In July 2016, I wrote an opinion-editorial on “Are We Still Caught Up in the Days of Slavery?” This article was written to raise conscious awareness on how we are still mentally enslaved and ways to regain our freedom. It was published in The Anguillian. Ten years later, I find my mind’s thoughts focussed on the same subject and wondering whether or not we as a small island society have made any progress since then.
As we prepare to celebrate Emancipation Day 2026 on the 1st of August, I am questioning whether we have totally forgotten about what our ancestors endured during the days of slavery. In this day and age, there are many people who are still unaware of, or chose to ignore and be complicit with, the Babylon system that keeps the masses of people down-pressed.
It seems to me that instead of paying attention to liberating ourselves from mental enslavement, we are intent on getting caught up in the merrymaking of carnival. Anguilla’s Summer Festival has taken over and become a commercialised celebration of cultural events or a big fête, that is all about bringing in tourists, making money, and spending our hard-earned dollars.
Now, I believe that to survive and thrive in this world, all’a we need to have things that bring us enjoyment. But at what cost to our souls and to the development of our nation? Too often, we hear of favouritism or politics involved in the Calypso competitions and Queen Shows. Why are we subjecting our young women to beauty pageants and objectifying females? To be fair and unbiased, we should have a King Show for the youthful men. Then, we’d equally promote female and male genders.
We should be concerned about the kinds of images and impressions that we are advertising and marketing to younger generations. When I see a sister-friend’s five-year old grandson dancing rudely, it makes me query what we are teaching the children. From babies to toddlers to primary and secondary school ages, boys and girls are imitating what they see daily.
They cannot always differentiate between what’s positive and what is negative, what they ought to emulate, and what is unacceptable. I’ve seen young boys, youths, and men grab their crotches in public and wear their pants hanging so low that you can see their bottom cracks. In today’s modern culture, the ghetto, or the hood that type of behaviour may be deemed acceptable. But to me, personally, it’s lewd, rude, and unflattering.
Call me old-fashioned, outdated or whatever. I respect my body as a temple and I do my best to conduct and dress myself appropriately. Everyone is entitled to wear whatever he or she wants to cloth their bodies in. Nonetheless, we must have a mindfulness for respectability and dignity, dressing appropriately for the occasion, event, place, and setting. Girls and women can dress to attract admirers without exposing so much skin. Leaving something to the imagination is more enticing than revealing practically naked bodies.
Because we live in a male dominated, patriarchal world where girls and women for centuries have been pressed down, told what to do, what to wear, etcetera, we females have forgotten the divinity that resides inside each one of us. We have lost the sovereignty of ourselves. That is also true for males. The roles that are imposed on us from birth confine us from becoming the great human beings whom the Creator designed us to be.
We all know that our economy relies on tourism dollars to support this nation, which is overruled by another country. But extravagantly spending financial resources on Summer Festival that lasts for a little over one week doesn’t help any of the people who have significantly diminished incomes and are struggling to make ends meet with ever-increasing costs of living. Every month prices rise higher for food, beverages, and various products that we utilise. From one week to the next everything is going up with the exception of petro. Surprisingly, it had decreased the last time I filled up my vehicle’s tank.
So, I say to the Government of Anguilla officials and local merchants, “Yur need ta find ways ta lower prices on goods ‘n services cause de majority ov us can’t survive if de cost of livin’ keeps increasing substantially. Yur’ve got ta implement sustainable initiatives dat help ALL’A WE ‘N BLESS EVERYBODY.”
Ms. Kay M Ferguson is a contributing columnist who writes on diverse topics affecting the Anguilla community. She encourages everyone to evolve and positively transform our world. Link with Kay at anguillawriter@gmail.com.
