Source: calconews.com

My goal to write and publish a weekly blog article continued to be a challenge in 2012. I extend special thanks to the publisher of the Guyanese Online Newsletter for re-posting my articles on his blog. Thanks, too, to you my ‘follower’ and visitor for taking the time to read my posts and for sharing your own thoughts. May you realize your goals and dreams in the year ahead.

I failed to achieve my major goal of completing the revision of my first novel, Under the Tamarind Tree. Frustration badgered me for six months before I devised a workable system for cutting the excess length. In 2013, I aim to complete the revision process, have my manuscript edited by a professional, and find an agent.

As if my frustrations as a writer were not enough, I also had to deal with contentious issues raised during the US presidential election campaign. Right-wing politicians sought to regulate women’s sexual and reproductive rights. Some of the stuff coming out of their mouths baffled and offended me. Have we failed as mothers in raising our male offspring?

In a video leaked to the press, a presidential candidate dismissed 47 percent of Americans as dependent on government handouts who do not take personal responsibility for their lives. That hurt. Is there hope for changing the rules of an economic system that is controlled by and favors the rich?

When Hurricane Sandy developed into a Frankenstorm intent on obliterating America’s northeastern states, it seemed as though the gods were warning us to get our act together as guardians of Planet Earth. While 97 percent of climatologists agree that mankind is causing global warming (ScienceBlogs, 20 Jan 2009), the major culprits refuse to change their ways and continue to foment doubt about global warming. How do we – the 47 or 99 percent – convince them to take responsibility in caring for our planet? Many of those who lost everything during the Frankenstorm will not recover from the blow and will join the 47 percent, already publicly derided as moochers who want stuff.

Before we could recover from the devastation of Frankenstorm Sandy, a troubled young man kills his mother – with one of her own guns – and then goes on a killing spree at an elementary school, taking the lives of 20 children and 6 adults. Disturbing facts: the killer came from a wealthy, white, middle-class family of a well-to-do suburban neighborhood in the state with the highest per-capita income (US Census 2010). Can we curb our culture of violence and love of guns?

We face these and more challenges in the year ahead. Our world did not end on 12.21.2012 as some believed or feared. The American Dream came to an end. Can a dysfunctional government that caters to the interests of the One Percent end the glaring inequality we face as a nation? Our ability to come together to overcome the crises we faced in 2012 gives me hope that we will prevail.