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I remember the elections before we officially gained country status within the Kingdom. As a child, it was a huge spectacle. I remember all the banners for the various political parties, the rallies, and William Marlin’s jingle on the radio going '10.10.10 and beyond.' It was a time. As a young child who was always curious about politics and how things work, I was fascinated. My young brain saw this as a jump into something new, something exciting, something that would be a much-needed change for the island. I did not fully understand what the transition to constitutional status meant. I just thought it was cool that we finally had a Prime Minister. We made history at the time by having a woman as a Prime Minister and the President of Parliament, something that was rare in the region. It has been twelve years since this curious eleven-year-old was fascinated by the entire process. It has been twelve years since we became Country Sint Maarten. But we are twelve years in but somehow it doesn't feel that way. The political climate in Sint Maarten today can be nicely described as troubled. Troubled in the sense that there isn't a clear vision for the country, especially in how we perform governance. It is disheartening that this is where we are. However, it shouldn't be surprising. The country has suffered from a lack of stability for 10 of its twelve years of existence. We are on our 9th government and that does not create an environment that is conducive to growth. Now we have our longest-serving government and parliament and even then, that stability has shown many unstable moments. We are at the point in time where our government is seen as a spectacle. We've spent the last twelve years producing what could be an award-winning reality show but at the cost of the livelihood of our people. That is not a good thing to show after twelve years. The last five years have honestly shown us that we are not ready, nor mature enough to deal with the concept of autonomy. Hurricane Irma destroyed us. The Covid-19 pandemic put the entire country on pause. The response to these two phenomena put us in even more dire positions. We play the victim every single time and do not hold ourselves accountable for actions that might've made a situation even worse. We refuse to undo the harm and play the blame game. We don't care about making sure the people of Sint Maarten are at least not alright. We just care about the concept of power and use the struggles of the people to put us in said power. Usually, in these pieces, I would provide a couple of solutions to various problems that we have. Unfortunately, you can only suggest so much if all it does is fall on deaf ears. It is a very somber moment that we've made such a historical stride to gain that autonomous status in the Kingdom and have done nothing but continuously push this country down the drain. Imagine I must remember that 2000 referendum, but in the last twelve years you've done nothing to show that the referendum was one of the best things that have happened in the history of Sint Maarten. So, I ask, now what? We are all going to say our little speeches, about how we worked hard for this position. But what's next? Another twelve years of confusion, instability, and the same equipment in the parliament building?
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I started IslandGalTing in 2017 because I had too many thoughts and nowhere to write them down. It was a weird time in my life. I wasn't happy at all. I was battling many things internally, but I still had a lot to say. If you go through the archives, the posts were short, simple, and fun. There were tributes to Caribbean people, soca, documenting my experiences, and then a shift happened. In 2020, I decided to let out all my thoughts about the social and political ills in Sint Maarten to the public. At this point, I wasn't scared about what I was writing. I was frustrated. The tone of my writing, even after long, sporadic breaks, reflected my life. As I grew up, certain things impacted me more. I learned new things and wanted to share all that information with the public. However, every writer's nightmare was steadily knocking on my door. Writer's Block. No matter how many times I sat down in front of a google document or took up pen and paper, I struggled to create a narrative, whether for public consumption or myself (through poetry and fiction writing). Being very transparent, I was very close to ending what is known as IslandGalTing. The plan was to keep all the content, especially the podcast, online for people to reference, but no new content would've been produced. Then one day sitting in my mother's office, a person who I've known all my life told me that what I am doing is having a positive impact, that people are paying attention to what I had to say, and I should continue. This was told to me out of the blue and I sat down for a minute thinking "whew presshuh". Since that day, I've been going back and forth on if I should continue and if I do how I event produces content that can truly make a splash across the region. During my period of lamenting, I had a conversation with a good friend that truly opened my eyes. I knew that I could continue this. It was a matter of if I was truly willing. So, a special thank you to Bobbs and make sure to check out his YouTube Channel. So, the fellas, gworls, and theys welcome to a new beginning, Welcome to IslandGalTing. The IslandGalTing year spans from September to June and this year I have a lot of content coming out, just for you. If you're reading this on Patreon, that means you are truly supportive of the brand as it has opened into a portal of behind-the-scenes and exclusive content. This year we are also updating "Words from Da Gal" monthly with an in-depth analysis of societal situations, that I hope you share and engage in truthful dialogue about. I implore you to head over to our YouTube Channel, IslandGalTing The Channel, and hit that subscribe button and the notification bell, because we will be giving you quick educational videos about this beautiful region. While you're on the Channel, you'll be able to watch the video version of the We Talkin' Podcast, in which a new episode will drop every second Sunday of the month for your listening pleasure. So, make sure to follow up on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @islandgalting and tell your cousin sister uncle aunt that IslandGalTing is back! Understanding how Sint Maarten has functioned as an island territory and now as a constituent state is difficult. As someone who has observed the governance system for over ten years, the variable that explains why island territory and now country Sint Maarten can ever progress is us. In the context of this essay, "us" is defined as persons who've been around and have had influences on the institution of the government. "Us" has had the option of a form of self-governance, informally under the establishment of the Netherlands Antilles and now formally as a constituent state. "Us" has led to the developments to become a tourist destination and the ability to invest or not invest in key areas that would help the nation. This essay will look at two personality traits that make "us", the 'tamarind tree mindset' and 'the resilience mindset.'
The tamarind tree mindset is a laissez-faire attitude that turns significant cultural practices into policy. The tamarind tree is significant to Sint Maarten. Brought over to the Caribbean in the 16th Century by the Spanish along with slaves from Africa, the tamarind tree has served as a refuge to many of our ancestors and home to many of our folklore. During the last 6 decades, the tamarind tree has served as a spot for social settings. The tamarind tree is where we play dominoes, drink rum, and mingle with friends, families, and loved ones. This type of lifestyle has also translated into how we view our governance. We have gotten used to a governance that is reliant on making crazy deals, no proper order or systems, and the concept of "I goin' do this because I wa". The resilience mindset is a mindset that has taken a new form after Hurricanes Irma and Maria and exacerbated due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The idea of the island being a resilient people has been the response when we question why certain systems aren't put in place or why we aren't making efforts to improve the systems. Resilience is a term used for people who have to deal with circumstances that are seen as undesirable by many. To the global community, what we are going through fits that lens. As a society, we praise people for living through, not overcoming, tough circumstances. Scholars see this as a policy and a scholarly issue. Cannon and Müller-Mahn(2010, p 623) state "the notion of resilience - whether derived from natural (ecosystems) or technological (physics or engineering) usage - is dangerous because it is removing the inherently power-related connotation of vulnerability and is capable of doing the same to the process of adaptation." These two mindsets are the foundation of "us". This foundation is detrimental if we ever actually want to see Sint Maarten improve and make the much-needed changes. The tamarind tree mindset is visible every day. Public radio and community conversations are filled with the idea that things are broken and or the quick solutions via policy aren't fixing. There hasn't been any change to address those situations. Why? "Us" has been doing this a certain way for so long, that there is no reason to find a new way. Or "us" believes that the process is too much work and is not willing to put the resources into the work because it does not provide the quick personal benefits for "us." "Us" under the tamarind tree mindset does not believe in accountability, following structures, systems, or putting in the effort. This mindset has led to the issues we've faced in our history, but especially within the last twenty years. This mindset has caused the not-so-great transition to the country of Sint Maarten. This mindset is the reason why none of our ministries are fully collaborative with each other and many government entities work on their own. This mindset is the reason why many people are leaving the public sector. In this day and age, many new employees aren't willing to work in environments such as the tamarind tree as it is a place that does not treat their employees with care and respect. Combining these negative attributes with the negative attributes of us being resilient (as mentioned in every government press briefing since 2017), continues to fuel the issues that the country is facing. A good analysis isn't completed without possible solutions. The only way for 'us' to change from these mindsets is to change. This change has to come from people taking the chance to learn and remove themselves from this dangerous ideology and removing those in positions who have produced nothing for the country. Those are the solutions. From there, we can move into a country that values its people and is policy-oriented. A country that researches, listens and implements. Until then, “us” will continue to thrive and the people of Sint Maarten will continue to struggle. *Please read the note at the end. Whenever the discussion of tertiary education is brought up on the island, it always focuses on the importance of retention and making sure students are returning home to prevent the current dilemma within the region of “brain drain”. However, as a university student studying what was considered a priority list degree in the United States, the Ministry of Education, and specifically the Department of Study Financing has failed me, and many other study financing students. I am writing this as a student who is exhausted, disappointed, and outright angry with the processes and the lack of professionalism that has been presented to me. My personal experience in the last two months has opened my eyes to how as a country and as a government, we are willing to keep people who are incompetent in high positions due to longevity and not based on the ability to do their job. Summer 2021, I took extra summer classes to ensure that I would be able to graduate on time. Unfortunately, due to financial hardships that have continued to plague my life, and of so many other university students, because of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, I was not able to pay off that tuition. This situation put a financial hold on my account. With this financial hold, I am unable to access any transcripts, which is one of the documents needed to reapply for study financing. When I realized the situation, I emailed the department head, Antonio Aventurin, and stated my issue. Once again, I wasn’t able to get the transcript in August and reminded them of the issue. On September 14th, 2021, I got an email stating that my study financing was suspended. Confused, and shocked by the automated email, I quickly responded, explaining once again my entire situation while simultaneously working with my university through the help of the Student Advocate to alleviate the cost I had. To my dismay, the conversations between myself and the department head were extremely condescending. It got worse when I looped both my mother and my academic advisor into the situation. The lack of professionalism and willingness to work with me and my institution felt like a slap in my face. How does one go around saying they are there to help support the students but aren’t willing to fully understand the situation? At the end of all the interactions, I felt angry. It was simple, if I can get the $7500 for the Fall semester, I would be able to pay off the tuition and access my transcript within a week. A simple compromise that was not only looked over but mocked with a suggestion that makes me irate even attempting to type out. Imagine, you’ve spent three years working hard towards your degree at an institution, after this semester you are only 10 credits away from graduating, and the person who loans you money states that you should transfer schools to do your last semester. Sounds ridiculous right? That was the final suggestion I received from the head of the department. I am currently a senior at Wichita State University, in Wichita Kansas with a major in political science and minors in communication and sociology. I am also the current Student Body Vice President and have created some of the most meaningful friendships and professional connections. I got the “advice” to transfer to Florida A&M as it is cheaper. Laugh with me at the ridiculousness. Please. To conclude, I urge the government to do a couple of things: Please restructure the entire process on how study financing is handled. Every single institution, especially those in the United States function differently. The one process fits all methods as historically being detrimental to the students who are willing to further their education abroad. Additional note: This post has been edited to correct department to division and to remove the call to remove the head of the division. Please note that this is not a personal attack to the head, but a public cry to how the division has been functioning for the last four years. I am still wanting to hear from others about their experiences. So, if you or someone you know has been a recipient of Study Financing, please fill out this form: https://forms.gle/qBWHwH7vWXXzfuxZ9 For March 23rd, where we as the island of Sint Maarten/Saint Martin celebrated the Treaty of Concordia, I had an entire piece laid out on the importance of collaboration and how it can better our island, especially as one people. Unfortunately due to circumstances, that project wasn't able to be done. But then, I was thinking to myself, having a conversation about the current state of politics on the Dutch side would’ve made my Treaty of Concordia day post look very hypocritical. As Toontje said on episode 8 of the We Talkin’ podcast, Sint Maarten is full of hypocrites and after doing some reflection, I might as well be one. How can I sit down and scream for a proper working agreement with another governmental entity when we don't work together within hours? This piece is a call-out on everyone. A call out to those in government, parliament, the “media”, the ones that live on Facebook, and myself. As the grandchild of educators, I like to define words before explaining how they can be used in my arguments. Today's word is the verb collaborate, in which the noun and adjective will be used throughout this piece. According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, collaborate means: to work jointly with others or together especially in an intellectual endeavor. Now that we have defined the word, let's discuss the situation at hand. It is obvious from the last three weeks, maybe almost a month, that there isn't a collaborative effort amongst our lawmakers who are willingly wanting to put Sint Maarten first. Yes, everyone has different ideas, approaches, and even agendas but isn't the “uniqueness” of our society and how we all grow up with each other and xyz means that our legislators, all 15 (well, 13 ½) of them, could sit down and work together for the greater good of the people? Right? As we can see, apparently not and unfortunately this has shown me the lack of collaborative effort within our legislative hall. From those who are in the coalition together, to those who are opposition members. A lot of the conversations, grievances, and misunderstandings that take up a lot of the time on the floor of parliament, can be addressed in a WhatsApp message. Yeah, it makes good reality tv, and interesting background noise during zoom classes and meetings, but it doesn't get the job done. We've been yelling and arguing about the money we have or the lack of money on the island. I want to make this clear statement. There is money on the island, there isn't money for the island. We see many articles and reports stating that the world's rich are getting richer. So why can't we apply this same logic to our 16 square miles? Covid-19 has shown to the common man how exploiting “big money man” are and the lengths they go through to do such. The big money man in our context is a list of people, from the Dutch to the millionaires on the island, our “established families” and even a good bit of our members of parliament and the government. In figuring out how to collaborate and figure out how we are going to feed the people of this country, we have to look at ALL the big money man, understand how the class system has pushed us into high levels of poverty, and look at how as legislators and members of the executive come together and work together. Now you might tell me, but Kamilah ain't da wa the petition doing? No, it's not. I'm not against the idea of the petition but as my good and I came to the conclusion the other day, the lack of collective effort on the petition from members of parliament, the government, and input from the people of Sint Maarten has made it into a weird situation where for a long time people who were on board couldn't properly explain what was happening in the document. It gives me this is our group project but only one person worked on it so when the teacher asked another student to answer they have to make up something to sound reasonable and that's not good. The solution to the lack of collaboration that was mentioned above actually has a conversation with each other. Not a “hey we are going to work on this.'I going to check on you later *thumbs up emoji* but an actual dialogue across the board to come up with actual solutions so that the next time a disaster hits us we do not have to be in this same situation again. Lastly, an important factor of being collaborative and having these discussions that will lead to solutions is the use of media and is intentionally having clear and transparent dialogues respectfully. I had to laugh typing the previous sentence because if you've listened to any, I mean any radio interview in the last three weeks, you will be led astray by both the interviewees and the interviewers. This paragraph is dedicated to the folks who get paid by advertisements. The LACK, read this carefully, the lack of professionalism on the radio waves is disgusting. I've always questioned our journalism but this last year has been full of rants with no substance, yelling matches, and a lot of them lying to us and misogyny. Instead of facilitating proper discussions, you are facilitating confusion which leads to unclarity and unfortunately misinformation and that's a violation of all journalism ethics. Take a deep breath, Kamilah. This entire essay can be applied to those who love a Facebook post and rant about the government isn't doing anything but they aren't. This can be applied to those who shrug everything off and live in their bubble having the time of their lives. Change the context from being political to whichever social setting you are in, this can be applied to such. That's why I said this is a call-out on everyone. We talk about wanting different, wanting change but aren't willing to work together to achieve the same goal just because we have different ideas and I don't want to mix my ideas with others. And guess wa. It's a damn shame. As the US and other parts of the world celebrate Black History Month, I want to take the opportunity to reflect on our communities and how we can strive to make it better for all of us. This piece is written in the context of living in Caribbean islands and how the blatant anti-Blackness in majority Black nations and communities and held us back socially, politically, and economically. The best way to start this off by setting the main blame to the ones that deserve it the most, to the colonizers. It’s interesting to see that there are people who do not truly see how the majority of the negatives in our society and communities stem from colonialism, imperialism, and white supremacy. Yes, you might live in an area where white people are the few and your people have power positions but it would be ignorant to ignore how we got to these systems, these “societal” ideas in the first place. As Europe, and then America had their heavy hand across the globe, they made sure to separate and conquer. Find every reason to separate the various types of people whether by tone, language, disability, sexuality, gender, hair texture, everything. These types of situations and tactics have led us to the world that we know today, an anti-Black Black nation. To note, your anti-Blackness can consist of colorism, ableism, anti-fatness, classism homophobia, and transphobia. The first thing you’re subjected to at birth “oh yes the baby is so light, I hope they stay this color and do not get dark”. That type of subjection lives through the life of the child as they integrate into society. At a certain age, children stop wanting to play outside in the sun because “they done Black enough” or “they don’t want to get dark”. Darker children are compared to tires or the tar that’s used to pave the streets. But those children had to hear those words from somewhere? Some adults in their lives pride themselves on having to be lighter because they know it’s going to give them more opportunities in work or make them look more desirable to those in public. Children hear and see and share those same thoughts with other children. It creates bullies and kickstarts a lot of mental illness issues within a lot of children as well. Change the wording of this paragraph with wording and slurs and that fits ableism, anti-fatness, classism, homophobia, and transphobia and you have an early catalyst to your issue. Then we make it to high school. Students are more understanding of the power of their words and have been indoctrinated to say what their society tells them is 100% true. Add that to the colonial systems that students are slightly aware of, in these institutions and now we have a bigger issue. The main example I’ll be using is my high school, St. Dominic High School. For those who aren’t familiar with Sint Maarten and their schools, St. Dominic was the only catholic high school and was considered the school that all the “smart” children attend. These students were seen as stuck up, “upper middle class” and felt they were better than everyone. This school was also seen as the “Indian” school as many members of the Indian community sent their children to this institution. The issue is the school had an image, a very anti-Black we conform to what is a “presentable” image, and that structure was harmful to many students. I am only able to speak for my year, and year above me, but we didn’t fit the norm of the institution. Most of us were “too local”, we spoke with heavy accents, we were loud and we hung out with people that might be considered as the “wrong crowd”. We were too local, too Black and they treated us as such. My first form year, specifically class had some issues. If you know, you know, if you don’t know, well, just know it wasn’t the best. However, a lot of the issues could’ve been avoided if they treated us like normal human beings. The institution allowed all forms of bullying to thrive whether it was between those within the same year or those who were upperclassmen. They also did not truly care about anyone’s well-being. Now you may ask how is this anti-Black. Remember, my first form class wasn’t the best, and we also had a higher concentration of Black students, the more “well behaved” class had a higher concentration of Indian and other non-Black students. Issues in that class were resolved with mediation them punishment, the issues in our class were resolved with punishment which led to more issues and more punishment, and then finally some type of mediation and forcing a bunch of 12 and 13-year-olds to sign a brand new document holding them accountable for all their actions. This type of behavior continued when it came it dress codes, absents, and basically just breathing in the institution. They policed Black bodies every single day and allowed non-Black bodies to have a little freedom from the none we had. Do you know that very anti-Black rhetoric of sexualizing Black girls? That was the main issue when the boys in the school were fighting for short pants. We live on a tropical island, wearing long pants all-day can get uncomfortable. Various students expressed this and even got most of the school to sign petitions (pen and paper by the way) asking for these shorts. The papers got to the principal’s desk and stayed there until it was time to throw them out. The students were rightfully mad. The argument that was made? The pants would’ve been too short and would fit inappropriately on the girls. Curves, the issue was curves. Situations like these, teachers questioning and mocking your sexuality, privilege on who got to grow out their hair or not, or could get away with coloring it “their non-natural color” or not or how many piercings you have or not has affected all children and spilled out in society and how we determine what is moral, what is professional, what is accepted. My hair color, my skin color, my piercings, my fatness, my sexuality, should not be the determining factor if I’m a capable human being and if I deserve the right to live. We love to shout human rights but we don’t realize the blatant anti-Blackness in our Black communities are violations such rights to survive, we harm ourselves and others to fit into this status quo, and if they don’t we harm them. Check your anti-Blackness. Happy Black History Month.  We are in the middle of a panoramic, sorry I meant pandemic. Covid-19 is a consistent conversation in our daily lives. With cases and death numbers on a raise, 2021 will be another pandemic year. Over the last month and change, many countries have been rolling out Covid-19 vaccines in hopes of stopping the spread and allow society to go back to some type of normalcy. In typical human fashion, many people have their qualms with the vaccine, which is valid. Especially if you are a Black person, you would have your restraints with the medical industry, especially look at its history. However, what a lot of our communities are doing isn’t a valid concern, it’s extreme fear-mongering. From the weird twitter posts to extensive rants and videos on WhatsApp, the level of misinformation is going to cause more harm than good. Yes, we know there are some home remedies that can help with any sickness and or disease, but science has developed that using a combination of both can help a person long term. Spreading myths about the vaccine and how the white person is trying to posing us, is going to allow Covid-19 to continue to kill people at a very high rate since persons are now even more convinced that the vaccine is going to make them malfunction or include microchips (side note, your phone is already tracking you). Like I mentioned before, there are valid reasons to be skeptical, especially if you are a Black person, however, it doesn’t mean you have the right to spread misinformation. Take the time out and do proper research on each type of vaccine that is available in your community, the benefits of it, and how it can help us with this pandemic. My favorite take of the entire situation came from sports media personality Bomani Jones on his podcast The Right Time with Bomani Jones, where he mentions that if white people, rich white people are rushing to get this vaccine, that means it definitely safe enough for him to get because they aren’t killing off the rich white folks. And, he has a point. To wrap up this quick piece, I’m not telling you to take the vaccine. It’s your own body and you can do what you want. However, sharing anti-vax sentiments, especially across various social media has shown more negative effects than good. You are making people more fearful than they need to be in this time of uncertainty. Click here for a link to the Sint Maarten's government website on what all you need to know about the Covid-19 Vaccine. Remember to stay at home if you can, mask up, social distance, and wash your hands often. Take Covid-19 seriously and do not wait until you or someone you know has it to take precautions. |
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