sacrifice” in general is the focus of this commentary.

The publishers of the book Go Lean…Caribbean wants to forge change in the Caribbean, we want to change the attitudes for an entire community, country and region. We have the track record of this type of commitment being exemplified in other communities. (Think: The US during WW II). Now we want to bring a National Sacrifice attitude to the Caribbean, as it is undoubtedly missing. This is evidenced by the fact the every Caribbean member-state suffers from alarming rates of societal abandonment: 70% of college educated population in the English states have left in a brain drain, while the US territories have lost more than 50% of their populations).

The book Go Lean…Caribbean opens with the acknowledgement that despite having the “greatest address in the world… the people of the Caribbean have beat down their doors to get out”, (Page 5).

CU Blog - National Sacrifice - The Missing Ingredient - Photo 4The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU); a confederation to bring change, empowerment, to the Caribbean region; to make the region a better place to live, work and play for all stakeholders (residents, visitors, businesses, organizations – NGO’s and governments). This Go Lean roadmap also has initiatives to foster solutions for the Caribbean youth. The Go Lean book posits that permanent change for Caribbean society will only take root as a result of adjustments to the community attitudes, the national spirit that drives the character and identity of its people. This is identified in the book as “community ethos”; and that one such character, National Sacrifice is sorely missing in this region.

Any attempts to change Caribbean society’s community ethos must start with the youth.

At no point should it be construed that this commentary is advocating sacrificing young men (and women) on the altar of the God of War. But rather, this commentary laments the missing ingredients of wholesale commitment to any national cause. Thusly, the recommendation is for conscription/draft (Appendix B) into a National Youth Service (NYS) program for the Caribbean. Take it one step further and make the Youth Service program regional in its scope rather than “national”; with applicable exemptions for:

  • military/police enrollments
  • student/research deferments (at regional institutions)
  • religious/missionary assignments
  • medical/disability exceptions

This quest relates a commitment so vital to a community that everyone should be willing to sacrifice and lean-in for the desired outcome. This Caribbean effort is not new to the world; it is currently being championed by a Washington-DC-based global Non-Government Organization (NGO) branded the Innovations in Civic Participation (ICP). Much can be learned from analyzing their successes … and failures. See details here:

Innovations in Civic Participation – NGO – Leaders for Youth Civic Engagement (Retrieved 01/15/2015):

Innovations in Civic Participation (ICP) is a global leader in the field of Youth Civic Engagement. ICP envisions a world where young people in every nation are actively engaged in improving their lives and their communities through civic participation. We believe that well-structured youth service programs can provide innovative solutions to social and environmental issues, while helping young people develop skills for future employment and active citizenship.

ICP carries out its mission through four main activities:

  1. Incubating innovative models for youth service programs;
  2. Creating and expanding global networks;
  3. Conducting research and publicizing information on youth civic engagement, especially national youth service and service-learning; and
  4. Serving as a financial intermediary to support program innovation and policy development.

In addition to these activities, ICP regularly consults with its extensive network of over 2,500 academics, policymakers, program entrepreneurs, and other leaders in the field on program and policy work.

Contact Information:

Innovations in Civic Participation
P.O. Box 39222
Washington, DC 20016
202-775-0290

http://www.icicp.org/about-us/

A quest for a National Youth Service has previously been advocated in Sub-Saharan Africa (see Appendix C). There, the NYS was designed to explore the potential to foster youth employability, entrepreneurship, and sustainable livelihoods. This effort stemmed from an existing tradition of NYS programs in Sub-Saharan Africa, which were originally designed to cultivate a sense of national identity and mobilize skills for development in post-independence nations; (see Appendix A). Today, NYS programs operate in the context of a deepening regional youth unemployment crisis, which averages over 20 percent, according to African Economic Outlook. NYS programs engage hundreds of thousands of young people each year and have the potential to equip them with strong civic skills and prepare them for employment and livelihood opportunities.

Despite its potential as an economic strategy, little is still known about how effective NYS programs are at increasing youth employability in Africa. But there is no doubt for the commitment to community that is forged from these efforts. Young people cry, sweat, and bleed for their community, embedding a desire to sacrifice for the Greater Good.

This corresponds with the Bible precept: “There is more happiness in giving than in receiving” – Acts 20:35

There are NYS programs already deployed or proposed for these Caribbean member-states, (though many have been snagged or stalled):

CU Blog - National Sacrifice - The Missing Ingredient - Photo 1

The purpose of the Go Lean book/roadmap is more than just the embedding of new community ethos, but rather the elevation/empowerment of Caribbean society. In total, the Caribbean empowerment roadmap has these 3 prime directives:

  • 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 protect the resultant economic engines.
  • Improve Caribbean governance and industrial policies to support these engines.

The roadmap details the following community ethos, plus the execution of these strategies, tactics, implementation and advocacies to forge permanent change in the region:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – People Choose Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – People Respond to Incentives in Predictable Ways Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – The Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future Page 21
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Lean Operations Page 24
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Cooperatives Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact a Turn-Around Page 33
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness Page 36
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Confederate 30 Member-States Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Enact a Defense Pact to Defend the Homeland Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Keep the next generation at home Page 46
Tactical – Confederating a Permanent Union Page 63
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy Page 64
Tactical – Separation-of-Powers Between CU & Member-States Governments Page 71
Implementation – Assemble – Incorporating all the existing regional organizations Page 96
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change Page 101
Implementation – Security Initiatives at Start-up Page 103
Implementation – Ways to Deliver Page 109
Planning – 10 Big Ideas for the Caribbean – Confederation Without Sovereignty Page 127
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better Page 131
Planning – Lessons Learned from the West Indies Federation – Military Units Page 135
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Manage Federal Civil Service Page 173
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Homeland Security Page 181
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Communications Page 186
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage Page 218
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Youth Page 227
Appendix – 30,000 Federal Employees Page 299
Appendix – Previous West Indies Integration – Caribbean Regiment Page 301

Previously Go Lean blog/commentaries have considered historic references and have also stressed fostering the proper and appropriate community ethos for the Caribbean to prosper; and reported on the repercussions and consequences of bad ethos. The following sample applies:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2830 Bad Ethos: Jamaica’s Public Pension Under-funded
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2809 A Lesson in Bad Community Ethos : East Berlin/Germany
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2480 A Lesson in History: Community Ethos of WW II
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2297 A Lesson in History – Booker T versus Du Bois – to Change a Bad Community Ethos
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1531 A Lesson in History: 100 Years Ago – World War I – Cause and Effect in Community Ethos
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=841 Having Less Babies is Bad for the Economy – Need People
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=623 Only at the Precipice, Do Communities Change
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=353 Book Review: ‘Wrong – Nine Economic Policy Disasters and What We Can Learn…’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=228 Egalitarianism versus Anarchism – Community Ethos Debate

All in all, there is a certain community ethos associated with populations that have endured change. It is a National Sacrifice, a deferred gratification and focus on the future. Any losses of privileges are appreciated by the entire community, not just the affected individual or family member. This is the purpose of the US Memorial Day Holiday on the last Monday in May, honoring the military service of all our men and women in uniform, their families at home, and those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in dying for their country. A quest to unite the country in remembrance and appreciation of the fallen and to serve those who are grieving is a good way to forge a community ethos of National Sacrifice.

See VIDEO here of a community’s great honor to a slain soldier:

VIDEO: Sky Mote: Community Honors a Fallen Soldier from El Dorado County with a Hero’s Welcome –   http://youtu.be/MVQORRQvTpU

Published on Aug 17, 2012 – Starting with a Marine Honor Guard carrying the transfer case containing the body of Staff Sgt. Sky R. Mote of El Dorado, CA, upon arrival at Dover Air Force Base, Del. on Sunday Aug. 12, 2012. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana). Then continuing with the great Welcome Home the community gave. His family will never forget!

Though this Fallen Soldier is mourned and missed, his sacrifice is duly acknowledged, appreciated and honored in his hometown. This community spirit creates a value system for public service and National Sacrifice.

The US is not the only country that memorializes their war dead. Those countries that do, experience less societal abandonment. The British Commonwealth of Nations (representative of 18 Caribbean member-states) shows likewise homage to their Fallen Soldiers. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is responsible for maintaining the war graves of 1.7 million service personnel that died in the First and Second World Wars fighting for Commonwealth member states. Founded in 1917 (as the Imperial War Graves Commission), the Commission has constructed 2,500 war cemeteries, and maintains individual graves at another 20,000 sites around the world.[107] The vast majority of the latter [however] are civilian cemeteries in Great Britain. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_War_Graves_Commission).

The former British colonies did not adopt this National Sacrifice value system. As most Caribbean (notwithstanding the US Territories) member-states do not even have a (work-free) holiday to honor the sacrifices of those that fought, bled and/or died for their country.

No appreciation, no sacrifice; no sacrifice, no victory. It is that simple!

It is the recommendation of this blog/commentary that all Caribbean member-states should mandate a civilian conscription service for their citizens (1 year between ages 18 and 25); it is common for a confederation – the CU for the Caribbean – to marshal a multi-state, allied military force. Then the CU should facilitate a complete eco-system of engaging the conscripted NYS participants to serve and protect the people and resources of the Caribbean. After which, the communities should show proper appreciation and honor to those that make these sacrifices for “King/Queen and Country”, from all conscription services: military service, public and civilian.

(Many times school teachers and administrators are lowly paid; their service to their country is a great sacrifice).

Veteran-style benefits should thusly be considered for all these “national” servants. This commitment from the community would go far in forging deep loyalty within the citizenry, thus mitigating quick abandonment of the homeland.

There is a separation-of-powers between the CU federal agencies and Caribbean member-states, so the CU would have no authority on how member-states manage, appreciate or honor their civil servants; unless some CU grants/funding apply. But for CU personnel, the practice will be institutionalized to recognize the service of long-time civil servants (active or retired) and their sacrifices. So for any human resource that die in the line of duty, the funeral processions will be filled with pomp and circumstance, much like the foregoing VIDEO.

“The [servants] who perform well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard …” – Bible 1 Timothy 5:17

Now is the time to lean-in to this roadmap for Caribbean change, as depicted in the book Go Lean…Caribbean. All the mitigations and empowerments in this roadmap require people to remain in the homeland. No people, no hope! A community ethos, a spirit or attitude of sacrifice for the Greater Good is a great start to forge change; no sacrifice, no victory.

🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

——————-

Appendix A – ICP Studies and Results

Overview of the National Youth Service Landscape in Sub-Saharan Africa

National Youth Service Project on Employability, Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Livelihoods in Sub-Saharan Africa: Synthesis Report

——————

Appendix B – Conscription (or Drafting)
This is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of National Service, most often military service.[2] Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names. The modern system of near-universal national conscription for young men dates to the French Revolution in the 1790s, where it became the basis of a very large and powerful military. Most European nations later copied the system in peacetime, so that men at a certain age would serve 1–8 years on active duty and then transfer to the reserve force.

CU Blog - National Sacrifice - The Missing Ingredient - Photo 2Conscription is controversial for a range of reasons, including conscientious objection to military engagements on religious or philosophical grounds; political objection, for example to service for a disliked government or unpopular war; and ideological objection, for example, to a perceived violation of individual rights. Those conscripted may evade service, sometimes by leaving the country.[4] Some selection systems accommodate these attitudes by providing alternative service outside combat-operations roles or even outside the military, such as civil service in Austria and Switzerland.

As of the early 21st century, many states no longer conscript soldiers, relying instead upon professional militaries with volunteers enlisted to meet the demand for troops. The ability to rely on such an arrangement, however, presupposes some degree of predictability with regard to both war-fighting requirements and the scope of hostilities. Many states that have abolished conscription therefore still reserve the power to resume it during wartime or times of crisis.[5] (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscription)

National Service is a common name for mandatory or volunteer government service programmes. The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes. Compulsory military service typically requires all citizens, or all male citizens, to participate for a period of a year (or more in some countries) during their youth, usually at some point between the age of 18 and their late twenties. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_service)

——————

Appendix C  – National Youth Service Corps in Nigeria
The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) is an organisation set up by the Nigerian government to involve the country’s graduates in the development of the country. There is no military conscription in Nigeria, but since 1973 graduates of universities and later polytechnics have been required to take part in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) program for one year.[1] This is known as national service year.

“Corp” members are posted to cities far from their city of origin. They are expected to mix with people of other tribes, social and family backgrounds, to learn the culture of the indigenes in the place they are posted to. This action is aimed to bring about unity in the country and to help youths appreciate other ethnic groups.

There is an “orientation” period of approximately three weeks spent in a camp away from family and friends. There is also a “passing out ceremony” at the end of the year and primary assignment followed by one month of vacation.

The program has also helped in creating entry-level jobs for many Nigerian youth. An NYSC forum dedicated to the NYSC members was built to bridge the gap amongst members serving across Nigeria and also an avenue for members to share job information and career resources as well as getting loans from the National Directorate Of Employment.

The program has been met with serious criticism by a large portion of the country. The NYSC members have complained of being underpaid, paid late or not paid at all.[2] Several youths carrying out the NYSC program have been killed in the regions they were sent to due to religious violence, ethnic violence or political violence.[3]

A series of bomb and other violent attacks, especially in the North, rocked the country’s stability in the period preceding the 2011 gubernatorial and presidential elections. Most common of these attacks was perpetuated by the Islamist extremist terrorist group called Boko Haram. “Boko Haram” means “Western education is a sin” in the local hausa dialect in Nigeria. The group “Boko Haram” is against western education and wants to establish an Islamic state in Nigeria’s northern region.

Worst hit were National Youth Service Corps members, some of whom lost their lives.
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Youth_Service_Corps)

Share this post:
, , ,

Caribbean Image: ‘Less Than’?

Posted on May 26, 2016 in Ethos, Planning, Social

Go Lean Commentary

Picture this: The year is 1954, America is faced with a decision:

“Do we tear down the status quo and liberate 20 million African-Americans from a “Less Than” life or do we leave ‘well enough alone’?

If this question was a referendum, how do you think the American people would have voted … in 1954?

No doubt, the decision would have overwhelmingly aligned with words and expressions like “No!”, “Leave us alone”, “It has always been that way“, “this  is our country“, “Go home Niggers“, etc.

This is not just a “what if” scenario. This really happened! But not as a proposition to the whole country of the United States to contest; no, only for 9 men to consider – the Justices of the US Supreme Court. The end result: Unanimous … in favor of change.

- Photo 1

- Photo 2

This commentary is a discussion on image, the facts and fiction of being a minority in a majority world or being an immigrant to a foreign country. This anecdote is related in the book Go Lean…Caribbean, in its Epilogue entitled “The Greater Good”. The book details this experience:

Future Focus – Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
This was a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896, which allowed state-sponsored segregation, insofar as it applied to public education. Handed down on May 17, 1954, the Warren Court’s (between 1953 and 1969, when Earl Warren served as Chief Justice) unanimous decision (9–0) stated that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal”. As a result, de jure racial segregation was ruled a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution (Fourteenth Amendment). This ruling paved the way for integration and was a major victory of the civil rights movement.

This landmark ruling created chaos for nearly 60 years; the animosity created was real and every aspect of American society was affected. (Most legislative assemblies in the southern states passed resolutions and sanctions condemning the Supreme Court decision, though the federal law superseded all state legislations). Cities and urban areas suffered from white flight, where white Americans fled the cities to move out to the suburbs to avoid the integration of urban schools; with their flight went their capital and tax base. Many American cities have still not recovered, for example Detroit filed for Bankruptcy in July 2013 after suffering the pangs of distress from this white flight for 60 years.

So why would the learned men on the Supreme Court make this unanimous ruling and caused so much havoc on American life. Were they not wise, could they not “read the writing on the wall”? The answer is an emphatic No! They knew the real beneficiary of their judgment would come later. Their wisdom was strewn from the experience of modern society waging two world wars, the last of which was just concluded 9 years earlier. They saw the rampage, saw of devastation of 60 million deaths around the world and appreciated the wisdom that a downtrodden people would not stay down, that they would rise and revolt, that they would risk their lives and that of their children to pursue freedom. The Warren Court knew that the status quo of race inequality could not continue, but in order to effectuate that change would take writing-off an entire generation (or two). That time had come, the generation was now (1954); but the hope was with the next generation, and so the curative measures started with the children of that day, so that inevitably, future generations would inhabit an America that would not judge its people by the color of their skins, but rather the content of their character.

The issues pronounced here in the Go Lean book highlights an important factoid: de jure versus de facto…

  • de jure = according to law
  • de facto = in reality

As a result of the 1954 Supreme Court’s decision, the de jure policy of the US was that of racial equality. But in reality, that decision didn’t manifest on the streets for the everyday man. The facts did not change the fiction, racism continued to dominate the American eco-system, even today. The aft-mentioned 20 million African-Americans in the US were viewed, treated and labeled as “Less Than“.

Don’t agree; think this is all fiction, speculation or propaganda?! Consider this VIDEO:

VIDEO – Would you want to be treated like blacks? – https://youtu.be/RwA_4OamFhI

Published on Jan 19, 2016 – Every white person who wants to be treated how blacks are in this society stand up. [For this white audience, no one did.]

This is a relevant discussion for a Caribbean consideration, as 29 of the 30 member-states have a majority Black population; (St. Barthélemy is the only exception). So the Caribbean Diaspora and their legacies residing in the US – the Migration Policy Institute reported in 2012 that the numbers may be as high as 22 million – fits into the Black-and-Brown demographic. Unfortunately, every year that transpires, more and more Caribbean residents flee to foreign shores, like the US. The same report continues:

… the Caribbean population in the U.S. has surged more than 17-fold over the past half-century. But three-quarters of “Caribbeans” in the country arrived during the last two decades of the 20th century.

Why would they leave their beloved homelands? And what is their experience when they do leave and immigrate to the US?

The Go Lean book delves into the reasons for emigration. It identified them as an equation of “push and pull” factors. These factors highlight reasons that people want to get-away from “home” and seek “refuge” in these foreign countries. “Refuge” is a good word; because of societal defects, many from the Caribbean must leave – think LGBT, Disability, Domestic-abuse, Medically-challenged – for their life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. In addition, the lure of a more prosperous life in the US (and other destinations) drive the “pull” side of the equation. This aligns with the facts: there is always some doing better, and always some doing worse.

But what truly is the experience when these ones arrive in America?

Answer: Less Than!

The experience of new Caribbean Diaspora members is that their work ethic is appreciated by employers; they are welcomed for the mass of blue-collar or menial jobs. White-collar ones, not so much. Then there is the language challenges. Many Caribbean islands speak Creole-derivatives of European languages of Spanish (Cuba, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico), French (Haiti and the French Caribbean islands), Dutch (Suriname and 6 islands – ABC and SSSIslands). These ones must come to the US and be classified as “English Speakers of Other Languages” (ESOL) for education and employment purposes. As for the English-speaking Caribbean, the consistent experience is one of a foreign accent; broken English spoken with a Caribbean “sing-song”. All in all, language fluency may be challenging.

NYC News - Sept. 1, 2014This is the reality for the Caribbean Diaspora; they may find themselves invisible in the socio-economic relevance of American life; this is more fact than it is fiction. Is it surprising that this “Less Than” experience is preferred to enduring life at home in the Caribbean? This conveys the extent of the Caribbean defects.

An example of Caribbean “Less Than” is evident in the experience of dreadlock hairstyles. Those sporting this hairstyle are just immediately under-valued; treated as “Less Than“.

This is real talk about “Less Than“. This is not a reference to the de jure of American life, but rather the de facto. (Similar experiences are reported from the Diaspora communities in other countries, like in Toronto, Canada and London, England). The purpose of this commentary is to draw attention to the Go Lean book. It serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). One goal of the roadmap is to lower the “push and pull” factors that lead many residents in the region to abandon their Caribbean homeland for American (or Canadian or European) shores. Another goal is to improve the image of Caribbean people, at home and abroad. We must target the societal defects and fix them. The Go Lean/CU quest is to reform and transform our region so that we may prosper where we are planted in our Caribbean homelands, so that our people do not have to leave to become aliens in a foreign land, to be ridiculed for their skin color, accents, and hairstyles (dreadlocks). This goal is detailed in the Go Lean book, presented as the prime directives, as follows:

  • 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 protect the resultant economic engines.
  • Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.

The Go Lean roadmap calls for many changes and empowerments. There is so much we learn from the American experience, past and present. One paramount lesson: basic rights should not be subject to a public referendum. One group (minorities) should not have to seek the permission of another group (majority) to be happy. There should be a recognition of fundamental rights, above and beyond any national opinion polls.

Another important lesson we learn from the American experience is that the image associated with a minority group can be reformed and transformed. Look at the African-Americans populations; now it is considered politically incorrect to hold racist views or to engage in racist activities. The President of the US is actually an African-American. Image or brand management works, if there is someone (or something) working “it”.

The CU is not slated to be a national government, but rather a confederation of national governments (and overseas territories); so the CU does not feature sovereignty; it features the functionality of a Trade Union, capable of promotional activities and peer-pressure on domestic and international stakeholders. The CU/Go Lean effort is to cajole, prod and incentivize these individual member-states to embrace the protocols of international human rights mandates. The CU/Go Lean roadmap calls for fundamental human rights to be codified in regional treaties. These mandates would correspond to the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights”, which declare that:

… civil, economic and social rights should be asserted as part of the “foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world”. – Go Lean book Page 220

There would be no place for any sub-group within the Caribbean population to feel as “Less Than” while at home.

The CU/Go Lean roadmap does not seek to reform America (or Canada or Europe); that is out-of-scope for our movement. Our quest is to reform and transform the Caribbean only. But we do try to manage impressions and images that these regions consume of Caribbean people, life and culture; we must accentuate the positive (promotion) and dissuade the negative (anti-defamation).

Domestically, there are many defects of Caribbean life that the Go Lean movement seeks to address. Right now internationally, these more advanced democracies, (US, Canada and Europe) may only consider us as parasites, but we would rather be recognized as protégés. This is a matter of image. This point is pronounced early in the book with the Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 12 & 13) with many statements that demonstrate the need to remediate Caribbean communities and enhance the Caribbean world-wide image:

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 back to our shores. This repatriation should be effected with the appropriate guards so as not to imperil the lives and securities of the repatriated citizens or the communities they inhabit. The right of repatriation is to be extended to any natural born citizens despite any previous naturalization to foreign sovereignties.

xx. Whereas the results of our decades of migration created a vibrant Diaspora in foreign lands, the Federation must organize interactions with this population into structured markets. Thus allowing foreign consumption of domestic products, services and media, which is a positive trade impact. These economic activities must not be exploited by others’ profiteering but rather harnessed by Federation resources for efficient repatriations.

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 the Caribbean region must have new jobs to empower the engines of the economy and create the income sources for prosperity, and encourage the next generation to forge their dreams right at home, the Federation must therefore foster the development of new industries, like that of ship-building, automobile manufacturing, pre-fabricated housing, frozen foods, pipelines, call centers, and the prison industrial complex. In addition, the Federation must invigorate the enterprises related to existing industries like tourism, fisheries and lotteries – impacting the region with more jobs.

It goes without saying that every Caribbean member-state would prefer to keep their people – especially their educated work force – at “home” to prosper in the homeland. But this is not the de facto reality. It is no small task to assuage this crisis. The Go Lean book describes it as heavy-lifting; the book provides real solutions, detailing a series of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to impact the region, member-states, cities and communities economic prospects. See this sample here:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principle – Economic Systems Influence Choices & Incentives Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principle – Voluntary Trade Creates Wealth Page 21
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 Foster Genius Page 27
Community Ethos – Ways to Help Entrepreneurship Page 28
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Research & Development Page 30
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness Page 36
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good Page 37
Strategy – Mission – Facilitate Job-Creating Industries Page 46
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy Page 64
Tactical – Tactics to Forge an $800 Billion Economy – High Multiplier Industries Page 70
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Self-Governing Entities Page 80
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change Page 101
Implementation – Steps to Implement Self-Governing Entities Page 105
Implementation – Ways to Deliver Page 109
Implementation – Reasons to Repatriate to the Caribbean Page 118
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better Page 131
Planning – Ways to Better Manage Caribbean Image Page 133
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Communications Page 186
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Technology Page 197
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Hollywood Page 203
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the Diaspora Page 217
Advocacy – Ways to Improve the Arts Page 230
Advocacy – Ways to Promote Music Page 231
Advocacy – Ways to Impact US Territories Page 244
Advocacy – Ways to Impact British Territories Page 245
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Dutch Territories Page 246
Advocacy – Ways to Impact French Territories Page 247

It is the quest of every Caribbean leader to minimize the size of the Diaspora. They wish …

… but wishing alone will not accomplish this goal – there must be real solutions to the “push and pull” realities. One member-state alone may not have the leverage and/or economies-of-scale to effect the needed reform. This is why the regional scale is different … and better.  This is the purpose of the Go Lean…Caribbean roadmap: to compose, communicate and compel regional solutions back in the Caribbean homeland to lower the “push and pull” factors.

This subject – “push and pull” – was examined further in other related Go Lean commentaries, as sampled here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7866 Switching Allegiances: Athletes move on to represent other countries
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7682 Role Model Frederick Douglass: Single Cause – Death or Diaspora
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7151 The Caribbean is Looking for Heroes … ‘to Return’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5759 Bad example of Greece – Crisis leading to abandonment of Doctors
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5733 Better than America? Yes, We Can!
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5695 Repenting, Forgiving and Reconciling the Past
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5088 Immigrants account for 1 in 11 Blacks in USA
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4613 The ‘Luck of the Irish’ – Past, Present and Future of the Diaspora
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2547 Miami’s Success versus Caribbean Failure
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2251 The Reality of Names of Caribbean people
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2025 Image of the Caribbean Diaspora – Butt of the Joke
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1433 Caribbean loses more than 70 percent of tertiary educated to brain drain
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=273 10 Things We Don’t Want from the US – Discrimination of Immigrations

Fact and Fiction

So is an 8-ounce glass with 4-ounces of water half-full or half-empty?

This is the reality of fact and fiction on image.

Mathematically, 4 is half of 8. But the “full” or “empty” label is the perception, impression and image to the beholder; as in:

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

The Caribbean has a lot to work with. But our “glass is not empty”! We have been recognized as “best in the world” in certain circles. We feature the best …

… winter vacations, best cruises, best foods, best music, best festivals, best cigars and best rums. In the dimension of humans as opposed to destinations, we have some of the greatest athletes in the world. In these respects, we are not “Less Than“. We can argue to be the best address on the planet. But we cannot ignore our dire societal defects and deficiencies.

With some measure of success with the solutions at home, and communicating the facts and fictions of Diasporic life, we should be able to reduce the size of our Caribbean Diaspora, repatriating many to return to the homeland. Even more so, we should reduce the “push and pull” factors that lead many to abandon the region in the first place.  The Caribbean entertains 80 million visitors every year; we are associated with the image of a great place to ‘play’. We now need to complete that visual: a great place to live, work and play.

Yes, we can!

So are we “Less Than” ?

Not here … at home. Our Caribbean region is actually comprised of a diverse array of cultures, races, religions and languages.

So “say it loud” …

We are Black  … and proud.
We are White … and proud.
We are Indo-Caribbean … and proud.
We are Chino-Caribbean … and proud.
We are mixed races … and proud.
We are Caribbean … and proud!

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

Share this post:
, , ,
[Top]

Transformations: Civil Disobedience … Still Effective

Posted on May 14, 2016 in Economics, Government, Implementation, Social

Go Lean Commentary

This commentary has previously identified African-American Abolitionist Frederick Douglass as a role model for the Caribbean, despite the fact that his advocacy was 150 years ago. His is quite the legacy:

“Those who profess to favor freedom, yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightening. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.” – Frederick Douglass

CU Blog - American Defects - Racism - Is It Over - Photo 1

The publishers of the book Go Lean…Caribbean recognize the contributions of role models who used civil disobedience to reform and transform their societies, Frederick Douglass included. The book specifically details (Page 122) these other advocates:

Mohandas Gandhi Indian Independence
Dr. Martin Luther King African-American Civil Rights Movement
Nelson Mandela South Africa’s Anti-Apartheid
Cesar Chavez Migrant Farm Workers in the US
Candice Lightner Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD)

The quest to transform society, as accomplished by these foregoing named advocates, is familiar to the movement behind the book Go Lean…Caribbean. This book asserts that the societal engines in the Caribbean (economy, security, and governance) are deficient and defective and need to be reformed and transformed to make our homeland a better place to live, work and play. This is commentary 4 of 4 from this movement on the subject of transformations: how to move our region from the deficient-defective status quo to the undisputed title of “greatest address on the planet”. All these commentaries detailed transformation issues, as follows:

  1. Perfecting our Core Competence
  2. Money Matters – “Getting over” with “free money”
  3. Caribbean Postal Union (CPU) – Delivering the Future
  4. Civil Disobedience … Still Effective

The Go Lean book details the quest to transform the Caribbean; it features a how-to guide, a roadmap for elevating the region’s societal engines using effective tactics like civil disobedience.

Civil disobedience has been effective in the past … see a related history here:

Title: History of Mass Nonviolent Action

Source: ACT UP – AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power – Civil Disobedience Training – Retrieved 05-22-2016 from: http://www.actupny.org/documents/CDdocuments/HistoryNV.html

The use of nonviolence runs throughout history. There have been numerous instances of people courageously and nonviolently refusing cooperation with injustice. However, the fusion of organized mass struggle and nonviolence is relatively new. It originated largely with Mohandas Gandhi in 1906 at the onset of the South African campaign for Indian rights. Later, the Indian struggle for complete independence from the British Empire included a number of spectacular nonviolent campaigns. Perhaps the most notable was the year-long Salt campaign in which 100,000 Indians were jailed for deliberately violating the Salt Laws.

The refusal to counter the violence of the repressive social system with more violence is a tactic that has also been used by other movements. The militant campaign for women’s suffrage in Britain included a variety of nonviolent tactics such as boycotts, noncooperation, limited property destruction, civil disobedience, mass marches and demonstrations, filling the jails, and disruption of public ceremonies.

The Salvadoran people have used nonviolence as one powerful and necessary element of their struggle. Particularly during the 1960s and 70s, Christian based communities, labor unions, campesino organizations, and student groups held occupations and sit-ins at universities, government offices, and places of work such as factories and haciendas.

There is rich tradition of nonviolent protest in this country as well, including Harriet Tubman’s underground railroad during the civil war and Henry David Thoreau’s refusal to pay war taxes. Nonviolent civil disobedience was a critical factor in gaining women the right to vote in the United States, as well.

The U.S. labor movement has also used nonviolence with striking effectiveness in a number of instances, such as the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) free speech confrontations, the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) sitdown strikes from 1935-1937 in auto plants, and the UFW grape and lettuce boycotts.

Using mass nonviolent action, the civil rights movement changed the face of the South. The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) initiated modern nonviolent action for civil rights with sit-ins and a freedom ride in the 1940s. The successful Montgomery bus boycott electrified the nation. Then, the early 1960s exploded with nonviolent actions: sit-ins at lunch counters and other facilities, organized by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC); Freedom Rides to the South organized by CORE; the nonviolent battles against segregation in Birmingham, Alabama, by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC); and the 1963 March on Washington, which drew 250,000 participants.

Opponents of the Vietnam War employed the use of draft card burnings, draft file destruction, mass demonstrations (such as the 500,000 who turned out in 1969 in Washington, D.C.), sit-ins, blocking induction centers, draft and tax resistance, and the historic 1971 May Day traffic blocking in Washington, D.C. in which 13,000 people were arrested.

Since the mid-70s, we have seen increasing nonviolent activity against the nuclear arms race and nuclear power industry. Nonviolent civil disobedience actions have taken place at dozens of nuclear weapons research installations, storage areas, missile silos, test sites, military bases, corporate and government offices and nuclear power plants. In the late 1970s mass civil disobedience actions took place at nuclear power plants from Seabrook, New Hampshire to the DiabloCanyon reactor in California and most states in between in this country and in other countries around the world. In 1982, 1750 people were arrested at the U.N. missions of the five major nuclear powers. Mass actions took place at the Livermore Laboratories in California and SAC bases in the midwest. In the late 80s a series of actions took place at the Nevada test site. International disarmament actions changed world opinion about nuclear weapons.

In 1980 women who were concerned with the destruction of the Earth and who were interested in exploring the connections between feminism and nonviolence were coming together. In November of 1980 and 1981 the Women’s Pentagon Actions, where hundreds of women came together to challenge patriarchy and militarism, took place. A movement grew that found ways to use direct action to put pressure on the military establishment and to show positive examples of life-affirming ways to live together. This movement spawned women’s peace camps at military bases around the world from Greenham Common, England to Puget Sound Peace Camp in Washington state, with camps in Japan and Italy among others.

The anti-apartheid movement in the 80s has built upon the powerful and empowering use of civil disobedience by the civil rights movement in the 60s. In November of 1984, a campaign began that involved daily civil disobedience in front of the South African Embassy. People, including members of Congress, national labor and religious leaders, celebrities, students, community leaders, teachers, and others, risked arrest every weekday for over a year. In the end over 3,100 people were arrested protesting apartheid and U.S. corporate and government support. At the same time, support actions for this campaign were held in 26 major Cities, resulting in an additional 5,000 arrests.

We also saw civil disobedience being incorporated as a key tactic in the movement against intervention in Central America. Beginning in 1983, national actions at the White House and State Department as well as local actions began to spread. In November 1984, the Pledge of Resistance was formed. Since then, over 5,000 people have been arrested at military installations, congressional offices, federal buildings, and CIA offices. Many people have also broken the law by providing sanctuary for Central American refugees and through the Lenten Witness, major denomination representatives have participated in weekly nonviolent civil disobedience actions at the Capitol.

Student activists have incorporated civil disobedience in both their anti-apartheid and Central America work. Divestment became the campus slogan of the 80s. Students built shantytowns and staged sit-ins at Administrator’s offices. Hundreds have been arrested resulting in the divestment of over 130 campuses and the subsequent withdrawal of over $4 billion from the South African economy. Central America student activists have carried out campaigns to protest CIA recruitment on campuses. Again, hundreds of students across the country have been arrested in this effort.

Nonviolent direct action has been an integral part of the renewed activism in the lesbian and gay community since 1987, when ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) was formed. ACT UP and other groups have organized hundreds of civil disobedience actions across the country, focusing not only on AIDS but on the increasing climate of homophobia and attacks on lesbians and gay men. On October 13, 1987, the Supreme Court was the site of the first national lesbian and gay civil disobedience action, where nearly 600 people were arrested protesting the decision in Hardwick vs. Bowers, which upheld sodomy laws. This was the largest mass arrest in D.C. since 1971.

Political Analysis
Power itself is not derived through violence, though in governmental form it is usually violent in nature. Governmental power is often maintained through oppression and the tacit compliance of the majority of the governed. Any significant withdrawal of that compliance will restrict or dissolve governmental control. Apathy in the face of injustice is a form of violence. Struggle and conflict are often necessary to correct injustice.

Our struggle is not easy, and we must not think of nonviolence as a “safe” way to fight oppression. The strength of nonviolence comes from our willingness to take personal risk without threatening other people.

It is essential that we separate the individual from the role she/he plays. The “enemy” is the system that casts people in oppressive roles.

Civil disobedience is still effective today!

The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) to empower societal elevation (economics, security and governing engines) for the Caribbean region. This roadmap focuses on the political transformations and the practical transformations to elevate the Caribbean region, individually and collectively. But as identified in the foregoing quotation from Frederick Douglass, power is never ceded … without demand. It takes agitation, plowing up the ground, “thunder & lightening” and struggle. Those in power in the status quo will do what all “men” in power try to do: keep it!

The required transformation for the Caribbean may very well take some acts of civil disobedience, challenging the dysfunctional economic status, perhaps even with economic boycotts, sit-ins, general strikes, picket lines, marches and messaging campaigns.

There are effective role models for this as well. Consider here the very recent experience of the University of Missouri Football team:

Amid escalating protests over complaints of racial bigotry at the University of Missouri, the school’s football team said it won’t play until the University President resigns or was replaced. These football players threatened to go on strike. At least 30 players with the support of their coach made the demand. They wanted University President Tim Wolfe to resign for allegedly failing to confront racial tensions at the school.
Commentary: Mizzou Football And The Power Of The Players

Posted November 18, 2015; retrieved May 22, 2016

CU Blog - Transformations - Civil Disobedience...Still Effective - Photo 1

Members of the University of Missouri Tigers football team – after threatening civil disobedience – returned to practice Nov. 10, 2015 at Memorial Stadium in Columbia, Mo. – Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images

AUDIO Podcast – Commentary heard on NPR’s Morning Edition – http://www.npr.org/2015/11/18/456360331/commentary-mizzou-football-and-the-power-of-the-players


It’s accepted that thePresident of the University of Missouri stepped down in a racial dispute only when the football team threatened not to play a game. The players showed us again — surprise, surprise — how powerful is football, and let’s throw in basketball, too, throughout our bastions of higher education.

It would have cost old Mizzou a million-dollar penalty had it forfeited. It would have cost the players next to nothing, because the NCAA rules they must be amateurs and risk serious injury for the love of the game. Ironically, for once, having nothing to gain actually strengthened the players’ hand.

The particular racially insensitive issues at Missouri and those that’ve produced protests at other colleges have nothing to do with sport, but, on the other hand, it’s worth noting well over half of the football players who bring in the big money in the big-time conferences are African-American. The percentage of minority basketball players is even higher.

The Go Lean book relates that the experience of Frederick Douglass and other advocates assert that one man or one woman can make a difference and impact his/her community, country and the whole world. Now we must add the student-athletes of the University of Missouri to that podium of role models for us to emulate.

The Go Lean/CU roadmap is designed to motivate the people, institutions and governmental leaders of the Caribbean, regional stakeholders, to make an impact – by the use of civil disobedience if necessary – on the region’s societal engines corresponding with these prime directives:

  • 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 protect the resultant economic engines.
  • Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.

The focus of the previous commentary, Frederick Douglass’ legacy, is relevant for our life and times and the Go Lean prime directives. Notice the parallels: The institution of slavery was initiated for economic purposes; it took civil disobedience in the form of a civil war to assuage. In addition, there was no consideration to security principles for the enslaved population. But for the consideration of the Go Lean book, the subject of consideration is one of governance, the need for technocratic stewardship of the regional Caribbean society; how to reform and transform it. This point of governance against the backdrop of civil disobedience was pronounced early in the book, in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 10 – 14) with these declarations:

Preamble:  As the history of our region and the oppression, suppression and repression of its indigenous people is duly documented, there is no one alive who can be held accountable for the prior actions, and so we must put aside the shackles of systems of repression to instead formulate efficient and effective systems to steer our own destiny. … whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.

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.

xii. Whereas the legacy in recent times in individual states may be that of ineffectual governance with no redress to higher authority, the accedence of this Federation will ensure accountability and escalation of the human and civil rights of the people for good governance, justice assurances, due process and the rule of law. As such, any threats of a “failed state” status for any member state must enact emergency measures on behalf of the Federation to protect the human, civil and property rights of the citizens, residents, allies, trading partners, and visitors of the affected member state and the Federation as a whole.

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 [other] communities.

The Go Lean book stresses key community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies necessary to reform and transform the eco-systems of Caribbean society and apply the lessons learned from other advocates. The book details the following:

Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future Page 21
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Foster Genius – Developing genius in many endeavors, i.e. Sports Page 27
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Turn-Arounds Page 33
Community Ethos – Ways to Manage Reconciliations Page 34
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Confederate all 30 member-states / 4 languages into a Single Market Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Build and foster local economic engines Page 45
Tactical – Ways to Foster a Technocracy Page 64
Tactical – Separation-of-Powers – CU Federal Government versus Member-State Governance Page 71
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – Failed States Marshall Plan Page 127
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better Page 131
Planning – Ways to Improve Failed-State Indices – Advocate for Human Rights Page 134
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 – Ways to Impact Wall Street – Lessons Learned from Occupy Wall Street Protests Page 200
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage Page 218
Advocacy – Ways to Protect Human Rights Page 220

Civil disobedience lead to political transformation and practical transformation. Protest movements, with civil disobedience activities, have effectively reformed and transformed societies in the past, present and no doubt, the future. Scattered through the pages of history, many times protest leaders have become political leaders. Consider Nelson Mandela of South Africa and Lech Walesa of Poland.

Previous Go Lean blogs presented other lessons for the Caribbean to learn from considering protest movements from history; the following previous blog/commentaries apply:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7682 Frederick Douglass: Role Model for a Single Cause
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7221 ‘Street naming for Martin Luther King’ protests unveils the real America
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7204 ‘The Covenant with Black America’ – Ten Years Later
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7103 COP21 Protest – ‘Climate Change’ Acknowledged
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6720 A Lesson in Protest History – Principle over Principal During War
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2907 Local Miami Haitian leaders protest Bahamian immigration policy
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2633 Book Review: ‘The Protest Psychosis’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1918 Philadelphia Freedom – Successful Protest and Fight for Change
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1683 British public sector workers strike over ‘poverty pay’

The words of Frederick Douglass echo loudly through the ages (19th, 20th and 21st centuries). Reform and transformation only comes with a struggle. This is because “power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.”

This reality applies doubly for the Caribbean!

The Caribbean region is in crisis – all 30 member-states! But this crisis would be a terrible thing to waste. We must use this crisis as a motivation to transform the region. Motivation alone will not bring change – the powerful ones in the status quo will not give up power willingly; they will not accept change willingly. There must be struggle, employing tactics like civil disobedience! As conveyed by Frederick Douglass, we “cannot get the rain without thunder and lightening”. The Go Lean movement – books and blogs – call for rain, and calls for “thunder and lightening”. The movement calls for forging change – transformations – through approaches like the Fun Theory, Sales Process, Power of Music, Food Therapy, and Risking Too Much to Lose.

Once we succeed in transforming the Caribbean societal engines, we must then ensure the changes are permanent! The Go Lean book declares that for permanent change to take place, there must first be an adoption of new community ethos, the national spirit that drives the character and identity of its people. The roadmap was constructed with the primary community ethos of the Greater Good, not a political nor profit motive; but rather a commitment for the “greatest good for the greatest number of people”.

Now is the time for all Caribbean stakeholders to lean-in to this Go Lean regional solution. With this roadmap, the Caribbean can transform to a better society; a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

 

Share this post:
, , ,
[Top]

Transformations: Perfecting Our Core Competence

Posted on May 11, 2016 in Government, Implementation, Industries, Social

Go Lean Commentary

What is required for the world to believe that the Caribbean is the greatest address on the planet?

Terrain and Weather Check
Culture and Hospitality Check
Food and Spirits Check
Music and Festivals Check
Economy and Jobs Danger! Fail!

This point aligns with the book Go Lean…Caribbean, which asserts that the societal engines in the Caribbean (economy, security, and governance) are deficient and defective; in some cases we even feature Failed-States (think: Haiti, Cuba, Puerto Rico and others). But alas, we can improve and make our homeland a better place to live, work and play.

How?

The Go Lean book details the quest to make the Caribbean better; it features a how-to guide, a roadmap for elevating the region’s societal engines of economics, security and governance. Despite the 370 pages, it boils down to doing a few things and doing them well!

This is commentary 1 of 4 on the subject of transformations: how to move our region from this status quo to the undisputed title of “greatest address on the planet”. All these commentaries detail these issues, starting with:

  1. Core Competence
  2. Money Matters – “Getting Over” with “free money”
  3. Caribbean Postal Union (CPU) – Delivering the Future
  4. Civil Disobedience – Still Effective

CU Blog - Transformations - Perfecting Our Core Competence - Photo 1

What are the focus activities that we do, as a region, that by improving we would pronounce to the world that we are truly the greatest address on the planet?

The Go Lean book identifies 144 advocacies to improve life in the region. But we cannot “master all trades”; we must do better than anywhere else in the world in a few activities; these ones here are deemed our core competence:

Economic Tourism / Events / Cruises
Specialty Agriculture
Energy
Security Public Safety
Governance Senior Health Care

The assertion is that the Caribbean region must at least do the above activities better than anywhere else in the world. Why?

Because we are competing with the world … and losing.

But if we do better, perfect our core competence – see VIDEO here of Transformations and Core Competence in the corporate setting – then our hard work will be recognized and rewarded by others wanting to share in our passions and profits. Or maybe even just to retain our citizens here at home. A previous blog stated this eloquently by quoting a Chinese proverb: “Make happy those who are near, and those who are far will come”.

VIDEO:An Introduction to Prahalad & Hamel’s Core Competence of the Corporation – A Macat Business Video – https://youtu.be/KSUbSEvJ1Cs

Published on Nov 16, 2015 – Success in business comes from combining technological ability with organizational skills to gain a competitive edge. It is called “core competence.” Watch Macat’s short video for a great introduction to C. K. Prahalad and Gary Hamel’s “The Core Competence of the Corporation,” one of the most important business articles ever written. 

CU Blog - Transformations - Perfecting Our Core Competence - Photo 2

The book Go Lean … Caribbean sets to optimize the societal engines (economics, security and governance) in the Caribbean. The book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation for the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). As a federation or federal government representing all 30 member-states, the prime directives of this roadmap is to elevate society by addressing these 3 focus areas:

  • 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 protect the resultant economic engines.
  • Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.

The benefits of core competence feature a “snowball” effect. The better we optimize one functional area, the better the rest of the environment becomes. For example, the 2.2 million jobs that the roadmap sets to create. There is no need to actuate the economic processes for each job. No, we focus on our core competence, and the job multiplier effect processes the remaining new jobs. To reach the required transformations, this commentary identifies these core competencies for our economic engines:

Tourism / Events / Cruises

CU Blog - Transformations - Perfecting Our Core Competence - Photo 3This activity is the Number 1 economic driver in the Caribbean region. But each member-state can only do “so much more” so as to generate marginal increases in their output. An old adage states that “one cannot get blood from a stone”; this is so true for the region: there are only so many beaches and coastal areas to explore for touristic opportunities. The Go Lean roadmap (Page 190) therefore takes a different, more elevated, approach to increase tourism: regionalism.

The book – and previous blogs – features empowerments that are not possible for any member-state alone, leveraging the full force of a bigger Single Market of 42 million people, across the 30 member states. The following are some regional highlights:

Specialty Agriculture

There are farming expressions, like “bread basket” of America, or Europe. But, these no not apply to the Caribbean, as we are not known for our agricultural productions … except for cigar and rum. Yes, these specialty agricultural products are deemed the “best in the world”. Following the strategies, tactics and implementations from the Go Lean book (Page 88), we can continue the greatness and exploit the reputation for even more profit; (jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities).

Cuba, the source of much of the heightened reputation for Caribbean cigars, has suffered with a 55-year trade embargo. Efforts are now being made to normalize trade with Cuba and the rest of the western world. There is therefore a lot of upside and growth for improved trade and production for this world-renown product. There will undoubtedly be a return on any investment in this core competence.

Energy

The Caribbean is the best-in-the world in certain pursuits; energy is not one of them, but it needs to be. At this juncture, the region is reported as having one of the highest energy costs on the planet. So we need to apply best-practices – detailed in the Go Lean book (Page 113) – to optimize our energy eco-system to go from the worst to the first – energy needs to become a core competence. Considering the successful models we have to emulate, we have all the resources we need to succeed ourselves:

We simply need better stewardship and administration of the region’s energy policies to optimize the supply-and-demand metrics. The Go Lean book specifically states (Page 46) the mission as follows:

Harness the power of the sun, the winds, and the tides to power our home and the institutions of our industry and government. This embrace of alternative energy can supplement our traditional power sources and usher in energy independence. Independence in general means that we are finally ready to stand-up and be counted worldwide.

Security – Public Safety

To reach the required transformations, this commentary also identifies one core competence for our security engine: Public Safety.

The art and science of Homeland Security covers vast areas, including warfare, community policing, terrorism, domestic violence, penology & criminology, organized crime, trans-national drug and human trafficking and other activities. While progress in all of these areas in the Caribbean would be nice, these are not prerequisites for the societal transformation sought in this commentary – we are not at war. No, we simply need to optimize our Public Safety apparatus. We need to be able to assure safe conditions for our stakeholders:

If we are able to raise the delivery level of protections to these groups, then our society will be recognized world-wide as a great place to live, work and play. This does not mean that we ignore the safety of the general citizenry; no, we simply accept that there will always be crime – bad actors – in every society, everywhere. So our remediation and mitigations for crime – need, greed and honor – must be omnipresent.

The following sample from the Go Lean book details the strategies, tactics, implementation and advocacies of the Go Lean roadmap related to the core competence of Public Safety:

Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices Page 21
Community Ethos – Security Principles Page 22
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Lean Operations Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good Page 37
Strategy – Mission – Protect our stakeholders with anti-crime and law enforcement measures Page 45
Tactical – Confederating a Permanent Union Page 63
Tactical –  Separation of Powers – Homeland Security Page 75
Tactical –  Separation of Powers – CariPol Page 77
Implementation – Reasons to Repatriate to the Caribbean Page 118
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Leadership Page 171
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Justice Page 177
Advocacy – Ways to Remediate and Mitigate Crime Page 178
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Gun Control Page 179
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Homeland Security Page 180
Advocacy – Ways to Mitigate Terrorism Page 181
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Intelligence Gathering & Analysis Page 182
Advocacy – Ways to Improve for Natural Disasters Page 183
Advocacy – Ways to Protect Human Rights Page 220
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Elder-Care Page 225
Advocacy – Ways to Empower Women Page 226
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Youth Page 227
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Persons with Disabilities Page 228

Governance – Senior Healthcare

To reach the required transformations, this commentary lastly identifies one core competence for our regional governance: Senior / Elder Healthcare.

Most Caribbean member-states feature Democratic Socialism as the official form of government; (Cuba practices Communism, and the US Territories feature the American brand of Capitalism, though the majority of the population receive some government assistance). This means that the 30 member-states have a government entitlement program for healthcare, and it is self-evident that senior citizens in every society consume more healthcare services than any other population group.

The Go Lean movement (book and blogs) details how the governing engines in the region can elevate their healthcare deliveries, and how the elderly populations can benefit. The successful executions of the strategies, tactics, implementation and advocacies of the Go Lean roadmap, (see the following sample of these specific details from the book related to the core competence of senior healthcare), would allow the world to see how great a society the Caribbean would be. This lingering affects will reverberate in other aspects of society, like the repatriation of our aging Diaspora, medical tourists and other economic spin-offs – the book details 70,000 direct jobs created in the region as a result of these empowerments.

Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – The Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future Page 21
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Lean Operations Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Help Entrepreneurship – STEM Incubators Page 28
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Research & Development – Including Medical Research Page 30
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good Page 37
Strategy – Mission – Reform our Health Care industries for the reality of our needs Page 46
Tactical –  Separation of Powers: Department of Health – Self-Governing Entities Page 80
Tactical –  Separation of Powers: Department of Health – MediCare Administration Page 86
Implementation – Reasons to Repatriate to the Caribbean Page 118
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better – Support/Social Services Page 131
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Healthcare Page 156
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Cancer Page 157
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Entitlements Page 158
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Elder-Care Page 225
Advocacy – Ways to Empower Women Page 226
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Persons with Disabilities Page 228
Appendix – Growing 2.2 Million Jobs in 5 years – Medical R&D, Gerontology & Healthcare Page 257

The Caribbean can truly be a great place to live, work, heal and play.

Previously, Go Lean blogs commented on transformations, showing the success of aspirations to be better and do better. Consider this sample:

Being Lean: Asking the Question ‘Why’ 5 Times
Going from ‘Good to Great’
‘A Change Is Gonna Come’
Forging Change: ‘Something to Lose’
Movie Lessons from the movie: ‘Tomorrowland’ – ‘Feed the right wolf’ in Society
Better than America? Yes, We Can!
‘Change the way you see the world; you change the world you see’
Making a Great Place to Work®
Book Review: ‘Citizenville – Take the Town Square Digital and Reinvent Government’

The effort to elevate the Caribbean is defined as heavy-lifting, a lot of strenuous actions that are very complicated. But despite the complexity, a successful completion of some of the basic or core functionality can aid the region – these limited actions are considered “core competencies”. The successful execution of these core competencies would start the “snowball” and transform the Caribbean … to a better homeland.

Any transformation for the Caribbean must be permanent! The Go Lean book declares that for permanent change to take place, there must first be an adoption of new community ethos, the national spirit that drives the character and identity of its people. The roadmap was constructed with the primary community ethos in mind, the Greater Good. This is a big deal; notice it is not a profit motive, nor a nationalistic motive, but rather a commitment to the “greatest good for the greatest number of people”.

Now is the time for all Caribbean stakeholders to lean-in to this regional solution – the Go Lean roadmap – for the Caribbean to transform to a better society, a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

Share this post:
, , , ,
[Top]

ENCORE: Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival – Long road to Legacy

Posted on May 8, 2016 in Economics, Government, Social

On the occasion of the 2nd Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival – concluding on Saturday May 7, 2016 – this commentary encores the Post-Mortem Analysis from the inaugural  event in 2015.

2 years and counting …

… the officials here* in the Bahamas are taking the “long” view: that it might take some time – 5 years or more – to establish this event as a cultural legacy, “building the Junkanoo Carnival brand into the future“.

See here for the lessons learned from Year 1. As for Year 2, we say: Ditto!

* – Assessing from the Bahamas; here to “observe and report”.

===================
Go Lean Commentary

May 14, 2015 – The Bahamas held their inaugural Junkanoo Carnival this past weekend. How did they do? How was the execution, compared to the planning? How much money was spent? How much return on investment was recouped?

Title: Carnival Fever: Organisers Hail A ‘Cultural Revolution’
By: Rashad Rolle, Tribune Staff Reporter
The Tribune – Daily Bahamian Newspaper. Posted 05/11/2015; retrieved from:
http://www.tribune242.com/news/2015/may/11/carnival-fever-organisers-hail-cultural-revolution/

CU Blog - Post-Mortem of Junkanoo Carnival - Photo 1An “unprecedented” number of people descended upon Clifford Park, the Western Esplanade and Arawak Cay to participate in the inaugural Junkanoo Carnival events between Thursday and Saturday, completing what officials say will become a permanent fixture on the Bahamian calendar that will jumpstart the country’s cultural economy.

Officials yesterday said it was too early to say exactly how many attended or participated in the event or to assess its overall economic impact.

However, it’s estimated that at the event’s peak, more than 15,000 attended Friday’s Music Masters concert – the “largest gathering of people” ever in The Bahamas, some said.

Last week, Mr Major estimated that 50,000 to 100,000 people would attend Junkanoo Carnival adding that the festival could bring in $50m to $60m.

The event – filled with food and arts and crafts – was bolstered by a well-received mixture of Bahamian and Soca music.

There were “no major (disruptive or criminal) incidents” and “no complaints” about security, Police Assistant Commissioner (ACP) Leon Bethel told The Tribune.

The event, which had faced months of criticism, “proved naysayers wrong,” Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe told this newspaper.

He noted that the government, the National Festival Commission and workers in the Tourism and Youth, Sports and Culture Ministries have now put on two major, successful events within the span of a week, proving that the country must add a “label of excellence” to its brand.

“Certainly by all that developed,” he said, “it proved that carnival does have a place in the Bahamas and it can be a unique festival celebrated in a traditional Bahamian way with the inclusion of Junkanoo, highlighting the many talented Bahamians, whether it’s the entertainers, the artisans who produced costumes, the vendors out there with their fine cuisine or the Royal Bahamas Police Force and the entire national security team that worked to turn the place into a spectacular village.”

“While there were those who prayed for rain, the place poured and rained with people,” Mr Wilchcombe added. “We must appreciate that for all the naysayers and those who opposed to the event, the Bahamian people spoke. No one stopped anyone from saying what they wanted to say or from criticising the event, but we stayed focused.”

“Each success, be it the IAAF World Relays or be it carnival, it tells you that collectively we know who we are as a people and what we are capable of.

“We did not let the invited guests dominate the occasion,” he said, reflecting on a prior concern that the event would not be Bahamian-centric.

Mr Wilchcombe added that he wished Bahamian singers ‘KB’, who has flip-flopped on his support for the festival, and ‘Geno D’ had been involved.

“They are two of the best musicians in the country, but in the future I think we are going to see more and more Bahamian artists coming out. What you are now going to see is that Abaco, Eleuthera, Bimini all will want to be a part of this fantastic event.”

In an interview with The Tribune, Festival Commission Chairman Paul Major also said the event exceeded his expectations.

“The spirit of the event, the number of spectators, the number of participants, it was awesome,” he said. “I think we are witnessing a cultural revolution. It’s an economic stimulus.”

Nonetheless, some critics said that while the event seemed to be a big hit among Bahamians, it did not attract the number of tourists needed to provide a major economic boost to the economy as hoped.

Mr Wilchcombe, however, disputed this and said the event will only grow following its successful launch.

Asked about this, Mr Major said: “(That claim) is not true. We were busing tourists from east and west of this venue and continued doing so throughout the event.”

Still, he conceded that the event could have been promoted more internationally. He said the fact that a headliner was not finalised until weeks before the Music Masters concert affected promotional work.

“We will start marketing for the next event as early as September of this year. We may have to look for another venue. This venue may not be big enough to host next year’s event,” Mr Major added.

As for the security of the event, ACP Bethel said the conduct of those attending was “top notch.”

“We had no resistance in terms of security measures. The security was elaborate with many layers in and around the event and we worked hand in hand with the organisers, private security, (and) the Defence Force.”

VIDEO: 2015 Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival Closes Out – https://youtu.be/IR0mGpAd47A

Published on May 10, 2015 – After three days of excitement the inaugural Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival came to an end with many already looking forward to next year. News coverage by local network ZNS TV.

It time now for a post-mortem analysis; borrowing this practice from medical science.

Medical science can teach us a lot. The purpose of the practice of medicine is to protect and promote health and wellness. But when there is a failure in this quest; when someone actually dies, another resource (medical doctor called a pathologist) adds value with a post-mortem examination (autopsy) — a highly specialized surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse to determine the cause and manner of death, evaluating any disease or injury.

This medical practice aligns with the process to forge change, as described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean (Page 9). The book performs a careful post-mortem analysis of the Caribbean’s eco-systems. The conclusion of that analysis was that the region is in crisis. But alas the book, serving as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), declares that a crisis is a terrible thing to waste. The roadmap then provides for a turn-around, with turn-by-turn directions on how to elevate the economic, security and governing engines to make the homeland better to live, work and play.

One mission is to optimize events. The Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival is typical of the type of events that the roadmap projects to elevate the region’s societal engines. As detailed plans of this inaugural Carnival were published, this commentary applied analysis comparing the Go Lean baseline. Now that the event has transpired and Go Lean promoters were there to “observe and report”, these are now the lessons-learned; the post-mortem analysis:

  • Regionalism embraced … at last – Carnival is an international brand. One cannot expect to shove a Bahamian-first ethos into the Carnival brand; see Appendix B below. Many people in-country complained that international artists had to be brought in, and “cuddled”: Big Paychecks, amenities, etc; see Photo here of Trinidadian Soca Music Artist Marchel Montano. The Go Lean book/blogs calls for the embrace of the regional Single Market for all of the Caribbean.

CU Blog - Post-Mortem of Junkanoo Carnival - Photo 5

  • Fostering genius … at last – The Bahamas has been notorious for their policies advocating egalitarianism. The concept of Carnival requiring artists to compete for top prizes is 100% divergent from that ideal. Yet, this approach of fostering the musical genius in the country is essential for growing the regional/national economy. We must “hitch our wagons” to the strong, talented and gifted “horses”, as was the case for Bob Marley. See Photos here of the Bahamian Headliner and also of one of the Junkanoo Carnival “Music Masters” event finalist; see Appendix A – VIDEO below. Go Lean calls for formal institutions to develop and monetize musical genius in the region.

CU Blog - Post-Mortem of Junkanoo Carnival - Photo 2

CU Blog - Post-Mortem of Junkanoo Carnival - Photo 4

  • Carnival is a Stimulus (GDP) not an investment (no ROI) – Gross Domestic Product is calculated as C + I + G + (X – M) or private consumption + gross investment + government spending + (exports − imports). So the Bahamas government spending $9 million to facilitate the inaugural Carnival did stimulate additional economic activity; (actual results still spending). The foregoing article quotes a $50 to $60 million impact on GDP. This is highly possible based on this formula. Go Lean plans many economic stimuli from Events.
  • Mass attendance is assured – but monetizing is the challenge – Other news reports reflect that vendors and merchants did not get the final returns they had hoped. The Go Lean roadmap calls for the embrace of fairgrounds so as to better monetize event revenues; think parking, hospitality tents, campgrounds (RV’s).
  • Main Street not fully engaged – Bigger Carnival events (Rio de Janeiro, New Orleans, etc.) are successful for their inclusion of floats and trinkets thrown to spectators. The embrace of this strategy would allow Main Street businesses or NGO’s direct participation with sponsorship, advertising and float construction. The Go Lean roadmap seeks to create 2.2 million new jobs in the region by embedding large, medium, small businesses and NGO’s in the development of trade and commerce.

CU Blog - Post-Mortem of Junkanoo Carnival - Photo 7 Sample Float from Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

CU Blog - Post-Mortem of Junkanoo Carnival - Photo 6 Bahamas Carnival’s “Road Fever” Winners

  • Carnival and religion do not make good dance partners – Carnival, by its very nature and history is not a religious event. It does not attempt to honor or worship the Christian God; therefore there should be no attempt to reconcile the two; see Photo here. The Bahamas event avoided planning Sunday activities as an acquiescence to religious leaders; thus missing out on prime weekend availability for visitors and locals alike. The Go Lean roadmap promotes a religiously neutral technocracy – better!

CU Blog - Post-Mortem of Junkanoo Carnival - Photo 3

  • Need an earlier date for Snow-birds and Spring-breakers – A typical Carnival pre-Ash Wednesday date would have been February, ideal for extensive outdoor activities in the Bahamian Heat. On the other hand, the 2nd weekend in May is virtually summer and therefore dis-inviting for northern visitors – the classic tourist market. The previous commentary had identified that the Bahamas does not have a Lenten ethos, so a March date would be better all-around for better weather, plus an appeal to Snow-birds and Spring-breakers. The Go Lean roadmap focuses on technocracy not religion.

The Go Lean book prescribes events/festivals as paramount in the roadmap to elevate the regional economy (Page 191). There are many ways for the lessons learned in this year’s inaugural Junkanoo Carnival to be better applied in the execution of the roadmap for the Bahamas and the rest of the Caribbean. There are dimensions of these type of events that hadn’t even been experienced by the region … as of yet, namely security. No “bad actors” have emerged to exploit the event for terroristic activities. Yet the Go Lean roadmap fully anticipates this reality. These are among the many strategies, tactics, implementation and advocacies for best-practices:

Community Ethos – People Respond to Incentives Page 23
Community Ethos – Return on Investments Page 24
Community Ethos – Cooperatives Page 25
Community Ethos – Non Government Organization Page 25
Ways to Impact the Future Page 26
Ways to Foster Genius – Performance Excellence Page 27
Ways to Improve Sharing Page 35
Ways to Promote Happiness Page 36
Ways to Impact the Greater Good Page 37
Strategy – Customers – Business Community Page 47
Strategy – Customers – Visitors / Tourists Page 47
Strategy – Competitors – Event Patrons Page 55
Separation of Powers – Emergency Mgmt. Page 76
Separation of Powers – Tourism Promotion Page 78
Separation of Powers – Sports & Culture Page 81
Separation of Powers – Fairgrounds Administration Page 83
Separation of Powers – Turnpike Operations Page 84
Steps to Implement Self-Governing Entities Page 105
Ways to Foster Cooperatives Page 176
Ways to Improve Intelligence Gathering & Analysis – Surveillance Page 182
Ways to Improve [Service] Animal Husbandry – For Event Security Page 185
Ways to Enhance Tourism Page 190
Ways to Impact Events Page 191
Ways to Promote Fairgrounds Page 192
Ways to Impact Hollywood – Media Industry Page 203
Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage Page 218
Ways to Improve the Arts Page 230
Ways to Promote Music Page 231
Appendix – Event Model: Sturgis 10-Day Festival Page 288

The publishers of the Go Lean roadmap applaud the current Bahamian Government officials for their commitment to fully commit to this Event Tourism strategy for future growth. This administration is hereby urged to lean-in to the Go Lean roadmap for clear directions (turn-by-turn) on how best to elevate Bahamian society to being a better place to live, work and play. In fact, the entire Caribbean region is hereby urged to lean into this roadmap.

The success of this roadmap is conceivable, believable and achievable.

Caribbean events are promotions of our unique culture to a world-wide stage; yet they can fortify economic efficiency as well.

So the world is watching…

See how the world marks the manner of our bearing – verse from Bahamas National Anthem.

🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

———–

Appendix A – VIDEO: Bahamas Carnival (Junkanoo Carnival) by Sonovia Pierre – https://youtu.be/5OyhOTBDFAA

Published on Dec 15, 2014 – Singer and songwriter Sonovia Pierre, affectionately called Novie, was destined to have an interesting musical life.  She holds a Bachelorʼs of Arts in Music Education from Florida Atlantic University. In 1990 she joined one of the most successful Bahamian bands, Visage as a lead vocalist. She has written and recorded several songs on five of the group’s albums and has collaborated with several other leading Bahamian artists. She is widely known for her hit songs including, “Still need a man” and “Man bad, woman bad”.

License: Standard YouTube License

———-

Appendix B – Caribbean Carnivals  – (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caribbean_Carnival)

Approximate dates are given for the concluding festivities. Carnival season may last for over a month prior to the concluding festivities, and the exact dates vary from year to year [depending on the Judeo-Christian Passover/Easter calendar].

  • Anguilla – Anguilla Summer Festival, early August[1]
  • Antigua and Barbuda
  • Aruba – Carnival, February, Ash Wednesday[4]
  • The Bahamas – Junkanoo, late December/early January[5]; first Junkanoo Carnival inaugurated in May 2015.[63]
  • Barbados – Crop Over, early August[6]
  • Belize – Carnival, September[7]
  • Bonaire – Carnival, February Ash Wednesday[8]
  • British Virgin Islands
    • Tortola – BVI Emancipation (August) Festival, early August[9]
    • Virgin Gorda – Virgin Gorda Easter Festival Celebrations, late March/early April[10]
  • Cayman Islands – Batabano, late April/early May[11]
  • Cuba
  • Curaçao – Carnival, February, Ash Wednesday[14]
  • Dominica – Carnival, February, Ash Wednesday[15]
  • Dominican Republic – Dominican Carnival, February, Dominican Independence Day[16]
  • Grenada
    • Carriacou – Carriacou Carnival, February, Ash Wednesday[17]
    • Grenada – Spicemas, early August[18]
  • Guadeloupe – Carnaval – February, Ash Wednesday[19]
  • Guyana – Mashramani (Mash), February 23, Guyanese Republic Day[20]
  • Haiti – Kanaval, February, Ash Wednesday[21]
  • Jamaica – Bacchanal, late March/early April[22]
  • Martinique – Carnival, February, Ash Wednesday[23]
  • Montserrat – Montserrat Festival, early January, New Year’s Day[24]
  • Puerto Rico – Carnaval de Ponce, February, Ash Wednesday[25]
  • Saba – Saba Summer Festival, late July/early August[26]
  • Saint-Barthélemy – Carnival, February, Ash Wednesday[27]
  • Saint Lucia – Carnival, July[28]
  • Saint Kitts and Nevis
    • Saint Kitts – Carnival, December/January[29]
    • Nevis – Culturama, late July/early August[30]
  • Saint-Martin – Carnival, February, Ash Wednesday[31]
  • Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – Vincy Mas, late June/early July[32]
  • Saint Eustatius – Statia Carnival, late July/early August[33]
  • Sint Maarten – Carnival, late April/early May[34]
  • Trinidad and Tobago
    • Trinidad – Carnival, February, Ash Wednesday[35]
    • Tobago – Tobago Carnival, February, Ash Wednesday[36]
  • Turks and Caicos – Junkanoo, late December/early January, Three King’s Day[37]
  • United States Virgin Islands
    • Saint Croix – Crucian Festival, late December/early January Three King’s Day[38]
    • Saint John – St. John Festival, June through July 3 & 4, V.I. Emancipation Day and U.S. Independence Day[39]
    • Saint Thomas – V.I. Carnival, April through early May[40]

 

Share this post:
, , , ,
[Top]

ENCORE: Celebrating ‘Cinco De Mayo’

Posted on May 5, 2016 in Ethos, Government, Social

This Go Lean blog-commentary from May 5, 2015 is re-distributed on this occasion of Cinco De Mayo 2016. As always, this year’s commemoration is a celebration of Mexican culture, more so than Mexican history.

CU Blog - Celebrating Mexican Culture - Photo 1

Bienvenido Amigos …

————–

Go Lean Commentary

Today (May 5) is Cinco De Mayo – celebrating this is a move of solidarity with Mexico; its people and culture – Enjoy the festivities!

Enjoy the Mexican food, spirits, music and culture. The country and people of Mexico have so much to offer the world – see VIDEO below – this includes the Caribbean.

One thing more that they can offer us in our region: A Lesson in History!

The summary of this celebration is simple on the surface: Mexican forces commanded by General Ignacio Zaragoza defeated the French army in the Battle of Puebla on 5 May 1862. 4 days later, on 9 May 1862, The then-President Benito Juárez declared that the anniversary of the Battle of Puebla would be a national holiday,[14][15][16][17][18] regarded as “Battle of Puebla Day” or “Battle of Cinco de Mayo”. Although today it is recognized in some countries as a day of Mexican heritage celebration, it is not a federal holiday in Mexico.[19]

Considering the real history of Cinco De Mayo is a really big deal. For starters, while Mexico was not the aggressor in this war, they were not exactly blameless.

The 1858 – 1860 Mexican civil war known as The Reform War had caused distress throughout Mexico’s economy. When taking office as the newly-elected president of the Republic in 1861, Juárez was forced to suspend payments of interest on foreign debts for a period of two years. At the end of October 1861 diplomats from Spain, France, and Britain met in London to form the Tripartite Alliance, with the main purpose of launching an allied invasion of Mexico, taking control of Veracruz, its major port, and forcing the Mexican government to negotiate terms for repaying its debts and for reparations for alleged harm to foreign citizens in Mexico. In December 1861, Spanish troops landed in Veracruz; British and French followed in early January. The allied forces occupied Veracruz and advanced to Orizaba. However, the Tripartite Alliance fell apart by early April 1862, when it became clear the French wanted to impose harsh demands on the Juarez government and provoke a war. The British and Spanish withdrew, leaving the French to march alone on Mexico City. French Emperor-President Napoleon III – the first democratically elected French President – wanted to set up a puppet regime, the Mexican Empire.

Thus started this French Intervention in Mexico. The effects of these 5 years were far-reaching, even to this day – consider the similarities in flags for these countries.

CU Blog - A Lesson in History - Cinco De Mayo - Photo 1Title: French Intervention in Mexico 1862 – 1867
Emperor Napoleon III of France was the instigator, justifying military intervention by claiming a broad foreign policy of commitment to free trade. For him, a friendly government in Mexico would ensure European access to Latin American markets. Napoleon also wanted the silver that could be mined in Mexico to finance his empire. Napoleon built a coalition with Spain and Britain while the U.S. was deeply engaged in its own civil war from 1861 to 1865.

Here is the main timeline of this French Intervention period:

1. 1862: Arrival of the French
After the initial victory by the Mexicans at the Battle of Puebla, the war continued in a different direction. The pursuing Mexican army was contained by the French at Orizaba, Veracruz, on 14 June. More British troops arrived on 21 September, and General Bazaine arrived with French reinforcements on 16 October. The French occupied the port of Tamaulipas on 23 October, and unopposed by Mexican forces took control of Xalapa, Veracruz on 12 December.

2. 1863: The French take the capital
CU Blog - A Lesson in History - Cinco De Mayo - Photo 2The French army of General François Achille Bazaine defeated the Mexican army led by General Comonfort in its campaign to relieve the siege of Puebla, at San Lorenzo, to the south of Puebla. Puebla surrendered to the French shortly afterward, on 17 May. On 31 May, President Juárez fled the capital city (Mexico City) with his cabinet, retreating northward to Paso del Norte and later to Chihuahua. Having taken the treasure of the state with them, the government-in-exile remained in Chihuahua until 1867.

French troops under Bazaine entered Mexico City on 7 June 1863. The main army entered the city three days later, led by General Forey. General Almonte was appointed the provisional President of Mexico on 16 June, by the Superior Junta (which had been appointed by Forey). The Superior Junta with its 35 members met on 21 June, and proclaimed a Catholic Empire on 10 July. The crown was offered to Austrian Prince Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, following pressures by Napoleon. Maximilian accepted the crown on 3 October.

3. 1864: Arrival of Maximilian
Further decisive French victories continued with the fall of Guadalajara, Zacatecas, Acapulco, Durango by 3 July, and the defeat of republicans in the states of Sinaloa and Jalisco in November.

Maximilian formally accepted the crown on 10 April, signing the Treaty of Miramar (between France and Mexico), and landed at Veracruz on 28 May. He was enthroned as Maximilian I, Emperor of Mexico, [under French occupation].

4. 1865: Beginning of Republican victories
CU Blog - A Lesson in History - Cinco De Mayo - Photo 3After many more French victories, finally on 11 April, republicans defeated Imperial forces at Tacámbaro in Michoacán. In April and May the republicans had many forces in the states of Sinaloa and Chihuahua. Most towns along the Rio Grande, [(the border with the US),] were also occupied by republicans.

The decree known as the “Black Decree” was issued by Maximilian on 3 October, which threatened any Mexican captured in the war with immediate execution.

5. 1859-1867: U.S. Diplomacy and Involvement
The United States did not condone the French occupation of Mexico but it had to use its resources for the American Civil War, which lasted 1861 to 1865. Then-President Abraham Lincoln expressed his sympathy to Latin American republics against any European attempt to establish a monarchy; and the Congress passed a resolution in disgust of these French actions. In 1865, The US supported the sale of Mexican bonds by Mexican agents in the US to fund the Juarez Administration, raising up to $18-million dollars for the purchase of American war material.[16] By 1867, American policy shifted from thinly veiled sympathy to the republican government of Juarez to open threat of war to induce a French withdrawal, invoking the Monroe Doctrine, a policy to thwart any aggression by European powers in the Americas.

6. 1866: French withdrawal and Republican victories
Choosing Franco-American relations over his Mexican monarchy ambitions, Napoleon III announced the withdrawal of French forces beginning 31 May. Taking advantage of the end of French military support to the Imperial troops, the Republicans won a series of crippling victories in Chihuahua on 25 March, Guadalajara, Matamoros, Tampico and Acapulco in July. Napoleon III urged Maximilian to abandon Mexico and evacuate with the French troops; [but he persisted]. The French evacuated Monterrey on 26 July, Saltillo on 5 August, and the whole state of Sonora in September. Maximilian’s French cabinet members resigned on 18 September. The Republicans defeated imperial troops in Oaxaca in October, occupying the whole of Oaxaca in November, as well as parts of Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí and Guanajuato.

7. 1867: Republicans take the capital
The Republicans occupied the rest of the states of Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí and Guanajuato in January. The French evacuated the capital on 5 February.

On 13 February 1867, Maximilian withdrew to Querétaro. The Republicans began a siege of the city on 9 March, and Mexico City on 12 April. On 11 May, Maximilian finally resolved to try to escape through the enemy lines. He was intercepted on 15 May. Following a court-martial, he was sentenced to death and executed on 19 June.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French intervention_in_Mexico  

This subject has relevance for the Caribbean. Mexico is a stakeholder in Caribbean affairs. They have a vast coastline (Yucatan Peninsula) on the Caribbean Sea, plus a few Caribbean islands (Cozumel, Isla Mujeres, Isla Contoy, and Isla Blanca). This country is also a member of the ACS – Association of Caribbean States – one of the relevant entities that must be assembled for this regional integration movement championed in the book Go Lean…Caribbean.

The underlying theme of this Lesson in Mexican History is the lack of effective security for the people and societal engines of Mexico. Now, after 150 years, this historic pattern has continued; Mexico proceeded to endure one revolution-rebellion-overthrow-coup d’etat after another until recent times.

The Caribbean cannot afford this same disposition: the dread and damage endured from decades of dysfunction.

Today, Mexico is known as a lawless society in many pockets, especially along the US border. Considering the art and science of security, it is sad that they never got it right! They resemble a Failed-State in so many perspectives. This is where their history, especially those 5 years of the Franco-Mexican War, provides lessons for the Caribbean people and institutions. But this Go Lean movement does not seek to remediate Mexico; this is out of scope. Rather the focus is strictly on the 30 Caribbean member-states: islands of the Caribbean plus the Central & South American states that caucus with the Caribbean Community (Belize, Guyana and Suriname).

This effort to elevate Caribbean society fully recognizes that security mitigations must be prioritized equally with economic and governing remediation. This is an underlying theme of the book Go Lean…Caribbean. The book declares that the region is in crisis, at the precipice of Failed-State status. This is the assertion of the Go Lean book, that the region must prepare its own security apparatus for its own security needs.

This book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). So while the CU is set to optimize Caribbean society through economic empowerment, the security dynamics will be inextricably linked to this same endeavor. Therefore the Go Lean roadmap has 3 prime directives:

  • 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 protect the resultant economic engines.
  • Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines.

The book contends, just as the French proved to be a “bad actor” to Mexico in 1862, that new “bad actors” will emerge for the Caribbean to contend with. This will be as a by-product of new economic successes in the region. This point is pronounced early in the book with the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 12) 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 … to assuage continuous threats against public safety.

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.

The need for the Caribbean to appoint “new guards” or a security pact to mitigate foreign and domestic threats in the region is the primary lesson to glean from the foregoing encyclopedic article – a consideration of the history of Cinco De Mayo. This security pact is to be legally constituted by a Status of Forces Agreement which would be enacted as a complement to the CU confederation treaty. The Go Lean roadmap provides 370-pages of turn-by-turn directions on how to deploy cutting-edge strategies, tactics and implementations to succeed in this goal.

In addition, there are other lessons – secondary – that we learn from this consideration of the history of Cinco De Mayo:

The Go Lean book details a roadmap with turn-by-turn directions for transforming the Caribbean homeland. The following is a sample of the community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to impact the Caribbean region for this turnaround:

Community Ethos – Economic Principle – Economic Systems Influence Choices Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principle – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future Page 21
Community Ethos – Anti-Bullying and Mitigation Page 23
Community Ethos – Minority Equalization Page 24
Community Ethos – Cooperatives Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing Page 35
Strategy – Vision – Confederating a Non-Sovereign Union Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Protect Economic Engines from threats Page 45
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy Page 64
Tactical – Separation of Powers Page 71
Implementation – Start-up Foreign Policy Initiatives Page 102
Implementation – Security Initiatives at Start-up Page 103
Implementation – Ways to Deliver Page 109
Implementation – Ways to Better Manage Debt Page 118
Implementation – Ways to Promote Independence – Interdependence Page 120
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – Defense / Homeland Security Pact Page 127
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better Page 131
Planning – Ways to Better Manage Image Page 133
Planning – Ways to Improve Failed-State Indices Page 134
Planning – Lessons from the American West Page 142
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Justice Page 177
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Homeland Security Page 180
Advocacy – Ways to Mitigate Terrorism Page 181
Advocacy – Ways to Protect Human Rights Page 220

Mexico is a beautiful country, with a beautifully diverse population plus a lot of natural resources. They experience a vibrant tourism product where millions visit annually for Mexican hospitality – they are a fit competitor of Caribbean tourism, even for cruises. See VIDEO here:

VIDEO: Mexico: Live It to Believe It – Cultural Diversity 2015 – https://youtu.be/jciVmLL_UgY

Published on Feb 27, 2014 – A production of the Mexico Department of Tourism; commissioned for the Central American and Caribbean Games in Veracruz from November 14 to 30, 2014.

Many people visit Mexico, but few would consider moving there permanently. In fact just the opposite occurs, the societal abandonment problem in Mexico is very pronounced. Their northern neighbor, the United States, has constant security issues of illegal Mexican migrants. Mexico has been dysfunctional for their entire history as a Republic. They must do better! While this quest is out-of-scope for the CU/Go Lean roadmap, we can learn lessons from their actions and inactions.

The Go Lean book posits (Page 3) that the Caribbean islands are among the greatest addresses in the world. But like Mexico, instead of the world “beating a path” to our doors, the people of the Caribbean have “beat down their doors” to get out; despite the absence of any war or revolution … like our Mexican neighbors. Our abandonment is inexcusable.

May we learn from this history of Mexico! Mexican culture is great! Enjoy the festivities: their people, food, drink, music and dance. But let’s do better … than they have done. Let’s make the Caribbean even better, where our citizens can prosper where they are planted; let’s make our homeland better places to live, work and play.  🙂

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

Share this post:
, , , , , ,
[Top]

Switching Allegiances: Jamaican sprinters move on to represent other countries

Posted on April 25, 2016 in Ethos, Industries, Locations, Social

Go Lean Commentary

“I’m going to take my talents to South Beach”.

CU Blog - Lebronomy - Economic Impact of the Return of the NBA GreatThese words – The Decision – proved to be among the most dramatic quotations in American Sports for the new 21st Century. These words were spoken by basketball superstar LeBron James in July 2010. He had been frustrated with the team management inefficiency in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio where he played for the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers from 2003 to 2010. At the time of this utterance, he had elected to “opt-out” of his contract with the Cavaliers and become a free agent. After being aggressively recruited by a number of teams – including the incumbent club in Cleveland – he decided to join the NBA franchise in South Florida (South Beach), the Miami Heat.

For the fans in Cleveland, this was a betrayal! They asserted that he switched allegiances in taking his talents to South Beach.

This perceived act of betrayal is considered a “stab in the heart” for a community that loves its local athletes. While this foregoing anecdote is an American drama, the Caribbean island of Jamaica can relate and empathize with Cleveland. Or better stated, the community of Cleveland can empathize with Jamaica as the same anecdotes are being related there, again and again with their World-Class Track-and-Field athletes.

Consider these related news articles of events transpiring in the last year:

Title: Switching Allegiances: One More Jamaican Sprinter Moves On To Represent Another Country
By: Blogger – StephanieK
CU Blog - Switching Allegiances - Jamaican Sprinters - Photo 1Winston Barnes – in focus in the photo here – a former sprinter from Jamaica College, will now be representing Turkey in athletic competitions. Barnes, who will be known as Emre Zafer Barnes, joined three other Jamaican sprinters who decided to switch their allegiance to compete for various Arab countries. Former Wolmer’s Boys’ sprinter Jacques Harvey made the switch to Turkey earlier and is now known as Jak Ali Harvey. Following Jamaica’s Olympic Games, Shericka Williams, silver medalist, Andrew Fisher and Kemarley Brown all asked to move on to Bahrain, planning to represent that country at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.

According to Commonwealth Games 100-metre champion Kemar Bailey-Cole, Jamaica could lose even more of its top athletes to countries who are willing to provide the financial support lacking from the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA), corporate Jamaica, and the government.
Source:  Jamaicans.com – Online Community – Retrieved 04-25-2016 from: http://jamaicans.com/one-more-jamaican-sprinter-moves-on/

——————————-

Title: Three Jamaican Athletes Plan to Represent Bahrain
July 22, 2015 – Three of Jamaica’s top athletes will be switching their allegiance from the island to the country of Bahrain, announced Dr. Warren Blake, the president of the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA). Shericka “Wire” Williams, 2008 Olympic 400-meter silver medallist, and sprinters Kemarley Brown and Andrew Fisher, submitted applications to the JAAA with the intention of competing for Bahrain.

The athletes said it has become difficult to represent Jamaica and want the chance to represent Bahrain as they consider moving to that country and becoming citizens. Williams received a silver medal for Jamaica at the Berlin world Championships in 2009, while Fisher is the latest Jamaican to run under the 10-second barrier. Brown also clocked below that mark with a personal best on July 20 of 9.93 seconds.
Source: Retrieved 04-25-2016 from: http://jamaicans.com/top-7-jamaican-caribbean-news-stories-for-the-week-ending-july-24th-2015/#ixzz46n7Z3doE

The decisions of these Jamaican athletes relate to the drama of Cleveland-Miami in 2010. The book Go Lean … Caribbean reported on these 2010 events, as follows (Page 42):

The National Basketball Association (NBA) franchise: Miami Heat is the league champion for the last 2 consecutive seasons; (composed November 2013). This is their 3rd championship, having won, in 2006, 2012, and 2013, to date. It is felt that this team can win many more. In fact, brewing some controversy when the team was assembled by the General Manager in 2010, one of the superstar players, LeBron James, pronounced that this team was built for multiple championships; the actual number: “not one, not, two, not three, not four, not five …”

Those words incited disgust from everyone…other than Miami Heat fans. But the team has lived up to its bragging and boasting, by succeeding to reach the Championship series (NBA Finals) all three years [to date] since the group was assembled.

The recent history of this Miami Heat drama does relate to the Caribbean and this roadmap for economic integration. First, with its base in Miami, Florida, it possesses the largest pocket of Caribbean Diaspora. So in many ways, the Miami Heat is the “home team” of the Caribbean.

This foregoing news articles also align with the Go Lean book in that it serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The Go Lean roadmap only has one interest in this subject of sports, fostering the economic opportunities that can be forged by professionalizing a regional sports eco-system. Dysfunction in this regards is exactly the issue in Jamaica today and why these athletes are “taking their talents to …” foreign shores.

This Go Lean roadmap assesses that not just Jamaica, but all of the Caribbean is in crisis. This is why athletes with any ability must seek refuge and opportunities in foreign lands. So this roadmap provides solutions to optimize the region’s economic, security and governing engines. The roadmap provides the facilitation to grow a professional, collegiate and amateur sports eco-system. Many times, the missing ingredients for organized sports are the facilities: stadia, arenas and playing fields. A previous blog-commentary reported that the sports eco-system void maybe considered as bigger than just sports, it is “life and death”. But the roadmap posits that sports, even though it is just “extra-curricular”, does bring benefits. In fact, Go Lean book (Page 229) quotes the Bible scripture at 1 Timothy 4:8 “For bodily exercise is profitable for a little …”.

Caribbean people are identified with excellence in sports; maybe even defined as geniuses. See the VIDEO here of a talented 10-year-old Jamaican football (soccer) sensation; his aspiration is to play professionally … in Europe in the future.

VIDEO – 10 year-old Jamaican Prodigy Brian Burkett – https://youtu.be/YJChu-Rwez0

Published on December 30, 2014 – Brian Burkett is a self motivated boy who has a dream to play football at the highest level in the world. His talent is immaculate for his age along with his love for the game. Brian started playing at age 3 and have grown in passion and discipline to learn more about the game.

While Caribbean athletic talent is recognized around the world, there is not enough economic rewards at home for these ones with genius abilities. These ones must leave their beloved homelands to maximize their talents and earn a living from them. (This also applies to matriculating college student-athletes).

Previous blogs established that sports genius alone will never yield the sought-after result of World-Class excellence, there is the need for skilled training, coaching with best-practices and an internal drive. In so many ways, this parallels the current effort to reboot the Caribbean economic engines: nature (birth-right) is critical, but training, experience, coaching and the technocratic application of best-practices are also needed to forge change. The most important though is the internal drive; first and foremost, this is identified in the roadmap as “community ethos”.

The Go Lean roadmap recognizes many different kinds of athletics, team sports and individual event. The unique “genius” qualifier is highlighted at the outset of the Go Lean book, in the Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 12 & 14), as follows:

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.

xxxi. Whereas sports have been a source of great pride for the Caribbean region, the economic returns from these ventures have not been evenly distributed as in other societies. The Federation must therefore facilitate the eco-systems and vertical industries of sports as a business, recreation, national pastime and even sports tourism – modeling the Olympics.

The book Go Lean … Caribbean highlights the community ethos, plus the strategies, tactics, implementation and advocacies to optimize the sports eco-system in the region; it posits that success is to be found at the intersection between opportunity and preparation. The following list shows samples from the book that detailed these points:

Community Ethos – People Respond to Incentives in Predictable Ways Page 21
Community Ethos – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future Page 21
Community Ethos – Lean Operations Page 24
Community Ethos – Return on Investments Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Foster Genius Page 27
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good Page 37
Strategic – Staffing – Sporting Events at Fairgrounds Page 55
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy Page 64
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Sports & Culture Administration Page 81
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Fairgrounds Administration Page 83
Implementation – Steps to Implement Self-Governing Entities (SGE) Page 105
Implementation – Ways to Deliver Page 109
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better Page 131
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Local Government – Parks & Recreation Page 169
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Public Works Page 175
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Events Page 191
Advocacy – Ways to Promote Fairgrounds as Sporting Venues Page 192
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage Page 218
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Sports Page 229
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Urban Living – Sports Leagues Page 234

The Go Lean book and accompanying blogs declare that the Caribbean needs to learn lessons from these Track-and-Field athletes taking their talents to other markets … elsewhere. This commentary is about the business of sports; and this subject is a familiar topic for the Go Lean movement, as was detailed in these previous blogs:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6464 WWE Network – Model for Caribbean
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6202 ‘Concussions’ – The Movie; The Cause
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5921 Socio-Economic Change: Impact Analysis of SGE’s
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4879 Martinique – The New Caribbean Surfing Capital
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4019 Melding of Sports & Technology; the Business of the Super Bowl
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3414 Levi’s® Stadium: A Team Effort
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3244 Sports Role Model – espnW
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2222 Sports Role Model – Playing For Pride … And More
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2171 Sports Role Model – Turn On the SEC Network
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2152 Sports Role Model – US versus the World
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1715 Lebronomy – Economic Impact of the Return of the NBA Great
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1446 Caribbean Players in the 2014 World Cup
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1341 College World Series Time – Lessons from Omaha
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1214 Landlord of Temporary Stadiums
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1148 Sports Bubble – Franchise values in basketball
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1020 Sports Revolutionary: Advocate Jeffrey Webb
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=498 Book Review: ‘The Sports Gene’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=318 Collegiate Sports in the Caribbean
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=60 Could the Caribbean Host the Olympic Games?

The end result for the Go Lean roadmap’s venture into regional sport professionalization is economic growth and “jobs” here at home. The Go Lean roadmap anticipates 21,000 direct jobs at sports enterprises throughout the region, not including the athletes.

CU Blog - Switching Allegiances - Jamaican Sprinters - Photo 2The benefits of the Go Lean roadmap are too alluring to ignore: emergence of an $800 Billion economy, 2.2. million new regional jobs, new industries, services and finally opportunities for the sports-playing youth of the Caribbean . The roadmap even extends an invitation to the Diaspora (and their legacies) to repatriate from North American, European and Middle-Eastern/Arab countries. This will help to preserve Caribbean culture here … in the Caribbean.

As for the latest developments of the opening anecdote of LeBron James and the Cleveland-Miami drama: after 4 years in Miami and 2 championships, he repatriated to Cleveland; (see photo above) … with a new resolve to bring a championship to Cleveland. In this vein, his quest – now fulfilled – serves as a role model for Caribbean athletes: excelling at home is “so much sweeter” than on the road. This is the precept to prosper where planted. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

Share this post:
, , , , , ,
[Top]

Being Lean: Asking the Question ‘Why’ 5 Times

Posted on April 7, 2016 in Ethos, Government, Implementation, Social

Go Lean Commentary

“The Caribbean is arguably the greatest address on the planet”, as declared in the book Go Lean…Caribbean. (This “greatest” attribute is defined for terrain, culture and hospitality). Yet the region has an unconscious-able brain drain rate, where 70 percent of the tertiary-educated population has fled.

Why!?

This question has been asked repeatedly! Many times the published answers are really describing the symptoms and not the root-causes. In the end, the answer is not so easy! The Go Lean book defines it as heavy-lifting. The Go Lean approach is an examination of the word “Lean”. In the book the word is presented as a noun, a verb and an adjective; all inclusive of the agile concept. The lean/agile concept is an understanding that value is a derived-result from a continuously optimizing key process, that repeats as a cycle .. again and again.

The Go Lean book (Page 4) relates that …

… lean thinking changes the focus of management from optimizing separate technologies, assets, and vertical departments to optimizing the flow of products and services through entire value streams that flow horizontally across technologies, assets, and departments to customers.

One expression of the lean methodology that can be used to dissect/”add value” to the key question (” Why such a high brain drain rate”) in this commentary is the iterative interrogative technique: 5 Why’s. See details of this agile-lean technique below. Using this technique, the 5 Why’s needs to be extended to 7 actual Why questions, as follows:

Problem: Why do Caribbean citizens abandon their homelands?

  1. “Push and Pull” reasons. “Push”, as in people fleeing to find refuge and “pull” in the perception (though false) that life is better on foreign shores. Why?
  2. Societal defects – in the region – are so acute. Why?
  3. Societal engines (responsible for economics, security & governance) not optimized. Why?
  4. Colonial Masters did not engage best-practices. Why?
  5. Foreign Policy in the colonies was to just keep them dependent. Why?
  6. Colonizers promoted home country commerce – Mercantilism; slavery in the colonies, but not at home (i.e. Serfism, French Revolution). Why?
  7. European Community Ethos: OK to exploit African Race as declared by Pope Innocent VIII.

s - Photo 1

s - Photo 2

See the encyclopedic details and a related VIDEO here:

Reference Title: 5 Whys
Source: Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia – Retrieved 04/07/2016 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5_Whys

5 Whys is an iterative interrogative technique used to explore the cause-and-effect relationships underlying a particular problem.[1] The primary goal of the technique is to determine the root cause of a defect or problem by repeating the question “Why?” Each question forms the basis of the next question. The “5” in the name derives from an empirical observation on the number of iterations typically required to resolve the problem.

The technique was formally developed by Sakichi Toyoda and was used within the Toyota Motor Corporation during the evolution of its manufacturing methodologies. In other companies, it appears in other forms. Under Ricardo Semler, Semco practices “three whys” and broadens the practice to cover goal setting and decision making.[2]

Not all problems have a single root cause. If one wishes to uncover multiple root causes, the method must be repeated asking a different sequence of questions each time.

The method provides no hard and fast rules about what lines of questions to explore, or how long to continue the search for additional root causes. Thus, even when the method is closely followed, the outcome still depends upon the knowledge and persistence of the people involved.

—–

The questioning for this example could be taken further to a sixth, seventh, or higher level, but five iterations of asking why is generally sufficient to get to a root cause. The key is to encourage the trouble-shooter to avoid assumptions and logic traps and instead trace the chain of causality in direct increments from the effect through any layers of abstraction to a root cause that still has some connection to the original problem. Note that, in this example, the fifth why suggests a broken process or an alterable behaviour, which is indicative of reaching the root-cause level.

It is interesting to note that the last answer points to a process. This is one of the most important aspects in the 5 Why approach – the real root cause should point toward a process that is not working well or does not exist.[3] Untrained facilitators will often observe that answers seem to point towards classical answers such as not enough time, not enough investments, or not enough manpower. These answers may be true, but they are out of our control. Therefore, instead of asking the question why?, ask why did the process fail?

A key phrase to keep in mind in any 5 Why exercise is “people do not fail, processes do”.

Rules of performing “5 Whys”

In order to carry out the 5-Why analysis properly, following advices should be kept:

  1. It is necessary to engage the management in 5 Whys standard in the company. For the analysis itself, remember about right working group. Also consider facilitator presence for more difficult topics.
  2. Use paper or whiteboard instead of computers.
  3. Write down the problem and make sure that all people understand it.
  4. Distinguish causes from symptoms.
  5. Take care of the logic of cause-and-effect relationship.
  6. Make sure that root causes certainly lead to the mistake by reversing the sentences created as a result of the analysis with the use of expression “and therefore”.
  7. Try to make our answers more precise.
  8. Look for the cause step by step. Don’t jump to conclusions.
  9. Base on facts and knowledge.
  10. Assess the process, not people.
  11. Never leave “human error”, “worker’s inattention”, etc. as the root cause.
  12. Take care of the atmosphere of trust and sincerity.
  13. Ask the question “why” until the root cause is determined, i.e. such cause the elimination of which will cause that the error will not occur again.[7]

Criticism

While the 5 Whys is a powerful tool for engineers or technically savvy individuals to help get to the true causes of problems, it has been criticized … as being too basic a tool to analyze root causes to the depth that is needed to ensure that they are fixed.[8] Reasons for this criticism include:

  • Tendency for investigators to stop at symptoms rather than going on to lower-level root causes.
  • Inability to go beyond the investigator’s current knowledge – cannot find causes that they do not already know.
  • Lack of support to help the investigator ask the right “why” questions.
  • Results are not repeatable – different people using 5 Whys come up with different causes for the same problem.
  • Tendency to isolate a single root cause, whereas each question could elicit many different root causes.

These can be significant problems when the method is applied through deduction only. On-the-spot verification of the answer to the current “why” question before proceeding to the next is recommended to avoid these issues. In addition, performing logical tests for necessity and sufficiency at each level can help avoid the selection of spurious causes and promote the consideration of multiple root causes.[9]

s - Photo 3

————————

VIDEO – 5 Whys Root Cause Analysis Problem Solving Tool–Video Training – https://youtu.be/zvkYFZUsBnw

Uploaded on Jul 23, 2009 – The 5 Whys (Free 6-Page PDF at http://www.velaction.com/5-whys/ ) is one of the simplest problem solving tools used in Lean manufacturing and Lean offices. This presentation shows how to use the 5 Whys, and what to watch out for. Created and presented by Jeff Hajek of Velaction Continuous Improvement.
Category: How to & Style
License: Standard YouTube License

Wow, the root cause “Why Caribbean citizens abandon their homelands” is tied to the community ethos and embedded racial inequalities in the ancient European world. Now that we know – thanks to the iterative interrogative technique – we can deploy new community ethos plus new strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to turn-around Caribbean failings into opportunities for success.

The Go Lean book identifies Toyota Motor Company as a role model for deploying agile/lean methodologies in delivering quality. Quality delivery is a mission of the Go Lean movement. The book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation for the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). As a federal government, there will be the need to employ agile/lean methodologies to ensure that a small organizational footprint can provide the facilitations to enhance the region’s economic, security and governing engines. For a regional population of 42 million, the plan is to only engage 30,000 federal civil servants, but with a lot of systems and agile methodologies. That is lean!

By being lean, the stewards of this new Caribbean can fulfill the Go Lean vision: a better region to live, work and play. In the end, we would dissuade the brain drain, and then eventually invite the Diaspora to return, to repatriate to their ancestral homelands.

The Go Lean book was constructed with community ethos – national spirit that drives the character and identity of its people – in mind, plus the execution of strategies, tactics, implementation and advocacies to keep the regional government lean. The following is a sample of these specific details from the book:

Preface – Use of “Lean” in the Public Sphere Page 4
Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – The Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future Page 21
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Lean Operations Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Help Entrepreneurship – Incubators Page 28
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Research & Development Page 30
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness Page 36
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good Page 37
Strategy – Mission – Build and foster local economic engines Page 45
Tactical –  Separation of Powers: Federal Administration versus Member-States Governance Page 71
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change Page 101
Implementation – Reasons to Repatriate to the Caribbean Page 118
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better Page 131
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance in the Caribbean Region Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Leadership Page 171
Advocacy – Ways to Manage Federal Civil Service Page 173
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the Diaspora Page 217
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage Page 218

The Go Lean roadmap presents the CU as a real organizational structure. So all the references in the foregoing encyclopedic reference regarding agile-lean organizations, enterprises, companies and/or firms could apply directly and indirectly to the CU Trade Federation. Yet, the federal agencies and civil servants are not the only focus of the Go Lean/CU roadmap. The prime directives of this roadmap is to reach out into the community and impact the societal engines in these ways:

  • 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 protect the resultant economic engines.
  • Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.

Previously, Go Lean blogs detailed other opportunities to deploy agile methodologies. Consider this sample:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7646 Methodology for going from ‘Good to Great’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6921 “Live. Work. Play. Repeat” – Need for Agile Rewards program
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6016 Case Study of a Lean Utility to Assuage Excessively Hot Weather
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3956 Art and Science of Collaboration
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3152 The formal process of Making a Great Place to Work®
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=915 Go Green Caribbean – Pursuits for Lean energy in the region

The message to the people of the Caribbean region is that the Caribbean’s past is not to be the Caribbean’s future. The catalyst for change in the Caribbean is the CU. This “heavy-lifting” task to implement agile/lean methodologies in the Caribbean is the charter of the CU technocracy.

Now is the time for all Caribbean stakeholders – residents, Diaspora, businesses and institutions – to lean-in for the optimizations and empowerments described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean. Yes, we can make the region a better homeland to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

Share this post:
,
[Top]

Obama – Bad For Caribbean Status Quo

Posted on March 31, 2016 in Government, Social

Go Lean Commentary

CU Blog - Obama - Bad For Caribbean Status Quo - Photo 2Yes, Barack Obama was elected in 2008 as the first Black President of the United States, with his campaign of “Hope and Change”. While one would think that would be good for all Black (African-American) people in the US – and around the world – alas, that has not been the case. It is the conclusion of many commentators and analysts that Obama has not been able to do as much for his race as he would like, nor his race would like. (Obama himself has confessed this). Or that another White person may have been able to do more for the African American community.

This seems like a paradox!

Yet, it is what it is. The truth of the matter is that race still plays a huge decision-making factor in all things in America. This reality has curtailed Obama in any quest to do more for his people.

This is the assessment by noted commentator and analyst, Professor Michael Eric Dyson, in his new book “The Black Presidency: Barack Obama and the Politics of Race in America“. Professor Dyson points out some actual events during the Obama presidency and concludes that a White President would have been more successfully championing certain race-related causes. (Think: the Black Lives Matter movement was ignited during the Obama presidency).

VIDEO – Michael Eric Dyson on Democracy Now – https://youtu.be/F7Uo06_NfCw

Published on Feb 3, 2016 – http://democracynow.org – As the 2016 presidential race heats up and the nation marks Black History Month, we turn to look back on President Obama’s legacy as the nation’s first African-American president. Georgetown professor Michael Eric Dyson has just published a new book titled The Black Presidency: Barack Obama and the Politics of Race in America. From the protests in Ferguson to the church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, to the controversy over the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Michael Eric Dyson explores how President Obama has changed how he talks about race over the past seven years.

Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs weekdays on nearly 1,400 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch the live-stream 8-9AM ET: http://democracynow.org.

The summary is that White Privilege still dominates in America. See the review of this book in Appendix A below.

This conclusion aligns with the assertions of the book Go Lean…Caribbean, and many aligned blog submissions, that America is not the ideal society for Caribbean citizens to seek for refuge, that rather Caribbean people can exert less effort to reform and transform their homelands than trying to prosper in this foreign land. The conclusion is the priority should be on a local/regional quest to prosper where planted in the Caribbean. This is a mission of the Go Lean…Caribbean movement, to lower the push and pull factors that lead many in the Caribbean to flee their tropical homes. Highlighting and enunciating the truths of American “Race Reality” aligns with that mission. We must lower the “pull” factors!

It is this commentary’s conclusion that Obama has been a good president for American self-interest. (The economy has recovered and rebounded from the “bad old days” of the 2008 financial crisis).

It is also this commentary’s conclusion that Obama has been a bad president for the Caribbean status-quo! His administration has brought ” change” to many facets of Caribbean life – good, bad and ugly, as follows:

  • Consider the good: The American re-approachment to Cuba – under Obama – is presenting an end to the Cold War animosity of these regional neighbors – Cuba’s status quo is changing. A bad actor from this conflict, former Cuban President Fidel Castro, just penned his own commentary lamenting Obama’s salesmanship in his recent official visit to Cuba on March 15; see Appendix B.
  • Consider the bad:
    • (A) The US has doubled-down on globalization, forcing countries with little manufacturing or agricultural production to consume even more and produce even less; a lose-lose proposition.
    • (B) The primary industry in the Caribbean – tourism – has experienced change and decline as a direct result of heightened income inequality in the US, the region’s biggest source of touristic visitors; now more middle class can only afford cruise vacations as opposed to the more lucrative (for the region) stop-overs.
    • (C) The secondary industry in the Caribbean – Offshore Banking – has come under fire from the US-led Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) to deter offshore banking growth; the industry, jobs and economic contributions have thusly receded.
  • Consider the ugly: Emigration of Caribbean citizens to the US has accelerated during this presidency, more so than any other time in American-Caribbean history. Published rates of societal abandonment among the college educated classes have reported an average of 70 percent in most member-states, with some countries (i.e. Guyana) tallying up to 89 percent.

The Caribbean status quo has changed. It is now time for a Caribbean version of “hope and change”.

This book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This roadmap presents “hope and change” for empowering the Caribbean region’s societal engines: economic, security and governance. In fact, the following are the prime directives 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 protect the resultant economic engines.
  • Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.

A mission of the CU is to minimize the push and pull factors that lead so many Caribbean citizens to migrate to foreign lands – to America; and also to invite the Diaspora living there to repatriate home. The argument is that America is not the most welcoming for the Black and Brown populations of the Caribbean. Let’s work to prosper where planted at home.

Yes, there are societal defects in the Caribbean, as there are defects in America. But the defects in America are greater: institutional racism and Crony-Capitalism. Though it is heavy-lifting, it is easier to reform and transform the Caribbean.

The reference sources in the Appendices relate that the Obama effect is changing the status quo … in America … and the Caribbean.

This issue of reducing the societal abandonment rate and encouraging repatriation has been a consistent theme of Go Lean blogs entries; as sampled here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7628 ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7204 ‘The Covenant with Black America’ – Ten Years Later
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7151 The Caribbean is Looking for Heroes … ‘to Return’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7412 The Road to Restoring Cuba
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7151 The Caribbean is Looking for Heroes … ‘to Return’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6016 Hotter than July – Still ‘Third World’ – The Need for Cooling …
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5784 The Need for Human Rights/LGBT Reform in the Region
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4613 ‘Luck of the Irish’ – Lessons from their Past, Present and Future
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4447 Probe of Ferguson, Missouri exposes Institutional Racism

All in all, the roadmap commences with the recognition that all the Caribbean is in crisis, with its high abandonment rate. These acknowledgements are pronounced in the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 13). The statements are included as follows:

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 back to our shores. This repatriation should be effected with the appropriate guards so as not to imperil the lives and securities of the repatriated citizens or the communities they inhabit. The right of repatriation is to be extended to any natural born citizens despite any previous naturalization to foreign sovereignties.

xx.   Whereas the results of our decades of migration created a vibrant Diaspora in foreign lands, the Federation must organize interactions with this population into structured markets. Thus allowing foreign consumption of domestic products, services and media, which is a positive trade impact. These economic activities must not be exploited by others’ profiteering but rather harnessed by Federation resources for efficient repatriations.

The Go Lean roadmap lists the following details on the series of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies necessary to effectuate the “hope and change” in the Caribbean region to mitigate the continued risk of emigration and the brain drain. The list is as follows:

Community Ethos – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices Page 21
Community Ethos – Job Multiplier Page 22
Community Ethos – Lean Operations Page 24
Community Ethos – Return on Investments Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Help Entrepreneurship Page 28
Strategic – Vision – Integrated Region in a Single Market Page 45
Strategic – Vision – Agents of Change Page 57
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy Page 64
Tactical – Growing to $800 Billion Regional Economy Page 67
Tactical – Separation of Powers Page 71
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change Page 101
Implementation – Ways to Deliver Page 109
Implementation – Reasons to Repatriate Page 118
Planning – Big Ideas for the Caribbean Region Page 127
Planning – Lessons Learned from the US Constitution Page 145
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the Diaspora Page 217
Appendix – Source of 2.2 Million New Jobs Page 257

The  Go Lean roadmap allows for the Caribbean region to deliver success, to mitigate the risk of further push and pull. The world in general and the Caribbean in particular needs to know the truth of life in America for the Black and Brown populations. This heavy-lifting task is the mission of the CU technocracy.

Now is the time for all of the Caribbean, the people and institutions, to lean-in for the “hope and change” that is the Caribbean Union Trade Federation. Yes, we can … make this region a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

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

————–

Appendix A

Book Review: ‘The Black Presidency: Barack Obama and the Politics of Race in America’ By Michael Eric Dyson. 346 Pages. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. $27. ISBN 978-0544387669
Review By: N. D. B. Connolly

CU Blog - Obama - Bad For Caribbean Status Quo - Photo 3What happens when the nation’s foremost voice on the race question is also its most confined and restrained? Michael Eric Dyson raises this question about President Obama in his latest book, “The Black Presidency: Barack Obama and the Politics of Race in America.” The book inspires one to raise similar questions about Dyson himself. For, while hardly restrained, Dyson appears noticeably boxed in by the limitations placed on celebrity race commentators in the Age of Obama.

Readers will recognize Dyson’s practiced flair for language and metaphor as he makes an important and layered argument about American political culture and the narrowness of presidential speech. The book argues that Americans live under a black presidency — not so much because the president is black, but because Obama’s presidency remains bound by the rules and rituals of black respectability and white supremacy. Even the leader of the free world, we learn in Dyson’s book, conforms principally to white expectations. (Dyson maintained in the November issue of The New Republic that Hillary Clinton may well do more for black people than Obama did.) But Obama’s presidency is “black” in a more hopeful way, too, providing Americans with an opportunity to better realize the nation’s democratic ideals and promises. “Obama’s achievement gestures toward what the state had not allowed at the highest level before his emergence,” Dyson writes. “Equality of opportunity, fairness in democracy and justice in society.”

A certain optimism ebbs and flows in “The Black Presidency,” but only occasionally does it refer to white Americans’ beliefs about race. Far more often, Dyson hangs hope on Obama’s impromptu shows of racial solidarity. One such moment was the president’s remarks after the 2009 arrest of the Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. (who was arrested trying to get into his own home). Another was Obama’s public identification with Trayvon Martin. Both acts may have been politically risky, but they also greatly heartened African- Americans. Hope builds, and by book’s end, readers find a chapter-long celebration of the president’s soaring invocations of “Amazing Grace” during last year’s memorial service for the slain parishioners of EmanuelA.M.E.Church. For Dyson, the eulogy at Emanuel seems to serve as a sign of grace that black America may still yet enjoy from the Obama White House.

Its cresting invocations of hope aside, the book ably maintains a sharp critical edge. Dyson uncovers a troubling consistency to the president’s race speech and shows that in spite of Obama’s reliance on black political networks and black votes during his meteoric rise, the president chose to follow a governing and rhetorical template largely hewed by his white predecessors. As both candidate and president, Obama’s speeches have tended to allay white guilt. They have scolded ­African-American masses for cultural pathology and implied that blacks were to blame for lingering white antipathy. Obama’s speeches have also often consigned the worst forms of racism and anti-black violence to the past or to the fringes of American political culture. One finds passive-voice constructions everywhere in Obama’s race talk, as black folk are found suffering under pressures and at the hands of parties that go largely unnamed. “Obama is forced to exaggerate black responsibility,” Dyson advances, “because he must always underplay white responsibility.”

Critically, Dyson contends that the president’s tepid anti-racism comes from political pragmatism rather than a set of deeper ideological concerns. “Obama is anti-ideological,” Dyson maintains, and that is “the very reason he was electable.”

That characterization, however, overlooks how liberal pragmatism functions as ideology. What’s more, it ignores the marginalization and violence that black and brown people often suffer — at home and abroad — whenever moderates resolve to “get things done.” If the Obama era proved anything about liberalism, it’s that there remains little room for an explicit policy approach to racial justice — even, or perhaps especially, under a black president. As Obama himself explains to Dyson: “I have to appropriate dollars for any program which has to go through ways and means committees, or appropriations committees, that are not dominated by folks who read Cornel West or listen to Michael Eric Dyson.”

Upon a careful reading of Dyson’s book, loss seems always to arrive on the heels of hope. As we might expect, the author explores Obama’s estrangement from the Rev. Jeremiah Wright in 2008. He also attends to his own very public and more recent split from Cornel West. But even beyond these signal episodes, “The Black Presidency” is suffused with a bittersweet tone about relationships strained. President Obama seems to leave a host of people and political commitments at the White House door as he conforms to the racial demands of a historically white office. Even Dyson seems unaware of all the ways in which “The Black Presidency,” as a book, both explicates and illustrates how the Obama administration leaves black folk behind.

All but the last two of the book’s eight chapters begin with the author placing himself in close and often luxurious proximity to Obama. The repetition has the literary effect of a Facebook feed. Here is Michael at Oprah’s sumptuous California mansion during a 2007 fund-raiser, sharing a joke with Barack and Chris Rock. Here is Michael on the private plane and in the S.U.V., giving the candidate tips on how to use a “ ‘blacker’ rhetorical style” during his debate performances against a surging Hillary Clinton. Here he is in the V.I.P. section of the 50th-anniversary ceremony for the March on Washington and, yet again, at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. Through these and similar moments, Dyson projects his status and, in ways less clear, his authority. Dyson knows Obama, the reader is assured, because he has kept his company. He has swapped playful taunts and bro-hugs with the president; he has been intimate, one might say, with history.

Moments like these have a secondary effect. They illuminate a tension cutting through and profoundly limiting “The Black Presidency” as a work of political commentary. Regardless of who Michael Eric Dyson may have been to Obama the candidate, Dyson now has barely any access to Obama the president. Time and circumstance have rendered Dyson, the man and the thinker, increasingly irrelevant to Obama’s presidency. He can be at the party, but not at the table.

Perhaps worse in relation to the book’s stated aim to be the first full measure of Obama and America’s race problem, Dy­son, the author, has none but only the smallest role to play in assessing and narrating Obama’s legacy. When Bill Clinton decided to chronicle his own historic turn in the White House, he called on Taylor Branch and recorded with the historian some 150 hours of interviews over 79 separate sessions. Dyson, in 2015, gets far shabbier treatment. Chapter 5, “The Scold of Black Folk,” opens: “I was waiting outside the Oval Office to speak to President Obama. I had a tough time getting on his schedule.” In response to Dyson’s request for a presidential audience, the White House offered the author 10 whole minutes. By his own telling, Dyson “politely declined” and pressed Obama’s confidante, Valerie Jarrett, to remember his long history with and support of the president. “I eventually negotiated a 20-minute interview that turned into half an hour.” It appears to be the only interview Dyson conducted for the book.

In the end, “The Black Presidency” possesses a loaves-and-fishes quality. Drawing mostly on the news cycle, close readings of carefully crafted speeches and a handful of glittering encounters, Dyson has managed to do a lot with a little. The book might well be considered an interpretive miracle, one performed in fealty and hope for a future show of presidential grace, either from this president or, should she get elected, the next one.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/07/books/review/the-black-presidency-barack-obama-and-the-politics-of-race-in-america-by-michael-eric-dyson.html. Posted February 2, 2016; retrieved March 29, 2016.

————–

Appendix B

Title: Cuba’s Fidel Castro knocks sweet-talking Obama after ‘honey-coated’ visit
By: Marc Frank

U.S. President Barack Obama waves from the door of Air Force One in HavanaHavana – Retired leader Fidel Castro accused U.S. President Barack Obama of sweet-talking the Cuban people during his visit to the island last week and ignoring the accomplishments of Communist rule, in an opinion piece carried by all state-run media on Monday.

Obama’s visit was aimed at consolidating a detente between the once intractable Cold War enemies and the U.S. president said in a speech to the Cuban people that it was time for both nations to put the past behind them and face the future “as friends and as neighbors and as family, together.”

“One assumes that every one of us ran the risk of a heart attack listening to these words,” Castro said in his column, dismissing Obama’s comments as “honey-coated” and reminding Cubans of the many U.S. efforts to overthrow and weaken the Communist government.

Castro, 89, laced his opinion piece with nationalist sentiment and, bristling at Obama’s offer to help Cuba, said the country was able to produce the food and material riches it needs with the efforts of its people.

“We don’t need the empire to give us anything,” he wrote.

Asked about Fidel Castro’s criticisms on Monday, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the Obama administration was pleased with the reception the president received from the Cuban people and the conversations he had with Cuban officials.

“The fact that the former president felt compelled to respond so forcefully to the president’s visit, I think is an indication of the significant impact of President Obama’s visit to Cuba,” Earnest said.

After the visit, major obstacles remain to full normalization of ties between Cuba and the United States, with no major concessions offered by Cuba on rights and economic freedom.

“The president made clear time and time again both in private meetings with President Castro, but also in public when he delivered a speech to the Cuban people, that the U.S. commitment to human rights is rock solid and that’s not going to change,” Earnest said.

Fidel Castro took power in a 1959 revolution and led the country until 2006, when he fell ill and passed power to his brother Raul Castro. He now lives in relative seclusion but is occasionally heard from in opinion pieces or seen on television and in photos meeting with visiting dignitaries.

The iconic figure’s influence has waned in his retirement and the introduction of market-style reforms carried out by Raul Castro, but Fidel Castro still has a moral authority among many residents, especially older generations.

Obama did not meet with Fidel Castro during his three-day visit, nor mention him in any of his public appearances. It was the first visit of a sitting U.S. president for 88 years.

Fidel Castro blasted Obama for not referring in his speech to the extermination of native peoples in both the United States and Cuba, not recognizing Cuba’s gains in health and education, and not coming clean on what he might know about how South Africa obtained nuclear weapons before apartheid ended, presumably with the aid of the U.S. government.

“My modest suggestion is that he reflects (on the U.S. role in South Africa and Cuba’s in Angola) and not now try to elaborate theories about Cuban politics,” Castro said.

Castro also took aim at the tourism industry in Cuba, which has grown further since Obama’s rapprochement with Raul Castro in December 2014. He said it was dominated by large foreign corporations which took for granted billion-dollar profits.

(Reporting by Marc Frank; Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu in Washington; Editing by Bill Rigby)

Share this post:
, , , ,
[Top]

A Lesson in History – Buffalo Soldiers

Posted on March 28, 2016 in Ethos, Social, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

Welcome to the New World.

“Fighting on arrival; fighting for survival“. – Lyrics from song  Buffalo Soldier by Bob Marley.

CU Blog - A Lesson in History - Buffalo Soldiers - Photo 1This is the experience of the Pan-African Diaspora in all of the Americas. Truly a sad origin history, “Coming to America” as slaves. And yet, the African race has proliferated in much of the Americas, most notably in the Caribbean, where the one-time slaves emerged as the majority population in 29 of the 30 member-states; (the only other New World non-Caribbean country with a majority Black population is Brazil). After a few turns in world political developments, these majorities now run the governments in most of these Caribbean countries.

It took “blood, sweat and tears” to reach this accomplishment. This connotes military action, warfare and sacrifice. The most prominent of Black fighting men in the history of the New World is the Buffalo Soldier.

Caribbean Music legend Bob Marley is to be credited for educating much of the world with this history. In his landmark song Buffalo Soldier; he sang their praises – see lyrics in Appendix A.

See the VIDEO-AUDIO of the song here:

VIDEO-AUDIO – Bob Marley Buffalo Soldier – https://youtu.be/IEpSBsUjY-0

Uploaded on May 2, 2011 – This song was released post humorously in 1983, after Bob Marley’s death.

Just who were the Buffalo Soldiers and what are their connections to the Caribbean? See  this encyclopedia reference here:

From 1863 to the early 20th century, African American units were utilized by the Army to combat the Native Americans during the Indian Wars.[14] The most noted among this group were the Buffalo Soldiers:

This nickname was given to the “Negro Cavalry” by the Native American tribes they fought in the Indian Wars. The term eventually became synonymous with all of the African American regiments formed in 1866. At the end of the U.S. Civil War the army reorganized and authorized the formation of two regiments of black cavalry (the 9th and 10th US Cavalry). Four regiments of infantry (the 38th, 39th, 40th and 41st US Infantry) were formed at the same time. In 1869, the four infantry regiments were merged into two new ones (the 24th and 25th US Infantry). These units were composed of black enlisted men commanded by white officers such as Benjamin Grierson, and occasionally, an African-American officer such as Henry O. Flipper. The “Buffalo Soldiers” served a variety of roles along the frontier from building roads to guarding the U.S. mail.[15]

CU Blog - A Lesson in History - Buffalo Soldiers - Photo 2These regiments served at a variety of posts in the southwest United States and Great Plains regions. During this period they participated in most of the military campaigns in these areas and earned a distinguished record. Thirteen enlisted men and six officers from these four regiments earned the Medal of Honor during the Indian Wars.[16]

After the Indian Wars ended in the 1890s, the regiments continued to serve and participated in the Spanish–American War (including the Battle of San Juan Hill in Cuba), where five more Medals of Honor were earned.[17] 

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_history_of_African_Americans#Indian_Wars retrieved March 28, 2019.

All of the New World , despite their European colonizers – Dutch, English, French, Portuguese or Spanish – was developed on the same economic policy: slavery!

This ugly institution was so entrenched that only a model war would effectuate its abolition permanently. That war was waged in the United States (1861 – 1865) as a proxy to all the New World territories. Shortly thereafter, the institution was abolished in the remaining countries that still maintained it in the region, i.e. Brazil. (The US was not the first; that distinction belong to Haiti, which endured a slave rebellion and battles for emancipation; the Spanish colonies followed shortly there-after, then the French, then the British).

The Buffalo Soldiers are most noteworthy because they fought for dignity for all the African race in the New World, though this was not pronounced in their commission, only now gleaned from their legacy. See Trailer below for one of the many movies.

The movement and underlying book Go Lean … Caribbean asserts that Caribbean people must now consider the weight of history and re-assign these islands and coastal states as their only homeland. As a people, the African Diaspora have fought and paid for these lands; they have shed “blood, sweat and tears” for their New World homelands. The ancestral home of Africa is no longer relevant. We now need to “prosper where we are planted” here in the Caribbean. Bob Marley said it best:

I mean it, when I analyze the stench –
To me it makes a lot of sense:
How the Dreadlock Rasta was the Buffalo Soldier,
And he was taken from Africa, brought to America,
Fighting on arrival, fighting for survival.

The freedoms we enjoy today, were not free!

They cost our ancestors and predecessors all their had to offer: a full measure of sacrifice and devotion. They gave of their sons and daughters. This is the important lesson to learn in considering the history of these American fighting men. As our ancestors and predecessors, they paid a steep price – “they punched our tickets” – for progress. We must regard their sacrifice.

This is one reason why we must adopt a National Sacrifice community ethos. This vital quality has been missing for far too long. This is why the region has such a deplorable abandonment rate: no [perception of] pain, no gain; no comprehension of sacrifice, no sense of value.

As a region, we must do better. We must discourage the emigration, brain drain and further societal abandonment.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean and accompanying blogs provide lessons from history in considering the fighting men of the American Civil War. The Caribbean region’s debilitating societal abandonment rate – 70 percent of college educated had fled for foreign shores – is proof positive of the absence and lack of this National Sacrifice ethos.

Early in the Go Lean book, this need for careful review of the history of slavery was acknowledged and then placed into perspective with this pronouncement (Declaration of Interdependence – Page 10):

As the history of our region and the oppression, suppression and repression of its indigenous people is duly documented, there is no one alive who can be held accountable for the prior actions, and so we must put aside the shackles of systems of repression to instead formulate efficient and effective systems to steer our own destiny.

As the colonial history of our region was initiated to create economic expansion opportunities for our previous imperial masters, the structures of government instituted in their wake have not fostered the best systems for prosperity of the indigenous people.

So the consideration of the Go Lean book, is to identify and correct all bad community ethos – the fundamental spirit of our culture – and to foster positive community ethos (such as National Sacrifice and deferred gratification). This point was also pronounced in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Page 13) with this statement:

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 back to our shores. This repatriation should be effected with the appropriate guards so as not to imperil the lives and securities of the repatriated citizens or the communities they inhabit. The right of repatriation is to be extended to any natural born citizens despite any previous naturalization to foreign sovereignties.

This book  Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) to spearhead the elevation of Caribbean society. The book advocates learning lessons from many events and concepts in history, covering all societal engines: economics, security and governance. The roadmap seeks to reboot these engines to ensure that all Caribbean stakeholders have the opportunity for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness with no abusive exploitation of any ethnic group; no suppression, repression or oppression of any people: African or not!

The Go Lean roadmap seeks to employ “best-practices” to impact the CU prime directives; identified with the following 3 statements:

  • 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 protect the resultant economic engines and ensure the respect of human rights and public safety.
  • Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.

The Go Lean book stresses the community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to reboot, reform and transform the eco-systems of Caribbean society. These points are detailed in the book as follows:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – People Choose Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – People Respond to Incentives in Predictable Ways Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – The Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future Page 21
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Lean Operations Page 24
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Cooperatives Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact a Turn-Around Page 33
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness Page 36
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Confederate 30 Member-States Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Enact a Defense Pact with Militia and Naval Forces Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Keep the next generation at home Page 46
Tactical – Confederating a Permanent Union Page 63
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy Page 64
Implementation – Assemble – Incorporating all the existing regional military organizations Page 96
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change Page 101
Implementation – Security Initiatives at Start-up Page 103
Implementation – Ways to Deliver Page 109
Implementation – Reasons to Repatriate to the Caribbean Page 118
Planning – 10 Big Ideas for the Caribbean – Confederation Without Sovereignty Page 127
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better Page 131
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Homeland Security Page 181
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the Diaspora Page 217
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage Page 218
Advocacy – Ways to Protect Human Rights Page 220

There are other lessons for the Caribbean to learn from considering history; the following previous blog/commentaries apply:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7682 Frederick Douglass: Role Model for Single Cause – Abolition
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6722 A Lesson in History – After the Civil War: Birthright Mandates
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6720 A Lesson in History – During the Civil War: Principle over Principal
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6718 A Lesson in History – Before the Civil War: Compromising Human Rights
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5695 Repenting, Forgiving and Reconciling the Past
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5333 A Lesson in History – Legacies: Cause and Effect
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5183 A Lesson in History – Cinco De Mayo
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5123 A Lesson in History – Royal Charter: Zimbabwe -vs- South Africa
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4971 A Lesson in History – Royal Charter: Truth & Consequence
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4935 A Lesson in History: the ‘Grand Old Party’ Abolition Roots
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2480 A Lesson in History: Community Ethos of WW II
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2297 A Lesson in History: Booker T versus Du Bois
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1531 A Lesson in History: 100 Years Ago Today – World War I
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=789 A Lesson in History: America’s War on the Caribbean

The concepts in this commentary are more profound than just the lyrics of a reggae song. It is bigger than music, it relates to life and legacy. The recent legacy of the Afro-Caribbean community is one of dysfunction and abandonment. But the ancient history – Buffalo Soldiers in particular – should give us pause and cause to reflect and reform our commitment to a National Sacrifice ethos.

No appreciation, no sacrifice; no sacrifice, no victory!

The Go Lean roadmap seeks to reform and transform the Caribbean societal engines, urging the adoption of new positive community ethos, such as National Sacrifice. This is an expression of deferred gratification, choosing to focus more on the future than on the present. The Go Lean book relates that the “African Diaspora experience in the New World is one of future gratification, as the generations that sought freedom from slavery knew that their children, not them, would be the beneficiaries of that liberty. This ethos continued with subsequent generations expecting that their “children” would be more successful in the future than the parents may have been”. Deferred gratification is a form of sacrifice.

We should value this sacrifice. Such gratitude makes our community better, more resilient and more long suffering.

Now is the time for all stakeholders in the Caribbean to show proper appreciation for the sacrifices by leaning-in to this roadmap for Caribbean empowerment. All the empowerments in this roadmap require people to fight for their homeland. We can learn so much from the Buffalo Soldiers:

Fighting on arrival, fighting for survival;
Driven from the mainland to the heart of the Caribbean.

If you know your history,
Then you would know where you coming from,
Then you wouldn’t have to ask me,
Who the ‘eck do I think I am.

The Go Lean quest is simple, learn from history and work to make the Caribbean region a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

———–

Appendix A – Song Buffalo Soldier Lyrics – Sang by Bob Marley

Buffalo Soldier, Dreadlock Rasta:
There was a Buffalo Soldier in the heart of America,
Stolen from Africa, brought to America,
Fighting on arrival, fighting for survival.

I mean it, when I analyze the stench –
To me it makes a lot of sense:
How the Dreadlock Rasta was the Buffalo Soldier,
And he was taken from Africa, brought to America,
Fighting on arrival, fighting for survival.

Said he was a Buffalo Soldier, Dreadlock Rasta –
Buffalo Soldier in the heart of America.

If you know your history,
Then you would know where you coming from,
Then you wouldn’t have to ask me,
Who the ‘eck do I think I am.

I’m just a Buffalo Soldier in the heart of America,
Stolen from Africa, brought to America,
Said he was fighting on arrival, fighting for survival;
Said he was a Buffalo Soldier win the war for America.

Dreadie, woy yoy yoy, woy yoy-yoy yoy,
Woy yoy yoy yoy, yoy yoy-yoy yoy!
Woy yoy yoy, woy yoy-yoy yoy,
Woy yoy yoy yoy, yoy yoy-yoy yoy!
Buffalo Soldier troddin’ through the land, wo-ho-ooh!
Said he wanna ran, then you wanna hand,
Troddin’ through the land, yea-hea, yea-ea.

Said he was a Buffalo Soldier win the war for America;
Buffalo Soldier, Dreadlock Rasta,
Fighting on arrival, fighting for survival;
Driven from the mainland to the heart of the Caribbean.

Singing, woy yoy yoy, woy yoy-yoy yoy,
Woy yoy yoy yoy, yoy yoy-yoy yoy!
Woy yoy yoy, woy yoy-yoy yoy,
Woy yoy yoy yoy, yoy yoy-yoy yoy!

Troddin’ through San Juan in the arms of America;
Troddin’ through Jamaica, a Buffalo Soldier# –
Fighting on arrival, fighting for survival:
Buffalo Soldier, Dreadlock Rasta.

Woy yoy yoy, woy yoy-yoy yoy,
Woy yoy yoy yoy, yoy yoy-yoy yoy!
Woy yoy yoy, woy yoy-yoy yoy,
Woy yoy yoy yoy, yoy yoy-yoy yoy! [fadeout]
———–

Appendix B – VIDEO – Buffalo Soldiers Trailer 1997 – https://youtu.be/Om_BrJhu4gQ

Published on Mar 9, 2015 – Buffalo Soldiers Trailer 1997; Director: Charles Haid; Starring: Danny Glover, Bob Gunton, Carl Lumbly, Tom Bower, Gabriel Casseus.
Official Content From Warner Home Video

Share this post:
, ,
[Top]