Marcus Garvey, the well known Jamaican born political activist, once echoed the sentiments that ” A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin & culture is like a tree without roots.

The statement is very profound and in my view it relates with our young people residing in our communities who seems to have very little knowledge of the history of the community they live in.

Perhaps, I will conclude that it is no fault of theirs because we, the older ones, should be blamed for the failure of putting in place a platform, so that the historical data of our legends / icons and the metamorphosis of the community are preserved and be passed on to the younger generation.

Interestingly, our communities comprise of several alcoholics, drug addicts, amputees and persons who may be presently be viewed as insignificant, are seen traversing the streets of the community but surprisingly, they are not known and given the respect for the outstanding contributions they once made to the communities they lived in and by extension, the country they had represent.

It is extremely sad to see that throughout the length & breadth of Antigua, there are no libraries erected or social media portals constructed in either community, to highlight & keep alive as to who these people are, and the contribution they’ve made to their beloved community.

I think the time is now that our community groups should begin to be conscientious of their community’s history and hence, construct a library or a Social media platform to host and showcase these outstanding persons whose life stories can be utilized to inspire and educate the masses, especially the younger ones.

There is no doubt, communities like Gray’s Green, Point & Villa, Bolans, Pares, Liberta, just to name a few have produced some extremely outstanding persons in sports, politics, academics and culture and would have some rich history behind them.

Although, the life styles for these people may have deteriorated, the respect & acknowledgement should always be there for them. An edifice or a Social media page to host their bio & photo will certainly keep their contribution alive.

Alex