President Obama has changed the political, social, and racial landscape of America and the world. As the first black US president and a leader who has a coherent plan to change the direction of the country, he is now creating the environment for change, especially for the disenfranchised.

But no government, including Obama's, is a panacea for individual and community responsibility. Government does not wave a magic wand that can fix everything for everyone. In America, after Obama's election, there is still overwhelming drug abuse, disproportionate incarceration of black men, and substandard education in poor and disenfranchised communities. Government by itself does not change these problems. Government only creates the environment for the individual and community to access the change through hard work.

For the disenfranchised, both in America and Jamaica, success comes through personal and community action. We have to see the opportunities and be vigilant about taking them. Yet there are still individuals and groups of people who recline, watching the wheels of success pass them by. These are the people who will be left in the same place complaining, even after Government has done the best it can. A country dies when its individuals and communities are lazy.

I am, etc.,

NYRON BLAKE

nyronblake@yahoo.com

Brooklyn