Sovereignty is such an intangible structure. Almost an unachievable goal in a world that has been so globalized, especially a type of globalization that was founded in the conquering of foreign lands under the farce of discovering the western hemisphere and “global south.” No doubt the COVID-19 pandemic has put our civilization on its knees, with hundreds of thousands of people not seeing the other side of this scourge. Our perspectives have been shifted, our state of normalcy rattled and all our ugliness exposed. Some say we are called to innovate and create “sovereign solutions.” We have seen here at home in Belize that social protection systems rarely, if ever, existed. We have watched the bread and butter of our economy disappear like “butta ‘gainst sun.” We have seen the state power increase to grandiose levels. This expansion of state powers occurred because the crisis provided a sort of ease of access. Now, we can barely keep up with the statutory instruments that become our way of life before the ink used to write the signature of the Governor-General is dried. We are in the courtroom of the international court of justice and our crimes against humanity that have woefully thrived for decades have caught up with us.

So what do we do with this judgement that has been seemingly handed down? How do we bounce back, reintegrate, recalibrate and reconfigure? How do we make a just recovery, where indeed no one is left behind? I choose to apply the stages of the grief model here. We all need to move through the stages of grieving for normalcy, because that’s not coming back. Normalcy and complacency have been insidiously killing us. The DENIAL that this is not happening, or if it is happening that it won’t touch us because of our own religious scapegoating, has to happen. The ANGER that comes with not being able to freely walk in our comatose state of inaction and lack of care for nation and people has to happen. The BARGAINING with each other over the banter of what-ifs and trying to delay the inevitable is going to happen, though I don’t know how far that will get us (I’m nauseated with negotiating with chauvinists who are also sociopaths.) We’re going to have to go through the DEPRESSION and mourn the loss of the collective Stockholm syndrome from which we suffered.

If you know anything about depression on a personal level, there’s no way around that but through it, so prepare those mental health coping mechanisms. All this will culminate with the collective acceptance that the old was not working and, more importantly, will leave us inspired enough to forge a new way of not only living, but being. Policy and politics will fall into line or dissipate with ease or kicking and screaming —either way, it must be done.

I often think about a quote by HIM Haile Selassie I that so perfectly describes the cusp of changing times and the mindset that must exist to be able to survive. He so eloquently strung together these words: “We must become bigger than we have been: more courageous, greater in spirit, larger in outlook. We must become members of a new race, overcoming petty prejudice, owing our ultimate allegiance not to nations, but to our fellow men within the human community.”

So even though sovereignty is the call for the spirit in which we move forward, the pragmatic way must be rooted in solidarity. It’s the only way to secure a liveable future beyond the horizon.

Stay curious.