‘We must refuse to accept servitude… we will dance to our music’

It is time that Caribbean people forge their own path and identity and stop allowing bigger nations to dictate to them.

Social commentator and newspaper columnist Renwick Rose expressed this view last Monday, while speaking at the launch of “Globalised. Climatised.

Stigmatised”, a book written by Finance Minister Camillo Gonsalves. Rose said in the context of globalization, the Caribbean is the first such experiment in the world, so that in itself is something we could teach.

He said people were brought here during slavery and other periods and those people brought technology and other ideas. “When I say technology, not only technology from Europe; the African slaves brought a lot of technology to bear in terms of the sugar industry and food production in these parts and made a new society in the Caribbean.

Camillo Gonsalves

“That is why I say it’s the origin, you couldn’t talk about more globalization than that. People from India, China, and West Africa and Portugal and Madeira…to form a different society here,” Rose related.

He added that globalization has always been the context it which we have functioned, and in more ways, than one, it has always worked not for our benefit, but for the benefit of people outside the region.

“I was very happy in reading the book to see this reference. It’s not just the exploitation of the wealth of the region, bad as that is, the most painful thing is what has happened to our minds, so today we can’t function without the context of what we call democratic societies. We have to be like them,” Rose said.

It has become so bad, Rose said, that today when states in the Caribbean have problems and there are sanctions, political leaders are blamed.

“…They worrying about our people in North America and the visa … as though we cannot function without the notion of a US Visa.

“And I think that point is important and that is why I must encourage people to read the book because it is important for us to begin to think in a different direction,” stated Rose.

He added also that the book includes excellent analyses that show us how important it is to think on our own.

The commentator said today, we live in a dangerous world where powerful countries are publishing blacklists and other indices. “…All kind of index; the index, whether terrorism, financial performance index and the psychology of it is that it has so constrained us.

Rose stressed that we must refuse to accept servitude and the peripheral role that bigger countries want for us.

“They want to accept that as fast as they change the parameters, we must dance with them. We have our own music, we will dance to our music not to theirs,” said Rose who noted that revolution is not about killing people.

“This is where the revolution takes place most of all, we have to refuse to be slaves any further, refuse to accept them mashing up the world and affecting us with climate change, we just had a dry season which was not a dry season. We had Christmas hurricane and it is going to get worse and worse. The actions they taking are affecting all of us,” he commented.

Rose said that Gonsalves’ book mentions stigmatization and this is important as we have to challenge this and fight, not physically, but by challenging ideas and defining what democracy and development mean for us and not allow people to do that.

The social commentator encouraged the public, especially politicians, to read the book and spread the message.

“It ain’t make sense that the members of the [Unity Labour Party] don’t understand what ‘globalize’ and ‘stigmatize’ and ‘climatize’ mean. Start there, let them begin to understand. It puts them in a better position, both to make their contribution to national development, but also to help to build the patriotism that is necessary.”

During the launch, Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves presented Rose with a copy of his new book, “The Political Economy of the Labour Movement in St Vincent and the Grenadines,” which will soon be published.

The local launch of “Globalised. Climatised. Stigmatised” took place at the Calliaqua Town Hall.