“We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools”

— the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr

On February 10, please join us on Hott 107.5FM with host Kim Swan and myself for our first cross-Caribbean conversation of the year.

We will be joined in discussion with Woody DaCosta, of the Cayman Islands.

Who is Woody DaCosta, you are asking?

Well, he is a very proud Caymanian, born and raised in the West Bay region. During our parliamentary trip to Cayman Islands last year, Speaker of the House Dennis Lister, myself and other Caribbean parliamentarians were introduced to Mr DaCosta as guests on his daily multicast show Cayman Crosstalk.

Interestingly enough, Multicast means in this sense that his show is not only broadcast on radio, but simultaneously on Cayman’s largest television news service, Cayman27, the web and Facebook Live. These formats allow him to reach thousands daily and enjoy post engagements on his Facebook page, Cayman Crosstalk, that are consistently in the region of 50,000.

What we found most interesting about him is that he is meticulous in his research of local, regional and international affairs.

Imagine, if you will, a combination of the following local investigative journalists: the tenacity of Ayo Johnson, the “take no prisoners” approach of Sam Strangeways, combined with the care for our community of Jonathan Bell and Sarah Lagan.

Well, if you can envision that, then you now know the type of personality I am describing.

Not only does he research his facts, but he is fearless in his presentations. I mean “Sherri Simmons meets Gary Moreno” fearless. Any public figure choosing to be a guest on his show had better come with facts and figures because he undoubtedly will be asking a host of probing questions.

Daily, he covers topics on his show such as mental health, the cost of living, public access to local beaches, and Caymanian politics. All this in an effort to have his fellow islanders better informed on issues.

As passionate as he is about the wellbeing of the Cayman Islands, he is equally knowledgeable of what is going on throughout the Caribbean region and internationally.

What stood out to us when we first met him was his intimate knowledge of the issues affecting each one of the Overseas Territories in relation to recent moves by Britain and the European Union.

With that being said, you now should have a better idea of the calibre of person we will be having a conversation with. Our discussion will be inclusive of topics affecting Bermuda, Cayman Islands and the Caribbean region on a whole: climate change, immigration, opportunities for locals, Brexit, unfair financial blacklisting by the EU, and Britain’s relationship with the Overseas Territories. We promise this will be a highly informative conversation.

In these times of external pressure affecting the economic lifeblood of every Overseas Territory, we as public figures and the public at large across the region need to learn more about each other and, more importantly, how to work together the same way the countries in the EU work together to further their goals.

So. February 10 at 8pm Bermuda time (7pm Eastern Standard Time), please tune in to Hott 107.5FM, which can also be found online at Tunein.com.

The number to call in to join the conversation is 441-297-1075.

• Christopher Famous is the government MP for Devonshire East (Constituency 11). You can reach him at WhatsApp on 599-0901 or e-mail at cfamous@plp.bm