Music – Page 3 – Go Lean…Caribbean

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Caribbean Roots: Sammy Davis, Jr.

Posted on December 8, 2016 in Ethos, Industries, Social

Go Lean Commentary

The movement behind the book Go Lean … Caribbean recognizes the significance of this day, December 8th as the 91st birthday of the late great American entertainer Sammy Davis, Jr..

The Go Lean book identifies that music and the arts can greatly impact society; in addition to the entertainment value, there is also image, impression and advocacy – music can move people to change. People can override many false precepts with excellent deliveries and contributions of great role models, despite any handicaps.

“Talk about handicap. I’m a one-eyed Negro Jew.” – Sammy Davis Jr. Quote

Here’s a little known Black History fact:

The mother of Sammy Davis Jr., Elvera Sanchez, was an Afro-Cuban tap dancer.^[A]

So this great American entertainer actually had Caribbean roots. Wow! See the encyclopedic details here:

Title: Elvera Sanchez
Elvera Sanchez (September 1, 1905 – September 2, 2000) was an American dancer and the mother of Sammy Davis Jr..

During his lifetime, Davis Jr. stated that his mother was Puerto Rican and born in San Juan; however, in the 2003 biography In Black and White, author Wil Haygood wrote that Davis’ mother was born in New York City, of Afro-Cuban descent, and that Davis claimed she was Puerto Rican because he feared anti-Cuban backlash would hurt his record sales.
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Title: Sammy Davis Jr.
Samuel George “Sammy” Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American entertainer. Primarily a dancer and singer, he was also an actor of stage and screen, comedian, musician, and impressionist, noted for his impersonations of actors, musicians and other celebrities. At the age of 3, Davis began his career in vaudeville with his father and Will Mastin as the Will Mastin Trio, which toured nationally. After military service, Davis returned to the trio. Davis became an overnight sensation following a nightclub performance at Ciro’s (in West Hollywood) after the 1951 Academy Awards. With the trio, he became a recording artist. In 1954, he lost his left eye in a car accident, and several years later, he converted to Judaism.

Davis’s film career began as a child in 1933. In 1960, he appeared in the Rat Pack film Ocean’s 11. After a starring role on Broadway in 1956’s Mr Wonderful, he returned to the stage in 1964’s Golden Boy. In 1966 he had his own TV variety show, titled The Sammy Davis Jr. Show. Davis’s career slowed in the late 1960s, but he had a hit record with “The Candy Man” in 1972 and became a star in Las Vegas, earning him the nickname “Mister Show Business”.

Davis was a victim of racism throughout his life, particularly during the pre-Civil Rights era, and was a large financial supporter of the Civil Rights movement. Davis had a complex relationship with the black community, and drew criticism after physically embracing President Richard Nixon in 1972. One day on a golf course with Jack Benny, he was asked what his handicap was. “Handicap?” he asked. “Talk about handicap. I’m a one-eyed Negro Jew.” This was to become a signature comment, recounted in his autobiography, and in countless articles.

After reuniting with Sinatra and Dean Martin in 1987, Davis toured with them and Liza Minnelli internationally, before he died of throat cancer in 1990. He died in debt to the Internal Revenue Service,[9] and his estate was the subject of legal battles.

Davis was awarded the Spingarn Medal by the NAACP and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy Award for his television performances. He was the recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors in 1987, and in 2001, he was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Source: Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia – Retrieved December 6, 2016 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sammy_Davis_Jr.

Though he died over 26 years ago, we still feel his impact. Sammy Davis Jr. was one of the most iconic characters in the American 20th Century. But his shadow spread across the entire African-descended world, not just America. He fomented and fostered a great image for African-descended entertainers. For this reason, the annual Soul Train Award for Best Entertainer of the Year has been renamed the Sammy Davis Jr. Award. (Soul Train refers to the weekly 1-hour TV program showcasing African-American Musicians and Dancers).

Since its inception in 1915, the American Civil Rights agency, the National Association for the Advancement for Colored People (NAACP), campaigned to elevate the status and image of Black people in America and beyond. This “image” precept is also an important factor in the roadmap to elevate Caribbean society. So the Go Lean book details a plan to monitor for defamations against the Caribbean image; this includes recognition and appreciation for Caribbean achievement as well. As follows, this excerpt (Page 133) from Go Lean book highlights this “Image Quest”:

The majority of the Caribbean population descends from an African ancestry – a legacy of slavery from previous centuries. Despite the differences in nationality, culture and language, the image of the African Diaspora is all linked hand-in-hand. And thus, when Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela, Muhammad Ali and Bob Marley impacted the world with their contributions, the reverberations were felt globally, not just in their homelands. It is hard for one segment of the black world to advance when other segments have a negative global image. This is exemplified with the election of Barack Obama as US President; his election was viewed as an ascent for the entire Black race.

Over 100 years ago, the NAACP came to understand the power and influence of the then new medium of film and added the mandate to their charter to confront the misuse of media to influence negative public attitudes toward race. … Today, the NAACP Hollywood Bureau continues to monitor the industry for offensive and defamatory images in film and television. It also sponsors the Image Awards Show to honor outstanding people of color in film, television, music, and literature, as well as those individuals or groups who promote social justice through their creative endeavors.

Sammy Davis, Jr. was awarded the NAACP Image Award in 1989.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This CU strives to advance Caribbean image and culture with these 3 prime directives:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance.

This roadmap recognizes that a prerequisite for advancing society is a change in the Caribbean community ethos. Early in the book, the contributions that culture (music, film, theater, dance and artistic expressions) can make is pronounced as an ethos for the entire region to embrace, (opening Declaration of Interdependence – DOI – Pages 15) with these statements:

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

Sammy Davis Jr. – an American of Caribbean descent – was the embodiment of all of these above values. He impacted the music, culture and image of African American in his country, and thusly impacted the Black image for the rest of the world. Like Caribbean musical icon, Bob Marley, Sammy Davis Jr. set a pathway for success for other generations of talented, inspirational and influential artists to follow. Other artists of Caribbean heritage are sure to emerge and “impact the world”. We are preparing for it, as specified in the same DOI – Page 13:

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.

The CU represents the change that has come to the Caribbean. The people, institutions and governance of region are all urged to “lean-in” to this roadmap for change. We know it is important to highlight the positive contributions of Caribbean people, even their descendants and legacies.

We salute those ones from our past, people like Elvera Sanchez who left Cuba as a youth for opportunities in the world of entertainment. We know there are “new” Elvera Sanchez-types and “new” Sammy Davis-types throughout Caribbean member-states, waiting to be fostered. We salute them as our future.

The following list details the community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to foster future entertainers in the Caribbean:

Community Ethos – Ways to Foster Genius	Page 27
Community Ethos – Promote Intellectual Property	Page 29
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness	Page 36
Community Ethos – Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Caribbean Vision	Page 45
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Patents & Copyrights	Page 78
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Culture Administration	Page 81
Implementation – Ways to Impact Social Media	Page 111
Advocacy – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better	Page 131
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage Image	Page 133
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Hollywood	Page 203
Advocacy – Ways to Improve the Arts	Page 230
Advocacy – Ways to Promote Music	Page 231

Sammy Davis, Jr. also impacted the world of politics and civil rights. See here:

Davis was a registered Democrat – [as most African Americans] – and supported John F. Kennedy’s 1960 election campaign as well as Robert F. Kennedy’s 1968 campaign.^[43]

However, he became a close friend to President Richard Nixon and publicly endorsed him at the 1972 Republican National Convention.^[43]Davis also made a USO tour to South Vietnam – during the Vietnam War – at Nixon’s request. Previously, Davis had won Nixon’s respect with his participation in the Civil Rights Movement. Nixon invited Davis and his wife, Altovise, to sleep in the White House in 1973, the first time African Americans were invited to do so. The Davises spent the night in the Queens’ Bedroom.^[44]

Davis was a long-time donor to the Reverend Jesse Jackson‘s Operation PUSH organization. Jackson also performed Davis’s wedding.^[45]

Sammy Davis Jr. came, saw and conquered! He fit the definition of a role model, where he overcame obstacles and made an impact to benefit more than just himself.

“I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has had to overcome while trying to succeed.”^[B] – Booker T Washington.

Previously, this blog-commentary identified other role models in these submissions:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8724	Remembering Marcus Garvey: A Role Model; Still Relevant Today
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8495	NBA Greatness and Caribbean Roots: Tim Duncan Retires
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8328	YouTube Role Model with Caribbean Roots: ‘Tipsy Bartender’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7682	Frederick Douglass: Role Model for a Single Cause
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6593	Dr. Mobley – Role Model as a Business School Dean
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2726	Caribbean Role Model – Oscar De La Renta – RIP
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2297	Role Models in Contrast: Booker T Washington versus W.E.B. Du Bois
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1037	Role Model and Humanities Advocate – Maya Angelou – R.I.P.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=866	Caribbean Musical Icon and Role Model: Bob Marley

The world is a better place because of Sammy Davis Jr. being born on this day in 1925. Thank you “Candy Man” for all the love you showed for your craft, your country and your people. See the VIDEO here of his 1987 Kennedy Center Induction:

VIDEO – Sammy Davis, JR. “Honoree” – 10th Kennedy Center Honors, 1987 – https://youtu.be/ii3XpjCOlXo

Published on Jan 20, 2015 – LUCILLE BALL introduces honoree SAMMY DAVIS, JR. Excellent performances for Sammy by RAY CHARLES “Birth Of The Blues” & tap dancers, in order of appearance onto stage: 1 & 2) The NICOLAS BROTHERS (HAROLD & FAYARD), 3) CHUCK GREEN, 4) JIMMY SLYDE, and 5) ‘SANDMAN’ SIMS.

We carry on without Sammy Davis Jr., but we are better off for his role model and forever impacted by his legacy. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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Appendix Reference A

“Elvera Sanchez Davis, obituary, September 8, 2000”. The New York Times. September 8, 2000. Retrieved September 18, 2009.

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Appendix Reference B

Harlan, Louis R (1972), Booker T. Washington: volume 1: The Making of a Black Leader, 1856–1901. The major scholarly biography.

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Arts, Civil Rights, Diaspora, Model, Music, Obituary

Forging Change: Panem et Circenses

Posted on November 15, 2016 in Government, Social, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

The dead language of Latin is alive-and-well for conveying some of the most intense perplexities.

Consider:

Habeas Corpus* = “There is a body…”
Carpe Diem = “Seize the Day”
Panem et Circenses = …

That last one is unfamiliar; the rough translation is “Bread and Circuses”. In all of these Latin expressions, there is more to the meaning than just the simple word-for-word translation. There is a deep thought-process underlying.

Bread and circuses or (more generally) food and entertainment, is regarded as typically satisfying the desires of the masses of people; hence used allusively of anything which pleases and pacifies the people, thus helping a government to further its political ends.

In other words, to some bad actors, they seek the opportunity to manipulate the public by first satisfying the shallow requirements of the populace – sustenance and amusement – while the actors pursue a more nefarious agenda; capitalizing on people’s selfishness that may ultimately provide for their own wider neglect.

That’s malevolence…

… there is also a benevolent strategy: First suffice the basic needs, a few social needs (amusement) and the approval of the people can be sought for heavy-lifting – to elevate all of society to a greater cause. (This alludes to Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in which society’s needs are classified as elevating levels starting with #1-Biological, #2-Social/Security, #3-Belonging/Love … #8-Transcendence; see Appendix B below).

This is a recommended strategy by the movement behind the book Go Lean … Caribbean to forge change in Caribbean society: to satisfy the people’s needs for sustenance and amusement then urge the masses to adopt a new vision and new values.

So sustenance first. How do we ensure that the people have their means of survival – bread, food or sustenance – so that we can engage them further for higher level needs? This is a mission described in the Go Lean book (Page 162); there is an advocacy for food, its sourcing, supply and consumption:

10 Ways to Better Manage Food Consumption

The mechanics for this Change-Agent are already in place, with the Caribbean tradition of Carnival. In a previous blog-commentary, it was related that festivals/events are important; they empower economics – see VIDEO here – and fortify cultural pride. See a full encyclopedic reference to Carnival in Appendix A below. All in all, they make the Caribbean a better place to live, work, and play. This is also a mission described in the Go Lean book (Page 191) in this advocacy for events:

10 Ways to Impact Events

VIDEO – The Business of Carnival – https://youtu.be/H90AfmQoRI4

Published on Mar 3, 2014 – Rio de Janeiro’s Samba Schools Parade is billed as the greatest show on earth, but Carnival is also a multimillion dollar business that generates thousands of jobs and injects big money into the local economy. CCTV’s Lucrecia Franco has more.

The Go Lean book and movement serves as a roadmap for the introduction of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The CU is set to optimize Caribbean society through economic empowerment, yes, but there are security and governing dynamics as well. 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 ensure public safety and protect the economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.

The Go Lean book presents a plan to reboot economic engines (jobs, educational and entrepreneurial opportunities), optimize the security apparatus (anti-crime and public safety) and accountable governance – through regional alliances – for all citizens (including many minority factions). The majority of the population must acquiesce and accept the new values in order to allow the societal empowerments – the new vision – to take hold.

All work and no play, makes Jack a dull boy. All play and no work makes Jack a dumb boy – Old Adage

Caribbean society have traditionally featured a preoccupation with fun and amusement: “Fun in the Sun”; have a great time; party!

No Problem, Mon
Don’t Worry, Be Happy – (Song has an island beat and rhythm).
Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot
Come to Jamaica and feel alright

The Go Lean roadmap seeks to forge change, to elevate the Caribbean’s societal engines, with a proper balance of work and play. We want to provide great options for meaningful and prosperous work (jobs); plus we want to have fun. The Go Lean quest is to make the region a better place to live, work and play. How do we forge this change?

The challenges and strategies for forging change have been identified in a series of previous Go Lean blog-commentaries over the past 2 years, this is the seventh submission. These were presented as follows, in reverse chronological order:

Forging Change – Panem et Circenses (Today)
Forging Change – Herd Mentality (October 11, 2016)
Forging Change – ‘Something To Lose’ (November 18, 2015)
Forging Change – ‘Food’ for Thought (April 29, 2015)
Forging Change – Music Moves People (December 30, 2014)
Forging Change – The Sales Process (December 22, 2014)
Forging Change – The Fun Theory (September 9, 2014)

This commentary is urging Caribbean stakeholders to work to please and pacify their people, then work – behind the scenes – to further the societal elevation goals. This strategy to forge change is not presented to be nefarious or malevolent, but rather to pursue the Greater Good. This is defined in the Go Lean book (Page 37) by Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832, a British philosopher, jurist, and social reformer) as …

… “the greatest good to the greatest number of people which is the measure of right and wrong”.

Why “behind the scenes”?

There must be the hard and heavy-lifting process of identifying and fostering those in the community with “genius” capability. A genius is different from everyone else, although they maybe fairly easy to spot, defining exactly what makes one person a genius is a little trickier.

Everyone who loves sausage, should not look at it being made; the process is ugly; but the end result is delicious. – Old Adage.

The Go Lean/CU roadmap asserts that forging change in the Caribbean will be a hard, heavy-lift of a process; many alternate strategies – the 7 from above – may have to be engaged. Any one person can make a difference and positively impact society; such a person can be a champion for any Caribbean cause, though the cause may be different from one champion to another. There are many different strengths among different people, many which may even be considered genius capability. While not everyone can be a genius in terms of mathematics or the sciences, many more do possess genius qualifiers in different endeavors. According to the Go Lean book (Page 27), some researchers & theorists argue that the concept of genius may be too limiting and doesn’t really give a full view of intelligence; they assert that intelligence is a combination of many factors; thereby concluding that genius can be found in many different abilities and endeavors.

This is the community ethos – fundamental character/spirit of a culture; the underlying sentiment that informs the beliefs, customs, or practices of society – of fostering genius. The Go Lean book explains (Page 20) that this and other community ethos are not easy to imbrue on a society. It likens the process to an individual attempting to quit smoking. Not only are there physiological challenges, but psychological ones as well, to the extent that it can be stated with no uncertainty that “change begins in the head”. In psycho-therapy the approach to forge change for an individual is defined as “starting in the head (thoughts, visions), penetrating the heart (feelings, motivations) and then finally manifesting in the hands (actions). This same body analogy is what is purported in this Go Lean book for how the Caribbean is to forge change – following this systematic flow:

Head – Plans, models and constitutions
Heart – Community Ethos
Hands – Actions, Reboots, and Turn-arounds

The Go Lean/CU roadmap involves doing this heavy-lifting “behind the scenes” with identifying and fostering genius, while the masses enjoy Panem et Circenses.

Employing – all of these 7 – strategies to forge change in the Caribbean will be worth it in the end. This is not nefarious nor malevolent. This only makes our homeland a better place to live, work and play.

The Go Lean book presented the roadmap to imbrue the Caribbean region with new community ethos, plus new strategies, tactics, implementation and advocacies to execute to forge change in the region. The following is a sample of these specific details from the book:

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 – 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 – Minority Equalization	Page 23
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 Help Entrepreneurship	Page 28
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Intellectual Property	Page 29
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Research & Development – Social Experiments	Page 30
Community Ethos – Ways to Bridge the Digital Divide	Page 31
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Turn-Arounds	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 – Celebrate the Music, Sports, Art and Culture of the Caribbean	Page 46
Tactical – Confederating a Permanent Union	Page 63
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Separation-of-Powers – CU Federal Agencies versus Member-State Governments	Page 71
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change	Page 101
Implementation – Ways to Deliver	Page 109
Planning – 10 Big Ideas for the Caribbean Region	Page 127
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better	Page 131
Planning – Reasons Why the CU Will Succeed	Page 132
Planning – Lessons from Omaha – College World Series Model	Page 138
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 Communications – Community Messaging	Page 186
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Libraries	Page 187
Advocacy – Ways to Enhance Tourism	Page 190
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Events	Page 191
Advocacy – Ways to Promote Fairgrounds	Page 192
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage	Page 218
Advocacy – Ways to Improve the Arts	Page 230
Advocacy – Ways to Promote Music	Page 231

The empowerments in the Go Lean book calls for permanent change. This is possible. The people of the Caribbean only want opportunities; they want to be able to provide for their families, and offer a future of modernity to their children. Plus they want amusement, entertainment, happiness and fun. They want Panem et Circenses. This is a feature of Caribbean culture.

The Go Lean roadmap offers the technocratic execution of these deliverables. Imagine all the great cuisine and food options in the region. Imagine the rum options. Plus, imagine identifying and fostering the genius abilities of entertainers (singers, dancers, artists, musicians, performers, etc.). The end-product of their genius is good times, an elevation of Caribbean culture … to be consumed by all of the Caribbean stakeholders – residents and tourists alike. This is not a distraction; this is a business model. From the outset, the book recognized the significance of fun and festivities in this roadmap with these statements in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Page 12 & 14):

Preamble: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness …

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.

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

Success from the Go Lean roadmap on the Caribbean will not make it unique in the business model of fun and festivities. There are many other communities that have flourished in this strategy; think Carnival/Mardi Gras in Rio De Janeiro, New Orleans even the Caribbean member-state of Trinidad. By extension, the Caribbean Carnival tradition have been exported to Diaspora cities: the largest examples being Caribana in Toronto and Notting Hill in London. The Go Lean roadmap wants to extend these initiatives and harvest even more economic benefits from events; we welcome the new Carnival tradition in the Bahamas – see photo here – and long for a resurgence of the Cuban tradition; see Appendix A below.

These Carnival-“Circenses” events are not presented as distractions, rather they are among the business model for a new Caribbean. The Go Lean book details that 9,000 jobs can be created from this strategy. There is even a role model for the Caribbean to emulate, that of the City of Sturgis in the US State of South Dakota. See Bottom Line details in the Appendix C below.

The movement behind the Go Lean book asks and answers the question: How to forge change in the Caribbean? There are many options; one is Panem et Circenses. The whole Caribbean region is urged to lean-in to this roadmap. Success in this regard is conceivable, believable and achievable. We can make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play through “food and amusement”. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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* Citation Reference – What is Habeas Corpus

https://ccrjustice.org/home/get-involved/tools-resources/fact-sheets-and-faqs/faqs-what-habeas-corpus

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Appendix A – Carnival

Carnival is a Western Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent.^[1] The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typically involves a public celebration and/or parade combining some elements of a circus, masks, and a public street party. People wear masks and costumes during many such celebrations, allowing them to lose their everyday individuality and experience a heightened sense of social unity.^[2] Excessive consumption of alcohol,^[3] meat, and other foods proscribed during Lent is extremely common. Other common features of carnival include mock battles such as food fights; social satire and mockery of authorities; the grotesque body displaying exaggerated features especially large noses, bellies, mouths, and phalli or elements of animal bodies; abusive language and degrading acts; depictions of disease and gleeful death; and a general reversal of everyday rules and norms.^[4][5]

The term Carnival is traditionally used in areas with a large Catholic presence. …

Rio de Janeiro‘s carnival is considered the world’s largest, hosting approximately two million participants per day. In 2004, Rio’s carnival attracted a record 400,000 foreign visitors.^[10]

Caribbean
Most Caribbean islands celebrate Carnival. The largest and most well-known is in Trinidad and Tobago. The Dominican republic, Guyana, Antigua, Aruba, Bonaire, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Curaçao, Barbados, Dominica, Haiti, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, Saba, Sint Eustatius (Statia), Sint Maarten, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts, Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Saint Vincent, and the Grenadines hold lengthy carnival seasons and large celebrations.

Carnival is an important cultural event in the Dutch Antilles. Festivities include “jump-up” parades with beautifully colored costumes, floats, and live bands as well as beauty contests and other competitions. Celebrations include a middle-of-the-night j’ouvert (juvé) parade that ends at sunrise with the burning of a straw King Momo, cleansing sins and bad luck. On Statia, he is called Prince Stupid.

Carnival has been celebrated in Cuba since the 18th century. Participants don costumes from the island’s cultural and ethnic variety. After Fidel Castro’s Communist Revolution, Carnival’s religious overtones were suppressed. The events remained, albeit frowned upon by the state. Carnival celebrations have been in decline throughout Cuba since then.
Source: Retrieved 11-15-16 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival#Caribbean

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Appendix B – Quotation: Bottom Line on the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Models of human behavior have been undisputedly cataloged by Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. The hierarchy, shown as a pyramid, is a visual representation of the order in which humans are innately drawn towards fulfilling personal needs. At the bottom, or base level, are basic, survival elements (food, water, shelter and security/safety). As these are obtained, there are natural urges for emotional stability (belongingness, self-esteem, social acceptance) and, according to Maslow’s 1943 version, the top level of the pyramid was defined as complex understanding (beauty, justice, realizing one’s full potential). Maslow later revised his original work (1967) and subsequently added “transcendence” to the pyramid’s peak, which is to help others to achieve self-actualization. – Book: Go Lean … Caribbean, Page 231.

The full list is as follows:

Level 1 – Biological and Physiological needs
Level 2 – Security/Safety needs
Level 3 – Belongingness and Love needs
Level 4 – Esteem needs
Level 5 – Cognitive needs
Level 6 – Aesthetic needs
Level 7 – Self-Actualization needs
Level 8 – Transcendence needs

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Appendix C – Quotation: Bottom Line on the Sturgis, South Dakota
Sturgis is a city in Meade County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 6,627 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Meade County and is named after General Samuel D. Sturgis. Sturgis is famous for being the location of one of the largest annual motorcycle events in the world, which [started in 1938 and] is held annually on the first full week of August. Motorcycle enthusiasts from around the world flock to this usually sleepy town during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. The focus of a motorcycle rally was originally racing and stunts. Then in 1961, the rally was expanded to include the “Hill Climb” and Motocross races.^[145]

The attendance was tallied in excess of 600,000 visitors in the year 2000. The City of Sturgis has calculated that the Rally brings over $800 million to South Dakota annually. (The City of Sturgis earned almost $270,000 in 2011 from just selling event guides and sponsorships). Rally-goers are a mix of white-collar and blue-collar workers and are generally welcomed as an important source of income for Sturgis and surrounding areas. The rally turns local roads into “parking lots”, and draws local law enforcement away from routine patrols. [The City frequently contracts with law enforcement officers from near-and-far for supplemental support-enforcements during the rally]. (See Appendix J of Sturgis City Rally Department’s Statistics [in the Go Lean book on Page 288]).

[Sturgis generates a lot of media attention]. Annual television coverage of the festival by the [cable TV network] VH1 Classic includes interviews and performances as well as rock music videos. Also, the Travel Channel repeatedly shows two one-hour documentaries about Sturgis.

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This Day In History: Jamaican Innovation for Hip Hop

Posted on August 11, 2016 in Ethos, Implementation, Social

#GoLeanCommentary

This day – August 11 – in 1973 …

… a member of the Caribbean Diaspora – Jamaica – may have changed the world … for Hip Hop. On this day in 1973, Clive Campbell – better known to history as DJ Kool Herc – helped out his sister by “DJ-ing” her birthday party in a recreation room in The Bronx. History shows that he used his inspiration and influence from his Caribbean musical roots to innovate a music style and performance that would subsequently change the world … for good …

… or bad.

It’s music; you be the judge.

Musical taste is like “beauty” … in the “eye of the beholder”. The main thing is that the music made you listen and maybe learned something about the urban experience of America … and now the world.

See the story of Clive Campbell aka DJ Kool Herc here:

Title: This Day In History: 1973 – Hip Hop is born at a birthday party in the Bronx

Like any style of music, hip hop has roots in other forms, and its evolution was shaped by many different artists, but there’s a case to be made that it came to life precisely on this day in 1973, at a birthday party in the recreation room of an apartment building in the west Bronx, New York City. The location of that birthplace was 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, and the man who presided over that historic party was the birthday girl’s brother, Clive Campbell—better known to history as DJ Kool Herc, founding father of hip hop.

Born and raised to the age of 10 in Kingston, Jamaica, DJ Kool Herc began spinning records at parties and between sets his father’s band played while he was a teenager in the Bronx in the early 1970s. Herc often emulated the style of Jamaican “selectors” (DJs) by “toasting” (i.e., talking) over the records he spun, but his historical significance has nothing to do with rapping. Kool Herc’s contribution to hip hop was even more fundamental.

DJ Kool Herc’s signature innovation came from observing how the crowds would react to different parts of whatever record he happened to be playing: “I was noticing people used to wait for particular parts of the record to dance, maybe [to] do their specialty move.” Those moments tended to occur at the drum breaks—the moments in a record when the vocals and other instruments would drop out completely for a measure or two of pure rhythm. What Kool Herc decided to do was to use the two turntables in a typical DJ setup not as a way to make a smooth transition between two records, but as a way to switch back and forth repeatedly between two copies of the same record, extending the short drum break that the crowd most wanted to hear. He called his trick the Merry Go-Round. Today, it is known as the “break beat.” [(See Appendix VIDEO below).]

By the summer of 1973, DJ Kool Herc had been using and refining his break-beat style for the better part of a year. His sister’s party on August 11, however, put him before his biggest crowd ever and with the most powerful sound system he’d ever worked. It was the success of that party that would begin a grassroots musical revolution, fully six years before the term “hip hop” even entered the popular vocabulary.
Source: History Channel – This Day In History – Posted & Retrieved August 11, 2016 from: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/hip-hop-is-born-at-a-birthday-party-in-the-bronx

Can we – in the Caribbean and from the Caribbean – change the world again?

Yes, we can!

This consideration is in line with the book Go Lean … Caribbean. It serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This CU strives to advance Caribbean culture with these 3 prime directives:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance.

This will not be the first time a Caribbean personality has changed the world through music (and hopefully not the last). Previously, this blog-commentary detailed the influence of music icon Bob Marley. Today, his name is synonymous with Reggae and socially-conscious music. RIP Bob Marley (1945 – 1981).

The Go Lean book identifies, in total, 169 different musical/national combinations of genres throughout the Caribbean. From these styles, Hip Hop has had its origins and roots. And then the transformation continued, with more inspiration back to the Caribbean sounds and more social messaging (classic of Reggae) going back to the Hip Hop sound.

Music does not stand still; it evolves. An excellent example of this cross-meshing is the musical genre of Reggaeton:

Reggaetón is a genre of music characterized by its repetitive beat rhythm that originated in Puerto Rico. Its roots can be traced back to the “underground” music of the island during the late 90’s, when music borrowing elements of reggae, rap, and hip-hop was being performed (in Spanish) in small, unofficial venues. Bootleg recordings and word of mouth were the means of distribution for this music until 1997. In 1998 eventually that music coalesced into what today is known as Reggaeton. The music’s popularity skyrocketed in the early 2000s as it spread to North American, European, Asian, and African audiences.^[1] Source: Retrieved 08/11/2016 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reggaeton.

See sample Reggaetón song here: https://youtu.be/uHgnebZ_jYo

The movement behind the Go Lean book asserts that “one person can make a difference”. So just like Bob Marley, Clive Campbell aka DJ Kool Herc, should be recognized for his contributions to music, culture and Caribbean identity. This one Caribbean character has made a difference while residing as an alien in a foreign land. He has forge an example and a sample of how other Caribbean stakeholders can do more in the arts and impact the world – we can build a city on “rock-and-roll”.

Too bad he made this impact after leaving his Caribbean home of Jamaica.

Alas, we now bring the quest for change to Jamaica and all of the rest of the Caribbean. And that quest includes music and the arts. Early in the Go Lean book, the contributions that music can make is pronounced as an community ethos for the entire region to embrace, (Declaration of Interdependence – Page 15) with these statements:

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

This Go Lean/CU roadmap recognizes that a prerequisite for advancing society is a change in the community ethos – the fundamental spirit of a culture that drives the beliefs, customs and practices – in that society. Music should be appreciated for the truth of its power; it “can soothe the savage beast”. It can communicate culture and impact the economics for a people. One person, or a group of people can do this, can make a difference.

The following list from the Go Lean book details the community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to foster the next generation of artist:

Community Ethos – Ways to Foster Genius	Page 27
Community Ethos – Promote Intellectual Property	Page 29
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness	Page 36
Community Ethos – Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Unified CaribbeanSingle Market	Page 45
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Patents & Copyrights	Page 78
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Culture Administration	Page 81
Implementation – Ways to Impact Social Media	Page 111
Advocacy – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better	Page 131
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Hollywood	Page 203
Advocacy – Ways to Promote Music	Page 231
Advocacy – Ways to Re-boot Jamaica	Page 239

Thank you Clive Campbell aka DJ Kool Herc; see Appendix VIDEO below.

Thank you for setting the pathway for success for new generations of talented, inspirational and influential artists – musical geniuses of Caribbean heritage – who are sure to follow. These artists, too will “rock the world”.

We are hereby “banking” on it here in the Caribbean, as communicated further in that Declaration of Interdependence – Page 13:

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.

The Go Lean book posits “a change is going to come” to the Caribbean. The people, institutions and governance of region are all urged to “lean-in” to this roadmap for change and empowerment. Let’s do this … and make our homeland – all of the Caribbean – a better place to live, work and play.

🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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

————

Appendix VIDEO – Kool DJ Herc, Merry Go Round – https://youtu.be/Hw4H2FZjfpo

Uploaded on Oct 26, 2009 – Kool DJ Herc describing how he invented the idea of playing two breakbeats together.

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Tired Waiting? Download the e-Book NOW!

Posted on July 27, 2016 in Implementation, Social

Go Lean Commentary

“Now I tired waiting”.

The book Go Lean … Caribbean is now available to download as an e-Book … for free.

Get the e-Book here NOW!

What is the big deal?

Well, this book purports to be the answer … for what ails the Caribbean.

The book asserts that the Caribbean is in crisis; that the region of 42 million people in the 30 member-states is dysfunctional … to the point of flirting with Failed-State status. It is that serious!

The book posits that one identifying symptom is the high societal abandonment rate. The countries of the Caribbean region are experiencing a brain drain where 70 percent – on the average – of the tertiary-educated have fled for foreign shores.

70% …
… this is no way to nation-build.

These alarming abandonment rates have been communicated to the governments and leaders of the region and yet still, the problem persists. They have not taken action to curb the problem.

Comes now the book Go Lean…Caribbean. This serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This 370-page publication presents the solutions for all the region, all the 4 language groups (Dutch, English, French and Spanish) by describing 144 different missions to elevate the economic, security and governing engines of the region. This is a serious answer to a serious crisis.

This book is published by a community development foundation made up of mostly Caribbean Diaspora. These ones have grown tired of waiting.

“Now I tired waiting”?
I’ve come to fix the …

This familiar refrain in the Caribbean has been repeated time and again, even sang in melody and rhyme. See/listen here, the classic Calypso song from the legendary Mighty Sparrow (and the lyrics in the Appendix below):

VIDEO – Mighty Sparrow – Mr. Walker – https://youtu.be/i5d9WzncTew

Published on Oct 22, 2012 – This song describes a frustrated man who was promised to marry a “not so beautiful” woman, but who was more prosperous economically than himself. This is presented here as a metaphor, of the frustration of waiting for change and finally taking positive action to effect the change oneself.
Album : Party Classics. 1986
All ownership belong to the copyright holder. There is no assumption of infringement here.

The Caribbean Diaspora – living abroad in the US, Canada and Western Europe – were always taught to believe that the Caribbean is the greatest address on the planet, and yet it was essential that they leave to forge an existence elsewhere. They have endured in these foreign lands, but they are still only alien residents. It is not home!

If only there were some solutions for their homeland?

Solutions for the Caribbean are the prime directives of the Go Lean/CU roadmap; just consider these:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.

The quest of the Go Lean/CU roadmap is direct: to make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play. The book presents how this quest is conceivable, believable and achievable. It posits that the foundation is now in place, and we only need some technocratic deliveries to move the Caribbean member-states from the current status quo to the new destination: a better homeland. This presents a solution where our youth will no longer have to leave, and our older generations can relish a return back home.

“Now I tired waiting”, I come to fix … “the situation”. We now present you the “fix”!

🙂

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

———–

Appendix – Lyrics: Mighty Sparrow – Mr. Walker

She ugly yes, but she wearing them expensive dress
The People say she ugly, but she father full a money
Oh Lord Mamma, woy woy

Good morning Mister Walker
I come to see your daughter
Oh, Mister Walker!
I come to see your daughter
Sweet Rosemarie, she promise she gone marry me
And now I tired waiting!
I come to fix the wedding

After the wedding day, I don’t care what nobody say
Everytime I take a good look at she face I see a bankbook
Oh Lord Mamma, woy woy

Good morning Mister Walker
I come to see your daughter
Hmm, Mister Walker!
I come to see your daughter
Sweet Rosemarie, she promise she gone marry me
And now I tired waiting!
I come to fix the wedding, woy

Apart from that, they say how she so big and fat
When she dress they tantalize she, saying monkey wearing mini
Oh Lord Mamma, woy woy

Good morning Mister Walker
I come to see your daughter
Oy, Mister Walker!
I come to see your daughter
Sweet Rosemarie, she promise she gone marry me
And now I tired waiting!
I come to fix the wedding, Hmm

All I know, is I don’t intend to let she go
Cause if she was a beauty, nothing like me could get she
Oh Lord Mamma, woy woy

Source: Retrieved July 27, 2016 from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/m/mighty_sparrow/mr_walker.html

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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/

An “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.

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.

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.

Sample Float from Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

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!

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 2^nd 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
- Antigua – Antigua Carnival, early August^[2]
- Barbuda – Caribana, early June^[3]
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
- Cuba – Carnival of Santiago de Cuba, July^[12]
- Cuba – Havana Carnival, July/August^[13]
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]

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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.

This 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:

9th Cavalry Regiment

10th Cavalry Regiment

24th Infantry Regiment

25th Infantry Regiment

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]

These 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

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Joy. Pain. Sunshine. Rain.

Posted on March 20, 2016 in Ethos, Social, Tactical

Go Lean Commentary

The movement behind the book Go Lean…Caribbean strives to make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play. Having success in this quest would mean more joy (happiness) for the stakeholders (residents and visitors alike) of the tropical sunshine. We also try to soften the pain of day-to-day life, for “in every life, a little rain must fall”.

“Joy, Pain, Sunshine and Rain” – Sounds familiar, right? It is the title and chorus of a popular Rhythm & Blues song by the Grammy Award winning band Frankie Beverly and Maze; see the VIDEO-AUDIO here:

VIDEO-AUDIO: Frankie Beverly And Maze – Joy And Pain – https://youtu.be/KNuKMPeOdfM

Uploaded on Oct 31, 2011 – {DISCLAIMER}
No Copyright Intended. This Song Belongs To It Respective Owners.
Please Support The Artist By Buying Their Songs/Album – “Joy and Pain” by Maze Listen ad-free with YouTube Red

Art imitates life and life imitates art …

Music is a viable approach for forging change in society. Consider these popular quotations:

“Music soothes the savage beast”.

“A great song can change the world”.

There are a lot of famous quotes alluding to the power of music, but here’s an old favorite:

“Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.” — Plato

Consider this list where music (songs & concerts) has changed the world in past campaigns:

1
Bob Dylan: Times They Are A-Changin’ – 1960’s Civil Rights Anthem

2
Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief – Telethon on Jan 22, 2010

3
“Sun City” – 1985 Anti-Apartheid Group Song and Album

4
Bob Marley and the Wailers: “Them Belly Full (But We Hungry)” – 1975 song

5
K’naan: “Wavin’ Flag” – 2010 Soccer World Cup anthem advocating rights for refugees

6
Live Aid – 1985 “simul”-concerts in London & Philadelphia for famine relief in Ethiopia

7
46664 Concerts – (Mandela’s Prison #) – 2003 advocacy against HIV/AIDS in South Africa

8
John Lennon: “Imagine” – 1971 iconic song for world peace

9
Tsunami Aid: Concert of Hope – 2004 Benefit for Indian Ocean Earthquake & Tsunami

10
The Concert for Bangladesh – 1971 Benefit for refugees from (then) East Pakistan

11
Live 8 – 2005 series of concerts in the G8 member-states for foreign aid to poorest countries

12
Patti Smith: “People Have the Power” – 1988 song condemning war and human rights abuses

13
Farm Aid – Annual concerts starting in 1985 advocating Family Farms

14
Marvin Gaye: “What’s Going On” – 1971 album against the Vietnam war, drugs and poverty

15
Concert in celebration of “It Takes Two” – 2014 effort tackling high teenage pregnancy in Uganda

16
Joni Mitchell: “Big Yellow Taxi” – 1970 hit song addresses environmental concerns

[17]
[“We Are the World” – 1985 super-group (most famous music artists) song by USA for Africa]

Source: https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/music-that-has-changed-the-world/ by Christina Nuñez on July 27, 2015. The [] represent this blog’s addition – Number 17 – to the list.

The Go Lean book identifies the art and science of the music business among the strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies of the roadmap to elevate the Caribbean’s societal engines. The book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), an initiative to elevate and empower the region, to make the homelands better and happier. From the outset, the book recognized the significance of music and happiness in this roadmap with these statements in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Page 12 & 14):

Preamble. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness …

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.

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

The purpose of the Go Lean roadmap is not music, but rather to make the Caribbean region a better homeland, a happier place to live, work and play. Music can be an effective tool for campaigns … to convey the important message of happiness, to pronounce that “Joy, Pain, Sunshine and Rain” is part-and-parcel of any happiness advocacy.

This Go Lean roadmap calls for heavy-lifting in shepherding important aspects of Caribbean life. In fact, the empowerment roadmap has 3 prime directives that are critical for forging a happy society; they are identified 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 book describes the CU as a hallmark of a technocracy, with a commitment to efficiency and effectiveness in these societal engines, while still not ignoring principles of fun such as music, arts, heritage and overall happiness. In fact, one of the 144 different missions of the Go Lean/CU roadmap is to promote happiness (10 Ways to Promote Happiness – Page 36).

Happiness is the focus of this commentary…

… thousands of people all around the world took action to support the International Day of Happiness on March 20, 2016. (This is celebrated in March every year). See a related alternate commentary of this year’s advocacy in the Appendix below.

What more can we do?

First, we encourage all to take this “Action for Happiness” pledge:

“I will try to create more happiness in the world around me”.

… this Go Lean/CU effort is “our” attempt to do more … for the Caribbean. The Go Lean/CU roadmap was constructed with the community ethos in mind to make the region more happy, plus the execution of related strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to forge permanent happiness. The following is a sample of these specific details of the roadmap from the book:

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 – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Foster Genius	Page 27
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Intellectual Property	Page 29
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Research & Development	Page 30
Community Ethos – Ways to Bridge the Digital Divide	Page 31
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact 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 – Celebrate the Music, Sports, Art, People and Culture of the Caribbean	Page 46
Tactical – Confederating a Permanent Union	Page 63
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change	Page 101
Implementation – Ways to Deliver	Page 109
Planning – 10 Big Ideas for the Caribbean Region – Cyber-Caribbean	Page 127
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better	Page 136
Planning – Reasons Why the CU Will Succeed	Page 137
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Communications	Page 186
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage	Page 218
Advocacy – Ways to Improve the Arts	Page 230
Advocacy – Ways to Promote Music	Page 231
Appendix – Case Study Managing Copyright Infringements	Page 351

The Go Lean/CU roadmap is optimistic, but it is realistic and pragmatic too. There is the acknowledgement that while music is powerful, the music business on the other hand, not so much. This industry has changed in the light of modern dynamics (technology and globalization), particularly due to Internet & Communications Technologies. The industry needs to adapt accordingly – we need a fully functional music industry. To spur more development in the industrial dimensions of the music business, this roadmap seeks to secure the economic, security and governing engines of the Caribbean region. This point was detailed in these previous Go Lean blog/commentaries:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6310	Farewell to ‘Sábado Gigante’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5648	Taylor Swift withholds Album from Apple Music
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5251	Post-Mortem of Inaugural Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3641	‘We Built This City …’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2415	How ‘The Lion King’ productions roared into history
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1909	Music Role Model Berry Gordy – Reflecting & Effecting Change

We need a fully functional music industry because we need music, and the effects of music: the power to reach, soothe and move people. This point was previously detailed in other Go Lean blog/commentaries; a sample follows:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7628	‘A Change Is Gonna Come’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3568	Forging Change: Music Moves People
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2291	Forging Change: The Fun Theory
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=866	Music Man Bob Marley: The legend lives on!

This quest to elevate the Caribbean region is heavy-lifting; more is involved than just saying “Don’t Worry Be Happy“. It is more complex than just playing or listening to music. Though this is serious, it should also be fun; it should be “Joy, Pain, Sunshine and Rain”.

Let’s create a happier world together; a happy world filled with laughter and music – “Joy, Pain, Sunshine and Rain”. And if not the world, then maybe just the Caribbean. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

————

Appendix – Title: The best habits to practice to feel happy every day
By: Dr. Christine Brown
Source: http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/mind/the-best-habits-to-practice-to-feel-happy-every-day/news-story/bd7d414a2b5da7f6f0bd138f0af2c7fc . Posted and retrieved March 20, 2016.

HAPPY International Day of Happiness!

I have a question for you: How often do you feel like a ‘room without a roof’? According to Pharrell Williams, this “space without limit” feeling is universally achievable. But for many of us, limitless happiness takes a little work. So, what are some of the best habits to practice for feeling happy every day?

MANAGE THE DOWN DAYS

You know the days. Those days when you’re telling yourself the ‘I’m not good enough’ story (which we all have, by the way). The days where things seem to go from bad to worse.

It’s very easy to get trapped at this point because many of us start feeling bad for feeling bad. There are enough external pressures to always be ‘up’ and cheerful, without applying internal pressure too. Acknowledge you’re feeling suboptimal, and do a quick stocktake.

If you can change things, take action. If not, do something that helps to calm you, comfort you or cheer you up (even a little bit).

Be gentle with yourself and don’t splatter your down day over your bystanders. Remember, no-one can ‘make’ you feel anything. You have all the controls. Which reminds me …

DON’T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU THINK

Much unhappiness is caused by paying way too much attention to our thoughts. Our minds are constantly telling us stories to explain the world around us. Many times these stories are accurate, but unfortunately, whenever we don’t have enough data, our mind just fills in the gaps.

Let’s face it, we really don’t know why they didn’t say hello to us this morning. We really don’t.

As soon as we hear our minds saying things like, “They ALWAYS let me down” or “She NEVER keeps her promises” we need to reach for the metaphorical handbrake.

Get in the habit of asking yourself if that’s strictly true. Remember it’s just a story you’re telling yourself. You can even give the story a name: “Oh, it’s the ‘I do everything around here’ story”. It is very unlikely that things NEVER or ALWAYS happen. There are always exceptions. Remembering to look for (and recognise) the exceptions means much happier states of mind.

KEEP WHAT ‘SPARKS JOY’

In her book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, Marie Kondo recommends a (once-off) festival of tidying where you gather categories of belongings into ginormous piles, pick items up one-by-one and ask a simple question: “Does it spark joy?”

If it does, you keep it. If it doesn’t, you can let it go.

Just imagine how it would be if every item around you had a happy association. Out would go that hideous fondue set from Aunt Bertha or those pyjamas from your ex. Because, according to Marie Kondo, a gift has done its job once it’s received. The freedom!

Oh, and on a side note, this totally applies to the humans in your life too.

EVERYONE’S DOING BETTER THAN ME

The International Day of Happiness website has a great downloadable resource containing 10 keys to happier living. Each key strategy has been inspired by the latest scientific happiness research and there are some excellent quotes.

The one that I recognised most from working with many different clients is “Don’t compare your insides with other people’s outsides”. This is easy to do.

I remember consulting at a very high-end corporate where everyone was incredibly polished and successful looking. One by one, they would come in and say, “Everyone else is doing okay, but I’m falling apart”.

The thing is, you can’t know what is going on inside someone else, especially if you only have their outside as your guide. Chances are, if you’re finding something difficult or challenging, other people are too. I’m talking work, parenting, studying, teaching, being single, being in a relationship …

WHAT WENT WELL?

One of the pioneers of positive psychology, Martin Seligman, outlines some quick and easy strategies that raise your wellbeing and lower your depression in his book, Flourish.

A simple exercise to do in the 10 minutes before you go to sleep every night is the ‘what-went-well’ exercise. Every night, you write down three things that went well and why they went well (e.g. I finished most of my important tasks today because I took time to plan in the morning or I didn’t yell at my partner this morning because I got up a little earlier and made sure I ate breakfast). This will greatly improve your mood over time.

ROOFLESS ROOMS

According to Sonja Lyubomirsky in The How of Happiness, up to 40 per cent of our happiness is within our power to change.

Being grateful, taking responsibility, blaming less, learning to forgive and yes, even practising random acts of kindness, all predictably increase our happiness.

Have a happy day and go well everyone!

———-

Dr. Christine Brown is an Inventiologist, Psychologist and Executive Coach.

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‘A Change Is Gonna Come’

Posted on February 29, 2016 in Ethos, Industries, Social

Go Lean Commentary

There is a lot we can learn from the Chinese …

… there is a Chinese proverb: “Make happy those who are near, and those who are far will come”.

This ancient expression is like saying “Love yourself first and others will love you”. Looking at it from a different point of view: “if you treat your friends like crap, you will stand alone without a friend, but if you treat your friends with kindness, you will make more friends”.

The Caribbean needs more friends … and to treat its stakeholders (residents, Diaspora, visitors, trading partners, etc.) better.

Can we get the Caribbean region to effect this change?

One way or another: “A Change Is Gonna Come”!

Either we change proactively, or reactively. The only constant is change itself.

This was the theme of a powerful song by legendary R&B singer Sam Cooke in 1964. See the song-VIDEO here:

AUDIO-VIDEO – Sam Cooke – A Change Is Gonna Come (Official Lyric Video) – https://youtu.be/wEBlaMOmKV4

Published on Jan 22, 2016 – Lyric Video for “A Change Is Gonna Come” performed by Sam Cooke.
Directed & Produced by: Robin Klein, Mick Gochanour, Hector Sanitizo
Video Editor: Andre Murrugarra (C) 2016 ABKCO Music & Records, Inc.
Download or stream the single below:
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/por…
Google: https://play.google.com/store/music/a…
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Portrait-Legend…
Stream On Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/1WMUes…

Lyrics:
I was born by the river in a little tent
Oh, and just like the river I’ve been a-runnin’ ever since.
It’s been a long, a long time comin’,
but I know, oh-oo-oh,
a change gon’ come, oh yes, it will.

It’s been too hard living but I’m afraid to die
‘Cause I don’t know what’s up there beyond the sky
It’s been a long, a long time comin’,
But I know, oh-oo-oh,
A change gonna come, oh yes, it will.

I go to the movie and I go downtown
Somebody keep tellin’ me don’t hang around.
It’s been a long, a long time coming, but I know, oh-oo-oh,
A change gon’ come, oh yes, it will.

Then I go, oh-oo-oh, to my brother and I say, brother, help me please.
But he winds up knocking me back down on my knees, oh.

There’ve been times that I thought I couldn’t last for long
But now I think I’m able to carry on
It’s been a long, a long time comin’,
But I know, oh-oo-oh, a change gonna come, oh yes, it will.

Music video by Sam Cooke performing A Change Is Gonna Come. (C) 2016 ABKCO Music & Records, Inc.
http://vevo.ly/nTXKoJ
Category: Music
License: Standard YouTube License

There is a lot more “story” to this story about this song. See here:

AUDIO – NPR’s Fresh Air: Sam Cooke And The Song That ‘Almost Scared Him’ – http://www.npr.org/2014/02/01/268995033/sam-cooke-and-the-song-that-almost-scared-him

Published February 1, 2014 – The story of “A Change Is Gonna Come’ is as amazing, and unsettling, as the song itself.

The foregoing song is gravely serious – no one dances to it – but it does convey the emotion that change is hard sprung, yet necessary. From an American perspective, perhaps that change did come … in 2008 with the “ribbon on the package” of the Civil Rights movement being the election of Barack Obama as the first Black Man as President of the United States. This was a big, shocking and pivotal moment.

The Caribbean needs big, shocking and pivotal moments of its own. We need change and a turn-around; we need to do better in making our people happy so that those far off will come … to us as well. Those far off will include tourists and our Diaspora: reaching more sources of tourist visitors, and facilitating the return of so many Caribbean exiles.

These missions (tourism and repatriation) are familiar themes for the publishers of the book Go Lean…Caribbean.

The book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU); an initiative to bring change and empowerment to the Caribbean region; to make the region a better place to live, work and play. This Go Lean 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 ensure public safety for all Caribbean stakeholders and protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.

Of the 144 different missions presented in the Go Lean book, a number of them are presented specifically to address the issues raised in this commentary. This is part of the technocratic shepherding designed for the CU, to elevate the Caribbean homeland, by this roadmap in these two areas: 1. Tourism and 2. Repatriation.

1. Tourism

The underlying goals for this industrial occupation are stated early in the Go Lean book with these pronouncements in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 11 & 14):

iii. Whereas the natural formation of the landmass for our society is that of an archipelago of islands, inherent to this nature is the limitation of terrain and the natural resources there in. We must therefore provide “new guards” and protections to ensure the efficient and effective management of these resources.

iv. Whereas the natural formation of the landmass is in a tropical region, the flora and fauna allows for an inherent beauty that is enviable to peoples near and far. The structures must be strenuously guarded to protect and promote sustainable systems of commerce paramount to this reality.

v. Whereas the natural formation of our landmass and coastlines entail a large portion of waterscapes, the reality of management of our interior calls for extended oversight of the waterways between the islands. The internationally accepted 12-mile limits for national borders must be extended by International Tribunals to encompass the areas in between islands. The individual states must maintain their 12-mile borders while the sovereignty of this expanded area, the Exclusive Economic Zone, must be vested in the accedence of this Federation.

xxvi. 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 … invigorate the enterprises related to existing industries like tourism … – impacting the region with more jobs.

That publication stressed creative marketing for better tourism outreach, featuring highlights such the following strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies:

Strategy – Vision – Integrate Region in a Single Market	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Build and Foster Local Economic Engines	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Exploit the Benefits of Globalization in Trade-Tourism	Page 46
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Growing the Economy to $800 Billion – Trade and Globalization	Page 70
Tactical – Website *www.myCaribbean.gov* for Caribbean stakeholders – Tourists	Page 74
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Tourism Promotions and Administration	Page 78
Implementation – Integrate All Caribbean Websites to *www.myCaribbean.gov* Portal	Page 97
Implementation – Ways to Deliver – Agile / Lean / Quality Assurances	Page 109
Implementation – Ways to Impact Social Media – *www.myCaribbean.gov* Portal	Page 111
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – Cyber Caribbean	Page 127
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better – VIP’s for Events and Cultural Festivals	Page 131
Planning – Ways to Better Manage Image – Digital Media Presence	Page 133
Planning – Lessons Learned from 2008 – Tourism & Economy Went Bust	Page 136
Planning – Lessons Learned from Egypt – Lack of Tourism Stewardship	Page 143
Advocacy – Ways to Measure Progress – Mining *www.myCaribbean.gov* Portal Data	Page 147
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Cooperatives – Purchasing Cooperatives for TV Ads	Page 176
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Communications – Internet & Social Media Marketing	Page 186
Advocacy – Ways to Enhance Tourism – Excess Inventory Marketing	Page 190
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Events – Sharing Economy	Page 191
Advocacy – Ways to Market Southern California – Example of Exploiting a Specific Market	Page 194
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Technology – Economies-of-Scale for Centers of Excellence	Page 197
Advocacy – Ways to Foster e-Commerce – Global Outreach via Social Media	Page 198
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage – Cyber-Caribbean Image/Media	Page 218

Other blog/commentaries stressed related issues and details for optimizing the tourism product. The following sample applies:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7449	Assurances to Restore Tourism After Catastrophes
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7327	Zika Virus: How to Mitigate the Effects on Tourism
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6921	Live. Work. Play. Repeat.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6680	Casino Industry Placing Bets on Video Games
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6385	Protecting Tourists from Wi-Fi Hot Spots Run By Hackers
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6341	Tourism Stewardship — What’s Next?
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5210	Cruise Ship Commerce – Getting Ready for Change
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4639	Tobago: A Model for Cruise Tourism
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3225	The need to optimize Caribbean aviation policies
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2571	Internet Commerce meets Sharing Economy: Airbnb
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1984	Casinos Failing Business Model within Tourism
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1943	The Future of Golf; Vital for Tourism
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=273	10 Things We Want from the US – # 2: Tourists
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=254	The need to enhance Tourism with “Air Lifts”
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=235	Tourism’s changing profile

2. Repatriation

In addition to tourism, the proverb – “Make happy those who are near, and those who are far will come” – speaks to the goal of repatriating the Caribbean Diaspora that has scattered far and wide. The theme of inviting their return and/or incentivizing their repatriation to the homeland has been prominent for this Go Lean movement. There is the direct reference in the book (Page 118) and many related blog/commentaries (see list below). This underlying goal / mission was stated early in the book with these pronouncements in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Page 12 & 13):

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

xix. Whereas our legacy in recent times is one of societal abandonment, it is imperative that incentives and encouragements 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.

Change must come to the Caribbean; especially to attract and recruit repatriates. There are real obstacles that the region must overcome: the poor performing economy and the threats to public safety. So the prime directives of the Go Lean/CU roadmap is to elevate Caribbean society and all of its societal engines. The success of our movement should be publicized and messaged throughout the world. After all…

… the Caribbean is the greatest address on the planet… arguably. This claim is not just made based on terrain, but also culture (music, food, festivals and fun). If/when we fix the societal defects, the native sons (and daughters) living in the Diaspora should beat a path to come home.

With confidence we can declare: “A Change Is Gonna Come”!

But this time, the change 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 following community ethos in mind, plus the execution of strategies, tactics, implementation and advocacies to invite and incentivize the Diaspora to return. The following is a sample of these specific details from the book:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – People Choose	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – All Choices Involve Costs	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – People Respond to Incentives in Predictable Ways	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 – Security Principles – Anti-Bullying and Mitigation	Page 23
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Minority Equalization	Page 24
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – 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 – Incubators	Page 28
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Intellectual Property	Page 29
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Research & Development	Page 30
Community Ethos – Ways to Manage Reconciliations	Page 34
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
Anecdote – LCD versus an Entrepreneurial Ethos	Page 39
Strategy – Mission – Celebrate the Music, Sports, Art, People and Culture of the Caribbean	Page 46
Tactical – Confederating a Permanent Union	Page 63
Tactical – Separation of Powers: Federal Administration versus Member-States Governance	Page 71
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change	Page 101
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better – Live, Work and Play Empowerments	Page 131
Planning – Ways to Better Manage Image	Page 133
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 Remediate and Mitigate Crime	Page 178
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Communications – Improve the Messaging	Page 186
Advocacy – Ways Impact the Diaspora	Page 217
Advocacy – Ways to Improve the Arts	Page 230
Advocacy – Ways to Promote Music	Page 231
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Urban Living	Page 234
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Rural Living	Page 235

There have been many previous blog/commentaries that stressed issues related to repatriation. The following sample applies:

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=6718	A Lesson in History – No Compromise on Human Rights
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6247	Tragic images show refugee crisis at a tipping point in Europe
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=5695	Repenting, Forgiving and Reconciling the Past
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4613	‘Luck of the Irish’ – Lessons from their Past, Present and Future

Truth be told, the Caribbean is in competition with the rest of the world.

Considering the analogy of a race, we are behind, trailing our competitors. There are many empowerments that our Caribbean region needs to implement. While no society is perfect, nor fully optimized, some countries have been better than others. Many countries in North America and Western Europe have been lands of refuge for our Caribbean Diaspora. We must now fix our own broken societal engines, so as to dissuade people from leaving in the first place. Plus, many of these North American and European societies leave a lot to be desired for our Black and Brown immigrants from the Caribbean. There is heavylifting for these ones to thrive in those foreign lands. The logical conclusion: stay home in the Caribbean and work towards improving the homeland.

While we do have problems to contend with, many which we are failing at, our biggest crisis stem from the fact that so many of our citizens have fled their Caribbean homelands for foreign shores. These lands should not be the panacea of Caribbean hopes and dreams.

Based on the foregoing Chinese proverb, we can and must make people happy that are near us. Once we succeed, then others – tourists and repatriates – will come to enjoy our happier homelands.

This is easier said than done, but it is conceivable, believable and achievable!

Many of the resources (people) involved in the Go Lean/CU roadmap have done this before … else where. They know the process is to start small, optimize the engines in their neighborhoods, then widen out to a wider community, optimize the engines there, then widen out further to the whole country; again optimize the national engines and then widen out to the full region For success, we must keep moving forward. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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Diaspora, History, Music, Tourism, Transform

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Farewell to ‘Sábado Gigante’

Posted on September 14, 2015 in Ethos, Industries, Social

Go Lean Commentary

All good things come to an end!

As for the long-running Variety Show, ‘Sábado Gigante’, on the Spanish-language TV-network Univision, it is not “all good things”, its “Gigante” things.

Yes, the 53-year run is finally coming to an end.

This milestone deserves our consideration, as the Agents of Change for this iconic television show are the same factors identified as Agents of Change for Caribbean life in the book, Go Lean…Caribbean. They are identified as follows:

Technology
Globalization
Aging Diaspora

The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). While this roadmap’s quest is economic empowerment, it clearly recognizes that music, dance and culture can play a key role in the elevation of any community. The Spanish-speaking Caribbean constitutes 59% of the population of the Caribbean region (see Appendix), and this community has loved ‘Sábado Gigante’, so this consideration is “muy importante”!

See the story here of the upcoming final broadcast of this Latin television mainstay:

Title: Farewell to “Sábado Gigante”
Miami, FL – September 14, 2015 – “Sábado Gigante” is a Spanish language TV phenomenon that has entertained audiences for decades, both in Latin America and here in the United States. This morning, Mo Rocca will show us:

If you like acrobats, animal acts, beautiful dancing girls, Zumba exhibitions, game show contests, talk show tears, and pretty much anything else under sun, “Sábado Gigante” is the show for you. It’s a variety show on steroids

“Sábado Gigante” (Spanish for Gigantic Saturday) airs every Saturday for three hours, and is watched by millions of people in the U.S. and in 40 countries around the world.

Fans wait in lines for hours in the Miami heat to be in the audience of this legendary broadcast. One woman drove four hours to attend. Big fan? “Yeah, we’ve been watching it since we were in diapers!” she laughed.

And the main reason for its gigante success? Don Francisco, the impresario, pitchman and ringleader of the “Sábado” circus. He’s been hosting the show for 53 years (that’s a world record).

In all that time, he’s missed only one Saturday, when his mother died in 1974. There’s never even been a rerun.

Rocca asked, “Who taught you to work so hard?”

“Maybe my father,” said Don Francisco, whose real name is Mario Luis Kreutzberger. He’s a 74-year-old Chilean-born son of refugees from Germany.

“They were German Jews,” he said. “And they fled during the Second World War, during the Holocaust, to Chile. Not because they choose Chile. That was the only option that they had.

“I was a kid in the middle of the war — even in my country, in Chile, half of the population, they were with the Germans. It was not easy to grow up in an environment like this.”

To make friends he’d have to be more like, well, a TV host. “I found an opportunity making jokes, doing shows for the school. And I was soon accepted by the majority.”

But after high school, he was sent by his father, a tailor, to New York City to learn the family trade. “I came in 1959. I was 19 years old. And I had only maybe 20 words in English.”

But it wasn’t the New York fashions that turned his head; it was that new-fangled contraption in his hotel room: The television. “When I put it on, I was amazed. That was a radio that you [were] able to see and to listen at the same time. That was my first contact with television. I said to myself, ‘My father’s wrong; I’m learning something that is before yesterday; this will be the future.'”

He returned to Chile determined, and in 1962 convinced a reluctant station manager to give him one hour of airtime on a Saturday. “Sábado Gigante” ran from 7:00 to 8:00. “Then he gave me from 6:00 to 8:00, 5:00 to 8:00, 4:00 to 8:00, 3:00 to 8:00, 2:00 to 8:00, 1:00 to 9:00. Eight hours, live, during 22 years,” Francisco said.

So, Rocca asked, “When did you go to the bathroom?”

“During the commercials. I was fast at that time, when I went to the bathroom!”

In 1986 Univision, the network that airs “Sábado Gigante,” moved the show’s production to Miami, the gateway to Latin America. And the show itself became a gateway to a mass Latin audience for future superstars like Shakira, Enrique Iglesias, even U.S. presidents — all of them courting an audience that’s muy importante.

This son of German immigrants may be the most recognizable face in all of Latin America. Just take a walk with Don Francisco through Miami’s Bayside Market, where he is mobbed by fans from many countries, and you’ll get a sense of how far his reach extends.

One woman from Cuba asked Francisco why he was leaving “Sábado Gigante.” He replied, “I’m getting old.”

“You are not old!” she retorted. “Don’t leave the program!”

“Sábado Gigante” is ending its run next Saturday. Over the last few seasons the show’s ratings with younger viewers have fallen precipitously.

Still, as Rocca found out as a recent guest on the program, it’s hard not to get caught up in the excitement of the loud, brash, flamboyant “Sábado Gigante”:

Rocca: “¡Cincuenta y tres años! Más que David Letterman. Más que Johnny Carson. Más que Jack Paar. ¡Usted es el rey de entretenimiento!”

Others have been called the King of Entertainment, but none has matched the reign of Don Francisco.

Source: Sunday Morning – CBS News Sunday Magazine; retrieved 09-14-2015 from: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/farewell-to-sabado-gigante/

———

Video Link: http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/the-historic-run-of-sabado-gigante-comes-to-an-end

(VIDEO plays best in Internet Explorer).

This show has never been a paid-program; it has always been on free broadcast TV; (notwithstanding cable/satellite subscribers paying for the utility). It has always been paid for by the advertisers.

But show-business has changed. Television has changed…

… most TV shows are available online; plus there is now time-shifted viewing (DVR) and on-demand platforms offering an alphabetical menu of shows.

This Internet-Communications-Technology (ICT) driven Agent of Change is what impacts ‘Sábado Gigante’, and what impacts the Caribbean. The changing TV landscape affects the Caribbean region as well, or at least it should. The CU roadmap has 3 prime directives:

Optimization of economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines and marshal against economic crimes.
Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines.

The ‘Sábado Gigante’ show has only had one host during its 53-year run. Don Francisco (Mario Luis Kreutzberger) is now 74 years old. Much of his audience has aged with him. This refers to the populations in Latin America and the Diaspora population residing in the US. The foregoing article refers to a definite declining youth dynamics of the show. The host has aged; the audience has aged; and there are less of them.

This is a bad formula for ad-supported television. The end has come, as advertisers seek a younger audience.

The CU/Go Lean roadmap recognizes the gravity of Latin music/entertainment to this region; and the dynamics of an emerging youth population. These demographics cannot be ignored by the planners of a new integrated Caribbean; (see Appendix).

The Go Lean book posits that while economics, security and governance are all important for the sustenance of Caribbean life, pursuits like art, culture, music, dance, and beauty are the reasons we want to live. “Work” is important in this roadmap, but so is “Play”. As we say farewell to ‘Sábado Gigante’, we also say farewell to Don Francisco. We salute him for a job – and life course – well done! We recognize him as a promoter of the arts, entrepreneur, industrialist and advocate for Latin culture. Don Francisco is hereby applauded as a role model that the rest of Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Diaspora community can emulate. He has provided a successful track record of forging change, overcoming incredible odds, managing crises to successful conclusions and paying forward to benefit the next generation.

In terms of the future, the Go Lean book asserts that there is plenty of talent in the Caribbean. The genius qualifiers of many Caribbean men and women are already heightened; and there is a built-in audience to consume the appreciation of this talent. The goal now is foster the local eco-system in the homeland so as to optimize the media industries ourselves; for us and by us. If we continue to fail at this endeavor, we would continue to be faced with this harsh reality: those with talent would have to flee the region to garner the business returns on their artistic investments. Thusly, this Go Lean economic empowerment roadmap strategizes to create a Single Media Market to leverage the value of broadcast rights for the entire region, utilizing all the advantages of cutting edge ICT offerings. The result: an audience of 42 million people across 30 member-states and 4 languages, facilitating television, cable, satellite and internet streaming wherever economically viable.

Early in the book, the benefits of media and technology empowerment is pronounced in the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 13 & 14), with these opening statements:

xiii. 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.

xiv. Whereas the region has endured a spectator status during the Industrial Revolution, we cannot stand on the sidelines of this new economy, the Information Revolution. Rather, the Federation must embrace all the tenets of Internet Communications Technology (ICT) to serve as an equalizing element in competition with the rest of the world. The Federation must bridge the digital divide and promote the community ethos that research/development is valuable and must be promoted and incentivized for adoption.

xv. Whereas intellectual property can easily traverse national borders, the rights and privileges of intellectual property must be respected at home and abroad. The Federation must install protections to ensure that no abuse of these rights go with impunity, and to ensure that foreign authorities enforce the rights of the intellectual property registered in our region.

xxii. Whereas the heritage of our lands share the distinction of cultural tutelage from European and American imperialists that forged their tongues upon our consciousness, it is imperative to form a society that is neutral and tolerant of the mother tongue influences of our people to foster efficient and effective communications among our citizens.

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

The region has the eco-system of free broadcast television, and the infrastructure for internet streaming. So the issues being considered regarding the ‘Sábado Gigante’ finale have bearing in the execution of this roadmap.

The Go Lean roadmap was constructed with the community ethos in mind to forge change and build up the communities around the music/entertainment industry, plus the execution of related strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to make the change permanent. The following is a sample of these specific details from the book:

Community Ethos – People Respond to Incentives in Predictable Ways	Page 21
Community Ethos – Return on Investments	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Foster Genius – Abundance of Talent	Page 27
Community Ethos – Promote Intellectual Property	Page 29
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness – Appreciation of the Arts	Page 36
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategic – Vision – Consolidating All Caribbean Region in to a Single Market	Page 45
Strategic – Staffing – Music/Sporting Events at Fairgrounds	Page 55
Strategy – Agents of Change – Technology	Page 57
Strategy – Agents of Change – Globalization	Page 57
Strategy – Agents of Change – Aging Diaspora	Page 57
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Culture & Sports Administration	Page 81
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Fairgrounds Administration	Page 83
Implementation – Steps to Implement Self-Governing Entities (Fairgrounds)	Page 105
Implementation – Ways to Deliver	Page 109
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – #5 Four Languages in Unison / #8 Cyber Caribbean	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 Impact Events	Page 191
Advocacy – Ways to Promote Fairgrounds	Page 192
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Technology – Intellectual Property Protections	Page 197
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Hollywood – And the Media Industries	Page 203
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the Diaspora – Media Consumption	Page 217
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage – Media Priorities	Page 218
Advocacy – Ways to Improve the Arts – Respect for Intellectual Property	Page 230
Advocacy – Ways to Promote Music	Page 231
Appendix – Caribbean Musical Genres – 169 in the 30 Member-States	Page 347

This commentary previously featured subjects related to developing the eco-systems of the music/entertainment business, as sampled here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6022	Music Role Model ‘Ya Tafari’ – Celebrating in the Diaspora
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5648	Music Role Model Taylor Swift Wields Benevolent Influence
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4019	Watch the Super Bowl … Commercials
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3999	Breaking New Ground in the Changing Show-business Eco-System
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3641	‘We Built This City on ‘ …Show-business
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3568	Forging Change: Music Moves People
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3244	Media Role Model – Broadcasting/Internet Streaming: espnW.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2171	Sports/Entertainment Role Model – Turn On the SEC Network
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1092	Aereo – Model for the Future of TV Blending with the Internet
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=273	10 Things We Want from the US – # 9: Optimized Media Arts

Saturday September 19 will be the final broadcast of the show. ‘Sábado Gigante’ will be “Muy Mas Gigante”. According to the Music/Entertainment industry iconic magazine/e-Zine “Billboard”, major Latin music stars are confirmed for participation:

Title: ‘Sabado Gigante’ Final Episode: Shakira, Enrique Iglesias, Paulina Rubio, Daddy Yankee & More Stars Confirmed
The network confirmed to Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter exclusively that the lineup of talent for the finale includes global superstar Shakira, Spanish heartthrob Enrique Iglesias, Colombian rocker Juanes, Mexican pop diva Paulina Rubio, Italian pop singer Laura Pausini, Latin urban king Daddy Yankee, salsa icon Marc Anthony, regional Mexican acts Espinoza Paz and Intocable, pop balladeer Luis Fonsi, bachata idol Prince Royce and the original crossover queen, Gloria Estefan. Their participation will be a mix of live performances and other surprises, the details of which will be revealed by Univision in the coming days.

The Go Lean book focuses primarily on economic issues, but it recognizes that music, dance and culture (indicative of a Variety Show) can build up a community, nation and region. So the quest to re-build, re-boot and re-tool the Caribbean must include dance, music and variety entertainment. This is remindful of the following movie quotation from V for Vendetta (2005).

Hero Character named “V”: Would you… dance with me?
Evey Hammond (Female Lead Character): Now? On the eve of your revolution?
V: A revolution without dancing is a revolution not worth having!
(Source: V for Vendata 1 of 126 notable quotations).

The Go Lean roadmap describes the heavy-lifting activities for the many people, organizations and governments to accomplish this goal of elevating the Caribbean … through economics … and song-and-dance.

This goal is conceivable, believable and achievable. Yes, we can make the region a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

——-

Appendix – Population of the Spanish-speaking Caribbean

Cuba*	11,236,444
Dominican Republic	9,523,209
Puerto Rico	3,994,259
Total Spanish Caribbean	24,753,912
All Caribbean Region	42,198,874
Percentile	58.66%

* While broadcast to Cuba may be blocked at present, the status quo of US-Cuban relations is changing daily.

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Music Role Model ‘Ya Tafari’ – Happy Emancipation Day

Posted on August 3, 2015 in Ethos, Social

Go Lean Commentary/Interview

Monday August 3, 2015 is Emancipation Day in all countries of the British Dominion. For the Caribbean this includes the current British Overseas Territories and current members of the (British) Commonwealth of Nations; defined as follows:

Overseas Territories	Commonwealth States
Anguilla	Antigua & Barbuda
Bermuda	Bahamas
British Virgin Islands	Barbados
Cayman Islands	Belize
Montserrat	Dominica
Turks & Caicos	Guyana
	Jamaica
	Saint Kitts & Nevis
	Saint Lucia
	Saint Vincent
	Trinidad and Tobago

All of these countries memorialize the abolition of slavery in the British Empire on August 1, 1834 with a National Holiday on the First Monday of August. (This holiday is commonly referred to as August Monday). The focus of this commemoration is not slavery, but rather a celebration of Caribbean culture – accentuating the positive.

For those in the Caribbean Diaspora (US, Canada and the United Kingdom), the holiday does not go un-recognized … nor uncelebrated.

This is the case in Metropolitan Detroit, Michigan USA. The publishers of the book Go Lean…Caribbean are here to “observe and report” the turn-around and rebirth of the once-great-but-now-distressed City of Detroit. The book posits that trade with the Caribbean Diaspora can be better organized and fostered so as to better harvest economic benefits to the homeland. This point is well-evidenced in Southfield (Detroit suburb) with the Jamaican restaurant Fenton’s Jerk Chicken:

http://fentonbrownsr.wix.com/fentonsjerkchicken
<<< See Appendix >>>

This establishment thrives in its community with a great tradition of quality food and Caribbean hospitality. But on Sunday, the eve of August Monday, this restaurant extended further with an Emancipation Day tribute/celebration for the public to consume. The main feature of this tribute was a One-Man Band, an elite and prolific Bahamian Recording Artist Ya Tafari. He is an award-winning composer and performer of Jazz, Latin, and Caribbean music. As a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist with a fan base stretching from Freeport, Bahamas to Detroit. This presentation was about music and the business of music, as it fostered an increase in sales for that one day at Fenton’s Jerk Chicken Restaurant. See VIDEO here:

VIDEO – Bahamian One-man Band Ya Tafari … at Fenton’s – https://youtu.be/rZoRKITj7d0

Performing on Sunday, August 2nd 2015 at Fenton’s Jamaican Restaurant in Southfield, Michigan

Artist Profile: YA TAFARI

Source: Online Music Retailing Website – Watchfire Music – The Trusted Destination for Inspirational Music; retrieved from: http://watchfiremusic.com/artist.php?arid=79

Ya Tafari is an author, composer, singer- songwriter, and poet who plays piano, guitar, and Latin percussion. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, he lived in the Bahama Islands and was “adopted” by a family there, and now claims the Bahamas as his second home.

Although Ya Tafari started as a folk singer, the genres in which he composes and performs are varied. They include traditional jazz, spiritual jazz, Latin, Caribbean, folk, tropical, and new world music. Using his keyboards, he has become renowned as a “one-man orchestra.”

Ya Tafari is fond of and influenced by other artists from around the world: Brazil – Joao Gilberto, Cuba – Tito Puente, Jamaica – Bob Marley and Harry Belafonte, the Bahamas – Ronnie Butler, Canada – Joni Mitchell, the United States – John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Pharaoh Sanders.

His greatest love and influence is the Holy Bible , and the other Lost Books of God’s Word.

BIOGRAPHY

Yaqob Tafari Makuannen, a.k.a. YaTafari, an award-winning composer, author, and performer of Jazz, Latin, Caribbean, and Spiritual music, grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, and settled in Detroit, Michigan.

In Detroit, he received the Spirit of Detroit Award, and earned first place in the Renaissance Center Talent Contest two years in a row. He was presented awards by Chuck Gaidica, a local celebrity.

As an adult, he traveled to the Bahamas and adopted it as his second home. There he performed for the Governor General of the Bahamas and attended the Bahamian Parliament. His first recording contract was with G.B.I. Records and Television in Freeport, Bahamas, with Frank Penn, C.E.O. Thus, he is a Bahamian recording artist.

Ya Tafari has performed throughout Metropolitan Detroit and internationally. As music consultant for the African Heritage Center of the Detroit Public Schools, he hassperformed in DPS schools to audiences from pre-school to high School, introducing students and staff to different rhythms, musical instruments, and genres from the African Diaspora.

His greatest love is reading God’s word in the Holy Bible and Lost Books. His recent projects include a book, Man Woman & Spirit, and a recording of the Psalms of David to the original music of Ya Tafari.

DISCOGRAPHY

Esoteric Jazz

Esoteric sound is therapeutic and healing for the soul and spirit… for meditation and relaxation of body, mind, and spirit. It is a mystical transcendental mood.

Mystery Of The Sea

No matter where you are…riding in a car, sitting in your home, walking, or laying down to sleep, “Mystery of the Sea” will take you there and lift your spirits to another level. The sea speaks to us in its own way. Experience the mystery.

All Blue

Why Blue? God chose the color Blue. The sky, the ocean, rage and calm, to cause people to remember to focus on right living. I thank God for blue. So, I used blue to focus on beautiful sounds of music. All blue.

QUOTES/REVIEWS

“Ya Tafari has a smooth, soothing, CD sound that sends you on vacation.” – Kevin P., Detroit, Michigan

“The Cherry Hill Stage was ablaze with the sounds of Caribbean Jazz performed by YATAFARI & THE AFRO PERCUSSIONS.” – The Dearborn Homecoming Committee, Michael A. Guido, Mayor – Dearborn, Michigan

“…Caribbean Recording Artist YaTafari, the JunkAnoo jazz java and calypso colorful butterfly, is electrifying, exciting, and a ’must see’ entertainer from Nassau, Bahamas.” – Gracie Cross, Ragggedy Girl Publishing Group

“…Mr. Makuannen presented a program here at McKinley (Elementary School) during our Cultural History Celebration. It was outstanding!…You can’t go wrong with this program.” – J. Korenowsky, Principal, Toledo Public Schools

“…A fun festive, and captivating entertainer who will warm hearts with a kaleidoscope of sound, color, and sweet musical beats.” – Mitali Chaudhery, Website Coordinator, Schoolcraft College International Institute (SCII)

———–

Download Ya Tafari Music Now

In a structured interview, Ya Tafari made the following contributions to this discussion of the roadmap to elevate the Caribbean through music:

Bold = Author

You obviously love the Bahamas/Caribbean, why do you not live there?

I loved my time in Freeport (Bahamas 2^nd City). I would love to settle there, but realistically the economic challenges are hard to overcome. I hope they would have a better economic reality there … in the future.

Where do you call home now?

I live here in the Greater Detroit area, in the Town of Novi. Despite not being “home” in the Bahamas, I have the assured comfort of being with my family here. I bring my love for my Bahamaland here to Detroit in my musical presentations.

What was your biggest performance ever?

I’ve had the pleasure of performing as a solo artist at the stage here in Detroit at the Eastern Market. I had a huge crowd completely captivated by my sound. They were into me, and I was into them. Good times!

What would you like to see different in the Bahamas in the next 5 years?

I would like to see that community more accepting of foreign influences, especially a fusion with Eastern/Oriental Music. I’ve incorporated a lot of the spirit of Yoga, Zen and New Age influences in my music and it serves me and my listening audience well. As the old adage goes: “Music does soothe the savage beast”.

What would you like to see different in the Bahamas in the next 10 years?

I would like to see the Bahamas open up the doors to all mankind. The society is not as tolerant of diverse people as they need to be. This is bigger than just music. If/when they do widen-out more, it will even improve their tourism product, by extending their embrace for all people.

What would you like to see different in the Bahamas in the next 20 years?

I would like to see the next generation of Bahamians not join the Diaspora. Of course, I want them to travel, and study, and engage foreign cultures and then bring those experiences back home. That is an exciting prospect.

Where do you consider to be the best place on earth to live?

Italy! That culture is about enjoying life; they are concerned about more than just work, or making money. They strive to care for their people and lift everyone up. Despite the lack of economics though, I still find the Black communities around the world have a closer brotherhood. When a Black person sees another Black person while travelling abroad, they tend to acknowledge each others as brothers. That is inspiring. Yes, we can all do better.

————

Ya Tafari can be reached at: makuannen@mail.com

This artist profile is a manifestation of the roadmap depicted in the book Go Lean…Caribbean, that music, food and culture can be accentuated to promote change in the Caribbean and within the Caribbean Diaspora abroad. Music can help make any location a better place to live, work and play.

This Go Lean commentary previously featured subjects related to developing the eco-systems of the music/show business, as sampled here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3641	‘We Built This City …’ on Music
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3568	Forging Change: Music Moves People
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2415	Broadway Musical ‘The Lion King’ Roars into History With its Impact
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1909	Music Role Model Berry Gordy – No Town Like Motown
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=866	Caribbean Music Man Bob Marley: The legend lives on!

This Go Lean roadmap calls for heavy-lifting to build up Caribbean communities, by shepherding important aspects of Caribbean life, beyond music and/or show business. In fact, the development 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.
Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines.

The Go Lean book focuses primarily on economic issues, but it recognizes that music, in its many genres can build up a nation, a city, and a community (Diaspora and local alike). Any difficult subject – like slavery, freedom and emancipation – can be more easily communicated if backed-up by a catchy melody and rhyming words. Yes, music can effect change and forge progress and elevation of society. The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The CU is designed to elevate the region’s economic, security and governing societal engines.

The Go Lean book posits that one person, despite their field of endeavor, can make a difference in the Caribbean, and its impact on the world; that there are many opportunities where one champion, one advocate, can elevate society. In this light, the book features 144 different advocacies, one specifically to Promote Music (Page 231). We need champions like Ya Tafari to promote the joys of Caribbean life, culture and music.

The Go Lean roadmap specifically encourages the region, to lean-in to elevate society with these specific community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to advance the music eco-systems:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification	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 – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Foster Genius – Fostering Music and the Arts	Page 27
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Intellectual Property	Page 29
Community Ethos – Ways to Bridge the Digital Divide	Page 31
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Turn-Around	Page 33
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness – Promotion of Domestic Culture	Page 36
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Confederate 30 Member-States	Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Celebrate the Music, Sports, Art, People and Culture of the Caribbean	Page 46
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Growing Economy to $800 Billion – Education Empowerments	Page 70
Tactical – Separation-of-Powers – Educational Empowerment from Federation to Member-States	Page 85
Implementation – Trade Mission Objectives	Page 117
Planning – 10 Big Ideas for the Caribbean Region – Four Languages in Unison	Page 127
Planning – Ways to Improve Trade – Diaspora Trade	Page 128
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better – Music/Media/Arts for better PLAY	Page 131
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Communications	Page 186
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Hollywood – Media Arts of the Caribbean to the World	Page 202
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the Diaspora	Page 217
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage	Page 218
Advocacy – Ways to Improve the Arts	Page 230
Advocacy – Ways to Promote Music	Page 231
Appendix – Job Creations – Music and Art Related Jobs: 12,600	Page 257
Appendix – 169 Caribbean Musical Genres for all 30 Member States	Page 347

The quest to change the Caribbean is conceivable, believable and achievable. But it is more than just playing or listening to music; it is the business of music, and music’s ability to reflect change and effect change. This helps the heavy-lifting of forging permanent change in the region. The Go Lean roadmap will make the region a better place to live, work and play. From the outset, the book recognized the significance of music in the Caribbean change/empowering plan with these statements in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Page 12 & 14):

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.

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

The foregoing VIDEO explicitly depicted how the addition of music enhanced a Caribbean business establishment in the Detroit Diaspora community. Music can have that effect. It can make bad things good and good things better. It can be fun! While the Go Lean book describes the CU as a hallmark of a technocracy, with a commitment to efficiency and effectiveness, there is still a commitment to concepts of fun, such as music, arts, sports, film/media, heritage and culture.

This roadmap is a fully comprehensive plan with consideration to all aspects of Caribbean life. All stakeholders – residents and Diaspora – are hereby urged to lean-in to this roadmap. 🙂

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

—————

Appendix – Fenton’s Jamaican Jerk Chicken Restaurant – 28811 Northwestern Hwy, Southfield, Michigan, USA

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