by Karl Rodney
The recent protests in the United States by members of the diaspora with respect to their relationship with the government of Jamaica probably at this time needs some rethinking, restructuring , as to how best for Jamaica and other Caribbean countries, to leverage the overseas population that resides in the United States and elsewhere, to rally the diaspora to help to invest in Jamaica and other countries’ economy and to find a way to harness this power of the growing diaspora.
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So, the Caribbean nations and Jamaica, in particular, are looking to capitalize on their overseas population as a potential base for growth and therefore several countries, Jamaica included, have created new portfolios and ministerial positions aimed to bring the diaspora into the fold, and have created events and conferences to attract the diaspora, but it is also important to note that you cannot legislate the existence of a diaspora organization or the diaspora community’s interests; it has to be organic, it has to grow within the community and by the community – you can’t manage the diaspora from a ministerial position in the country, it has to be managed by diaspora members in the community with a clear understanding of the potential and the direction that would be most successful, and so the relationship between the diaspora and its home country has to be one of understanding, collaboration, corporation and information as to priority, and clearly to keep it in a non-political relationship.
Almost 50 years ago, the issue of how best to organize the diaspora and its relationship with the home country and the management of the affairs of the diaspora was carefully thought through with many meetings with diaspora organizations, not sitting in Kingston or in Washington, but visits were made throughout the United States to Jamaican organizations that were known and were operating to get their thinking as to how best to operate and how to structure an organization; out of those collaborations and consultation the structure of NAJASA was formed, not a perfect structure or perfect organization, but the structure and the management was organic to organizations to begin with, not individuals, and those organization had their own strength and their own sense of resources and collaboration that they could bring to NAJASA through their individual officers who would then be in NAJASA, but it wasn’t a personality organization, it was an organization of organizations with those units of organizations impactful and with a clear desire to be working with the country’s government in a resourceful way.
When the notion of a government directed diaspora organization was brought to the fore there were a number of individuals who were active in the diaspora caution against this because it could lead to structurally to individuals and personality and it would in fact if not managed properly will become an extension of the government because of the tight rein of control and relationship, and this would spell for political interference and in and by itself might lead to political control that spreads up into political personalities and before you know it the organization becomes a political tool.
Many in the diaspora have examined other diaspora organizations and there are many successful ones that were studied to see the relationship between these and their home country – how it is organized and managed within the diaspora.
There is collaboration, cooperation, priority, information and a respect for both government policies and diaspora issues and it was worked out, and it does in most diaspora groups, some are far more effective and far more resourceful than the Diaspora Caribbean group, but it certainly is a model for us to look to and learn from, and so it is time for us if we want to be successful in a significant way that the diaspora organizations be free of political control and influence and left to build as most other diaspora organizations have, to build relationships with other groups here in the diaspora, strengthening the overall push and position of the home country, and not be restricted because of passing political issues but sustained by the well-being welfare and the goodwill in the diasporal organization.
It has been an issue that has been discussed and it’s one that should be discussed in open with a free expression of how we can be most effective, and remove any political connection because that does not spell for growth and expansion – it spells out for restriction and exactly what we were seeing paid out, pro and anti, a political party instead of an organization that works for the good will of the country; we need to rethink the structure reorganized around the management and free the diaspora organization to be as impactful and as powerful as it can be, drawing up on the full resources of their membership and their surrounding opportunities. You have a greater participation by the most resourceful people who are not likely to be engaged in a political undertaking but have tremendous goodwill towards the country and the region.
