A call has been made for Jamaicans at home and abroad to unite as a global community, speak out against injustices taking place internationally, and help strengthen their homeland.
Reverend Rose Hudson-Wilkin, the suffragan bishop of Dover and Bishop in Canterbury of the Church of England, made the appeal while delivering the keynote sermon during a service held yesterday at Calvary Baptist Church in Montego Bay, St James, marking the start of this week’s 11th Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference.
Hudson-Wilkin pointed to regional and international issues, including the United States’ (US) current oil blockade on Cuba and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, as matters on which Jamaica must be prepared to speak out.
“No man is an island, and we do not live by ourselves. If we are going to build a more resilient Jamaica, then we need to work together in building a stronger community. To build a more resilient Jamaica means looking outwards and staying connected with each other. We are part of the one human race, and it means therefore that we must speak out against injustice wherever we see it,” said Hudson-Wilkin.
“We have got to care about each other, and not just each other whom we can see. We have got to care about what is happening in Cuba, yes, the blockade that is happening in Cuba, and we have got to care about what is happening in Haiti, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), in Sudan and the Middle East. Why? Because we share a common humanity, and we cannot say it is happening over there and it has nothing to do with us,” Hudson-Wilkin added.
The oil blockade on Cuba began in January when US President Donald Trump signed an executive order threatening heavy sanctions against any nation supplying the island with oil. In response, Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness told the opening ceremony of the 50th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM in St Kitts and Nevis on February 24 that Caribbean leaders must speak plainly about the situation in Cuba, warning that the crisis could eventually affect other countries in the region.
Meanwhile, Haiti continues to grapple with political instability, high-profile kidnappings and clashes between police and criminal gangs. The DRC is at the centre of a deadly Ebola outbreak that has sparked international concern.
Sudan is now in its fourth year of civil war, with food insecurity and malnutrition among the major challenges facing its population. At the same time, tensions remain high in the Middle East, where a recent two-month ceasefire between the US, Israel and Iran has been threatened following US strikes on Iran after the downing of an Army helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz.
Hudson-Wilkin told the congregation that, as part of a global community, Jamaica must answer the call for justice and development beyond its own borders.
“We are involved because we are part of the one human race. Let us seek to build a more resilient Jamaica by being a non-anxious presence in a world that is often confused as it seeks to prioritise wealth simply for wealth’s sake and not to improve the life of the community,” said Hudson-Wilkin.
“I read the last few lines of the national pledge, ‘I promise to stand up for justice, brotherhood, and peace, to work diligently and creatively, to think generously and honestly, so that Jamaica may, under God, increase in beauty, fellowship and prosperity, and play her part’, not in advancing Jamaica alone, but, ‘in advancing the welfare of the whole human race’,” Hudson-Wilkin added.
Meanwhile, in a brief address during the service, Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister Senator Kamina Johnson Smith said the Jamaica Diaspora Conference, being held this week under the theme “Diaspora Partnerships: Rebuilding a More Resilient Jamaica”, will provide an opportunity for participants to reflect on the country’s capacity for growth and development and the important role played by Jamaica’s diaspora community worldwide.