August 12, 2022
From the Venezuelan migrant and political crisis, to the political crisis in Nicaragua to sex trafficking in the Dominican Republic and the ubiquitous poverty in Haiti, we have tended to neglect our non-Anglophone brothers and sisters in the dialogue as if they are not there when they are.
We need to remember some of them came from the same African tribes that the Europeans stole us from. Especially in Colombia, the Dominican Republic and Haiti and Panama, we are so very similar in people.
What can we do to bridge the language divide so we can reason together on these challenges of the region? Caribbean Magazine Plus is trying with our various contests, whether it is poetry or short-stories or music, nothing expresses thoughts and feelings like the arts. Regardless of what language you speak, everyone can appreciate art.
But some of these places are burning. No art can solve the political crisis in Venezuela. No amount of music can deal with President Ortega in Nicaragua. No one feels poetic in Haiti right now. So what we must do is keep the channels of dialogue open in hopes there is breakthrough in their challenges. We are not talking about pieces of land, but we are talking about people. There are living, breathing human beings in these countries and we must love them.