I wouldn't be a true Caribbean gyal if at some point I didn't discuss
some politics. Growing up, many family dinners were rife with
discussion on the state of our home countr(ies), the state, the US,
name it. I have inherited the bug. So here we go...
I am a doer. Point blank. I believe that so much of our time is spent
analyzing and planning and discussing and not enough time is spent
doing all the things we discuss and bemoan. Now, granted, do some
things have to be discussed? Of course. If we all decided to jump up
and mash up de place because someone got called out their name, we'd
be doing a whole lot of nothing. Yet and still, I believe that there
is a whole lot of time wasted on kissing up wunna teeth and
complaining about whatever.
For example: how many people do you remember complained through all of
Bush's 8 years in office? And then, of course, when asked, "did you
vote?" yuh does get all sorta kiss teeth and whining that the system
doesn't work. Here's the thing about the system: of course it
doesn't work if you don't use it!!!
Now, granted. The system is far from perfect. Those of you who don't
know how the system works, real quick tutorial. Presidents are elected
through an electoral college system. As state popular votes are
counted, the candidate with the most votes traditionally receives the
electoral college votes of that state. Of course, this is the most
base explanation of how it works. It's so much more complex than
that. But anyway. The point of this is, it can be easily said that if
one person doesn't vote, then it's no big deal. But if 15 million
people each individually say that they're not going to vote…see
where I'm going with this?
Sometimes, a little action is required to get things going. I'm going
to get a bit touchy now. Some of you may not like what I'm going to
say. It's my blog so I'm saying it anyway. LOL. But seriously, we
can agree to disagree, right? Ok, so here goes…I've got some doubts
about our new President. And it's not because he's black. It's
because he's spending too much money right now too quickly. He's
got a bit of a Superman complex going on, and it worries me. Am I
saying he can't do his job? No. But I do think he needs to focus on
one problem at a time before he burns out and/or burns a hole in the
U.S. Economy.
Having said all that, what can I (or you) do to help? In my opinion,
it starts by starting from the bottom up. Get involved in your local
community. KNOW WHO YOUR LOCAL CITY COUNCIL(WO)MAN IS. Put pressure on
them to get de rass from behind the blasted camera, stop looking for
the ideal soundbite, and start working on the community.
What else? Support your local businesses. Don't overdo it, but
remember a basic economics principle: you have to spend some money to
generate money. Do some research, pool your funds with people you
trust, and invest a little. Little things like this done all over help
to revitalize the local economy.
Finally...stop complaining to each other and complain to the blasted
government! Keep complaining. Send the same letter over and over so
they get the message. No time? Save your letter as a Word doc and cut,
paste, and email once a day. Be sure to point out a solution to your
complaint so that you don't seem like you're just whining, though.
All these are small ways that you and I can make changes for the
better. Maybe it came off a little preachy. But then again, sometimes,
you just gotta testify. Till next time...
Sent from my iPhone
K. Parris
"I got my start by giving myself a head start".
- Madame CJ Walker
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