However, had anyone said that small circles within the United Kingdom government would continue to exert their will upon hundreds of thousands of us in the Atlantic/Caribbean region, no one would bat an eyelid.

Why is that?

Rule Britannia

Simply put, for 400 years we have been conditioned to believe that anything and everything that emanates from the island Great Britain is far superior than anything and everything in the islands of the Caribbean.

Whether it be; education standards, food products, clothing, hairstyles, religion, moral values and political policies.

Across the region, we have had this innate tendency to; hop, skip and jump to whatever tune the Pied Pipers of England have been playing.

For centuries they exploited the labour of untold millions of our ancestors, on their plantations, on their ships and in their factories, in order to build their unparalleled wealth.

When it was time to “abolish” outright slavery, the slave owners demanded that they get financial compensation for the loss of their “property”.

“Nathan Mayer Rothschild and his brother-in-law Moses Montefiore agreed to loan the British government £15m, with the government adding an additional £5m later. The total sum represented 40% of the government’s yearly income in those days, equivalent to some £300bn today.

You might expect this so-called “slave compensation” to have gone to the freed slaves to redress the injustices they suffered. Instead, the money went exclusively to the owners of slaves, who were being compensated for the loss of what had, until then, been considered their property. Not a single shilling of reparation, nor a single word of apology, has ever been granted by the British state to the people it enslaved, or their descendants.”

Guardian March 29, 2018

Many of them in high position, constantly reject the concept of “justified” reparations for an unjust legacy of genocide and mass slavery.

In their hearts and minds, we the children of the enslaved must continue to be subservient.

“The best fate for Africa would be if the old colonial powers, or their citizens, scrambled once again in her direction; on the understanding that this time they will not be asked to feel guilty.”

Boris Johnson, Spectator Magazine 2002

So, when we see them continuously forcing their will upon us in different Caribbean islands, we must remember that colonialism has never died, it only has changed its name every few decades.

Unequal relationships

Here are some recent prime examples:

*  The UK Parliament forced all Overseas Territories (OTs) to adopt Public Registers of Beneficial Ownership in June of 2018

*  Members of the UK Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC) attempting to legislate that British Citizens should vote in General Elections in the Overseas Territories in February of 2019.

*  Members of the UK Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC) attempting to legislate that British Citizens should vote in General Elections in the Overseas Territories in February of 2019.

*  The Governor of The Cayman Islands, Martin K. Roper, overriding the will and vote of the majority of elected Members of the Caymanian Parliament in August of 2020

By now, you get the picture, it is crystal clear that colonialism lives.

If it did not, how else could those who have never been a part of our region, be able to dictate to us from their offices in Northern Europe?

There are nearly 200,000 persons living in the Overseas Territories, yet collectively, we cannot tell not one elected official or Britizen citizen how to run their country or lives.

Essentially, this “colonial” relationship remains an unequal balance.

I will leave you with these questions to ponder.

"Is this condition a beneficial one for the peoples of these territories?

Is this colonial condition acceptable in today's world?

Tune in

This coming Thursday, January 28, 2021, at 5:00pm Atlantic Standard/Eastern Caribbean Time or 4:00pm Jamaica/Cayman time, we will be having a Cross Caribbean discussion with two very special guests.

Ms Shirley Osborne, the immediate former Speaker of the House for the island of Montserrat and Dr the Honourable Natalio D. Wheatley (R7), MHA, the current Deputy Premier and Minister for Education, Culture, Youth Affairs, Fisheries and Agriculture of the Virgin Islands.

We will be discussing the various recent events in our region that clearly demonstrate that Colonialism indeed lives.

We invite you to join us via Power 94.9 in Bermuda, CBN Radio 90.9 FM in the Virgin Islands or online via Tunein.com.