The Fifth Virgin Islands Constitutional Convention

On June 12^th there will be a special election of delegates to the Virgin Islands’ fifth constitutional convention. What does this really mean for Virgin Island residents? It means that we will have an opportunity to elect members of our community to create a document of governance for and by the people. You see, we are currently being governed under the Revised Organic Act of 1954, which at this stage, has been amended too many times for the average person to keep count. The Revised Organic Act of 1954 was a modification to the Organic Act of 1936 and it was an adoption of the Colonial Laws of 1906. The latter was a document drafted by the Danish government to rule the Danish West Indian Colonies or the Virgin Islands as we are now called.

All this is really saying that we need a governance document that reflects the needs of the territory because it was written by the citizens of the territory. Now, as a United States Unincorporated Territory, Virgin Island residents still have American rights and privileges, but not all of them. This fifth constitutional convention will address some of those issues as well as one of the more controversial ones – who is a Virgin Islander. In previous conventions, this issue created the most disagreement among delegates and residence. Hopefully, this time they will come to some definition that befits the many and varied people of the Virgin Islands. Needless to say, I’ll be voting on the 12^th. Culturemom, signing out.