I DIDN’T offer a calendar for Black History Monty because Blacks don’t really have anything to celebrate in the CNMI” — for TRUE but I haven’t given up yet even though this Government has never got involved in MLK Day nor Black History Month but they do it for other holidays — biased and even bigotry! Yes, I have a “chip-on-my-shoulders” not for myself but FOR the People and other races too as these Republican leaders took us in the WRONG Directions. The claims of diversity being boasted about in our government, education and other arenas in the CNMI is really “a half-truth that amounts to a WHOLE LIE”! I’m not blaming the People for this diversity-lie phenomenon, as I blame the LEADERS who took the People down this path. This is especially true for the Republican Leaders who have been the ONLY ones in full control of the CNMI since the late 1990s. I don’t hate the Republicans but I do detest their style and methods of their politics which has TOTALLY MISLED the People and DESTROYED our Economy with over 54% of our population at or below the poverty level — TAYA!!!
I think one of the main reasons the CNMI is going through such tough growing-pains is because of the “selfish leadership styles” of the Republican politicians. The People have never gotten the justice they DESERVE and the prosperity they NEED because of the Politics of Republicans who REFUSE to embrace the diversity in the CNMI especially when it comes to ideas. Our Governor who LIED about prosperity has been the biggest inhibitor to Justice FOR the People and the CNMI may never find real prosperity until there is a real Economists and Sociologist in the decision process because diversity has been replaced with LOYALTY!
Mr. William Stewart was the last real Economist that our leaders would half-way listen to but he was “white” and he never got the credit he truly deserved. Now I may be the only real Economist in the CNMI but I am Black and we know what that means. Yes, nobody will listen and they even continue to try to destroy me with letters and comments. Well, the CNMI would have been a lot better if they had listened to a real Economist and here’s WHY:
1) I warned in 2001 to find a new industry because the Garment Industry was leaving in December of 2005 but no one listened and they even acted surprise when they left on the 31st of December like a thief in the night — prosperity LOSS.
2) I warned about Sugar Dock and the chance to have a Ferry to Tinian being real PROGRESS — prosperity LOSS and we see the results at what was Sugar Dock and now no Ferry at all.
3) I predicted Governor Fitial would not be impeached but fortunately we got justice from our Public Auditor — failed Justice by Republicans that could happen again.
4) Both times when the Feds were WARNING about “minimum wages & immigrations” I wrote tirelessly to try and persuade the leaders to take the appropriate actions — didn’t listen ending in the Federal take-over.
5) Warned in many letters the Government was literally “ROBBING & Killing the Retirement Fund” — didn’t listen and the Retirement Fund is now DEAD!
6) I warned NMDs to organize with a single leader allowing for a “check & balance” on THEIR money — didn’t listen and now MPLT is following the same path that KILLED the Retirement Fund and NMDs have yet to get a single penny since the creation of MPLT that now has over 100-million while the NMDs continue to suffer — prosperity LOSS.
7) I’ve been warning about the Mariana Resort and La Fiesta but these properties continue to deteriorate — didn’t listen, LOSS prosperity.
8) Warned about Article XII that Republican leaders have misled Locals into believing it is protecting them when the only thing it is protecting against is PROSPERITY. Locals can’t name ONE THING that Article XII has done to help them because it denies Locals their RIGHT to Free Enterprise — that’s the true reality of that Racist Law.
9) I warned and even fought tirelessly against China and the Casino and for the CNMI to become a “Family Oriented Destination.” But now we see the casino was THEIR ticket to prosperity, not OURS as their scandalous activities and MORE about the crime associated with our casino has come true just as I predicted — didn’t listen and the real opportunity for prosperity LOSS with all the Japanese Tourists!
10) I’ve been warning about the Workforce Transition and I even provided a solution since 2007 and no one has seriously listened — opportunity LOSS. Now the U.S. Senate is conducting their own “oversight on our workforce” because the Republicans just let it go and left the burden on Education officials with NO Oversight. We are just lucky the U.S. Senate didn’t ask “how many CWs jobs were taken by U.S. citizens since 2019” because they couldn’t give an accurate answer. In fact, in the past two years only a few hundred or less students were transitioned into the workforce when the Federal Workforce Act requires 500 per year. I’m worried and so is Kilili but no one is listening and in 2029, the Feds are going to do exactly what they did with minimum wages and immigration — TAKEOVER our Workforce. I’m Warning our leaders AGAIN! I’ve given more examples of Justice thwarted and Opportunity LOSS but I think the point is made.
Locals are still applying for the same job in competition with CWs which the U.S. Senate will view as horrific but lucky it didn’t come out in the Hearings. I also believe the Governor “CONVIENTLY caught Covid” so he wouldn’t have to testify — not fooling me. ALL Americans should be able to contribute to the leadership decisions in CNMI but if you are not local then you can’t be a leader, which is racist as non-Locals are virtually non-existent in leadership. A Board of Education Board member was once telling people at PSS, “Ambrose can’t write a textbook about the Marianas he is not a local.” But my textbook was a hit, thanks to Rep. Brigida DLG Ichihara, and you can find my textbooks today in many of the homes of Locals who admired and appreciated it so much they kept it. PSS refused to let me do a revised edition but they let Don Farrell a “white-man” redo his book — just telling the true story. There has been a Black Woman DPS Commissioner and a couple other Black Prosecutors but they all left for the racial and/or the political practices “save one” and may God Bless him. But it has been that common practice of “not letting outsiders, especially Blacks, be leaders in anything” that has FESTERED into one gigantic sore with a scab of LOYALTY infecting the entire CNMI leadership and many people figuratively but it has only served to cause missed opportunities — justice and prosperity LOSS.
These are just a few examples of our Leaders not listening to me, but hopefully, ONE DAY the CNMI will have leaders who will truly embrace the diversity in the CNMI and even listen to the Feds and other U.S. citizens to get the justice the People deserve and the prosperity they need. FYI readers, most mainlanders over 50 have been where the CNMI is trying to go when it comes to a better economy and quality of life — so learn to LISTEN Linda! “A wiseman learns from the mistakes and experiences of others only a FOOL has to bump his own head before learning,” my MaDear to me. Please stop making Laws only for Locals and make Laws for ALL, that’s the main reason we are suffering — a CNMI led in the WRONG DIRECTIONS in many areas of life. But I still LOVE the CNMI as it is a beautiful place with less crime to live and the people are GREAT, it’s the leaders who are messed-up — for TRUE!!! It is SOOOOO obvious the CNMI leaders really need a real Economist & Sociologist to help them with the Laws and the Social Variables they affect and with the infrastructure needed to find real prosperity FOR the People. As one of my mentors Congressman John Lewis might say: “I won’t give in and I won’t give out — I will continue to fight for what is JUSTICE — RIGHT & EQUALITY,” as Time is always on my side as long as I’m breathing. If not me, then WHO and if not now then WHEN, Dr. Martin Luther King. Happy Black History Month CNMI. One people One Direction!
The writer is an Economist, Political Scientist, retired teacher, former CNMI Board of Education Member, James Madison Fellow (U.S. Constitutional Scholar), a Fulbright-Hays & Humanities Scholar who resides in Kagman III.
Ambrose M. Bennett
