The Dominica Freedom Party (DFP) wishes to extend holiday blessings to all Dominicans at home and abroad. For most of us, Christmas is a time of reflection, gratitude, reunion, and merriment. It is also a time when we embrace the belief that Jesus Christ was born into this world to bring new hope to humanity – that through him, the human race would be reborn into eternal happiness.
The nativity story is also about three wise men guided by a bright star to witness a transformational event in human history. To celebrate this miracle, they brought gifts of gold, incense, and myrrh to lay at the feet of the newborn savior. These three gifts symbolized the nobility of Christ, the bitterness and suffering that he was to endure, and the redemption through sacrifice that he offered.
This Christmas marks another transformational moment but this time in Dominica’s history. An illegitimate government, a failing economy, and rampant political persecution make our need for salvation and rebirth dire. Yet this is not a time for despair but for celebration as this time of darkness has ignited a new star above our nation. A star that signals – as it did to men of old – that we are on the brink of a transformational event. But to sustain this starlight and bring this moment to fruition, Dominica needs her sons and daughters to provide her with the same gifts of the three wise men.
Dominica needs us to give her the gift of gold which symbolizes nobility and prosperity. We can give this gift by demanding nobility in action and speech from those we grant the privilege to lead. We can also gift nobility by choosing new leaders who build high-performance teams that deliver results and by rejecting autocrats who disrespect, use, and discard people. We build nobility when we support the creation of national prosperity via hard work and ingenuity versus dependency on handouts. Nobility wells up too when we all strive to build national cohesion and a fair and just society. And nobility pours out in torrents when we affirm our identity as an Afrocentric, Caribbean, Kweyol nation that contributes ideas and technology to the world not simply consumes them.
But Dominica also needs us to give her the gift of myrrh which symbolizes bitterness and suffering. That is because the fight for our new future will not be won overnight – the wound is too deep. We must thus all bear a bit more this insufferable burden of an out-of-control cost of living. We must drink some more from the bitter cup of seeing only a hopeless future when we stare out over the landscape of our nation. We must soldier on under the very real threat of economic and social strangulation merely for seeking equity and justice. But we can endure this suffering because we know the good and exciting news that new men and women are just around the corner who will soon end this bondage.
Finally, Dominica needs us to give her the gift of frankincense whose burnt smoke symbolizes sacrifice. We need to willingly sacrifice handouts of $300 so we can create incomes of $30,000. We need to sacrifice complacency and reject psychological domination by those determined to define and constrain us. We must sacrifice as well the comforting illusion that national progress is being made – when in reality we see no new industries, no wage increases, and increasing violence and unhappiness. The lack of goodwill between Dominicans at home and those contributing from abroad must also be sacrificed. And we must sacrifice petty political differences among those opposed to this exploitative regime. These sacrifices must be made by a critical mass of us to remove tyranny for the rest of us.
So, this Christmas season let us all stuff the stocking of our beloved land with an abundance of these three gifts. Let a new star be born that shines brightly down on this land that we love. Let this star mark the spot of a new birth – a rebirth of a prosperous, safe, and just Dominica. Let that star mark the spot once again of the birth of a savior – but this time the savior is you.
Merry Christmas and may you have many happy new years ahead.
Bernard Hurtault
Political Leader
Dominica Freedom Party