Open Mind

While I was looking at the man in mirror on a Thursday morning October 4th 2012, my mind came across a very important date in the Garífuna history. I once shared this thought with my readers. I once documented that my genetic make can be traced to year 1797 in Honduras; this was around the time that George Washington, the first president of the United States, was serving his second term in office. What I hope to accomplish here is to set a time frame. I hope to establish the important links between historical events and the role we as Garinagu will choose to play in the preservation and revitalization of the Garífuna language.  I believe that the Garífuna language played a vital role in the survival of our ancestors during the difficult times with the colonizers. I would like to believe that it is our duty to keep our language alive.  Today, our people in Saint Vincent, [Yurumein], do not speak the Garífuna language anymore. At the beginning of this century there were still a few Garinagu who spoke Garífuna in Nicaragua.  Some experts say that the Garífuna language could be lost in the next twenty years or more.

I would like for us, the Garífuna Nation, to open our minds to the possibility that two hundred and fifteen years from now the generation after us will still speak the Garífuna Language. Yesterday was the first debate between the presidential candidates for the Democrats and the Republicans. Today some of us are hoping for a second term for Obama. I am hoping that two hundred and fifteen years from now the Garífuna language will still be around.  Be that as it may, I believe that the hope I am talking about is a hope that can be reached with a Vision.  On the other hand, I am inviting you to be a part of a mission; I am inviting you for us to create the connection between the mission and the vision.  

To be continued. 
Lúbara Huya