I have been meaning to write a letter for some time – actually two, but let me begin with this one.
The Virgin Islands is on the crest of unprecedented opportunities – the kind that can not only propel us into 21st-century leadership but set us on a course that will continue that trajectory well into the future.
So initially my fervent call was just for us to set differences, any anger over past elections and real or perceived hurts aside and let our love for our Virgin Islands be the cause that unites us to take advantage of an opportunity to build, to fix, to restore and to create that may never come again. I, for one, will not be a part of a generation that squandered this time and money and thus cheated our children and future generations of the future they deserve.
But now I have to further ask: have we been bitten by the stupidity virus that is causing divisiveness, gridlock and a governance void in D.C. Instead of taking advantage of the funds and projects that are in our hands, is it that we prefer to do as they do: waste our chances to do and be better by launching empty, baseless, and doomed actions against our chief executive and the administration that has helped to bring us to this point?
No one wants you to love or even like Albert Bryan Jr. (or on a national level President Joe Biden), we just want you to love our territory (and our country) enough to put its and our collective welfare above any personal beef we may have, for whatever reason(s).
He is only governor for two more years, so please, drop your hatchets, and instead roll up our sleeves and let’s get to work to build a place and a society that is worthy of our ancestors’ sacrifice – and in their spirit.
I am so very tired of the obviously empty lip service about “our children are our future.” They may not have one worthy of them, unless we build it – in our minds, in our hearts and with the sweat of our determination to make it so.
So please: I beg us to stop the complaining, the nit-picking, the vitriolic criticizing that ignores truth and reality and which is poisoning our children’s psyche. In the words of Rodney King, “Can’t we all just get along?” We can if we will it so! Let us work together to ensure the future that these Virgin Islands is today poised to realize.
Donna Christensen is a V.I. physician and politician who served as the fourth elected V.I. Delegate to Congress.
