New Year’s Message From Jamaican Diaspora Advisory Board Member Southern United States

Dear Family and friends of the Jamaican Diaspora:

The sun rises. The sun sets. We all live for a brighter day filled with hope and restored with faith. This is the spirit and blessing of a New Year. I wish for you a renewed sense of prosperity as we watch the past year’s challenges in our rear view mirror.

Though it is always challenging to pursue resolutions for the New Year, it is definitely worthy to strive for something new, different or aspiring in our lives. As an immigrant community, we understand the experience of setting goals and working diligently. It is a matter of success and survival.

To ensure a reasonable level of success in meeting our goals, personally or as organizations, we may heed the following tenets.

First, we must remain realistic and keep them simple. Second, we must define these goals in accountable and timely terms. Third, we must anticipate any disappointments or setbacks and be ready to bounce back with renewed purpose.
Lastly, in the spirit of our Jamaican Diaspora, we take advantage of the extent of organizational capacity and solicit the support and help from each other in reaching these goals.

Most importantly, we must maintain our faith with deliberate purpose and promise ourselves to have fun in all endeavors. I encourage you to enjoy the fresh start and to embrace change with reckless abandon.

In 2009, we hope and pray to make continued steps in claiming and demonstrating our true potential as a people, whether in the United States of America or beyond.