"Never refuse to give a wing to the man that gave you the chicken."
Anonymous quote

It is said that patience is virtue, for just when I was on the verge of dismissing the entire Caribbean region with their numerous ego inflated leaders as a bunch of useless , directionless, comical folks like one of our now very famous Nobel Literature figure claimed with more eloquence than I , they produced a surprise that gave me some semblance of hope.Wasn't it a famous African saying that " a million miles begin with the first step?" Perhaps I got that wrong , it was Chinese . The now famous African saying was that "it takes a village."
Today the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution to finally put in place the final structure for a authentic memoral to highlight the past sufferings for millions of Africans and their numerous decendants that were captured in Africa, and brought to the " new world" via the horrendous trans Atlantic voyage to serve eventually as slaves to service the European economic machine where countless died in the process.

The Atlantic slave trade can be considered as the most barbaric and dehumanizing of all the atrocious acts that was ever committed by man towards another, but you would not know it if you were some alien on your first earthly vacation as you look through our history books , gleen the pages of our media and listen to the lamentations of other races that benefited from slavery , yet quick to elevate and or equate their historical struggles to the same levels.
Many were abuse , misused , raped , divided , deprived of meaningful education and basic benefits and the legascy has remained not surprisingly with us today.

There are two distinctive views I have on the subject. One I keep to myself , the other I like to make aloud to some of the good folks from across the Dispora. The first is that the Caribbean is the beneficiary of the smartest of the lot that was transplanted from the motherland. Want proof, take a look at good old America today. It is experiencing one of it's most devastating economic periods in history outside of ther depression. Fortunately a visionary leader that happen to be partly of African descent is on the verge of assuming power, and there are still thousands of African American still unregistered and uncaring as to the need to vote and play a significant role in the history of their country.
You developed the audacity to enquire from an Irish American why he so foolish to have voted for the first Irish American Catholic for President in JFK back when they dis ,and see if you do not end up with a bloddy nose for your efforts. People of African decent whose ancestors helped build America for free , with no compensation , and were often treated with less worth than property and animals are finding themselves going on the defensive as to why they should vote for a man that can turn out to be the smartest President since FDR. Would this delima take place in the Caribbean where children of African royalty were taken several centuries ago. Never for they are the smart ones!
The second view that I alluded to is that the African continent , and its children across the globe has suffered immeasurably , and none of the various nations can enjoy any semblance of sustainable success until efforts are first made to deal with the pain ,hurt, and indignity that was foistered on them with a view to "making wrongs right."
It is no coincidence that most African nations are in turmoil even when one throw in the Cold War as an explaination. Take a look at social relationships by Afro Caribbean and Americans and it is clear the levels of self hatred in existence. Black on black violence are the norm ,the stewardships of black political , as well as middle class leaders working in the interest of their own are quite abysmal when stacked up against others in similar positions.
Ever the optimist I'll continue to look at the bright side in the hope that one day African people globally will finally be able to reach their full potential and be a positive force in the world again. Thousand of Africans are dying daily as they attempt to escsape to Europe via North Africa and Spain. Four hundred years ago Europens did not even need a passport to enter Africa so as to bigin their exploitation drives.
Time is of essence , however as our children need to be fitted with the tools so as to hold their place as future leaders. Today was again the begining of a very proud day , for me and millions of fellow human beings across the globe simply because of the actions of a few of our Caribbean leaders at the august global body .
Their initial actions , and the overwhelming favourable responses might just be the catalyst for change through unity around a common cause that is desperately needed to build common bridges , people , nations and continents as we all acknowledge then seek mutally acceptable means to heal and move forward together in peace and dignity.
Think of the possibilities from Latin America , to the Pacific , Africa , English and French speaking caribbean , North America and Europe where the effects of the ugly face of slavery was felt.