If all the trees in all the woods were men; And each and every blade of grass a pen; If every leaf on every shrub and tree Turned to a sheet of foolscap; every sea Were changed to ink, and all earths living tribes Had nothing else to do but act as scribes, And for ten thousand ages, day and night, The human race should write, and write, and write, Till all the pens and paper were used up, And the huge inkstand was an empty cup, Still would the scribblers clustered round its brink Call for more pens, more paper, and more ink. ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes I have been at this business of writing columns for well over two decades. I have had advice, compliments and criticism; yes and even condemnation. I must say, I enjoy the feedback and take them all in stride. I pay heed to every critique and take note of anything that anyone has to say. If it is complimentary, I fluff up a bit but try desperately to not let things go to my head; cognizant that some folks will tell you anything. If there is reproof, I examine it and if with merit, reflect and grow; if I find them baseless, I toss them aside for I feel it, so I know it. Whatever I find constructive, sensible and with merit, I embrace and forge forward in my futile resistance to this unyielding “cacoethes scribendi”. I imagine that writing comes easy to some people but for me, it is quite the effort. I try to stay with topics that will interest readers and try to write in order that readers can readily follow the points I am trying to make. While attributed to several persons, I believe it was Alexander Pope who said, “Easy reading is damn hard writing.” Someone flipped it around and said that “Easy writing is damn hard reading”. That reverse version carries equal validity and veracity. Belize has produced a fair share of writers and there are some who I admire and look up to. Zee Edgell, Assad Shoman, Evan X Hyde and Glen Tillett immediately come to mind. Then there are the newcomers who have entered the fray and offer up thoughts and comments in the weekly periodicals. I peruse and if something catches my eye, I pause and give it attention. The writer who I find most interesting if not most controversial is the Publisher of the Amandala. While I quite often disagree with his overall assertions and I find him many times rewriting history to favor his own contributions and importance, the man is prolific and proficient in the art of making a point. His arguments flow and one can easily follow and make sense of his rhetoric. That’s what makes him dangerous and able to influence opinions and thought patterns. While my musing is not in any way about him, suffice to say, big respect is due. I give it ample effort myself and I am blessed in that I have folks who endure my offerings even on days when I am not at my best; or during those times when I present points with which they might differ. I try to maintain humility and I remain eternally grateful to those who allow me space in their reading-time allotments. There are a couple of people, and I mean two in particular, who have messaged me to say that they have given up on me. They shall remain unnamed but according to the pair, I have now gone too political. I imagine there are a few others who feel the same way but have not bothered to make comment. Truth is, I do write for a political organ but aside from that, I sincerely believe in what I write. As readers, we have a responsibility to shift through the rhetoric and to draw from whatever offering, any morsel of thought that can add to our overall body of understanding. We must be critical in our assessment and desist from simply, believing all the hype. We must discern between propaganda and fact and between honest musing and mischief. Whatever we do though, if we don’t write then we must read, remain aware and become more involved in this fight to make our country better. Yes the Belize Times is a political organ and to get a balance, many also read the El Guardian. We must remain critical in our assessment however, and exercise reasoning and commonsense. Do should not take anything on face value and spend a little time to verify facts. Writers will write but readers simply cannot just read and ingest without process; be smart! I write for the Belize Times and yes, with a bias toward the PUP but with good reason. I believe that the United Democratic Party has done more harm than good to this country and that the People’s United Party has better ideas, more competent people and a better plan for the future. While the UDP promotes disunity, disparity and political tribalism, the PUP has a more “big tent” approach and is more inclined to governance for all the people. Mark King’s comments and subsequent endorsement by the Prime Minster resonates profoundly through corridors of our consciousness; “UDP first, Belizeans second and PUP last”….How can any right thinking Belizean hear that and simply brush it off? There are things that were done by the PUP in the past that certainly could have been done differently, but we must move forward and ensure that we learn from these mistakes and that they are never again repeated. I continue to support the PUP and write for the Belize Times because I believe that Francis Fonseca is the best person to lead this country right now. His humility, honesty and dedication is admirable and I am convinced that very soon, he will get the chance to prove his mettle and true worth. Trust me on this one; we will be pleasantly surprised. Belize is desperate for good leadership and for people with vision to be at the helm. It is a time for men of action and integrity not simply men of grandiose promises, big words, exaggerated gesticulations and pompous pontification. The times are hard and getting harder and we will need leaders with strong character to see us through. What we have now simply will not do. Of course, it is imperative that all hands come on deck. We have much work to do if we will return our country to a point where we can feel safe and share a sense of meaningful and beneficial ownership. Too long have we abdicated our responsibilities and we give too much leverage to politicians to do as they will with our finances and resources. We must involve ourselves to a greater degree. Us writers must also continue to ploy our trade and keep the people thinking, involved and informed. All of us must develop or recognize a niche and put a shoulder to the wheel. We writers will write and should the ink well run dry, well, “we scribblers will cluster around its brink call for more pens, more paper, and more ink. “ Happy September Celebrations!
Posted on: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 11:17:26 +0000