With the Democratic Party nomination seeming to be headed to a delegates showdown between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) can either do themselves justice by appointing Barack Obama as their presidential nominee or injustice to the party by not doing so.

Barack Obama single-handedly has raised the Democratic Party from the dead especially when its leadership of the House Nancy Pelosi and the Senate, Harry Reid, have by their action or inaction, turned off or alienated several of their party faithfuls.

Obama has brought great optimism and hope, not just to party faithfuls, but newly-found Democrats, Republicans and Independents by inspiring them with his message. At a time in our country’s history when most think that this great nation has bottomed out in its world standing, economically and morally, more and more Americans are finding a ray of hope (Yes We Can) in what the Illinois Senator has to offer.

Air Jamaica employees in the Diaspora recently received a very harsh blow from the chairwoman and board of the airline. First on Monday February 3, the airline’s staff at the Miami and Fort Lauderdale airport were summoned to a meeting where they were informed by representatives of the airlines Human Resource Department that the overwhelming majority of the staff would be reduced from full time employment to part-time agents, resulting in fifty percent reduction of their incomes effective March 1. This cut affects some supervisors who have up to 36 years service with the airline. The switch from full time staff to part time agents also applies to junior and supervisory staff at airports in Atlanta, New York and Toronto.

However, that was not the deepest cut, as the next day, Tuesday, February 5, the airline HR emissaries, again acting on behalf of their chairwoman and board of directors, informed the sales and marketing staff at the airline’s Doral office in Miami, that some seven members of staff there will be laid off effective February 11. This decision also affects staff in the sales and marketing in the airline’s North American offices.

The impact of these decisions resonates not only on the airline’s South Florida staff but throughout the community, as most of the employees have been active within the community for several years. Naturally, the news has not been well received, with calls being made to radio shows, and letters written to newspapers in support of the employees.

Caribbean-American community as never before. Over the past few weeks wherever Caribbean people gather, the conversation invariably shifts to the presidential primaries taking place in several states. Fueling increased interest in politics is the fierce competition between the leading Democratic contenders for that party’s nomination, Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

However, despite the passion being displayed within the Caribbean community, there are indications that a large percentage of this community is not eligible to vote. To make a meaningful contribution to the political process, one has to be eligible to vote, and use that vote as well.

Of course, only people who are American citizens have the opportunity and the right to vote – a right which Black people were given 45 years ago after years of bitter struggle, humiliation, and deprivation. Voting rights must never been taken for granted. But, there are thousands of legal permanent residents in the community, residing in the U.S. consistently for over 5 years, without criminal records, who have still not applied for citizenship. There are two reasons for this. One is that there is an unbelievable sense of apathy. Some people have no interest in becoming citizens once they can travel freely to and from the Caribbean, hold a job in the U.S. and enjoy the fruits of the American lifestyle. The other reason is ignorance. There are still Caribbean people who believe that if they become citizens of the U.S. they have to give up the citizenship of their country of birth. This is just not true. Most Caribbean countries allow for dual citizenship.

Credit should always be given where it is due, and, accordingly, U.S. Congressional leaders – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Republican Leader John A. Boehner, along with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson must be commended for responding in record time in reaching a deal on tax rebates that is favorable with President Bush.

It was only on Monday that President Bush proposed a $145 billion stimulus package including tax rebates of $800 - $1,600, but which would have left some 30 million working households, not earning enough to pay income tax without a cent. The Congressional leaders reacted quickly to Bush’s proposal and early Thursday morning announced a $150 billion stimulus package that would provide rebates of $600 to individuals, $1,200 to working couples; $1,200, and an additional $300 per child to couples with children.

A significant change to the president’s plan is that workers who earn at least $3,000 annually, but not enough to pay taxes, will receive a $300 rebate. In addition to the tax rebates to individuals and families, estimated to cost $100 billion, business would receive $50 billion in tax cuts.

The theory behind both the president’s and Congressional leaders’ proposals is that the cash rebates will generate quick spending which would jump start the economy. However, the initiative will not be enough to stimulate America’s economic recovery and prevent the encroaching recession.

Martin Luther King would have celebrated his 79^th birthday on January 15. However, 40 years ago on April 4, 1968 he was assassinated and America lost its most renowned civil rights leader. It is a pity that although America has come a long way since that fateful day, and although he was responsible for many of the rights that Black people in America now take for granted, his name is caught up in the bitterness of the 2008 Democratic presidential campaign.

King became involved in the struggle for the civil rights of Black Americans in 1955, when as the pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, and a member of the executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) he led the first major Negro non-violent demonstration. This was the bus boycott against segregation on buses in America that required Blacks to sit in the back of busses, and given national attention when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus. That demonstration lasted 382 days, ending on December 21, 1956 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that segregation on buses was unconstitutional.

The days of the boycott were not easy days for King, who was arrested, threatened, came under surveillance from the FBI, and even had his house bomb. However, he emerged as America’s foremost Black leader. In 1957, after being elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, he took on the quest for improvements in the civil rights of Black Americans in earnest, leading marches, giving major speeches, negotiating with presidents and high officials which resulted in President Lyndon B. Johnson signing the Civil Rights Act in 1964.