Leave it to DJLT to tackle the sticky wickets, the touchy issues, the sensitive subjects, etc. Yes, I am a poo-poo disturber. I will admit that. But the reason I will continue to rock the boat is because I am in search of the TRUTH and desire to make Bermuda a better place.I’m glad some black Bermudians took offense to my submission last week because some of us need a reality check and others are simply in denial! There is an adage “Thou doth protest too much”. Some people will not get that but it applies. Basically, for the unenlightened, it means if you protest or respond excessively and for too long to an accusation or allegation against you, you are probably guilty of whatever you are being accused of doing, saying, thinking or feeling.In any event, I have learned in my 47 years on the planet that the truth sets you free. Delicate issues bring out the truth, unpopular conversations bring out the truth, uncomfortable issues cause the truth to come out and lastly, when you make a person angry, because you’ve raised a sensitive subject; they may get angry. Angry people don’t usually lie they usually tell you what they really and truthfully think and feel.So I will continue to stir the pot and table the difficult conversations, because Bermuda residents deserve to know the truth about all matters that pertain to them and affect their daily lives. Notice I said Bermuda residents. That means all people that live here; whether they are Bermudians or guests in our Country. More on this after the top 20.Holding at #1 is Good Feeling by Flo Rida, the same song as Levels by Avicii, a monster dance track. I like both the instrumental and the vocal versions. The beat is just cool and banging. Still climbing at #2 is Ni**as in Paris by Jay Z featuring Kanye West. I was taken to task by one of my readers over this song. I’m not celebrating the song and detest the use of the N word but this article is not about the music I like, it’s about the songs that are popular. I apologise that the name of the song is offensive and I don’t like it either.Tumbling to #3 is The One That Got Away by Katy Perry, who has become a veteran in the pop music industry who can be counted on to drop hit after hit. I love her music. Falling to #4 is We Found Love by Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris.Falling to #5 is Rain Over Me, by Marc Anthony and Pitbull. Jumping to #6 is Turn Me On by David Guetta featuring Nicki Minaj, a monster dance hit which is tearing up charts worldwide. This track has some powerful and catchy lyrics and a big beat, a signature of David Guetta.Improving to #7 is Rack City by Tyga, a former essential new tune. Improving to #8 it’s Hangover by Taio Cruz featuring Flo Rida. Up to #9 is Dance (A$$) by Big Sean featuring Nicki Minaj. Slipping to #10 is Without You by David Guetta featuring Usher.Climbing to #11 is Hotel Nacional by the original Latina diva, Gloria Estefan. Tumbling to #12 is Sexy And I Know It by LMFAO. If you don’t tell yourself you’re beautiful the world may not, so go ahead and tell yourself that you’re sexy.Improving to #13 is Someone Like You by Adele. A former essential new tune, International Love by Pitbull featuring Chris Brown, improves to #14. Falling to #15 is Mr Saxobeat by Alexandra Stan. Back up to #16 is Love On Top by Beyonce.Slipping to #17 is Lotus Flower Bomb by Wale featuring Miguel. Improving to #18 is The Motto by Drake featuring L’il Wayne. You will like the beat and catchy lyrics of this rap anthem.Falling to #19 is Moves like Jagger by Maroon 5 featuring Christina AguileraAnd now, this week’s essential new tune. In at #20 it’s Stronger by Kelly Clarkson, one of the original success stories of American Idol. This is a solid pop track with a dance version that does the business in the nightspots. It’s a steady track with a predictably positive message, given the title.Now back to this week’s topic: finding the Truth. As I reviewed the submission from last week and some of the comments, it dawned on me that some of my fellow black Bermudians didn’t like what I wrote. Too bad. What I wrote is true. There are too many of us who are xenophobic. Those of us who are xenophobic need to grow up, get over it and join the rest of the progressive members of the universe, or you will be left behind.Many Bermudians have a sense of entitlement. I’m not saying don’t have national pride! We should have national pride and we need to have more of it. Our national football team just might make the World Cup one day if more of us attended the national fixtures, rammed the National Sports Centre such that there were no more seats or standing room left, and screamed and cheered the team to success. Perhaps the same is true for our national cricket team. I’m sure you get the point.However, let’s be real. I’m not related to Sir George Somers. The point I make here is that if you go back far enough, we all came here from somewhere else. Originally, nobody lived in Bermuda. So none of us has any more right to enjoy the assets and beauty of this Country than anybody else.For instance, I’m Bermudian. But my mother’s parents are both from St Kitts. Pop’s people are all from Bermuda as far back as we know. But since nobody was here at the beginning they had to come from somewhere else!Some of us have the privilege of having Bermudian status and we should be given the first right to most things and we should get any job for which we are qualified. But let’s not get on a high horse and act like we created these Isles. God made the world and whilst we are the title holders, in whose hands he has entrusted the caretaking of this Country, let’s not be so arrogant about it and let’s be a bit more friendly to our guests.It would be irresponsible of me to fail to acknowledge that earlier this week Bermuda was voted as the second most friendly place to live and work, behind Canada. So well done Bermuda and the award suggests that in spite of the xenophobic behavior of a segment of the population, hopefully a small percentage, for the most part, Bermuda is still a friendly place.If, because of decisions that we made or even circumstances beyond our control, Bermudians don’t have the correct education, skill set, work ethic or work experience to do certain jobs, or if there simply are not enough Bermudians to fill all the vacancies that exist in the workplace, we will have to import workers from somewhere. That is just the way the economics of this situation work. Get over it and let’s move on.However, companies should make a genuine effort to train, develop and groom Bermudians to succeed guest workers at the end of their contracts/work permits. I don’t think that this is happening in the manner or to the extent intended and I give the Government full credit for forcing this issue and causing companies to be honest about whether they are really trying to hire, develop and promote Bermudians.But we as Bermudians must do our part. SOME Bermudians have poor work ethic, presenting behaviours like calling in sick too frequently, being late, not being approachable, being hostile and toxic, xenophobic, not team players, incompetent, insubordinate, difficult to work with, the list is endless you all know what I mean. But guess what? I’ve now even noticed some of these behaviours in SOME guest workers!! How’s that for fairness and honesty??To my critics, I will not stick to the music commentary because most people enjoy my other writing more than the music. Most of those who are suggesting that I stick to the music are uncomfortable with me raising touchy subjects, don’t agree with my opinions, or are in denial. I’m just keeping it real with the music and remembering where I came from. I started writing this article in 1990 in the former Mid-Ocean News as a DJ and it has evolved into this column currently featured in The Royal Gazette. Other people should remember where they came from and stop being so haughty.I have to acknowledge here that I don’t set the titles of my articles and a grave error was made in the initial selection of the title of last week’s submission. On behalf of the RG, I apologise for that. It has been corrected, the matter and culprit addressed and a mistake like that should not happen again.However, don’t lose the message and I will not let anyone shoot this messenger. The point, and the TRUTH, is that we still have a long way to go in our race relations and in our efforts to mature, educate and grow ourselves away from xenophobia, which is the dislike, distrust and hatred in some cases of people and things foreign. I didn’t use the Oxford or Webster dictionary definition, that’s the DJLT version, which I submit is accurate.There is work to do by black people, and there is work to do by whites. Bermudians need to outgrow xenophobia, and guests in this Country have to change some things that they do and be flexible in assimilating into Bermudian culture and the way we do things.However, at the end of the day, we want a country that is fair, peaceful, crime-free, safe, prosperous, where all Bermudians who want to work can work, ideally in an industry they like or prefer. We also want a thriving economy and history has proven that in order to have that we need around 40,000 people in our workforce.Since our birthrate has declined we will need guest workers to get us up to or closer to that number. In an ideal Bermuda, guest workers would be welcomed into Bermuda, treated fairly, not better than Bermudians but fairly. In an ideal Bermuda we would all work together to create a society, an economy and a Country where both business and tourism visitors flocked in droves, for vacations, or to do business.In an ideal Bermuda guest workers would not receive the housing subsidies that Bermudians often don’t get, which makes the remuneration package for the guest worker higher and may fuel the xenophobia. See, DJLT keeps it real!That’s our blueprint for everything. Peace ... DJLT