{"id":141822,"date":"2015-07-04T10:14:23","date_gmt":"2015-07-04T14:14:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/?p=141822"},"modified":"2015-07-12T12:21:49","modified_gmt":"2015-07-12T16:21:49","slug":"commentary-diaspora-in-motion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/features\/commentary\/commentary-diaspora-in-motion\/","title":{"rendered":"COMMENTARY: Diaspora in Motion"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"J.J.
J.J. Joseph<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Saturday June 27, 2015 saw the coalescence of a syndicate of concerned Dominicans in the Diaspora, resolute to sympathize and empathize with the plight of local Dominicans and begin a movement to bring an end to copious cases of undemocratic and abysmal governance by Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit and his ruling Labor Party. To contextualize the mood of the event, despite a murky, somber Saturday<\/span><\/span> morning, disillusioned and mortified Dominicans – upwards of 300 in number – created a radiant atmosphere as they conflated on the grounds of the United Nations in New York City, exuberant and pumped up to the point of virtually imploding. The stage was set for four hours of venting as aggrieved Diasporas would express their emotions on recent incendiary developments perpetrated on the people by this administration. At regular intervals, the agitated audience emphatically chanted “Skerrit must go!!” “Skerrit must go!!” Impeded by the powers of the Supreme Being, the hanging sheet of dark grey clouds overhead seemingly suspended their intended precipitation, eventually ferociously blasting down in the form of heavy showers literally moments after the protest concluded. The presumption is that the good lord saw the dire need to restrain the rain while providing a symposium where a languished and frustrated people could vent their condemnations and resentments of this PM’s egregious policies against indigenous Dominicans.<\/p>\n

Remarkably, most of the organizers had never met prior to the event. In fact, most members reside in states literally thousands of miles apart in many cases. However, the nucleus or hub responsible for holding the chemistry of the group together is technology – coupled with our profound vicariousness for and solidarity with the people of Salisbury in their continued struggles against relentless persecutions by the PM and his hogwash police. Central to the group is the consciousness that we are all native-born citizens of Dominica, adamantly intent on a common purpose of bringing the victimization, oppression, corruption and human rights violations to international cognition. These atrocities have become synonymous with this quasi-Autocracy of Roosevelt Skerrit, and should not be made to remain in a vacuum. We are optimistic of attaining this goal before too long.<\/p>\n

In his attempt at distorting the true impact of the protest, Dominica’s Ambassador to the UN, Vince Henderson, painted an innocuous picture by characterizing it as ‘not having caught his attention’. However, this strategy of equivocation by disseminating false information in an effort to keep the masses ignorant and uninformed is not new but instead empirical of this administration. In direct contradiction to the UN Ambassador’s fallacious assessment, is the fact that the audience was by all accounts overwhelmingly hungry for more by the conclusion of the event. By and large, they felt that more time should have been allotted to an occasion of such proportions. Additionally, most were anxiously inquiring about the time and venue for next protest. As such, although not finalized, due to the overwhelming response, the group is planning to advance the date of our next gathering to sometime in the month of September of this year – in Washington D.C. It is abundantly clear that largely people are becoming more receptive to opposition against the quasi-dictatorial rulership of an inept opaque leader, who is hell bent on sustaining a nation on mendacities and stealthy sales of our citizenship and passports. Consequently, while some are still embedded in their affinity and adulation for the king, many are ready and willing to support this movement for change.<\/p>\n

Last Saturday’s protest marked an unprecedented, hence, historical event\u00a0 unequivocally destined for the history books. Despite the PM’s denial and trivialization of the protest, it is emblematic of a grassroots movement which has far exceeded expectations and is expected to augment significantly with subsequent events. And, much like an earthquake, it is rapidly developing intensity as the potential for severe disruption and upheaval increases with each vibration. It is imperative, therefore, that Roosevelt Skerrit humbles himself and comes to terms with the realism that, contrary to what his hubris and arrogance are telling him, he is a subservient of the people and not vice versa. The fundamental fabric of Democracy is that government should be of the people (servants of the people), by the people (put there by the vote of the people) and for the people\u00a0 (government should always be working for the people). Until he acknowledges that the power of the people is greater than the people in power, Mr. Skerrit is in for a turbulent and tumultuous ride, but in the end, the people will ultimately prevail. Meanwhile, the movement continues.<\/p>\n

What is most notable here is the paradox of an acute contrast between two groups of diasporas. One group capitulated to Skerrit’s craftiness, thereby guaranteeing him another five years; the other is undergoing the arduous initiative of undoing their wrongdoings. Today we see the continuation of a draconian, inept and unproductive leader displaying his dogmatism by victimizing and oppressing citizens. In addition, the PM has been doubling down on his proliferation of corrupt practices. Although I am making this distinction, it is important to note that we are presenting an open invitation to the other diaspora to redeem themselves by joining us in this movement to restore democracy in our Country.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of Dominica News Online or Duravision Inc. Additionally, DNO provides an open forum for all views once they meet the publishing and editorial standards of this website. Publishing space has also been directly offered to the various political parties and continues to be available to all those who wish to utilize it.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Saturday June 27, 2015 saw the coalescence of a syndicate of concerned Dominicans in the Diaspora, resolute to sympathize and empathize with the plight of local Dominicans and begin a movement to bring an end to copious cases of undemocratic…","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":128959,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-141822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCOMMENTARY: Diaspora in Motion - Dominica News Online<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/features\/commentary\/commentary-diaspora-in-motion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"COMMENTARY: Diaspora in Motion - 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