The historical context that I view it through is one where our fore-parents built this country since 1834.

They survived world wars, global depressions, hurricanes, tsunamis, migrating for work, droughts, a cholera outbreak and God-only-knows what else for us to thrive today.

From humble beginnings, they built our beautiful Virgin Islands over the last 185 years from the ground up to what we enjoy today.

Hear me, Virgin Islands family. Our inheritance came literally through blood, sweat and tears and we must not take any of it for granted and we must be intentional about teaching each generation to guard it and guard it well.

Anything less and we would be letting their sacrifices go in vain and I for one say “not on my watch!”

The COI is going to be a test of our Virgin Islands’ determination and resourcefulness or, as the saying goes, “a test of our mettle”.

It is going to be up to us to listen and learn from the mistakes of the past and move on to build a country that we are proud to call home.

We must carry on the legacy left to us and by God’s grace, make them proud!