Dear Editor,

I write to you today with a heart heavy with concern yet buoyed by hope for our beloved island nation.

As a humanist and born Jamaican afforded the luxury of travelling overseas, I’ve witnessed first-hand the struggles of our people, the pain of poverty juxtaposed against the success of those who’ve found prosperity abroad. While many in the Diaspora lobby for political voice, I do believe we ought to take the Diaspora to task about addressing this disparity head-on and forging a new path forward.

Too often we’ve seen our brothers and sisters suffer in silence, disconnected from more affluent relatives scattered across the globe. Our people battle poverty and inadequate care while family members in Canada, USA, and UK live vastly different lives. This disconnect isn’t just a family issue, it’s a cultural and social failing that we must rectify.

I propose a radical reimagining of our family structures and wealth distribution. In this digital age we have the tools to bridge geographical gaps and create robust, globally connected family units. Imagine a Jamaica, rural to urban, where every family harnesses the collective strength of its members worldwide, using artificial intelligence (AI) as well as other types of technology and coordinated financial planning to build generational wealth.

Whether through the Government or the market, there could be the development of a family-specific app to share financial information and set collective goals. We could use blockchain technology to manage assets across borders securely. AI-powered investment tools could help optimise our portfolios, while micro-investing platforms could allow even the poorest among us to participate in wealth creation.

But technology alone isn’t the answer. We need a cultural shift, a return to the collective mindset that once defined us. We must see the success of one as the success of all. We must redefine family to extend beyond our immediate households, encompassing our global Jamaican Diaspora.

To my fellow Jamaicans, I implore you: Let’s start these conversations within our families. Let’s reach out to our relatives abroad and begin planning for our collective future. Let’s create systems of support that transcend oceans and generations.

To those reading this, from Toronto to London to Miami, your success is intrinsically linked to ours. Your knowledge, your resources, your connections, these are lifelines that can pull entire families out of poverty. It’s time to strengthen those ties and create sustainable systems of support. It’s time for small family “pardna” to become family trust funds. Surely there are other times and instances we can pool resources other than for crisis, funerals, and family burial.

Imagine a future in which every Jamaican child grows up knowing they are part of a global network of support and opportunity, where the success of one becomes the stepping stone for many, where our collective strength becomes our individual shield against the vicissitudes of fate.

This is not a pipe dream, my friends. This is the promise of our interconnected world, waiting to be claimed.

Let us harness the power of AI to analyse investment opportunities that span continents. Let us use blockchain technology to secure our assets and transfer wealth across generations without the heavy hand of intermediaries. Let us create digital platforms that allow even the smallest contributions to grow into mighty oaks of financial security.

This is our clarion call. Let’s use our collective strength to build generational wealth and robust families, just as other communities have done, other nations have done. Let’s create a future in which being Jamaican means being part of a global network of support and opportunity.

National hero Marcus Garvey’s rallying cry for racial pride and economic self-determination still echoes through the halls of our history, inspiring us to reclaim our rightful place in the global landscape. The road ahead is long, but the first step is acknowledging the need for change. I call upon our community leaders, our successful expatriates, and every Jamaican to join this conversation. Together we can chart a new course for our families and our future.

Yannick Pessoa

yannickpessoa@yahoo.com