As we go about our daily lives, the cries of the people we come into contact with are similar: “Things are hard”. “Life is rough”. We often wonder if our leaders hear the cries of our people, if they notice that children are going to bed hungry, that people are on the brink of homelessness, if they see the kerosene lamps that light the homes of many. Or, are they like clouds simply drifting with the wind, changing shape and form depending on the prevailing conditions, oblivious to what is happening to the people under their leadership. We believe that Anguilla is in crisis, and it is difficult in these times not to reflect on our journey as a nation and ask ourselves: have we progressed as a people?
The Anguilla Revolution of 1967 was preceded by a series of events, one of which was the 1958 petition to the Governor of the Leeward Islands asking him to dissolve the association of Anguilla with St Kitts. In that petition, our people warned the Governor that “a people cannot live without hope for long without erupting socially”. Those words came true a few years later. Anguilla’s lack of development and its poor living conditions led to increased dissatisfaction with its legislative union with St Kitts. When, against the wishes of the people, this union was cemented by constitutional change that was brought into being the Associated State of St Kitts, Nevis and Anguilla, rebellion ensued and Anguillians would be satisfied with nothing less than direct administration from Britain.
It is often said that people make the best decisions they can based on the information they have at the time. It is clear that the leaders of the Anguilla Revolution, with the support of the people, made their decisions in the best interests of Anguilla. They chose what they considered at the time to be the lesser of two evils – the path that would take them closer to their vision of a better Anguilla.
Forty five years later, we can say that we have benefitted in many tangible ways from the decisions made and actions taken by those bold visionaries. However, despite our advancements, our constitutional status is still a source of discontent for many, irrespective of political affiliation. This union is often described by Britain as a partnership, but we must admit that it is not an equal partnership – that the bargaining power of each party is greatly imbalanced. As to how and whether this is to be addressed, is where opinions differ greatly.
It seems, however,that there is a growing view that our current social and economic conditions are the result of our relationship with Britain, just as our pre-1967 state of under-development was attributed to our union with St Kitts. With this view, comes increasing dissatisfaction with that relationship among many. Is history repeating itself? Are we back to where we started? These are the questions that come to mind when we see fathers in despair because they cannot feed their families, businesses closing down, increased taxation and rising food prices. When we couple this with what can only be described as messages of hate and intolerance – that seem to have been clothed in legitimacy by our media and touted as free speech – we I can only wonder if Anguilla is again a country on the brink of rebellion. Are we once again a people without hope? Are the guns wielded by our young men, and the continuous bickering of our leaders, signs that we are “erupting socially”?
We believe Anguilla is at a crossroads. The direction in which we go is dependent on the vision that we have for our people and for future generations. We must therefore first have a vision because, as the saying goes, “if you don’t know where you are going any road will take you there.” May we suggest that this period in our journey as a nation, is not the time for rebellion, but rather solemn reflection and self-assessment. It is not a time for being reactionary, but being visionary. It is not a time for blaming others for our problems, but concentrating our efforts on working together to find solutions. We appeal to all sides of the political divide to act responsibly, and in the interests of all our people, so when the history books are written we can feel confident that our leaders, with the support of the people, made the best decisions possible given the circumstances.
