Progress is not a collective movement. It is a series of individual ones that move the collective. When the cell phone was invented, everyone didn’t wake up on the same day and venture out to buy one. It took years but one by one we bought into 24hr personal access and now we can’t live without them. The same is true of the internet. We went and each bought our computers and signed up for $19.95 dial up service. Everyday people await progress. They are waiting for progress to knock on their door and say you’re next. It doesn’t happen like that. While there is inspiration, there is no miracle that comes along and transforms you to success. It happens slowly and it is an individual decision and not one of the collective.
Even in the worst of times men prosper. While so many remain unemployed and continue to lose their homes and other worldly possessions success plods on. I say this because opportunity is an elusive mistress. It is like being the only one in a 3D movie without the glasses. Everyone is oohing and ahhhing at the marvelous things that are happening on screen and you cannot see it. In order to see the opportunity you have to be ready to see it. You have to stop seeing the world as flat and build dimension into your static perception of the world around you.
Opportunity is not only elusive but it is also scary, it causes you to move from a place of relative comfort to a place of unsurety. You ever wonder why immigrants are so successful. They move to a new country with nothing and a generation later they are living among the most productive. They are wearing their 3D glasses, they can see the opportunity the people who have been there all their lives have failed to see. Not only have they seen it but when you come from a position of nothing it is no risk to move forward. That is to move from a place of discomfort to one of comfort is a “no brainer”, you have nothing to lose.
In being prepared for opportunity you also have to be prepared to be “different”. People like to say that if they are ever get rich and successful they won’t change but there are two contradictions locked in that statement. First of all if you are talking about getting successful, it implies that you are not successful now, so in order to become successful something about you will have to change. Secondly, we are not worlds unto ourselves, you may not alter who you are but people will alter their perceptions and expectations of you which will have an effect on how you behave.
So it’s a foregone conclusion that you will change. Let’s face it, in this world, the majority of people are not successful. People attain success in their own right but to be truly successful one must be “different”. There is something about you that is unique and distinct from others. At first glance this seems like a good thing but let’s look further. Social acceptance is a hallmark of humanity. Humans like to feel like they are part of a group. Any sociologist will tell you this is true. When you decide to become successful, you step aside from the group and act differently in order to achieve your goals. This might be going to college, refusing drugs, going to church or moving out of the neighborhood.
You might say, well Albert, what’s so scary about that? Well it’s not so scary if everyone in your peer group is doing it, but if you are the only one then it becomes a problem. “Who do you think you are?” “You think you better than us”. “You feel you special”. People become afraid of you and afraid of you defying the odds and becoming successful. They say to themselves “if Jimmy and I were born in the same place, with the same race, grew up in the same neighborhood and attended the same schools how is it that he has become successful?” There are only two answers that people tell themselves to this question and it defines whether you are a victim or fighter. The first one is, “he is lucky” and the second is “I must be doing something wrong”.
Luck is when opportunity meets preparedness but that is another story, I want to concentrate on the “doing something wrong”. People hate to admit that they are wrong and once you admit that you’re wrong, then you have to do something about it and therein lies the challenge. It is much easier to await for “luck” or “progress to come knocking on your door. It is much easier to blame your lack of movement on everything from slavery to a bad economy. It is much more difficult to strive towards your success in spite of all the obstacles that are there to hold you back. In spite of being form a single parent household or being Hispanic or black or a woman. This is what successful people do, they defy logic, statistics and the odds. Despite what anyone may say, you dedicate yourself to simply doing the next thing on your road to success, taking that next step because the next step is always the most important one.
Moving forward not only takes risk but it takes a lot of work. It’s not only a lot of work; it’s a lot of work on a variety of fronts. Its work on your emotional front, it may take changing your attitude and who you spend your time with including family and friends. It may be work on the financial side as you may have to reorder your priorities, get an extra job or forego something that you really want because it’s not in a direct path to your line of success. It is work on the educational and foundational side as you may have to go back to school to get the skills you need. Primarily it’s a lot of work on the time side as you will have to sacrifice a lot of your leisure time with friends and family to get there.
One thing that I know, there is no overnight success. There is no such thing. Even the lotto winners have been buying their tickets for years! The most important thing is to find those people with the 3D glasses and get you a pair. The first step is to believe that success and progress is there. No one goes trekking off to find a land that they don’t believe exists. You have to believe that there is success and that you are going to find it. It’s almost like magic how your vision clears and you see the world differently when you believe that success is imminent. Suddenly, challenges become opportunities. Things that were perceived as risk are now seen as ladders to where you want to be.
I am challenging you to see the world through your very own 3D glasses to embrace being different and seek out new opportunities. This is a challenge to success to do much more than those that came before you and when you achieve this success, as you will, remember to look back and make sure that you help somebody else find those 3D glasses.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Character & Context
Last Sunday, I decided I would wash my car and proceeded to the nearest car wash. After calculating the cost of the power wash machine and the time it would take, I decided to have my car washed. As such I proceeded to the parking lot in Christiansted and got one of the “guys on the corner”. As it was Sunday and I was dressed in my finest car wash apparel, consisting of a wrinkled old shirt, shades, hat and sandals to match, I found a nice shady spot under the tree on the corner. I essentially took on the context and the uniform (character) of the typical “corner man”.
Having some time to spare, I conducted my own little social experiment and it revealed countless lessons but for the sake of today’s discussion we will stick to two, “Context and Character”. As I was a black male, sitting on a street corner in my Sunday “home clothes”, I was virtually unrecognizable. I sat in awe and amusement as people who would normally say hello whizzed by while I was sitting there. It seemed like I had become invisible. Like no one was aware that I was there reminiscent of Richard Wright’s Invisible man.
I wondered to myself if this was the feeling of most of our young black males in our community. We have made them invisible ignoring the hardships of their plight. You see, taken out of context (TV, Stage, Office, and Neighborhood) and out of character (Suit, Tie, polo, shoes), I had essentially become invisible too. The street clothes seemed to have camouflaged me into somebody else’s problem. It essentially put me outside of the realm or society that I was accustomed to.
One of my favorite postulates is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Essentially it says that humans have 5 degrees of needs that are fulfilled in priority order from food and shelter to the highest which is absence of prejudice and acceptance of fact (self actualization). Key on this ladder up the pyramid of needs is acceptance. It is essential that humans feel accepted and a part of the society in which they exists. If they cannot fit in the society that we have created, they will create a society of their own.
A society of their own would include “context”, the corner or under a tree as well as “character”. Character or uniform would take the shape of sandals, short pants and shades and may or may not include weapons. The society would set up its own economic system on a black market and establish its own laws or street rules by which all the citizens would abide by. If this is not sounding vaguely familiar by now you have been living on another planet for the last couple years. We have basically created a fringe society or societies that do not adhere to the same tenets, code or laws that we traditionally abide by.
As we have seen from the recent violence taking place in our community the results of this splintering of our societies has dramatic and drastic consequences. By ignoring members of our society that were clearly crying out for help we are forced now to enter into a battle of wills with an opponent that is fiercer and has little regard for playing by the rules.
This teaches us that we are all inevitably connected. This more evident in this microcosm we call a community. We live a little closer here so we can see the effect up close and in color. We have to address this mis-socialization of our black males and re-absorb them into our community. We have to figure out a way to attract them to our way of life. The reason that America works is because it has guaranteed a relatively high standard of living to all that work hard. That promise is becoming increasingly difficult to be true to in continental America thereby rendering it almost impossible in the Virgin Islands. The lack of jobs and the shift to more specialized jobs needing extensive education and or experience only exacerbates the problem.
These young people have become disillusioned with the American dream because they do not believe it is attainable for them. You might argue that America still guarantees equal opportunity but it does not guarantee equal resources. Loving parents, economic stability, nurturing environments, socialization and access to resources are not guaranteed by constitutional amendments. This leaves the playing feel disproportionately uneven for minorities and the economically challenged. They don’t know why they are locked out of the mainstream society and even more frightening they have stopped caring why!
I think the solution to this problem has several facets and we must meet in the middle on this issue. I think that we have to stop ignoring these young men and women and see what we can do to help, they are outside because they do not know where the doors are located and have no idea how to spin the locks. All the assumptions that we normally make are to be left by the wayside and start from scratch. You cannot rehabilitate someone that has not been habilitated. Let’s start from scratch and teach them the basics of the societal interaction and the new rules to societal success.
We have to make them see the benefits of joining our society. Just like anything else, if there is nothing in it for them they will see no need to join. We have to create opportunities that are attractive to them and are filled with hope, a future and a real shot at the American dream. We didn’t see jail or the cemetery as a vial option when we were young because we couldn’t wait to enjoy the fruits of our imminent success. We never expected any less and this should be the expectation of all of our youth.
We have to stop making excuses for them when they fail. They are quite capable of succeeding given the tools and the time. We only charge them to mediocrity when we limit the scope of their goals and dreams. They have to learn that you probably won’t every time but the most important thing about failure is getting up.
Finally, Character and Context defines us for the rest of the society. If you want to be successful you are going to have to put on the uniform of success and hang out with successful people in places that nurture success. Unless you’re a rapper or a basketball player wearing the uniform of one won’t be much help in this world. It would be like dressing like a waiter in restaurant and wondering why everyone kept calling you to fill their order. Hanging under the tree will make you a fleeting thought, invisible not only to the society but to the success therein it. Next time you see one of these brothers sitting under a tree encourage them to take off their camouflage and help them to join us.
Having some time to spare, I conducted my own little social experiment and it revealed countless lessons but for the sake of today’s discussion we will stick to two, “Context and Character”. As I was a black male, sitting on a street corner in my Sunday “home clothes”, I was virtually unrecognizable. I sat in awe and amusement as people who would normally say hello whizzed by while I was sitting there. It seemed like I had become invisible. Like no one was aware that I was there reminiscent of Richard Wright’s Invisible man.
I wondered to myself if this was the feeling of most of our young black males in our community. We have made them invisible ignoring the hardships of their plight. You see, taken out of context (TV, Stage, Office, and Neighborhood) and out of character (Suit, Tie, polo, shoes), I had essentially become invisible too. The street clothes seemed to have camouflaged me into somebody else’s problem. It essentially put me outside of the realm or society that I was accustomed to.
One of my favorite postulates is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Essentially it says that humans have 5 degrees of needs that are fulfilled in priority order from food and shelter to the highest which is absence of prejudice and acceptance of fact (self actualization). Key on this ladder up the pyramid of needs is acceptance. It is essential that humans feel accepted and a part of the society in which they exists. If they cannot fit in the society that we have created, they will create a society of their own.
A society of their own would include “context”, the corner or under a tree as well as “character”. Character or uniform would take the shape of sandals, short pants and shades and may or may not include weapons. The society would set up its own economic system on a black market and establish its own laws or street rules by which all the citizens would abide by. If this is not sounding vaguely familiar by now you have been living on another planet for the last couple years. We have basically created a fringe society or societies that do not adhere to the same tenets, code or laws that we traditionally abide by.
As we have seen from the recent violence taking place in our community the results of this splintering of our societies has dramatic and drastic consequences. By ignoring members of our society that were clearly crying out for help we are forced now to enter into a battle of wills with an opponent that is fiercer and has little regard for playing by the rules.
This teaches us that we are all inevitably connected. This more evident in this microcosm we call a community. We live a little closer here so we can see the effect up close and in color. We have to address this mis-socialization of our black males and re-absorb them into our community. We have to figure out a way to attract them to our way of life. The reason that America works is because it has guaranteed a relatively high standard of living to all that work hard. That promise is becoming increasingly difficult to be true to in continental America thereby rendering it almost impossible in the Virgin Islands. The lack of jobs and the shift to more specialized jobs needing extensive education and or experience only exacerbates the problem.
These young people have become disillusioned with the American dream because they do not believe it is attainable for them. You might argue that America still guarantees equal opportunity but it does not guarantee equal resources. Loving parents, economic stability, nurturing environments, socialization and access to resources are not guaranteed by constitutional amendments. This leaves the playing feel disproportionately uneven for minorities and the economically challenged. They don’t know why they are locked out of the mainstream society and even more frightening they have stopped caring why!
I think the solution to this problem has several facets and we must meet in the middle on this issue. I think that we have to stop ignoring these young men and women and see what we can do to help, they are outside because they do not know where the doors are located and have no idea how to spin the locks. All the assumptions that we normally make are to be left by the wayside and start from scratch. You cannot rehabilitate someone that has not been habilitated. Let’s start from scratch and teach them the basics of the societal interaction and the new rules to societal success.
We have to make them see the benefits of joining our society. Just like anything else, if there is nothing in it for them they will see no need to join. We have to create opportunities that are attractive to them and are filled with hope, a future and a real shot at the American dream. We didn’t see jail or the cemetery as a vial option when we were young because we couldn’t wait to enjoy the fruits of our imminent success. We never expected any less and this should be the expectation of all of our youth.
We have to stop making excuses for them when they fail. They are quite capable of succeeding given the tools and the time. We only charge them to mediocrity when we limit the scope of their goals and dreams. They have to learn that you probably won’t every time but the most important thing about failure is getting up.
Finally, Character and Context defines us for the rest of the society. If you want to be successful you are going to have to put on the uniform of success and hang out with successful people in places that nurture success. Unless you’re a rapper or a basketball player wearing the uniform of one won’t be much help in this world. It would be like dressing like a waiter in restaurant and wondering why everyone kept calling you to fill their order. Hanging under the tree will make you a fleeting thought, invisible not only to the society but to the success therein it. Next time you see one of these brothers sitting under a tree encourage them to take off their camouflage and help them to join us.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Competition is the American way!
Competition is the American way. It is the way that this country has become one of the greatest that the world has ever seen. It is the reason why we have the best athletes, the best agriculture, the best cities and the most diverse culture on the face of the planet. It is the reason why people flock to our shores from all sorts of erotic places. It is because this nation and the flag that flies over it is founded on principles that all men and women are created equal and have an equal opportunity to make the best life they can forge for them and their family. It is the reason that we have an African American President and a Hispanic Supreme Court justice. We insist on clearing the way for the best of the best to come forward and make this country greater. This is true wherever the stars and stripes reign supreme.
During the last 30 years we have seen the Virgin Islands go through some rapid change as we diversified our economy, populace and inevitably our culture. We have learned to accept people from all over the Caribbean, who have chosen to call these emeralds in the sea home. It was not without great pain and suffering that they were accepted but true to the promise of America they are now Virgin Islanders and their cultures have been infused in our language our food and our way of life. In the constant circle of life we have learned that to be Americans we are compelled by our constitution to accept those that have embraced the tenets of our constitution and the promise of a better life.
Our world is once again changing; we are witnessing the death of the industrial age in America. Detroit and the demise of the car industry is but the poster child of this change. Throughout the land there are less and less manufacturing jobs available. Locally we have seen the death of the watch industry, the closing of several of our rum distillers, the silencing of our once thriving Alumina plant and extinction of our pharmaceutical plants. This has been a trend all over America and an omen of the things to come. This current recession is but another warning of tougher times ahead unless we adapt for competition.
When we think of competition, we tend to think about it from a micro point of view. We think about competition as a battle or sport against another team or individual. We have to start thinking about competition in a macro/global or even better yet from a Territorial point of view. We set up scenarios where we compete against St. Thomas against St. Croix or St. John against the Territory. Our arguments are limited to our neighborhoods, communities and respective home islands. This is but a distraction to what is really at stake, our competitive edge in a Caribbean market and in a global market.
The best way to find out what your competition is like is to scout the market. Coaches look at their rival team’s tapes and find out their strengths as well as their weaknesses. For years we have enjoyed benefits that allowed us to have the edge over our competition. These laws restricted trade and imports, controlled the amount of immigration and allowed for tons of federal dollars to be spent on infrastructure in our schools, ports and other infrastructure. The Virgin Islands was a star in the Caribbean and everyone wanted to move here.
When was the last time you took a good look at our competition? Caribbean nations have been moving at light speed to capture a larger share of our tourism product. They have made alliances with foreign nations such as China and Venezuela, they have leveraged their position with America to weaken our trade compacts, they have invested in their infrastructure for the long haul and they have formed regional alliances to expand trade and increase their bargaining power.
What have we done while these countries were doing their homework and learning from our mistakes? True we had a lot to distract us as our population tripled and our infrastructure almost buckled under the weight but how have we kept our competitive edge? Or have we kept hungry and sharp looking for the next opportunity? Did we get complacent and rest on our laurels? That is a question only you can answer. The most important question is what are we going to do about it today?
Today is a daunting question because while the rest of the world has been training for the fight, America has been resting on her laurels and anyone who has tried to get back in shape knows that it is a painful process. The first few days of your workout can leave you paralyzed in pain. Our recovery, unfortunately will not take a few days but a few years. The main investment has to be in our workforce. Unless you have been asleep for the last 6 months you have to know that America is changing from a manufacturing to a service based industry. The reason why this is happening is simple, anything that a Detroit auto worker can do for $30 an hour, you can find an eager resident of India or China to do for $10 a day! This a serious blow to labor but nevertheless a reality of the 21st Century. We cannot beat them in price so we have to beat them in quality, innovation and productivity.
Moving back to our role in the Territory, we have to start to recognize the competition and compete as a Territory. We must be cognizant that the price of a room at the Buccaneer compared to the price of a room of Caneel Bay is not the issue. The issue is a Virgin Islands vacation compared to a Jamaican vacation. The issue is not so much, how much we can get out of the corporations that are here, but how we can keep them from moving to Puerto Rico. It is not how we can limit benefits and incentives but how we can structure agreements to attract the best companies. We are in competition with the world and the competition is vicious.
I recently visited the Puerto Rico and as we passed the once thriving refineries on the south coast that now stand dormant it gave me chills. It reminded me that nothing lasts forever and that in bad times you make do and in good times you always stick away for your rainy day. This crisis that we are going through at present has a lot of lessons for us to learn. The economy will come back but we have to start thinking about what it is that we are going to do differently when it does, how are we going to prepare ourselves for the competition.
It is imperative that we double down our investment in education. Now when I say this immediately everyone thinks about the school system and what we can do to improve it. Granted, we could use some improvement but that is not what I am getting at. Education is not just the school system. It is the value that we place on education as a society and a constant experience throughout our life. It means that we continuously strive to learn and do more. It means that our level of expectation is a moving target and we are constantly trying jump over it. It means that our University, Training institutes, employers, supervisors and employees all have a role to play. It means that each one of us everyday go out as an ambassador for education and the Virgin Islands and represents and conducts ourselves as we would want to be seen by a visitor. It means that we walk the talk not just talk the talk!
Our workforce is our most valuable resource and we have to make sure that it is educated and prepared mentally to add value to the products it encounters. For instance, tourism is the goose that lays the golden egg but if we don’t take care of our tourism product and ensure that the people who visit here can’t wait to come back, our goose will be cooked. The businesses, employees and families that depend on those dollars will be done as well. If businesses cant find the talent they need they cant expand and if they can’t grow here they will move and grow elsewhere. Our workforce is the lifeline of this economy and we must make sure that we are investing in the people that power it likewise the people must invest in themselves.
The reality of our situation is that we are importing, teachers, nurses, doctors, engineers, welders, instrument technicians and policemen. These are skilled, good paying jobs that are being filled from outside because we cant supply the labor. One thing is clear, as we move further away from a manufacturing economy to a service economy; the gap in pay, working conditions and availability of jobs will continue to increase. This gap will be created by the high demand for skilled workers and the relative excess of unskilled workers. As we are seeing stateside today, you will have the more highly educated workers fighting for entry level jobs and fewer workers receiving increasingly higher pay for skilled jobs.
The time is now to be on the right side of that pay gap. The time is now to invest in ours and our children’s future. Double down on your training and your experience. Learn that new skill, apply yourself and take every opportunity to learn, with or without pay. The skills that you acquire will be yours forever and can be taken to the highest bidder and the best employer. Take advantage of the free training that Labor has to offer and volunteer rather than sitting at home. There is so much in our community that needs to be done, I am sure you can think of someone or someplace that needs your help.
The one thing that really angers me as the Labor Commissioner and one of the things that I fight every day to dispel is the belief and practice of certain people that Virgin Islanders are not hard workers. As a 4th generation Virgin Islander I really take offense to that and make sure that I work twice as hard to prove that is a lie. We who live here have built this Virgin Islands and all things considered we are doing a good job. Take in to perspective that we have only been self governed for about 40years America has had over 200 years and they are still trying to get it right. Take pride in our accomplishment and know that we have a lot more to do before we call it a day.
I am proud of the workforce that I represent 53,000 people strong who are constantly seeking opportunities to make a better way of life for themselves and their family. I am convinced that we want to do it and do it in a big way. We rise out of our beds and go to work every morning hoping that upon our return that we have made the Virgin Islands a better place to live and visit. We have the determination, resources and collective will to make this the best workforce that the world has ever seen. Raise your expectation, move that bar and hurdle over it into a better standard of living for us all!
During the last 30 years we have seen the Virgin Islands go through some rapid change as we diversified our economy, populace and inevitably our culture. We have learned to accept people from all over the Caribbean, who have chosen to call these emeralds in the sea home. It was not without great pain and suffering that they were accepted but true to the promise of America they are now Virgin Islanders and their cultures have been infused in our language our food and our way of life. In the constant circle of life we have learned that to be Americans we are compelled by our constitution to accept those that have embraced the tenets of our constitution and the promise of a better life.
Our world is once again changing; we are witnessing the death of the industrial age in America. Detroit and the demise of the car industry is but the poster child of this change. Throughout the land there are less and less manufacturing jobs available. Locally we have seen the death of the watch industry, the closing of several of our rum distillers, the silencing of our once thriving Alumina plant and extinction of our pharmaceutical plants. This has been a trend all over America and an omen of the things to come. This current recession is but another warning of tougher times ahead unless we adapt for competition.
When we think of competition, we tend to think about it from a micro point of view. We think about competition as a battle or sport against another team or individual. We have to start thinking about competition in a macro/global or even better yet from a Territorial point of view. We set up scenarios where we compete against St. Thomas against St. Croix or St. John against the Territory. Our arguments are limited to our neighborhoods, communities and respective home islands. This is but a distraction to what is really at stake, our competitive edge in a Caribbean market and in a global market.
The best way to find out what your competition is like is to scout the market. Coaches look at their rival team’s tapes and find out their strengths as well as their weaknesses. For years we have enjoyed benefits that allowed us to have the edge over our competition. These laws restricted trade and imports, controlled the amount of immigration and allowed for tons of federal dollars to be spent on infrastructure in our schools, ports and other infrastructure. The Virgin Islands was a star in the Caribbean and everyone wanted to move here.
When was the last time you took a good look at our competition? Caribbean nations have been moving at light speed to capture a larger share of our tourism product. They have made alliances with foreign nations such as China and Venezuela, they have leveraged their position with America to weaken our trade compacts, they have invested in their infrastructure for the long haul and they have formed regional alliances to expand trade and increase their bargaining power.
What have we done while these countries were doing their homework and learning from our mistakes? True we had a lot to distract us as our population tripled and our infrastructure almost buckled under the weight but how have we kept our competitive edge? Or have we kept hungry and sharp looking for the next opportunity? Did we get complacent and rest on our laurels? That is a question only you can answer. The most important question is what are we going to do about it today?
Today is a daunting question because while the rest of the world has been training for the fight, America has been resting on her laurels and anyone who has tried to get back in shape knows that it is a painful process. The first few days of your workout can leave you paralyzed in pain. Our recovery, unfortunately will not take a few days but a few years. The main investment has to be in our workforce. Unless you have been asleep for the last 6 months you have to know that America is changing from a manufacturing to a service based industry. The reason why this is happening is simple, anything that a Detroit auto worker can do for $30 an hour, you can find an eager resident of India or China to do for $10 a day! This a serious blow to labor but nevertheless a reality of the 21st Century. We cannot beat them in price so we have to beat them in quality, innovation and productivity.
Moving back to our role in the Territory, we have to start to recognize the competition and compete as a Territory. We must be cognizant that the price of a room at the Buccaneer compared to the price of a room of Caneel Bay is not the issue. The issue is a Virgin Islands vacation compared to a Jamaican vacation. The issue is not so much, how much we can get out of the corporations that are here, but how we can keep them from moving to Puerto Rico. It is not how we can limit benefits and incentives but how we can structure agreements to attract the best companies. We are in competition with the world and the competition is vicious.
I recently visited the Puerto Rico and as we passed the once thriving refineries on the south coast that now stand dormant it gave me chills. It reminded me that nothing lasts forever and that in bad times you make do and in good times you always stick away for your rainy day. This crisis that we are going through at present has a lot of lessons for us to learn. The economy will come back but we have to start thinking about what it is that we are going to do differently when it does, how are we going to prepare ourselves for the competition.
It is imperative that we double down our investment in education. Now when I say this immediately everyone thinks about the school system and what we can do to improve it. Granted, we could use some improvement but that is not what I am getting at. Education is not just the school system. It is the value that we place on education as a society and a constant experience throughout our life. It means that we continuously strive to learn and do more. It means that our level of expectation is a moving target and we are constantly trying jump over it. It means that our University, Training institutes, employers, supervisors and employees all have a role to play. It means that each one of us everyday go out as an ambassador for education and the Virgin Islands and represents and conducts ourselves as we would want to be seen by a visitor. It means that we walk the talk not just talk the talk!
Our workforce is our most valuable resource and we have to make sure that it is educated and prepared mentally to add value to the products it encounters. For instance, tourism is the goose that lays the golden egg but if we don’t take care of our tourism product and ensure that the people who visit here can’t wait to come back, our goose will be cooked. The businesses, employees and families that depend on those dollars will be done as well. If businesses cant find the talent they need they cant expand and if they can’t grow here they will move and grow elsewhere. Our workforce is the lifeline of this economy and we must make sure that we are investing in the people that power it likewise the people must invest in themselves.
The reality of our situation is that we are importing, teachers, nurses, doctors, engineers, welders, instrument technicians and policemen. These are skilled, good paying jobs that are being filled from outside because we cant supply the labor. One thing is clear, as we move further away from a manufacturing economy to a service economy; the gap in pay, working conditions and availability of jobs will continue to increase. This gap will be created by the high demand for skilled workers and the relative excess of unskilled workers. As we are seeing stateside today, you will have the more highly educated workers fighting for entry level jobs and fewer workers receiving increasingly higher pay for skilled jobs.
The time is now to be on the right side of that pay gap. The time is now to invest in ours and our children’s future. Double down on your training and your experience. Learn that new skill, apply yourself and take every opportunity to learn, with or without pay. The skills that you acquire will be yours forever and can be taken to the highest bidder and the best employer. Take advantage of the free training that Labor has to offer and volunteer rather than sitting at home. There is so much in our community that needs to be done, I am sure you can think of someone or someplace that needs your help.
The one thing that really angers me as the Labor Commissioner and one of the things that I fight every day to dispel is the belief and practice of certain people that Virgin Islanders are not hard workers. As a 4th generation Virgin Islander I really take offense to that and make sure that I work twice as hard to prove that is a lie. We who live here have built this Virgin Islands and all things considered we are doing a good job. Take in to perspective that we have only been self governed for about 40years America has had over 200 years and they are still trying to get it right. Take pride in our accomplishment and know that we have a lot more to do before we call it a day.
I am proud of the workforce that I represent 53,000 people strong who are constantly seeking opportunities to make a better way of life for themselves and their family. I am convinced that we want to do it and do it in a big way. We rise out of our beds and go to work every morning hoping that upon our return that we have made the Virgin Islands a better place to live and visit. We have the determination, resources and collective will to make this the best workforce that the world has ever seen. Raise your expectation, move that bar and hurdle over it into a better standard of living for us all!
Forgetting where you came from
Successful people are often accused of forgetting where they come from. This is true of economic, social or spiritual success. Success simply means that you are a happy person, living the life that you chose to lead. This all the more true for African Americans and Afro-West Indians, because of the small community it is all the more apparent to the people that surround them that they have attained some degree of success. I always marveled at this phenomenon and strive to keep connected to the community that surrounds me, lest I be accused of “forgetting whey I come from”.
I always thought that this was more of a physical phenomenon, where you move out of your old neighborhood and you don’t come back home to go to the barbershop or the fish fry. My experience has revealed that it is not so much the physical presence that disappears but the state of mind. In other words your personal experience has a permanent effect on your psyche thereby changing your perspective forever.
One of the most indelible examples of this is Clarence Thomas. I do not wish to stand as judge and jury so I will only speak to what he is accused of, but here is one of the most successful African American Jurist in the history of the nation denying the need for affirmative action. We won’t debate the merits of affirmative action but it is obvious that Justice Thomas stands accused of “Forgetting where he came from”. He no longer has the perspective of that young black man that feels that the deck is stacked against him. He has enjoyed the respect that education and success brings and his perspective is changed forever.
Many of us are guilty of this and the reason is that economics and social stratification in America create varying viewpoints to the same scenario. There are social rules and customs that correlate to your social and economic strata that let others know “where you fit in”.
The “givens” in one sector of the society are useless in another. For example, no one makes reservations for local restaurants but to get in to the restaurants that cater to tourist s, you have to, this may come off as annoying and even racist or classist to a local, who has never dined there before. Everybody knows that we like to “suck our teeth” or “schupps”. Continentals often adapt this trait after being here for a short time, but why do you “schupps”? We don’t schupps when the cafeteria runs out of salad, we schupps when they run out a Roast Pork or Rice and beans! Crucians have a limited attachment to salads and a love affair with rice and beans!. This is a social more that we take for granted because “everybody know dat!”
This is true in the employment process as well as on the job. As managers we feel that the ability to articulate what type of career goals that you have and create a resume and a cover letter that gives a lasting first impression of you is something you should know is required. But how would you learn that? Where are our young people learning the social mores of work and the workplace?
I grew up in an office so my natural inclination would be to say that “everybody knows how to answer a phone”. It is natural to me, it is something that I have observed thousands of time growing up. In today’s society, it is not so natural and you have to teach adults rudimentary office etiquette because they have not been practiced in these skills. These are assumptions we can no longer make.
We run into trouble when we make assumptions and “forget from whence we came”. It is very important that we assess the skills of the average employee that we are seeing and then make plans to bring them to the level of expectation that we have set. Traditionally we have made accommodation and lowered the expectation to that of the average, which has often perpetuated mediocre products and services.
Everyone is born equal but into unequal circumstances. From the minute you are born those inequalities take shape in the form of success or failure. We must remember this and help to elevate our community as a whole by explaining and teaching the mores of success. We must remember that we too had to learn many of these rules along the way and mastering them opened the doors to success. Keep in mind that a lot of times we were resistant to new rules and ideas and sometimes we kicked and screamed along the way, we must be patient. It is important that we visit the old neighborhood and hang out at the fish fry but it is more important that we remember that society and success twists your perspective and we must stay flexible so we can never forget what the view is from the other side.
I always thought that this was more of a physical phenomenon, where you move out of your old neighborhood and you don’t come back home to go to the barbershop or the fish fry. My experience has revealed that it is not so much the physical presence that disappears but the state of mind. In other words your personal experience has a permanent effect on your psyche thereby changing your perspective forever.
One of the most indelible examples of this is Clarence Thomas. I do not wish to stand as judge and jury so I will only speak to what he is accused of, but here is one of the most successful African American Jurist in the history of the nation denying the need for affirmative action. We won’t debate the merits of affirmative action but it is obvious that Justice Thomas stands accused of “Forgetting where he came from”. He no longer has the perspective of that young black man that feels that the deck is stacked against him. He has enjoyed the respect that education and success brings and his perspective is changed forever.
Many of us are guilty of this and the reason is that economics and social stratification in America create varying viewpoints to the same scenario. There are social rules and customs that correlate to your social and economic strata that let others know “where you fit in”.
The “givens” in one sector of the society are useless in another. For example, no one makes reservations for local restaurants but to get in to the restaurants that cater to tourist s, you have to, this may come off as annoying and even racist or classist to a local, who has never dined there before. Everybody knows that we like to “suck our teeth” or “schupps”. Continentals often adapt this trait after being here for a short time, but why do you “schupps”? We don’t schupps when the cafeteria runs out of salad, we schupps when they run out a Roast Pork or Rice and beans! Crucians have a limited attachment to salads and a love affair with rice and beans!. This is a social more that we take for granted because “everybody know dat!”
This is true in the employment process as well as on the job. As managers we feel that the ability to articulate what type of career goals that you have and create a resume and a cover letter that gives a lasting first impression of you is something you should know is required. But how would you learn that? Where are our young people learning the social mores of work and the workplace?
I grew up in an office so my natural inclination would be to say that “everybody knows how to answer a phone”. It is natural to me, it is something that I have observed thousands of time growing up. In today’s society, it is not so natural and you have to teach adults rudimentary office etiquette because they have not been practiced in these skills. These are assumptions we can no longer make.
We run into trouble when we make assumptions and “forget from whence we came”. It is very important that we assess the skills of the average employee that we are seeing and then make plans to bring them to the level of expectation that we have set. Traditionally we have made accommodation and lowered the expectation to that of the average, which has often perpetuated mediocre products and services.
Everyone is born equal but into unequal circumstances. From the minute you are born those inequalities take shape in the form of success or failure. We must remember this and help to elevate our community as a whole by explaining and teaching the mores of success. We must remember that we too had to learn many of these rules along the way and mastering them opened the doors to success. Keep in mind that a lot of times we were resistant to new rules and ideas and sometimes we kicked and screamed along the way, we must be patient. It is important that we visit the old neighborhood and hang out at the fish fry but it is more important that we remember that society and success twists your perspective and we must stay flexible so we can never forget what the view is from the other side.
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