Friends, it is with great emotion that I pen this letter to you. I am pensive, yet insightful, as I reflect on what I have personally endured and experienced over the past 5 years. It is with great anticipation that I count down the days to April 22, 2015. For far too long, we have been puppets in a never-ending masquerade. But the show ends now, my friends. It is time to restore and rebuild Anguilla, and my support is firmly and steadfastly behind Cora Richardson Hodge to help get this monumental task accomplished. Cora has the ability to deal with cognitive processes. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science, a juris doctor degree and a legal education certificate which, in my opinion, means she is well qualified. Not to mention, she has also had her own law practice for almost 10 years.
Here are some key points that I want you to consider:
1 – To my mind, human intellectual competence must entail a set of problem-solving skills enabling an individual to resolve any genuine problems or difficulties that he or she encounters and, when appropriate, to create an effective product. It must also entail the potential for laying the ground work for great strategies of innovation and resurgence of great ideas, particularly as they relate to diversifying our economy. You have read the summary of who Cora is and what she is capable of. Fellow Anguillians around the globe, aren’t we fortunate to have this quick-witted young woman wanting to serve our people? I am positive the answer is “YES!”. She has the global capacity to act purposefully, think rationally, and to deal effectively with her environment which is such a meaningful world topic today. This is a difficult path to navigate, but I am sure she will be laser-focused on the economy.
2 – The changing demographic of the world today should stir great concern for all involved and we must act quickly with massive fire power to do the right thing for all Anguillians. I know Cora will do it with unwavering persistence.
3 – We need a strategy of multiple components and all of us need to come together for economic and spiritual revival. Cora is a multifaceted woman. She is a wife, a mother, a sister, a daughter, a professional, a community activist, a volunteer, a humanitarian….the list goes on and on. We need people with dynamic minds who excel at balancing their personal and professional lives.
4 – The contemptuous theatre of criticism of our young intelligent people should not be tolerated. Our young brilliant minds should never allow themselves to be target practice for anyone – especially for individuals struggling with loss of brain function. The inflammatory rhetoric towards our very own intellectual heavyweight, Cora Richardson Hodge, by a very miniscule portion of her family is something that is beyond anything I have ever seen in my lifetime. We all should be cognizant of the fact that after elections have passed there will be winners and losers. Both will go their separate ways but family connection will always remain and any disconnection of the same could very well be a detriment to one’s psyche.
Cora’s family background is one of immense love and is much to be admired. Up to today, her background is one of role-model worthiness to others. Her late grandmother, Miss Ma Jane as she was called, was a “village-and-beyond” mother. She made sure she shared whatever she had with the little hungry ones, such as myself, coming from school – especially if she knew one’s parents. She gave us motherly advice and would even chastise us when we got out of hand. I recall going home from school one afternoon with a group of colleagues and we proceeded walking across the East End pond water, after being forbidden by our teacher and our parents to do so, due to the nasty water being a potential source of us picking up foot diseases. But this is where it got very interesting. Miss Ma Jane authoritatively ordered us out of the pond and gave us a motherly tongue-lashing. And that’s still not all to that story. Each and every one of us had to deliver a message from her to our wonderful mothers, explaining exactly what had taken place and we had to deliver a secondary part to that message saying that we had to be flogged – which we were. But….there is always a “but”.
I, Sheridan, in particular had to take a message back to Miss Ma Jane on my way to school the next morning, letting her know her mission had been accomplished. But having to deliver that message so early in the morning was like winning a prize. I had to pass very close to where the johnny cakes were being baked and was able to intercept not one, but two johnny cakes! Cora’s grandmother was a doll of a mother. If Cora’s grandmother and her late uncle, Gifford Richardson, were around today, they both would be proud of her, mainly for her, great accomplishments to date as a young, brilliant, professional who is about to undertake an even more challenging role as she aims to help take Anguilla to new heights. Fellow Anguillians, and specifically the East End community, I am positively sure that you will agree with me that it is not a coincidence that Cora Richardson Hodge is who she is. Miss Ma Jane’s genes have been well replicated in the caring, yet firm, woman that her granddaughter is today. Several years ago she pursued and executed the HOPE Center in East End, a learning institution for children. She has also implemented a monthly food basket donation drive to approximately 100 families in Anguilla.
Anguillians, this is one of the reasons why I am fully backing Cora for the upcoming elections. I have engaged hundreds, both here and abroad, to vote for her. With God’s blessings upon her, she will be successful on April 22nd. The future and prosperity of our island are dependent upon the effective and dedicated skills of our leaders. A good leader must have the internal fortitude to deliver positively and truly care about the people of Anguilla. The slogan, “It’s All About You”, is one that I am confident Cora will uphold for the betterment and onward progression of this island. I am a firm believer in the fact that Cora will utilize and follow any prior prescription handed down to her by her astute ancestors even though she has her own built-in compass…a compass that would take Anguilla to a prosperous destination once again. History has shown us that it takes a special kind of leader, with unique competence and skills, to successfully build great companies and governments. I believe that Cora will reach the highest pinnacle of leadership and is sufficiently ready to help lead us into a brighter tomorrow. To all Anguillians, we are geographically positioned for greatness. Anguilla is a potential gold mine but we need 100% of our smartest with great management skills and experience – to take us on that journey.Fortunately, this time around, we do have a promising pool of brain – running to be elected – to accomplish the job. Not only are these individuals powerfully committed to seeing Anguilla rise from the proverbial ashes, but they display basic principles: dignity and respect. Good manners will never go out of style, my friends.
To you, the intellectuals of District 2, I have been liaising with you – especially my friends and schoolmates – to accept my judgment as an investor in the tourism sector in this most blessed country of Anguilla. I have shared my thoughts and explained why we, as a people, should consider doing the honorable thing by electing the most diligent and most qualified individuals to office. For too long, our elected leaders have put “self” first. We need to put people in office who think about US first: our island, our economy, our jobs, our children, our health, our investments, our businesses, our safety…the list can go on and on and on.
We MUST elect those who will seek to put US first as a people and as a nation. We have suffered violent, irreparable, damage over the past few years. It is time for us to collectively shake off the dust of our sorrows, our losses, our disappointments, our betrayal by the so called leadership of this land, and put on the cloak of success, prosperity, innovation and integrity once again. It is time for Anguilla to rebuild and rebound. With Cora’s qualification she can survive on any part of this world and could easily fall in the category of Rhys Hodge or Phyllis Fleming-Banks. Anguillians, we have great potential as a people. We can do anything we put our minds to. We have to embrace innovative thinkers. I know a little about innovative thinkers as I come from a family of innovative thinkers. Two of my late brothers, Captain Kirby Hodge and Captain Cardy Hodge, were two of the most innovative thinkers I have ever encountered. They were patriotic Anguillians who were treated like animals by a few evil barbarians. Because of those ingrates’ actions my brothers were mentally assassinated on many levels. They are not with us today because they were prevented from making a viable living on their very own shores. We cannot allow anyone or anything to let history repeat itself to the detriment of our families or this nation. We need change, and we need people who encompass their own people and build them up – and not directly or indirectly tear them down. I believe with every drop of blood in my body that Cora Richardson Hodge is one key ingredient to Anguilla being restored and I urge each and every one of you to go out to the polls on April 22, 2015 and prove your point. If Cora is in, we all win!
May God bless you all and may God continue to bless Anguilla.
Sheridan Smith
