President-elect Barack Obama has been quoted and has been used in illustrations many times during and since being elected as President of the United States.

Since his rise in America's political arena I have been intrigued by him, and his message of change and hope. It is not by chance that I have become more determined to make changes within Bermuda.

The United Bermuda Party has been pushing the "One Bermuda - Unity" phrase for years, but very few, I think, are buying into it today because of the messenger and the believability (or credibility) of the message".

Obama spent his campaign emphasising similarities, not differences. He galvanised African-Americans, and white Americans, who turned out to vote because of the messenger and trust factor.

Obama's message was less about unity than it was about change and hope. His push for change and hope created a drive and hunger for unity.

I remember clearly when he stood up and said: "There is not a Black America and a White America and Latino America and Asian America – there's the United States of America".

What powerful words. Can we say that there is not a Black Bermuda, and a White Bermuda, we are just Bermudians?

If not, why not? And what will it take, to get us there?

To get us there it will take change and a new hope. It will take us all moving together, one step at a time but all moving in the same direction.

It may take the people to push for the change if we as politicians do not.

The people are crying out for change, something new, something that will take us into the future. Why is it important? Because, it is about our children and our grand children. This generation must see the importance of making a difference.

If we want change – than we must be the agent of change.

We cannot just wish for change.

We cannot just hope for change.

We cannot just anticipate change.

We must act for change.

The Good Book says "Faith without works is dead", but what is faith? "Faith is the substance of things – hope for the evidence of things not seen".

In other words, we may hope for things, but if we do not work for it then they cannot materialise.

I strongly believe that the following changes could help bring new hope.

1. Change in our form of governance.

2. Political parties can help to ease racial tension.

3. Education is the key.

Change in our Type of Governance

Unless you like confrontation, I do not believe the Westminster system has served us well. It is unnecessarily divisive for such a small community.

I agree with Julian Hall who said in a column last week in the Mid-Ocean News that we need "The adoption of some workable democratic system other than this Lilliputian caricature of the so-called Westminster winner-take-all system with its phony adversarial set up and its pointless and vacuous debating chambers".

He went on to say: "We need something Bermudian; something that attracts the best from all sides and groups. We need to train the Joshua generation to the point that they can have confidence in their ability and readiness to create a truly Bermudian political system which works for us, all of us."

My friend and colleague John Barritt has also been pushing for changes within Parliament for years. He said: "Rules are rules, Mr. Editor, we all understand that, but there's no reason why they shouldn't be reviewed, updated and modernised where necessary – and those of the House of Assembly should be no exception. We seem to be still stuck in the mid-20th century".

Here we have two individuals from two political perspectives but their love for Bermuda drives them to make it a better place.

I do not support Independence at this time but I do support a constitutional reform committee to be set up to look at how we can adopt a workable system.

Political Parties can help ease racial tension

Both parties unfortunately fight on racial lines. We may say that only the PLP does it, but if we are honest and if we are going to heal the land and its people, you will at least consider what I have to say.

The United Bermuda Party relies on 90 percent of whites to win and the PLP relies on at least 80 percent of blacks to win. If ever there is a shift, of about 25 percent or more, and mainly the shift occurs from blacks away from the PLP to the UBP, the UBP wins.

This is where I believe the problem is because both groups rely on racial profiling to win other than on issues.

How do we get out of this?

First, we have to accept that not all the brains are over in the UBP. For years the impression was given that that PLP could not run anything, which implied that blacks could not run anything. Why do I say this? Because it is time to remove the myth that sometimes permeates these islands. That if you're UBP you are right, and if you are PLP you are wrong – or vice versa.

We may not agree with everything the PLP has done over the years but we have to admit the economy has not collapsed, but grown, at least up until the current economic crisis.

Whites should feel free to join the PLP and they should not be made to feel that they have committed the worst crime against humanity in joining. The same should be true for blacks who join the UBP, although I personally feel that whites are more looked down on by some whites for joining the PLP than blacks are for joining the UBP. It is time to build a climate where any ethnic group should be able to join any political party

Education is one of the keys

I gave the following in a speech in March of 2007. I believe it is worth repeating again:

"Despite the abolition of the institution of slavery in 1838, denial and discrimination remained embedded in the culture. Since the 1960s, political and social enfranchisement have been added to legal enfranchisement.

"Every statistic points to the fact that blacks still lag behind, even in corporate board room.

"We cannot close our eyes to inequalities and hope that they will get fixed".

Barack Obama said – and I will add Bermuda where he said United States of America. "To think clearly about race, thus requires us to see the world on a split screen – to maintain our sight on the kind of Bermuda we want, while looking squarely at Bermuda as it is, to acknowledge the sins of our past and the challenges of the present without becoming trapped in cynicism or despair."

"It is true that people can find their progress blocked by 'the glass ceiling' in places of employment regardless of their qualifications. But I still believe that once people have the necessary education and skills, their chances of upward social mobility are considerable enhanced.

"Basically they are the best means of guaranteeing equal access to wealth, power and status for all Bermudians."

I am therefore advocating that if Bermuda wants to enjoy peace, prosperity and progress in the future it must invest heavily in the education and training available to young and old Bermudians.

I am now calling for the equivalent of a Marshall Plan (Post World War ll recovery and reconstruction Plan) to correct the social injustices that have been bequeathed to us from the past. We must invest massively in the disadvantaged communities that blight the social landscape of Bermuda.

I am asking the people of Bermuda to demand this as a matter of urgency, if we are to avoid the racial conflict that is germinating below the surface in Bermuda. This is the essential condition for good race relations in any situation, as shown by the Kerner Report on the Civil Disturbances in the USA in the 1960's.

My friends and fellow Bermudians – we need change and we need hope.

We need a new vision for our times, a vision of change. A vision that arises from necessity or one that orientates us towards a new future?

I favour a vision for a new future.

Like Obama it has to be a vision of change, Yes we can - yes we must.