The Following is a statement from Antwon Walkin, Founder and President of Turks & Caicos Society of Youth Leaders:
For decades the young people of the Turks & Caicos Islands have been under-represented and not given the true seat at the table of commerce and legislation we deserve.
We are by far the largest demographic in the TCI, and without a shadow of a doubt we are the future of these “beautiful by nature” Islands. However, we must take our future into our hands and demand the changes we want to see.
With this understanding and weeks of contemplation and prayer, I am happy to announce the introduction of one of the first youth-run, demographic advocacy associations in our country. With the help and shared vision of my trusted Co-Founders Donnie Gardiner Jr and Andy Missick and Our Founding/Chief Mentor Ms. Claudine Ewing, great youth accomplishments are on the horizon in the Turks & Caicos.
On May 6th, 2024 we invited some of the biggest youth figures across these islands together and brought to life the Turks & Caicos Islands Society of Young Leaders. This organisation will be made up of about 200 of the most endearing 18-40-year-olds in our country, driven by one goal: The Success and Development of the Turks & Caicos Islands holistically.
The partisan lens we habitually see everything through and a lack of youth empowerment in both the public and private sectors, has put us in our current position. In this organisation, we are patrons of COUNTRY above all else. As far back as history shows strength has resided in unity, uniting the youth is the only way for our true potential to flourish. Today marks the end of the era where the young people of the Turks and Caicos sit on their hands waiting for governments to effect change. We are here to make our mark.
We need affordable land and housing, we need price control, we deserve small business support from every level of government, we deserve a better healthcare system, we deserve legislation that prioritizes Turks and Caicos Islanders, we deserve a seat at every table that speaks of the future. We are the next generation of the Turks and Caicos Islands. We need empowered young people: seminars, workshops, interviews, consultations, job fairs, branding, internships; you name it. We will start by supporting each other.
Literature often sermonizes the sins of the father affecting the son, counterproductive is too generous a word to describe such a refrain. Gun violence continues to rattle our Country’s core, we are beyond putting a band-aid on this issue as leaders continue to do. Get our young men qualified, get our young men to work, get them to believe in themselves. I want every single youth in this country to know the power they possess by simply applying themselves.
This organisation is no small undertaking and as founder, I take this opportunity to thank our first team of mentors who will serve for the first 2 years of our organisation: Mr Devon Cox, Mr Drexwell Seymour and Mrs Melanie Smith. These persons have stepped up to the plate and believe in youth enough to devote their time, energy and resources in us and we shower you stalwarts with our gratitude.
I must also thank our founding sponsors, Conservative Architects Ltd, Genesis Auto-Mobile Enterprises Ltd, and all other contributors who will be thanked more formally in the coming weeks.
In closing, I charge you the people of the Turks & Caicos to support this venture. The youth of the country are taking a stand and we call every Turks & Caicos Islander who loves their country to stand with us. This is a Non Profit/Non-partisan/Non-Governmental organisation that has the potential to catalyze change not just in the Turks & Caicos but the entire region, every great movement starts with a dream to be driven by a vision.
We have come a far way from the days of the Junkanoo Club Incident and Black Power Movement that poised our country for independence in 1982. We have a new task at hand, unique circumstances that we the youth are best suited to attack to lead our country to true liberation.
I have a dream that I won’t have the worries parents have now, for my children, I have a dream that children can go outside to play again and walk to the corner stores without fear of not returning home, I have a dream that Turks and Caicos Islanders will be put FIRST in these OUR Turks and Caicos Islands. That dream drives the vision of “Uniting Our Leaders of Tomorrow, for True Strength is in Unity”. I thank God for blessing me with such a Vision and the ability to carry it forward.
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