Go Lean…Caribbean

Go Lean Commentary 

Heroes and ‘Sheroes’ …

… we need them all in the Caribbean. We must reform and transform our Caribbean society. We know that one person – a Hero or a ‘Shero’ – can make a difference, and we need to encourage those contributions … from Caribbean men and women.

As related in a previous blog-commentary, according to noted Mythologist Joseph Campbell, heroes are not born, they are forged; the candidates go through a consistent pattern of a journey to become bona-fide heroes.

When people think of Super Heroes they tend to think of men, but this week, the world is being reminded that Super Heroes can be women. The first-ever female full-length movie, Wonder Woman is opening this week, on Friday June 2, 2017; see the trailer in the Appendix below. But despite the first time as a full movie, the character of Wonder Woman has been around … for 75 years.

This is a big week for Wonder Woman, not only the movie but also the end of the 75th Anniversary Commemoration. See this news article here:

Title: DC Sets ‘Wonder Woman Day’ Celebration for June 3

Not only does the iconic superhero have her own Warner Bros. movie opening June 2, but DC Entertainment has declared the following day “Wonder Woman Day,” with more than 2,000 comic book stores, bookstores and libraries participating in a celebration of the beloved character. DC will partner with outlets including Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Walmart, Costco and Amazon for exclusive in-store and digital promotions, while Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Warner Bros. Consumer Products will also push the event.

Comic book creators who have worked on the character, including Greg Rucka, Cliff Chiang, Marc Andreyko, Shea Fontana and Cat Staggs, will be participating in special Wonder Woman Day events to talk about their love for Diana, with details to be announced soon.

To mark Wonder Woman Day, DC will release two special issues to be given away free by partners — a reprint of the first issue of the current Wonder Woman series by Rucka and Liam Sharp, and DC Super Hero Girls Wonder Woman Day Special Edition, featuring an excerpt of the upcoming third book in Fontana and Yancey Labat’s series of young reader graphic novels. Additionally, a Wonder Woman Day Activity Kit, including coloring pages and games, will be released digitally for download.

Ahead of June 3, DC’s online DC All Access series will launch a weeklong Wonder Woman Week of programming on May 29, highlighting the character’s history with interviews with comic book and movie talent. A sale of digital comics centering around the character will also begin on May 30.

Wonder Woman Day concludes DC’s yearlong celebration of the 75th anniversary of Wonder Woman’s first appearance. The hero debuted in 1941’s All-Star Comics No. 8. In addition to the release of her first solo movie, June 2017 also marks the 75th anniversary of the first solo Wonder Woman comic book.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter – posted May 15, 2017; retrieved May 31, 2017 from: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/dc-sets-wonder-woman-day-celebration-june-3-1003939

No doubt Wonder Woman is a ‘Shero’. But as “life imitates art and art imitates life”, we see that many Caribbean women can be heroes without any Super Powers; they only need to make contributions – despite the obstacles – in support and love of their homelands. But this will not be easy; there are villainous forces and pressures working against them. A previous Go Lean blog-commentaries identified the obstacles, starting with:

Orthodoxy – the generally accepted theory, doctrine, or practice that women are inferior and inadequate.

This is why we need movies; the art form can be a powerful source of messaging to impress new theories, doctrines and practices on the masses of people. This is what is meant by “life imitating art”. In a previous blog-commentary regarding Caribbean Diaspora member and Hollywood great, Sidney Poitier, it was declared that …

“Movies are an amazing business model. People give money to spend a couple of hours watching someone else’s creation and then leave the theater with nothing to show for the investment; except perhaps a different perspective”.

With women comprising 50 percent of the population, it is only logical that we would expect women to comprise 50% of the effort in reforming-transforming the Caribbean societal engines of economics, security and governance. We need women to lean-in to this cause; and, we need men to lean-in with support of those women that do present themselves for engagement. This is the assertion of the book Go Lean … Caribbean, that one person – a woman … or a man – can impact the region’s societal engines, so as to elevate their community. The book – available to download for free – serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). These statements here present the prime directives of the roadmap:

• Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
• Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines.
• Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines.

The Caribbean region needs to include more women in leadership roles in business, government and all security institutions. We need ‘Sheroes’ in the stewardship of Caribbean society. We need their voices as policy-makers and participants. We need their insights and investment of their time, talent and treasuries. With their earnest contributions, the whole community will benefit.

The Go Lean roadmap solicits full participation from women and men as stakeholders in a new Caribbean. This is a mandate! The Go Lean book asserts that we can no longer marginalize women in our society. Otherwise, we run the risk of losing them; watching them abandon their ancestral homelands to seek refuge in foreign countries. This has been happening far too often, such that it has created a crisis. We experience a brain drain or abandonment of 70 percent of our highly educated citizenry. Why do they leave? For “push-and-pull” reasons!

• “Push” refers for deficient conditions at home, like the identified orthodoxy, that makes people want to flee.
• “Pull” refers to the presumption of better conditions abroad. Our Caribbean women may glean that they can be ‘Sheroes’ abroad rather than at home.

Dissuading this human flight and incentivizing the Diaspora to repatriate are missions of the Go Lean/CU roadmap. These points are pronounced early in the book with this Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 12 – 14), with these opening statements:

xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.

xii. Whereas the legacy in recent times in individual states may be that of ineffectual governance with no redress to higher authority, the accedence of this Federation will ensure accountability and escalation of the human and civil rights of the people for good governance, justice assurances, due process and the rule of law. …

xix. Whereas our legacy in recent times is one of societal abandonment, it is imperative that incentives and encouragement be put in place to first dissuade the human flight, and then entice and welcome the return of our Diaspora back to our shores. …

xxi. Whereas the preparation of our labor force can foster opportunities and dictate economic progress for current and future generations, the Federation must ensure that educational and job training opportunities are fully optimized for all residents of all member-states, with no partiality towards any gender or ethnic group. The Federation must recognize and facilitate excellence in many different fields of endeavor, including sciences, languages, arts, music and sports. This responsibility should be executed without incurring the risks of further human flight, as has been the past history.

xxvi. Whereas the Caribbean region must have new jobs to empower the engines of the economy and create the income sources for prosperity, and encourage the next generation to forge their dreams right at home, the Federation must therefore foster the development of new industries …

The subject of fostering gender equality, equal access and equal protections for women have been directly addressed and further elaborated upon in previous blog/commentaries; consider this sample:

The Go Lean book posits that every woman has a right to work towards making their homeland a better place to live, work and play. The Caribbean community needs their participation. So the book details the following community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocates to help women to impact the homeland:

There are serious issues impacting the Caribbean; these must be addressed . Since many of these issues affect women, it is better to have women as equal participants, as leaders and policy-makers. The Go Lean movement is calling for the ‘Sheroes’ and Heroes to lean-in, to contribute to our societal engines.

There is no need for Super-Powers; just a need for commitment and engagement, despite any obstacle.

There will be obstacles; the Caribbean orthodoxy guarantees it; this is why ‘Sheroes’ must endure the heavy-lifting to overcome the villainy of orthodoxy. This expectation – the ethos, strategies, tactics and implementations of the Go Lean/CU roadmap – is conceivable, believable and achievable. With the right commitment of time, talent and treasuries from women (and the men who support them), we can succeed in making the Caribbean region better homelands to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

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Appendix VIDEO – WONDER WOMAN Final Trailer (2017) – https://youtu.be/qeZ8X5FKl78

Published on May 7, 2017 – Official “Wonder Woman” Movie Trailer 5 2017