Justice of the Peace Roy Beckford was murdered at his Kingston home on December 13 and his house set on fire.

I skipped last week’s post, and to be honest don’t feel we have missed very much. No dramatic developments, but a lot of “hot air” - which is not unusual in Jamaica, of course. And Christmas approacheth. Hence the stupor, perhaps.

The most loquacious Minister in the current Cabinet, Education Minister Ronald Thwaites, barely paused for breath – or rather, took a deep breath and plunged into a new round of announcements, clarifications and explanations. Very much a mixed bag, these turned out to be. The results of an inspection of 135 primary and secondary schools by the National Education Inspectorate were, to put it bluntly, dismal. Many school boards were also found to be “unsatisfactory.” And while it was disturbing to hear that in one third of the schools “the quality of educational inputs was rated as unsatisfactory,” the report that “safety, security, health and well-being were rated as unsatisfactory in 34 per cent of the schools inspected” is also very concerning. This means that there are, indeed, management issues at these schools; and the boards, often including “politically connected” people, seem to be a major problem. I am not sure how Minister Thwaites is going to deal with this, without serious, and perhaps unwanted intervention by himself personally. But something is deeply wrong, and this is impacting the education of our children.

And then there is the issue of Dr. Doeford Shirley, Director of the National College of Educational Leadership, which is supposed to train school principals (clearly an important task). Dr. Shirley, who gave up a job in the United States to take up the position, has been very vocal in the media for the past several weeks, claiming that Minister Thwaites has overlooked him. Dr. Shirley refuses to shut up or resign.

Now, after a little over a year, Minister Thwaites has declared the ASTEP program, which targets students who have failed the Grade Four Literacy Test, a failure. The program began in September 2011 under the previous Jamaica Labour Party administration, and changes will need to be made, says the former talk show host.

Then, startlingly, Minister Thwaites commented at one of his frequent press conferences that the government will not have any more teaching jobs to offer, apart from those made vacant by retirees, because we “simply do not have the space.” Brows were wrinkled, and then a ministry official murmured, “fiscal space.” In other words, the Government cannot afford to employ any more teachers. What about all the teachers graduating from teachers’ colleges in Jamaica, then? What are they to do? And meanwhile, Minister Thwaites’ senior adviser does not appear to be at all popular with members of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association.

Dear, oh dear. There have also been internal rumblings in the Ministry of Agriculture, but I won’t bore you with the details. Politics, personalities… so what is new. A tremendous, perhaps excessive amount of media attention was paid to this, and to other matters of little apparent worth, over the past two weeks. Somehow I feel we are missing the bigger picture.

And I confess to not feeling reassured by comments the Finance Minister Peter Phillips made during the past week; in fact, I am finding his words hard to interpret. In September, as one radio station noted, Minister Phillips told us that there was “no sticking point” during the ongoing, highly sensitive discussions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Now, from what we can tell, there seem to be a couple of such sticky areas: namely, the issue of tax waivers, and how the government proposes to handle its enormous debt. I suspect I am not the only one who is just…not clear on what is really happening. The print media appears, for the most part, to be pretending that one of those dear sweet elephants in the room does not exist. This week, the elephant has a big sign dangling round his neck, bearing the immortal Clintonian words: “It’s the Economy, Stupid.” We are left wondering a) whether the IMF agreement will be signed before the end of December, as the Minister says it will; and b) whether it will be signed at all. And then, if not signed, then what? one or two journalists are cautiously asking.

Finance Minister Peter Phillips

Are we enlightened? No, and the media is not helping much. The Sunday Observer, to give but one of many examples, chose to print an article about competitive bird-watching in Peru on its business pages. I mean, that has got to be more relevant, right? And it’s so much easier to tuck the bad economic news away in the business pages, because no one reads those.

One financial analyst on radio (thank God for radio!) observed that the tone of Minister Phillips’ comments, his oblique references to “sovereignty” etc., were “more bluster than reality,” and that the cold reality of the IMF will win in the end. Is this true? I don’t know what to say. The reporting on this entire IMF issue has been, to my mind, so inadequate and the Minister’s pronouncements so infrequent and so vague that I cannot do anything but sit down and wait and see, like everyone else. While the Jamaican Dollar slides to 92 or 93 to the U.S. Dollar. And while public sector workers are restless over the likelihood that their wages will not be unfrozen for the next two years or so. There will be more, much more on this in due course. Hopefully, all will be revealed, clarified and sorted out – but meanwhile, it is all hanging like a very uncomfortable cloud over the new year; and the Minister’s vague, and at the same time emphatic, pronouncements do not help. By the way, what is the Prime Minister‘s role supposed to be in all this – if any? Can we expect her to explain the IMF situation? The answer to these questions sums up the prevailing feeling about the economy: I don’t know. We don’t know.

The horror of the Newtown massacre of women and small children in the United States sparked much discussion on the radio talk shows. One woman called in to say that this event shows that “Jamaica is a God-blessed country, because things like that don’t happen here.” No, my dear, but Jamaica still has the third highest number of homicides in the world. Blessed, indeed. The Prime Minister issued a statement expressing her condolences and regret at the deaths of the innocent young American children. This sparked a flurry of irritation from Jamaican tweeters, who asked why the Prime Minister had not sought it necessary to express regret about the many children murdered throughout the year, almost on a weekly basis, here in Jamaica. Or condolences to the family of Vanessa Wint (who allegedly committed suicide) – an “uncontrollable” child in an adult prison.

One more thing… We all love development, don’t we? And doesn’t our Government just love big projects? Well, the highway linking the north and south coasts – and bypassing the often-treacherous Mount Rosser road – was inaugurated recently with grand speeches, balloons and the Chinese. Now there are voices of concern – namely Professor Simon Mitchell, a geologist at the University of the West Indies, and environmental activist Diana McCaulay. It is all a case of “sloppy planning,” they suggest. The highway, in three legs, crosses a clear and well-known earthquake fault and crosses “weak and fractured limestone” that you can thrust a machete into. The proper assessments of the geology of the area have not been done, says Professor Mitchell. And, in future, he suggests, “for every major infrastructure project, there MUST be an independent geological survey to identify the problems associated with the project and mitigate the impacts.” By the way, the Jamaican Government is making a large piece of land available – that is giving this land to China Harbour for development. This was apparently not included in the Environmental Impact Assessment. And why are we giving large tracts of land to the Chinese to do whatever they want with it?

The North-South highway link was inaugurated with much fanfare recently. Once again, a Chinese affair…Plus we have even given them a chunk of land for development.

There are murmurings, now, that the Prime Minister needs to take a good look at her Cabinet with a view to making some changes. The marvelously sharp broadcaster Dionne Jackson-Miller addressed the issue of a “score card” for Jamaican ministers of government in her weekly television show “All Angles” (Dionne can be heard on the evening prime time current affairs program “Beyond the Headlines.” She also writes a provocative blog on topical issues (http://newsandviewsbydjmillerja.wordpress.com) and one on legal issues (http://djmillerja.wordpress.com). You can watch the program at the link below. Very interesting. And wonderful to see young Maurice Smith giving his opinion. I first met Maurice when he was a student at Manchester High School and standout winner of one of the U.S. Embassy’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Essay competitions. He is going from strength to strength and I’m proud of him!)

Do we have to? Self-styled ladies’ man and champion athlete Asafa Powell is determined to stay in the limelight. He is now going to be an advice columnist on “style, fitness and relationships” in the Observer’s weekly All Woman supplement. Is he actually qualified in any way to dish out advice in the first and third of these areas? And can he please lose that beard? Please, Asafa, I beg yuh!

Not to be outdone, the Gleaner’s Flair magazine last week focused on what it called “Media Mummies,” who we are told have all “whipped their bodies back into shape.”  I cringed and quickly turned the pages. Yes, you can see I am not a great fan of the women’s supplements.

Dr. Doeford Shirley, Director of the National College of Educational Leadership, moved from Atlanta, Georgia to take up the position .

Congratulations to Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ), who last week received a “special mention” as runners-up to the Prix des droits de l’homme de la République Française (Human Rights Prize of the French Republic) for 2012. Perhaps, one day, JFJ might receive a prize from its own Jamaican government for its untiring work on behalf of the citizens of Jamaica. But that would be too much to expect, eh? JFJ held a public forum – broadcast live on the always-supportive Nationwide News Network – on Human Rights Day, and their excellent column on the topic can be read here: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/Another-way-is-possible_13216866?fb_ref=storypage. Yes, another way to treat our children in state care is, indeed possible. Do read it.

And someone else got an award! The National Housing Trust (NHT) presented their inaugural award for reporting on sustainable development and affordable housing to Nationwide News Network’s George Davis. TVJ’s Dara Smith and Irie FM’s Natalie Campbell were second and third, respectively. Congrats to all, and to the NHT for this great concept!

The Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays (J-FLAG) celebrated its fourteenth anniversary on December 10, World Human Rights Day. I will be writing more about the events of that day in a “soon-come” blog post, but want to raise a toast to J-FLAG. Like other organizations in Jamaica that stand up for the rights of the people, they suffer enormous hostility, threats and utter disdain. I admire them enormously. I hope that one day the “penny will drop” and that Jamaicans will actually understand what human rights – and in particular, the rights of minorities – actually mean. Before it’s too late, and theirs are taken away completely.

Meanwhile, I am not sure if anyone noticed, but Professor Hopeton Dunn launched his book “Ringtones of Opportunity” (clever title) on the enormous potential of Information & Communication Technology (ICT) in the Caribbean, at the University of the West Indies. I must get my hands on a copy. The head of the recently-established Business Processing Industry Association of Jamaica, Yoni Epstein, had some strong words to say about the need for Jamaica to provide much more physical space for call centers and other IT-related businesses (one reason why the U.S. firm Convergys has delayed its investment in Jamaica) and for much more robust training in this area. Over to you, Minister Paulwell…

Professor Hopeton Dunn has been a strong advocate for ICT over a number of years.

Yoni Epstein, head of the new Business Processing Industry Association of Jamaica.

I am handing out some awards – you could call them Dubious Distinctions – as follows:

Special Prize for the Most Appearances on Television Prime Time News: Hon. Ronald Thwaites, Minister of Education

Special Prize for Keeping Its Mouth Shut: The Opposition Jamaica Labour Party (with the recent exception of Finance Spokesman Audley Shaw)

Honorable Mention for Reading Out Speeches Very Nicely: Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller, Prime Minister 

P.S. The op-ed in today’s Sunday Gleaner, by Javed Jaghai, an openly gay Jamaican, is a must-read. Discrimination, bigotry and the endless tirades against and persecution of homosexuals in Jamaica is, again, part of a bigger picture that many Jamaicans choose not to see – especially the fundamentalist Christians who shout in our ears all the time. As Mr. Jaghai puts it, “No Jamaican should have to wait for justice, because every human life is equally valuable.” He condemns not only the stone-throwers, but also those who by their “silence and apathy” allow the situation whereby marginalized groups are treated as less than human to continue. As the African American activist James Baldwin wrote to Angela Davis during the days of the civil rights movement, “If they take you in the morning, they will be coming for us that night.”

None of us are immune. Treat your Jamaican brothers and sisters as you would have them treat you, this Christmas time. Isn’t that the Christian philosophy, or did I get that wrong?

Until next week…

Nationwide News Network reporter George Davis receives the NHT Journalism Award from Hortense Rose, Assistant General Manager for Corporate Communication at the NHT. (Photo: Jamaica Observer)

Chair of Jamaicans for Justice Susan Goffe receives the medal from the French Ambassador to Jamaica Ginette de Matha. (Photo: French Embassy)

My deepest sympathies go out to the families and friends of the following Jamaican citizens, who were murdered between December 3 and December 16, 2012. I know that there are quite a few “unidentified” but have been unable to find their names – but these were definitely reported. My apologies for this…

Odale Planter, 13, Osbourne Store, Clarendon (student of Vere Technical High School)

Roy Beckford, JP, 67, Molynes Road, Kingston

Ricardo Williams, 26, Osbourne Store, Clarendon

Steve Huggan, 35, Clarendon

Kevin Mattis, 40, Constant Spring, Kingston

Tony Jackson, 29, Drews Hill, Hanover

Peter O’Neil, 28, Gordon Pen/Spanish Town, St. Catherine

Pauline Israel, 62, St. John’s Road/Spanish Town, St. Catherine

Anthony Robinson, 17, Portmore, St. Catherine

Eric Francis, 50, Portmore, St. Catherine

Dwayne Messam, 30, Spanish Town, St. Catherine

Unidentified man, Ewarton, St. Catherine

Unidentified woman, Ewarton, St. Catherine

Unidentified man, Ewarton, St. Catherine

André Walters, 17, Johnson Pen, St. Catherine (Student of HEART Trust/NTA)

Unidentified man, Lakes Pen, St. Catherine

Unidentified man, Lakes Pen, St. Catherine

Jaseth Rose, 24, Montpelier, St. James

Unidentified man, Montego Bay, St. James

Killed by the police:

Chanderpaul Crawford, 16, Yallahs, St. Thomas

Oshane Brown, 28, May Pen, Clarendon

Mark Warren, 40, Nain, St. Elizabeth

Unidentified man, Port Antonio, Portland

Unidentified man, Osbourne Store, Clarendon

Unidentified man, Osbourne Store, Clarendon

Unidentified man, Spanish Town, St. Catherine

Related links:

http://www.jis.gov.jm/news/leads/32470 (Transshipment and logistics hub will boost MSMEs: Jamaica Information Service)

http://rjrnewsonline.com/business/jamaica-seeks-partnership-to-increase-ict-space (Jamaica seeks partnership to increase ICT space: RJR News)

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business/-BPO-sector-crying-for-help-_13152564 (“BPO sector crying for help”: Jamaica Observer)

http://rjrnewsonline.com/local/public-sector-not-backing-down-from-wage-claims (Public sector not backing down from wage claims: RJR News)

http://rjrnewsonline.com/local/naj-calls-emergency-meeting-to-discuss-wages (NAJ calls emergency meeting to discuss wages: RJR News)

http://rjrnewsonline.com/local/businesses-jittery-as-dollar-sinks-to-record-low (Businesses jittery as dollar sinks to record low: RJR News)

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business/Private-sector-must-play-godfather-role–says-Phillips_13211246 (Private sector must play godfather role, says Phillips: Jamaica Observer)

http://www.jis.gov.jm/news/list/32474 (Work on Mount Rosser bypass resumes January: Jamaica Information Service)

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121212/cleisure/cleisure4.html (North-South highway link: should we brace for disaster? Op-ed by Professor Simon Mitchell/Jamaica Gleaner)

http://www.jis.gov.jm/news/list/32561 (Prime Minister saddened by Connecticut massacre: Jamaica Information Service)

http://www.jis.gov.jm/news/leads/32559 (Citizens and police benefit from youth leadership program: Jamaica Information Service)

http://rjrnewsonline.com/local/ja-civil-society-coalition-steps-up-pressure-on-public-defender (Ja. Civil Society Coalition steps up pressure on Public Defender: RJR News)

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121206/lead/lead4.html#.UMCh_8ASwps.facebook (Tivoli report in two weeks: Jamaica Gleaner)

http://rjrnewsonline.com/local/jfj-criticizes-hannas-response-to-children-in-lock-ups (JFJ criticizes Hanna’s response to children in lock-ups: RJR News)

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/JFJ-awarded-French-medal_13203295 (JFJ awarded French medal: Jamaica Observer)

http://www.jis.gov.jm/news/list/32455 (Justice system must safeguard children’s rights: Jamaica Information Service)

http://www.jis.gov.jm/news/leads/32543 (Issues affecting children in state care to be discussed: Jamaica Information Service)

http://rjrnewsonline.com/local/thwaites-announces-overhaul-in-school-board-appointments (Thwaites announces overhaul in school board appointments: RJR News)

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/I-wont-resign- (Sidelined educator defiant, goes to war with government: Jamaica Observer)

http://www.jis.gov.jm/news/list/32536 (Education Minister says changes coming: Jamaica Information Service)

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Thwaites–Results-of-NEI-primary-schools-survey-mediocre_13195168 (Results of NEI primary schools survey mediocre: Jamaica Observer)

http://rjrnewsonline.com/local/shootout-in-port-antonio (Shootout in Port Antonio: RJR News)

http://rjrnewsonline.com/local/policeman-injured-during-new-kingston-shootout (Policeman injured during New Kingston shootout: RJR News)

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/-Murder-most-foul-_13144663 (Murder most foul: Mark Wignall column/Jamaica Observer)

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121215/letters/letters4.html (Government must protect citizens: Letter/Gleaner)

http://rjrnewsonline.com/local/cop-accused-of-corruption-on-million-dollar-bail (Cop accused of corruption on million-dollar bail: RJR News)

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121215/cleisure/cleisure1.html (Those with clean hands, show them: Gleaner editorial)

http://rjrnewsonline.com/local/police-making-progress-in-corruption-fight (Police making progress in corruption fight: RJR News)

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121216/cleisure/cleisure3.html (Gay agenda part of wider fight for justice: Javed Jaghai op-ed/Jamaica Gleaner)

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121216/ent/ent1.html (Gay rights group bats for reformed dancehall artistes: Sunday Gleaner)

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121215/letters/letters1.html (A land where pleasure abounds: Letter/Jamaica Gleaner)

http://www.jis.gov.jm/news/list/32524 (Governor General endorses project in Westmoreland to help persons with HIV/AIDS: Jamaica Information Service)

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Refurbished-Redemption-Arcade-handed-over-to-KSAC_13217393 (Refurbished Redemption Arcade handed over to KSAC: Jamaica Observer)

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Hanover-Infirmary-gets-Christmas-help (Hanover Infirmary gets Christmas help: Jamaica Observer)

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121216/focus/focus1.html (Don’t mess with the press? Media mollycoddle Big Business and dodge the bullet of regulation: Ian Boyne column/Sunday Gleaner)

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/Journalism-in-the-public-interest_13212093 (Journalism in the public interest: Claude Robinson column/Sunday Observer)

http://www.televisionjamaica.com/Programmes/AllAngles.aspx/Videos/22825 (All Angles on “Assessing the Performance of Cabinet”/TVJ)

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121209/cleisure/cleisure1.html (Do some house cleaning, Prime Minister: Gleaner editorial)

Sunday Notes: December 2, 2012 (petchary.wordpress.com)

For Human Rights Day 2012; A Challenge, an Invitation, and an Anniversary (petchary.wordpress.com)

It’s Getting Beta: Young Tech Entrepreneurs in Jamaica (petchary.wordpress.com)

A Great “Dig” for Jamaican Bloggers (petchary.wordpress.com)

Sunday Elephants: November 11, 2012 (petchary.wordpress.com)

Tivoli Gardens: On May 24, 2010, The People were “Deading” (petchary.wordpress.com)

This is such disturbing information that I just simply had to reprint it here – especially since I somehow missed it in my Sunday review. It’s a very short article, but the implications are huge. Read the article online at  http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121216/lead/lead2.html. What is the answer – or answers? And how can Jamaica continue this way?

Trade data unearthed through website http://www.diGJamaica.com has revealed that the value of all the island’s exports from January to August this year would fail to cover the cost of importing petroleum products for the same period.

Total exports for the period valued US$1.1 billion or J$97 billion, while imported petroleum products valued US$1.6 billion or J$142 billion. This represents a US$500 million, or J$45 billion trade deficit on petroleum products alone.

Put another way, the trade deficit on petroleum products alone would purchase 4.5 billion $10 Cash Pot bets.

Petroleum products is a category of imports used by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica that includes the fuel used locally in cars, trucks and boats. It also includes the gas used to cook, the fuel used in airplanes and the fuel used by the Jamaica Public Service Company to produce electricity.

Critically, in many parts of Jamaica, the National Water Com-mission could not operate without petroleum products to push water up the hillsides and into homes and communities. Without these petroleum products, Jamaica would come to a standstill.

Total imports, including petroleum products, valued more than US$4.3 billion or J$382 billion. Put more simply, for every J$1,000 in exports earned, Jamaica has to find J$3,900 to cover its import bill.

Added up, the total deficit this year now stands at US$3.2 billion, in excess of J$284 billion. After the nation has collected its export revenue, Jamaica must find almost J$105,000 per citizen to pay for all the imports the island has made in this calendar year up to August 2012.

The cost of importation

Food – J$9.5 million per hour.

Machinery and transport equipment – J$9.3 million per hour.

Chemicals – J$7.9 million per hour.

Manufactured goods – J$6.4 million per hour.

Other items, including cigarettes, alcohol and cardboard boxes – J$7.7 million per hour.

For all the info you need on Jamaica visit http://www.digjamaica.com

Related articles

• A Great “Dig” for Jamaican Bloggers (petchary.wordpress.com)
• Sunday Stupor: December 16, 2012 (petchary.wordpress.com)
• Jamaican Orphanage Welcomes Solar Installation with Eclipsall Donated PV Panels (prweb.com)
• http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121217/lead/lead1.html (Huge trade deficit: Gleaner)

The music of Africa is the soul of the continent. Nowhere is this more true, perhaps, than in the ancient kingdom of Mali. From the quietly reflective work of Ali Farka Touré (who sadly left us in 2006) to the compelling rhythms of the desert band Tinariwen, Malian music has enriched my life in many ways. It is flowing, it is intricate and at the same time simple. It is often hypnotic; and it is quite addictive – be careful!

Now, tragically, the negative forces of “Islamist” militants are driving musicians from the north of Mali, which is suffering from huge unrest. The Taliban banned music in Afghanistan, and are still threatening the enjoyment of wedding ceremonies and other celebrations in tribal areas of Pakistan.  These joyless barbarians are intent on destroying not only the music, but the centuries-old Islamic culture of the northern region – in the name of “religion.” They have imposed sharia law and have destroyed a number of Timbuktu‘s carefully preserved, centuries-old libraries and the revered tombs of Islamic elders. They have severely damaged a World Heritage site. They have driven one of Africa’s most famous singers and musicians, Khaira Arby,  from her home in Timbuktu, threatening to cut her tongue out.

But the music is fighting back. Several of Mali’s younger musicians – rappers such as Kiss Diouara and others – are now in Bamako creating songs of defiance about freeing the North and condemning violence. 

Mali is the land of the evocative kora (a kind of harp or lute); djembé drums and calabas; many other traditional instruments as well as beautiful guitars, drums and voices.

The music must not – and will not – die. How can anyone live without it?

Hunter musicians in Mali with their instruments. (Photo: Richard Wedeen)

Here is an article from the UK Guardian, followed by a list of some of my personal favorite and recommended Mali musicians and singers and just a few of their albums. And links to videos too… Explore, and enjoy!

The pickup halted in Kidal, the far-flung Malian desert town that is home to members of the Grammy award-winning band Tinariwen. Seven AK47-toting militiamen got out and marched to the family home of a local musician. He wasn’t home, but the message delivered to his sister was chilling: “If you speak to him, tell him that if he ever shows his face in this town again, we’ll cut off all the fingers he uses to play his guitar with.”

The gang then removed guitars, amplifiers, speakers, microphones and a drum kit from the house, doused them with petrol, and set them ablaze. In northern Mali, religious war has been declared on music.

When a rabble of different Islamist groups took control of the region in April there were fears that its rich culture would suffer. But no one imagined that music would almost cease to exist – not in Mali, a country that has become internationally renowned for its sound.

Toumani Diabaté, Malian kora player, in Bamako. Photograph: Karen Robinson/ Karen Robinson

“Culture is our petrol,” says Toumani Diabaté, the Malian kora player who has collaborated with Damon Albarn and Björk, to name but a few. “Music is our mineral wealth. There isn’t a single major music prize in the world today that hasn’t been won by a Malian artist.”

“Music regulates the life of every Malian,” adds Cheich Tidiane Seck, a prolific Malian musician and producer. “From the cradle to the grave. From ancient times right up to today. A Mali without music? No … I mean … give me another one!”

And yet that is the bland reality dawning on this once joy-filled land. International observers claim the leaders of the three armed Islamic groups who now control the northern Malian cities of Timbuktu, Kidal and Gao are motivated by money and power rather the dream of a caliphate in the Sahel. There are strong ties between these groups and the less than holy interests of major drug-traffickers and arms smugglers.

But many of the mujahideen who have zoned in on the conflict from all over the Muslim world are fired by an unquestionable religious zeal. The same goes for Iyad Ag Ghaly, a Touareg strongman and born-again Salafist, who founded the Ansar-ud-Deen movement at the end of last year.

“He believes in what he’s doing,” says Manny Ansar, director of the Festival in the Desert that has been taking place every January in and around Timbuktu and Kidal since 2001. “And that’s what frightens me. I’m not convinced that he wants to kill everyone who is not a Muslim, like the people in al-Qaida do, but I’ve seen him giving up the fruits of this life for God.”

Back in the 1990s, before he succumbed to the preaching of the Pakistani proselytising movement Tablighi Jamaat, Ghaly liked to smoke cigarettes and hang out with musicians from Tinariwen. He even composed songs and poems of love, rebellion and the beauty of his desert home. Now music, and with it a major source of communal cohesion and well being, has either disappeared or gone underground throughout the territory under his control.

An official decree banning all western music was issued on 22 August by a heavily bearded Islamist spokesman in the city of Gao. “We don’t want the music of Satan. Qur’anic verses must take its place. Sharia demands it,” the decree says.

The ban comes in the context of a horrifically literal and gratuitous application of Sharia law in all aspects of daily life. Militiamen are cutting off the hands and feet of thieves or stoning adulterers. Smokers, alcohol drinkers and women who are not properly attired are being publicly whipped. As one well-known Touareg musician from Kidal says: “There’s a lack of joy. No one is dancing. There are no parties. Everybody’s under this kind of spell. It’s strange.”

Tinariwen, seen here performing at the World Cup 2010 Kickoff concert in Soweto, South Africa. Photograph: Jon Hrusa/EPA

Ansar adds: “People think that the problem is new. But the menace of al-Qaida started to have an effect on us in 2007. That’s when al-Qaida people started to appear in the desert. They came to the nomad camps near Essakane [the beautiful dunes to the west of Timbuktu where the Festival in the Desert used to be held] and at first they were pleasant and said, ‘Don’t worry, we’re Muslims like you.’ Then they began to say, ‘We have a common enemy, which is the west.’ That’s when I understood that things were going to get difficult.”

The Kel Ansar

Remarkably, al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (Aqim) never targeted the festival or any of the thousands of westerners who braved the journey to attend it. According to Ansar, some people put this down to the fact that his tribe, the Kel Ansar, are said to be descended directly from Muhammad and are highly revered. “Others even thought that we cast spells to block their route,” he says with a wry laugh. In truth, Aqim knew that if they wanted to keep the locals sweet and compliant, they were well advised not to mess with the Kel Ansar.

Not all music events were so blessed. Returning from the Tamadacht festival near the eastern town of Anderamboukane in January 2009, a British tourist, Edwin Dyer, was kidnapped and sold to Aqim, who beheaded him four months later because the UK government refused to pay a ransom. It forced the Festival in the Desert to move into the safe confines of Timbuktu city limits in 2010.

U2 singer Bono attends Mali’s Festival in the Desert music festival in Timbuktu. Photograph: Serge Daniel/AFP/Getty Images

This year in January, no doubt the last festival to be held in Timbuktu for a while occurred in an atmosphere of high alert after recent kidnappings and the murder of a German tourist by al-Qaida. The event was attended by Tinariwen, a host of other Touareg and Malian musicians and Bono.

“I was impressed by Bono’s courage and that of his team,” Manny says. “He asked the soldiers who were assigned to protect him to leave him be and let him roam around the town freely or go and drink tea out on the dunes. But I wondered if I wasn’t a bit mad myself to let him do that. I mean, Bono, kidnapped! Imagine that.” La Maison, the hotel in Timbuktu where Bono and his entourage stayed, is now the headquarters of the city’s Islamic tribunal.

Manny felt like giving up when the rebellion erupted a few days after the end of the festival. But after talking to many musicians, as well as friends and international backers, he decided to organise a Caravan of Peace and Unity that will tour west Africa and visit refugee camps in February next year. He will also be promoting the Festival in the Desert in Exile in Europe, the Middle East, the US and elsewhere. “It’s my way of fighting back,” he says. “Before our music was heard in Essakane. Now it’ll be heard in all the big festivals in the world. So it’s the opposite of what the Islamists want. It’s our victory and their defeat.”

Meanwhile, almost all the musicians in the north have fled the country like more than 500,000 of their fellow Malians, most of whom languish in refugee camps in Algeria, Mauritania, Niger or Burkina Faso. It is the biggest humanitarian crisis the Sahel has ever known. “There’s no music up there any more,” says Vieux Farka Touré, son of the king of the West African blues, the late Ali Farka Touré. “You can’t switch on a radio or a TV, even at home.”

The town of Niafunké just south west of Timbuktu, where Ali Farka Touré was mayor for many years, is now under Islamist control. “I know that if Ali were to awake from his tomb today,” says Afel Bocoum, Touré’s former sidekick and Albarn’s partner on the 2002 Mali Music project, “he would just go straight back into it. He would die twice.” Both Bocoum and Vieux Farka Touré have fled south to the safety of the Malian capital, Bamako, with their families.

south, music is also in crisis, for related reasons. The military coup that toppled President Amadou Toumani Touré on 23 March and kissed goodbye to one of Africa’s most lauded democracies has left the capital, Bamako, fearful and economically depressed. “People just aren’t used to meeting soldiers in the street, so they tend to stay at home,” says Adam Thiam, one of Mali’s leading journalists.

Many live music venues in Bamako, such as Le Diplomat, where Diabaté and his Symmetric Orchestra used to play every weekend, have closed. The same goes for hotels and restaurants, starved of their once plentiful foreign tourist clientele. Nightclubs and weddings are still thriving but the trend is to save money by hiring sound systems and DJs rather than live musicians. “People use what they earn to feed themselves, not to have fun,” says Bassekou Kouyate.

But in west Africa, when the going gets tough, the rappers get going. Like Y’en A Marre, a collective that ignited nationwide debate during Senegal’s election crisis last year, rappers in Mali have stepped up to denounce political skulduggery, Islamism and military rule.

Malian singer Rokia Traoré. Photograph: Simon Grosset/Rex Features

“I don’t give a fuck what they say,” is Malian rapper Amkoullel‘s terse answer to a question about the Islamist music ban. “We won’t let them get away with it. We don’t need them to teach us how to be Muslims. We’re a secular tolerant country, where everyone declares their religion according to their feeling. And in any case, they know that a Mali without music is an impossibility.”

Amkoullel set up his own pressure group of rappers, activists and friends called Plus Jamais Ça (Never Again). So far he has released a couple of videos, including one called SOS, which has become a YouTube hit. It has also been censored by the state broadcaster ORTM, which is still under the heavy hand of the military.

“We had this feeling that a heavy blow had been dealt to democracy,” Amkoullel says of the 23 March putsch. “And it had been done in a period of popular disillusion. It’s as if in the collective consciousness, democracy was a failure in Mali.” Like Les Sofas de la Republique, the other rap collective raising the standard in rhyme for unity, democracy, peace and good governance, Amkoullel and his team have been organising demonstrations, debates and gigs. He has also received three death threats.

“I knew that our phones were being bugged,” he says. “Then I got this call that was like, ‘Yeah … we’re watching you, so you’d better calm down or take the consequences.’ The second message wasn’t from the same person. ‘You’re talking too much,’ they said. ‘Shut up or you’ll disappear and won’t understand a thing.’ That was much clearer!”

And yet, despite the twin-pronged threat to the culture they have made world famous, all the musicians of Mali agree it remains at the core of their identity. “I’m a Muslim, but Sharia isn’t my thing,” says Rokia Traoré, one of Mali’s most famous international stars. “If I couldn’t go up on stage anymore, I would cease to exist. And without music, Mali will cease to exist.”

Petchary’s list of favorite Malian musicians, with links to websites and videos:

Toumani Diabaté – master of the kora  and from a family of griots going back over seventy generations: http://www.toumani-diabate.com/uk_bio.html Recommended albums: “Ali and Toumani” and “In the Heart of the Moon” with Ali Farka Touré.

Toumani Diabate (left) with Ali Farka Toure

Salif Keita – the “Golden Voice of Africa” - is a direct descendant of the founder of the Malian empire, Sundiata Keita. He was rejected by his family because of his albinism but became an African superstar in Europe, collaborating with many musicians. Recommended albums: All of them (I am a huge fan) but especially “Moffou” (2002) recorded in Bamako and “M’Bemba” (2005) which includes a track with Buju Banton on vocals! Too much to say about this singer with a vulnerable, tender, keening voice that I find very moving. See more: http://www.salifkeita.us - his Global Foundation in support of albinos; and his official website: http://www.salifkeita.net, his official website.

Salif Keita (Photo from the artist)

AliFarka Touré - a majestic guitarist (among other instruments he played), singer and song-writer. Born in northern Mali, often called “The Bluesman of Mali” and featured in Martin Scorsese’s documentary film “The Blues.” Recommended albums: “In The Heart of the Moon,” “Radio Mali,” and many others. So sad that he is no longer with us but he has left behind a rich legacy. Boubacar Traoré is another wonderful exponent of the “Mali blues.”

Tinariwen - Grammy Award winning band – a Tuarge-Berber band from the Sahara Desert region of Mali. So many amazing songs - Cler Achel will, without a doubt, get you dancing round your living-room and possibly clapping.    See more at http://www.tinariwen.com - a beautiful website. Their new album, “Tassili” won a Grammy for Best World Music Album. Look up Top Tracks for Tinariwen and enjoy “Lulla” (a video complete with beautiful women, ganja plants and little boys!) and many others on YouTube.

Tinariwen founder Ibrahim Ag Alhabib

Ali Farka Toure

Kiss Diouara - young rapper whose lyrics espouse freedom and anti-violence. Here are a couple of his videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIWvBcfb9IY (Libérer le Nord); and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oblxWxzjkc (Associé de L’ucifer – listen for Jamaican voices).

Kiss Diouara (Photo from his blog)

Khaira Arby - read more about her at http://www.npr.org/artists/134000718/khaira-arby. Also watch this lovely video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SczbPzENDU (Sourgou – live recording, lovely intricate guitars)

Khaira Arby (Photo: Abby Verbosky/NPR)

Tom Diakité - a lovely singer and kora player. Recommended album: “Fala” (Orphan).

Amadou et Mariam - A really beautiful couple, who met at the Mali Institute for the Young Blind. Yes, they are both blind and they make the sweetest music! Recommended album: “Dimanche à Bamako.”  

Habib Koité is a wonderfully cool singer and the most amazing guitarist. He plays with a band called Bamada, which often has a reggae feel. Recommended album: “Maya.”

Habib Koite (second left) and Bamada in concert.

Amadou et Mariam are a blind couple

Related articles:

http://www.smh.com.au/world/day-the-music-died-islamist-extremists-steal-the-voice-of-mali-musicians-20121207-2b121.html (The day the music died: Islamist extremists steal the voice of Mali musicians: Sydney Morning Herald)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/in-northern-mali-music-silenced-as-islamists-drive-out-artists/2012/11/30/110ea016-300c-11e2-af17-67abba0676e2_story.html (In northern Mali music silenced as Islamists drive out artists: Washington Post/really nice article with great videos)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/in-mali-musicians-flee-south/2012/11/30/0d32582e-3b1b-11e2-b01f-5f55b193f58f_gallery.html#photo=8 (In Mali, musicians flee south: Washington Post - wonderful photo gallery!)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/feb/26/amadou-and-mariam-bamako-interview (Amadou and Mariam: “When you live in this world you have to make yourself useful”: Guardian.co.uk)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/9501478/Taliban-behead-17-caught-dancing-to-music-at-party.html (Taliban behead 17 caught dancing to music at party: Telegraph.co.uk)

http://centralasiaonline.com/en_GB/articles/caii/features/pakistan/main/2012/11/29/feature-01 (Taliban attacks on music dampen festive occasions: Central Asia Online)

After Months of Instability, Uncertainty Prevails in Mali (theepochtimes.com)

Dozens of militants seen in Mali city of Timbuktu (miamiherald.com)

In northern Mali, Islamists’ attacks against civilians grow more brutal (troyrecord.com)

Mali’s Endless Crisis: Army Soldiers Arrest Prime Minister (world.time.com)

The warm December sun trickled down like honey. As we arrived at the gate, we noticed the calm. Pigeons lined up on the wire. We could hear muffled music from one of the buildings. But we seemed far away from the seasonal traffic and bustle on the roads.

The air was still when I arrived at the Golden Age Home in Vineyard Town, Kingston yesterday morning. “Where is the Christmas breeze today?” I asked the security woman, who greeted me like an old friend. “Soon come,” she replied, with a knowing smile.

The Christmas breeze took a while to arrive, but the JN Foundation bus drove in the gate right on time, bearing volunteers (a vibrant group of JNBS employees and volunteers from the Positive Organization), gifts and donations.

What is the JN Foundation, you may ask? Well, it is the charitable arm of the Jamaica National Building Society, led by the visionary Jamaican businessman Earl Jarrett. Established in 1990, the Foundation spearheads projects that boost Jamaica’s development as a strong and healthy nation, in several critical areas (health, education, housing, youth, community and crime and safety). The focus of its volunteer program is on “Act!on” - yes, with an emphatic exclamation mark replacing the “i.”

As just one example, the Foundation’s Resolution Project empowers students in rural high schools with a basic photography course, then puts cameras in their hands to record and interpret the details of their daily lives in their own way. The Alpha Boys School for abandoned children in Kingston (which the Foundation also visited on Monday) also participated recently. The images are not always “pretty,” and there is a lot of social commentary in the photographs taken by the students. There is much more about all the Foundation’s projects – too many, and too varied, to mention them all here – at http://www.jnfoundation.com/projects. 

So, on December 20, the JN Foundation, supported by the Building Society’s Corporate Communications Department and The Positive Organization (find them on Facebook!) descended on Cluster H at the Golden Age Home for its annual Christmas treat. The residents were quick to point out to me that the Foundation has supported Cluster H for many years. “They always come at Christmas,” one lady told me. “And Easter, too. And we do appreciate it.” In fact, the Foundation adopted Cluster H 28 years ago, and has been with them ever since.

The volunteers did not come empty-handed. Donations of supplies were gratefully received. As the cluster’s administrator commented, resources are not plentiful and they have to “make do” with what they can get. Donations of basic supplies – sheets, cleaning materials, and so on – are always welcome.

We come bearing gifts…

The residents are a little shy at first, but with a look of anticipation on their faces. A row of ladies – one sporting a lovely “church hat” and dress – has been awaiting our arrival eagerly. The volunteers walk around, shake hands and greet the residents; then settle down on the benches among them. A marvelous keyboard player plays and sings, accompanied for part of the time by a guitarist.

Let the good times roll! Note the cap goes flying…

First there were the Christmas carols, with hearty renditions by several residents as the mike was passed around by our “lead singer” André (seasonally dressed in a Santa hat and matching red pants). One gentlemen sang in a commanding baritone; while a lady trilled with a sweet soprano into the microphone.

Andre helping to get those vocal chords warmed up.

Being an MC is not as easy as it sometimes looks…but our happy and energetic MC Chevenese Peters never missed a beat. She got everyone in on the action. Soon, thanks to one volunteer, a sprightly gentleman was dancing (he claimed not to have done so for years, but he didn’t look at all rusty to me). By the end of the afternoon another, who had seemed a little coy when I first invited him, was seen gently swaying to the beautiful music.

Our MC Chevenese chilling with two lovely ladies.

Two generations.

“I’m in a Dancing Mood”…

Christmas is a time for nostalgia. We sang along to some “old-time” songs, like the Delroy Wilson classic “I’m in a Dancing Mood” (a particular favorite of mine) and many others. Then André and the “positive crew” upped the tempo with a lively version of the Black-Eyed Peas‘ “I Gotta Feeling,” with much fist-pumping, hopping up and down on one leg – and great backing vocals from the “Positive” crew! André sang some delightfully sweet songs that he wrote himself.

The highly talented back-up singers, with music-maker Neville on the right.

And that was just the music part! There was also chicken, delicious ham, rice and peas, Christmas cake and sorrel, which the residents thoroughly enjoyed. After lunch, it was time to hand out the gifts – each resident received a personally wrapped gift from JN Foundation. Some opened theirs right away; others kept them for later. There were smiles and many thanks.

Some residents needed a bit of help with the all-important gift-unwrapping.

But apart from all the “goodies” gratefully accepted, to me the most important part was what we often call nowadays “sharing.” What is sharing, exactly? It is sitting down, chatting about everything and nothing; telling a joke or a story; smiling; holding someone’s hand. Simply enjoying each other’s company, sometimes quietly, sometimes with much laughter. Eyes brightened; smiles appeared. Volunteers and residents got to know each other.

Me and a new friend…

Sharing.

The afternoon became mellow. The sunlight softened as it filtered through the branches of the giant almond tree in the center of the cluster. Pigeons cooed. Some residents retired for a rest, while others stayed to continue listening to the music. One sensed that lazy, satisfied “after-Christmas-dinner” feeling, amidst a quiet companionship.

As we took our leave, there were hugs and kisses and waves. I know the JN Foundation will be back soon.

A special kiss for Christmas.

Outside, I greeted the security lady and several friends. “Christmas breeze is here,” she reminded me.

And so it was.

Congratulations to Anna-Kim (a superb organizer), Warren, André, Chevenese, Neville and The Organization, the musicians, the kind staff at Cluster H (who had a lot of fun), and everyone else at the Jamaica National Building Society/JN Foundation involved in this superb effort. I was proud to be a part of it, and look forward to returning at Easter 2013.

If you feel inspired, and would like to become an Act!on Jamaica volunteer for the JN Foundation, please complete the online form at http://www.jnfoundation.com/content/acton-jamaica. 

Me and the “Act!on” volunteers from Team Positive.

P.S. I found out yesterday that Jamaica National Building Society is one of the oldest companies in Jamaica. It started off as the Westmoreland Building Society, first meeting in 1874 under the chairmanship of its founder, Reverend Henry Clarke. One of the projects I particularly love is the JN Foundation’s sponsorship of a Parish History Project, working with local historian Marguerite Curtin. Appropriately, “The History of Westmoreland” is now available in bookstores island-wide. It’s a fascinating read.

Historian Marguerite Curtin signs a copy of her book “The History of Westmoreland,” sponsored by the JN Foundation.

He is just as neat and dapper as in his younger days, but his hair is thin and grey. The slim figure with the quietly dignified air is Jamaican-born dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson (LKJ), receiving the Golden PEN Award for Lifetime Literary Achievement from a tousle-headed English lady. He joins a list of mostly white, mainstream authors – Margaret Drabble, Iris Murdoch, Harold Pinter, Doris Lessing…the only other non-white awardee being Salman Rushdie.

But don’t think that LKJ has compromised his radical roots. The sixty-year-old has never hankered to join the ranks of “respectable” English poets. I have always admired him for his uncompromising stance and biting social commentary, from the perspective of a black man living in the UK. His voice has been unflinching over the years; his perspective unwavering, sharp, intelligent.

Linton Kwesi Johnson… Still a revolutionary soul.

Mr. Johnson has his own record label, LKJ Records, which includes the marvelous Dennis Bovell – a great dub producer and musician, whose sound system caused some problems when it first echoed out across the streets of London.“ The LKJ album “Bass Culture“ is one of my favorite LKJ/Bovell collaborations.

Dennis Bovell, back in the day.

I have this one in my possession… “Bass Culture.”

Another poet under LKJ’s wing is Jean Binta Breeze, whom I remember seeing in concert a few times; she is a great educator as well as writer and performer, who studied at Kingston’s Jamaica School of Drama and migrated to the UK in the 1980s.

Who is Linton Kwesi Johnson? He was born in 1952 in Chapelton, Clarendon. He came to Britain in 1963, went to Tulse Hill Secondary School and studied Sociology at Goldsmith’s College, University of London. He joined the Black Panther movement while still at school. In 1974 he joined the Race Today Collective in Brixton, south London, which published his first collection of poems in 1974. His second book of poetry, “Dread Beat an’ Blood,” is a classic and was made into his first album three years later (Johnson starts with the poetry…the music comes later).

The original six Black Panthers in Oakland, California in 1966. A huge influence on LKJ.

Dread Beat an’ Blood

He recorded several albums on Chris Blackwell’s Island record label in the 1970s, before setting up LKJ Records in 1981. With a C. Day Lewis Fellowship, he became Writer in Residence for the London Borough of Lambeth. “Inglan is a Bitch” (I can hear the words and music in my head) came out in 1980. And the following year was the Brixton riots. He worked primarily as a journalist in the 1980s (including as a reporter on Channel Four Television). Tings An’ Times: Selected Poems appeared in 1991 as both a book and musical recording. He was made Associate Fellow at Warwick University in 1985 and Honorary Fellow at Wolverhampton Polytechnic in 1987. A selection of his poetry, entitled “Mi Revalueshanary Fren’”, was published in 2002 as a Penguin Modern Classic edition with an introduction by Fred D’Aguilar; Johnson became only the second living poet, and the first black poet, to be included in the series. In 2005 he was awarded a Musgrave medal by the Institute of Jamaica, for eminence in the field of poetry.

Linton Kwesi Johnson’s “Mi Revalueshanary Fren’” was published as a Penguin Modern Classic.

I remember the Brixton riots; I was living in north London at the time. A young black man was stabbed in Brixton, which is still home to many Afro-Caribbean descent (it has been a bit “gentrified” in recent years, I understand). Rumors flew that the police had arrested him instead of taking him to hospital. Bitterness grew, and exploded. Unemployment was high in the area, and the police “stop and search” (or the “suss” law, as it was called – that is, no basis for the police action but hearsay) had already created an atmosphere of resentment. The spark was lit. The main battleground was Railton Road (or the “Front Line” as it was called) – a place of entertainment where drug dealers and “shebeens” (unlicensed bars)ruled and the black population of Brixton generally hung out. Hundreds of police and members of the public were injured – no deaths – and hundreds of cars and buildings destroyed. London was in shock.

Railton Road, Brixton in 2003… Looking in better shape.

A scene from the Brixton riots of 1981. (Photo: UK Guardian)

LKJ feels that, since the Brixton riots of 1981, things have improved in some ways for black people in Britain; although there were several periods of unrest in the area subsequently, and again last year. But 1981 was a watershed. Black voices like Mr. Johnson’s could no longer be ignored. However, at least 55 per cent of blacks are now unemployed. LKJ does not feel sanguine that racial equality is still on the agenda of British politicians of whatever stripe. He does not believe that the handful of black Members of Parliament are willing to take up the cause, either. And there are still huge problems in education, with black children continuing to underperform. LKJ asserts that the British police remain “pathologically racist.” And of course, the British class system continues its iron grip on society.

What does LKJ think about the furious riots in London in the summer of 2011, after the death of a young black man at the hands of the police? He believes they were “just waiting to happen; they could happen again at any time.”

The Brixton riots…destructive, but perhaps cathartic.

In his five-minute acceptance speech for the Golden PEN, LKJ notes that he is a part of a “little tradition of Caribbean verse” established in the 1960s by Kamau Brathwaite, Andrew Salkey – an “alternate” and “independent” aesthetic that led him to describe the black experience in Britain. After acknowledging “the power of reggae music,” through which his work became widely known, LKJ launches into a poem, naturally flowing from his speech. You can watch his presentation here: http://lockerz.com/u/petchary/decalz/22276287/linton_kwesi_johnson_presented_with_gold?ref=petchary

LKJ still lives in Brixton.

P.S. Another favorite of mine is “Sonny’s Lettah,” written by a young Jamaican in prison to his mother. A classic (and I have this one too in original vinyl…)

Sonny’s Lettah – not sure if you can read this, you might have to magnify it somehow.

Sonny’s Lettah – cover

Related articles and websites

http://www.lintonkwesijohnson.com (Linton Kwesi Johnson home page)

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/linton-kwesi-johnson-classridden-yes-but-this-is-still-home-8373870.html (“Class-ridden? Yes, but this is still home” Independent.co.uk)

http://www.lintonkwesijohnson.com/2012/04/18/riots-rhymes-and-reason/ (Riots, Rhymes and Reasons: Linton Kwesi Johnson blog post)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/dec/17/brixton-riots-exhibition (Remembering the riots: guardian.co.uk)

http://www.infowars.com/anarchy-in-brixton-riots-and-violence-break-out-in-the-uk/ (Anarchy in Brixton: Riots and Violence Break out in the UK – 2011)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/aug/09/tottenham-2011-brixton-1981 (Tottenham 2011 and Brixton 1981 – different ideals, similar lessons: guardian.co.uk)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2002/may/04/poetry.books (Poet on the front line: guardian.co.uk)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2010/nov/18/stop-search-police-may-drops (Theresa May drops plans for stop-and-search law targeting ethnic minorities: guardian.co.uk, 2010)

http://www.lintonkwesijohnson.com/lkj-records-artists/dennis-bovell/ (Dennis Bovell bio: LKJ Records)

http://www.lintonkwesijohnson.com/lkj-records-artists/jean-binta-breeze/ (Jean Binta Breeze bio: LKJ Records)

I’m calling this “Sunday Sneezes” because I have been snuffling for the past few days with a seasonal bug. Not serious, but enough to irritate. My husband has been playing a Mariah Carey Christmas CD several times a day, which probably hasn’t helped…

Meanwhile, Christmas is in the air…isn’t it? Our usually-absent neighbors have finally come home to roost for a few days, and in uptown Kingston the little darlings of the privileged, who are all at school/college overseas are home for the holidays. The streets and shopping plazas are filled with struggling, sweating shoppers, most of whom can’t really afford Christmas shopping at all…

And the Prime Minister, Portia Simpson Miller, has been dancing “Gangnam Style.” I am not sure where this photo was taken, but I picked it up on Twitter. Rumors of our leader’s ill health are greatly exaggerated, perhaps… Well, it’s the time of year for having fun and forgetting our worries. Let’s postpone our looming crises until 2013, shall we?

Or can we? A former government minister, Claude Clarke, wants to know about the mission. “We’re on a Mission,” remember? That song that we have all forgotten about since August. Mr. Clarke takes a side swipe at the Simpson Miller administration’s recently tabled White Paper on tax reform, which he says merely “lays out an effective strategy for collecting as much taxes as possible. A framework for economic development it is not.” Taxation (in particular, the issuing of waivers and incentives) is a major area of concern for the International Monetary Fund, whose presence grows ever closer. One can almost feel their breath on our faces. In fact, the entire IMF team is riding on one of those elephants in Jamaica’s living room, now.

And it seems that the Minister of Finance is also feeling very uncomfortable. CVM Television reported the goodly minister tearing up at a Christmas treat in his constituency. He pointed out that he was wearing suit and tie to address the audience of mostly children with their mothers, because he had just come from an IMF meeting and was going back to one afterwards. The tears welled in his eyes as he said how good he felt to be there. The man is under severe pressure. And his counterpart, Opposition Finance Spokesman Audley Shaw, still maintains that there will be no agreement before December 31. Didn’t that always seem unlikely, though?

But hold on. Didn’t our Prime Minister say her administration would sign an agreement with the IMF two weeks after she came into office? But that was just campaign silliness. How churlish of me to bring it up…

Kudos though to Nationwide News Network, who have made a determined effort to wrestle with the economic elephant in the past week or two. Cliff Hughes and his intrepid co-presenters Emily Crooks and George Davis gathered together interesting and knowledgeable panelists for discussions on different aspects of the economic conundrum, including the tax waiver issue. They pointed out, though, that the Finance Minister declined all their invitations to participate in the discussions. I hope he was at least listening in…

Meanwhile, a real estate dealer is blaming the lack of an IMF agreement for his inability to sell telecoms giant Digicel’s buildings in New Kingston. Digicel is all set to move downtown, but has delayed the move until early next year. It is getting to that stage now… “When the agreement is signed…” Some are now saying “If the agreement is signed,” or even, “What if it isn’t signed?” Uncertainty is not healthy, and we are getting mixed signals – or no signals at all – from the political administration. As usual, I enjoy reading and listening to our calm, balanced financial analyst Dennis Chung, who is very good at summing up the situation in clear and simple terms.

Portia was caught on camera shaking a leg “Gangnam Style” recently…

The aforementioned Cliff Hughes says the last year has been “wasted political capital.” Certainly, it appears, the Prime Minister has not spent any of her substantial amount of PC. The Sunday Gleaner today seems to agree that she needs to open her purse and start spending it now. One thing she could do, the editors assert, is to pursue “full, candid and continuous communication” on the issue of public sector reform  and other economic matters. We can’t beat about the bush any more, can we? Or we do so at our peril… As financial analyst Keith Collister (and others) have been saying for some time, “The time for action is now.” And keep us informed, please!

Crime is an issue. Yes, that particular elephant remains in the room, trunk swaying gently, despite the Jamaica Constabulary Force‘s year-end efforts to tout its successes. The picture has been very mixed in terms of major crimes, it seems. Clarendon has seen an upsurge (sadly it lost its highly effective police chief, who died suddenly and mysteriously in his 40s earlier this year – do we know the cause of death?) Other parishes have seen improvement; and as usual, beautiful Portland emerges as – by far – the Most Peaceful Parish.

In fact, by my weekly count, it has been the police who have killed the most Jamaicans this week. See the list below. I guess everyone is too busy with their Christmas socializing and credit cards to notice. (But they are only poor people anyway?) What is the reason for this sudden upsurge – eight Jamaicans shot dead by the police in a week? The Police Commissioner has been very quiet over an extended period of time – we finally heard from him this week. No word about police killings. Meanwhile, the Jamaica Observer only reports on the murder of middle-class Jamaicans, such as poor Jascinth Brae. Every death is a tragedy.

Jacyinth Brae, a 37-year-old insurance agent, was murdered in Ensom City, near Spanish Town on December 18 as she walked to work.

Meanwhile, on the political scene… The People’s National Party has given itself a big “thumbs up” for its performance after close to a year in office. It doesn’t seem to know (or care?) what the Jamaican people think. Has the PNP looked at what is being said in the social media recently? I think it should, and it hasn’t been pretty. Interestingly this week, two of our younger (and brighter) politicians, Christopher Tufton (Jamaica Labour Party) and Julian Robinson (my PNP Member of Parliament, actually) seem to agree on the need for a new political culture. Of course, this has been discussed a thousand times before; but things could change if politicians like Dr. Tufton (see his article below) started practicing what they preach. It might catch on. Pandering to the poor, as he puts it, needs to go out of the window, for a start.

Now to the Unfinished Business… Can you please tell me, Mr. Public Defender, Sir, what has happened to the interim report on the massacre in Tivoli Gardens in May 2010? Just to remind you, Speaker of the House of Representatives Michael Peart said on December 6 in Parliament that the report would be ready in two weeks. He may have a different calendar than me, but according to mine, it would have been due three days ago. Any word? Or are we too busy with Christmas? And if the report is complete, why is it necessary to print and “collate” hard copies? Hey, we have email!! And why should it take so long?

The other loose ends are the matter of the FINSAC Commission of Enquiry; and the issue of children in state care. Since the FINSAC débacle (I have to call it that) of the 1990s happened under a previous PNP administration, it is increasingly clear that this PNP administration is reluctant to see the enquiry concluded. So, it has not made the funds available for the commission to wind things up and print their report (which, one suspects, may not show the political leaders of the day in a very favorable light).  However, the Association of FINSAC’d Entrepreneurs, many of whom were plunged into financial ruin by then Finance Minister Omar Davies’ actions, is not giving up. The Association is alleging that the government wants to keep the report secret. Meanwhile, the commissioners have reportedly requested an additional J$20 million to complete their work. But it’s hardly likely to be a priority for this administration…

Youth and Culture Minister Lisa Hanna finally spoke to the media properly this week at a press conference – where she was backed up by a protective Minister of Justice, who hovered in the background anxiously; and a stone-faced Commissioner of Corrections. Minister Hanna announced that a new correctional facility for girls is to be built – but where are the hundreds of millions of dollars to come from? Moreover, she is proposing to build juvenile holding centers for minors at police lock-ups. And the South Camp Correctional Centre (possibly one of the most unpleasant correctional centers in the island) is to be “upgraded” to accommodate young persons – something we already knew, but were not too happy with. But children are not supposed to be confined in adult facilities, Minister Hanna… Lobby group Jamaicans for Justice – which has been doggedly pursuing this issue – was not impressed – there were no timelines, no real commitments.

Minister of Youth and Culture Lisa Hanna speaks at a press briefing last Tuesday. In the background is Commissioner of Corrections Lt. Col. Sean Prendergast. (Photo: Norman Grindley/Gleaner)

President of the Association of Finsac’d Entrepreneurs Yola Gray-Baker

Public Defender Earl Witter.

Since it’s now officially party time, I am not expecting anything anytime soon from the Public Defender’s office. Maybe by December 31? Meanwhile, the families of the more than seventy Jamaicans killed during the Tivoli “incursion” will spend another Christmas (the third) without any sense of closure or feeling that anyone cares… at all. 

But so much to praise, this week… Firstly, it was an honor to spend time working with the JN Foundation and their volunteers (especially Neville Charlton and The Positive Organization, and the Jamaica National Building Society’s Corporate Communications Department). We had an amazing time with the Alpha Boys (who gave their own interesting interpretations of “Gangnam Style,” by the way). And the senior citizens at the Golden Age Home’s Cluster H thoroughly enjoyed their Christmas treat, with delicious ham, sorrel, songs, and even a fair bit of dancing… as well as holding hands. Congratulations to JN Foundation and all the other non-governmental organizations for the amazing work you do…

Panos Caribbean recently sent seven Jamaicans (two young politicians and five journalists) to Vancouver to study ways in which that liberal-minded Canadian city treats its marginalized populations, including sexual minorities. This excellent, focused non-governmental organization gave a press conference on their findings – although very few press representatives considered the issue important enough to turn up (not even the journalists’ own media houses). I am hoping to see much more about this Knowledge Exchange; the participants made some very interesting discoveries and there were many “aha!” moments. I will be writing about it shortly, so look out for a blog post! Meanwhile, congratulations to Panos’ Executive Director Jan Voorduow and the dedicated Indi McLymont for putting together such a meaningful project. You can read more here: https://www.facebook.com/notes/emma-caroline-lewis/jamaicans-participate-in-knowledge-exchange-with-vancouver-on-hiv-gay-stigmatiza/10151290664209555.

When I first visited the Hope Zoo, it was quite a depressing place. A lonely lion (now deceased) languished in a cage, and would roar for his supper every evening. Now the Hope Zoo Preservation Foundation (led by businessman Kenny Benjamin, who is known for his love of animals) has received J$25 million from local telecoms Flow for the ongoing upgrading of the zoo. There will be a strong educational component in Flow’s Learning and Resource Centre, to be established there. Many congratulations to Mr. Benjamin, the Foundation and Flow for your wonderful vision!

A lovely photo of (l-r) Flow Jamaica’s Denise Williams and Michele English, Nicholas Benjamin and his father Kenny Benjamin, Executive Chairman of the Hope Zoo Preservation Foundation, feeding budgerigars at Hope Zoo. (Photo: Jamaica Observer)

I applaud the two investors, Mark Tucci and his wife Frances, for supporting artist Ian “Ras Natango” Williams, his wife Tamika and son Ayale, owners of the Ras Natango Gallery and Garden in Camrose, near Montego Bay. They have bought them a really beautiful bus to transport tourists. For some time now I have been wondering why the Jamaica Tourist Board does not support lovely community tourism efforts like this. Tamika is herself an artist and teaches local children the value of art, conducting craft classes. She is also, like me, a great lover of birds and nature. Their garden is beautiful. Thank you, the Tuccis!

From left: Mark Tucci and wife Frances, Ayale Williams, Tamika Williams and husband Ian ‘Ras Natango’ Williams pose for a photo at the Ahhh…. Ras Natango Gallery and Garden last week.

I have to ask, before I go…What IS going on at the Ministry of Health? Shouldn’t an alleged sexual harassment issue, which seems to have been going on for quite a while, be addressed as soon as possible? Somehow, the print media seem reluctant to investigate, but one television station is still asking questions…

And as the Ward Theatre celebrates 100 years, why is it now unusable? It’s tragic, says dramatist and creator of the annual pantomime Barbara Gloudon (and so do I). No wonder the celebrations were so low-key as to be almost non-existent. By the way, the new pantomime, “Skoolaz,” opens on Boxing Day at the Little Theatre and promises to be tremendous fun, as always.

By the way, do take a read of an article by Suzanne Charles-Watson (a member of the inestimable 51% Coalition, of which I have written before) – on gender and education. Note, for example, that in a recent review of Caribbean history text books, “Males were consistently afforded pride of place over women in terms of text and visuals.” The link is listed below. Much food for thought.

P.S. The good news is that the Mayan Apocalypse we were all looking forward to… never happened. Otherwise, I would, of course, not be writing this blog post, nor would you be reading it. It was the subject of many tweets this week. I just saw one from the Apocalypse itself (@kabooooooom): “Sorry everyone, running a bit late.” 

Let’s not be late for 2013. My final Sunday post for the year will appear, all being well, on December 30.

My heart goes out to the families and friends of all those Jamaicans who lost their lives to violence in the past week. This is going to be a very hard Christmas for them. Please spare a thought for those who are sad, who are still grieving and missing loved ones during this period of festivities. It’s not a jolly, happy time for everyone.

Detective Corporal Ransford Durant, Windsor Heights, St. Ann

Richard Gibbs, 22, Montego Bay, St. James

Jascinth Brae, 37, Spanish Town, St. Catherine

Dennis Brown, 23, Norwood, St. James

Gregory Plummer, 31, Norwood, St. James

Unidentified woman, Palisadoes, Kingston

Carlos Baker, Albion/Montego Bay, St. James

Killed by the police:

Unidentified man, Causeway Fishing Village/Dyke Road, Portmore, St. Catherine

Unidentified man, Causeway Fishing Village/Dyke Road, St. Catherine

Unidentified man, Federal Gardens, Kingston

Dane Mason, Mountain View Avenue, Kingston

Wayne Brown, 39, Montpelier, St. Elizabeth

Unidentified man, Trench Town, Kingston

Laurent Lawrence, 22, Mandeville, Manchester

Leroy Campbell, 42, Mahogany Hill, St. Elixabeth

Related articles

• Sunday Stupor: December 16, 2012 (petchary.wordpress.com)
• Sunday Wonders: November 25, 2012 (petchary.wordpress.com)
• Sunday Elephants: November 11, 2012 (petchary.wordpress.com)
• http://petchary.wordpress.com/2012/12/01/tivoli-gardens-on-may-24-2010-the-people-were-deading/ (Tivoli Gardens: On May 24, 2010, the people were “deading”: petchary.wordpress.com)
• http://petchary.wordpress.com/2012/12/21/they-always-come-at-christmas-the-jn-foundations-acton-volunteers/ (“They always come at Christmas”: The JN Foundation’s Act!on volunteers: petchary)
• http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121221/lead/lead4.html (PNP gives thumbs up to first year in power: Gleaner)
• http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121223/cleisure/cleisure1.html (The PM’s New Year resolution: Sunday Gleaner editorial)
• http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121223/focus/focus6.html (When the winner takes all – time to rethink our brand of competitive politics? Christopher Tufton op-ed, Sunday Gleaner)
• http://www.caribjournal.com/2012/12/21/op-ed-corruption-in-the-caribbean/ (Corruption in the Caribbean: David P. Rowe op-ed)
• http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121217/lead/lead1.html (Huge trade deficit: Gleaner)
• http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121220/lead/lead4.html (Moving cargo across Jamaica a hassle for freight stakeholders: Gleaner)
• http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business/It-can-t-be-business-as-usual-in-Jamaica_13253996 (It can’t be business as usual in Jamaica: Keith Collister column: Observer)
• http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business/The-economy-in-2013_13251784 (The economy in 2013: Dennis Chung column: Observer)
• http://jamaica-gleaner.com/latest/article.php?id=41860 (Hylton responds to scrap metal concerns: Gleaner)
• http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121220/lead/lead1.html (No room for error: Government cautioned ahead of scrap metal trade reopening: Gleaner)
• http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121221/business/business3.html (Group alleges conspiracy of secrecy over delayed FINSAC report: Gleaner)
• http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121223/business/business1.html (No deals yet for Digicel New Kingston properties: Sunday Gleaner)
• http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121223/cleisure/cleisure2.html (On a Mission: What Mission? Claude Clarke op-ed, Sunday Gleaner)
• http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121217/lead/lead5.html (Conversion for Redemption: Gleaner)
• http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121217/lead/lead51.html (“Renovate the Ward Theatre”: Gleaner)
• http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121219/cleisure/cleisure1.html (The Ward’s disrepair as metaphor for Jamaica: Gleaner editorial)
• http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121217/news/news1.html (The Government of God: Apostle Steve Lyston op-ed/Gleaner)
• http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121217/news/news3.html (Deborah Chen working for the heart: Gleaner)
• http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121223/focus/focus3.html (Restructuring values and attitudes: Martin Henry column: Sunday Gleaner)
• http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121217/ent/ent2.html (Alpha Boys’ School willed valuable equipment: Gleaner)
• http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121218/cleisure/cleisure4.html (Give mandate to master principals: André Wright article: Gleaner)
• http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121223/focus/focus7.html (Gender equity and education: Suzanne Charles op-ed, Sunday Gleaner)
• http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Flow-pumps–25m-into-upgrading-Hope-Zoo_13241492 (Flow pumps $25million into upgrading Hope Zoo: Observer)
• http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/OCG-warns-Cabinet-of–criminal-offence-_13237247 (Office of the Contractor General warns Cabinet of criminal offense: Observer)
• http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/editorial/For-our-children-s-sake–Minister-Hanna—_13229742 (For our children’s sake, Minister Hanna: Observer editorial)
• http://jamaica-gleaner.com/latest/article.php?id=41856 (Youth council disagrees with Hanna’s plans: Gleaner)
• http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Children-s-homes-abusers-charged–fired–says-Hanna_13242078 (Children’s home abusers charged, fired, says Hanna: Observer)
• http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Hanna-says-correctional-centre-for-girls-to-be-built_13241715 (Hanna says correctional centre for girls to be built: Observer)
• http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121219/lead/lead1.html (Cabinet considers expanding Child Development Agency role: Gleaner)
• http://rjrnewsonline.com/local/government-refutes-claims-of-no-support-to-vanessa-wints-family (Government refutes claim of no support to Vanessa Wint’s family: RJR)
• http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Elderly-at-risk_13254472 (Elderly at risk: Observer)
• http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121221/cleisure/cleisure2.html (Homophobia exposed! Peter Espeut column/Gleaner)
• http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/editorial/Well-done–Professor-Hopeton-Dunn_13241777 (Well done, Professor Hopeton Dunn: Observer editorial)
• http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/westernnews/Big-boost-for-community-tourism_13245908 (Big boost for community tourism: Observer West)
• http://-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121222/cleisure/cleisure1.html (Time to get creative, YMCA: Gleaner editorial)
• http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Pit-latrines-must-go-_13247796 (Pit latrines must go! Observer)
• http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/Building-a-cathedral_13240261 (Building a cathedral: Grace Virtue op-ed: Observer)
• http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121222/news/news1.html (Natty to the rescue: Gleaner)
• http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121219/cleisure/cleisure3.html  (Too many Doctors and Masters of Ginnalship: George Davis column/Gleaner)

It is with great pleasure that I bring you greetings this holiday.

Related articles

• For Human Rights Day 2012; A Challenge, an Invitation, and an Anniversary (petchary.wordpress.com)
• Sunday Sneezes: December 23, 2012 (petchary.wordpress.com)
• Sizzla rejects overtures by gay rights activists (repeatingislands.com)
• Sunday Stupor: December 16, 2012 (petchary.wordpress.com)
• http://petchary.wordpress.com/2012/12/21/they-always-come-at-christmas-the-jn-foundations-acton-volunteers/ (petchary.wordpress.com)
• http://petchary.wordpress.com/2012/10/16/we-are-family-on-blog-action-day-2012/ (petchary.wordpress.com)
• http://petchary.wordpress.com/2012/04/12/op-ed-fighting-injustice-in-jamaica/
• http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121221/cleisure/cleisure2.html (Homophobia exposed! Peter Espeut column/Gleaner)
• http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/letters/My-message-to-all-gays–et-al_13263472 (My message to all gays, et al: Letter to the Observer)

Back in my hippie days, this was of course my mantra. A simple expression of what life should be all about. Surround yourself with love and peace and everything will fall into place. And everyone will love you.

Of course, in the real world life wasn’t quite like that. In today’s Jamaica, there are so many barriers and walls and divisions. Love struggles to overcome them; peace flies in and shatters itself on the walls – just like a wild dove did recently (but our dove was only stunned; after a while she recovered, and flew away).

The dove of peace.

A week or two before Christmas, I heard these words repeated again at a seasonal celebration to which I was invited by the non-governmental organization Eve for Life. I have written about this organization before. It is “lickle but tallawah,” in Jamaican parlance -  small, but strong. Two women run the organization: Joy Crawford and Patricia Watson, whose capacity for love seems to know no bounds. All-encompassing. Eve for Life provides care and support for young mothers living with HIV/AIDS; and most importantly, empowers these very marginalized young women (many of whom are in their teens) to achieve more than they could ever have dreamed. For example, there is Georgia Green, an Eve Teen Mom, a Top Performer in Food and Nutrition with awards for Outstanding Work in Mathematics, Spanish, Human and Social Biology and Food and Nutrition from the St. Andrew Technical High School in Kingston. And there is Keisha, about whom I wrote a few weeks ago (see “Everyday Courage” - link below), who is now studying Practical Nursing and looks forward to graduating in 2014. At least I can show Georgia’s picture.

This celebration was a Christmas party with a difference.  When I arrived, the room was already filled with laughter and loud voices. The ice had been broken (although, as with any party with young people, there were some who were shy and a little awkward). The room was full with men and women – clients of Eve for Life (mostly aged 17-23 years old), and young gay males. Two of the most marginalized groups of young Jamaicans, but there was so much enjoyment and fun in the air, you would never have known. The theme of the Christmas session was “Finding Common Ground.” The participants all introduced themselves and then paired off to reflect on, discuss and present their thoughts on some photographs that were handed out. The photos depicted creatures (cats, dogs etc) living in harmony. There was much humor, but serious comments too. “If all these different species can live together and love, why can’t we?”

“We all have spaces in our hearts for love,” said one young man.

There was no looking back during these discussions. Why look back? The present is much better than the past for most of these young people; and the future looks hopeful, too. If, that is, the young people can hold strong. Joy Crawford gave a presentation on how to have a “Safe and Satisfying Season.”  The practical, sensible advice was all looking forward, beyond the fun of Christmas to the New Year. “Identify one wish for Christmas Day 2012,” said Joy, and compare it with the wish you made a year earlier. See where the “gap” is. Did your 2011 wish fall through the cracks? Was it too ambitious, or too timid?  Then do better this year. And make plans: plan “one action to make Christmas Day special” - whether it is taking your child to Grand Market downtown, or visiting a relative. A happy memory to enjoy in the coming year.

The message for New Year was about self-affirmation. On December 31, meditate for thirty minutes on the coming year, Joy advised. “Affirm the I Am.“ Resolve your “I Am” for 2013. Whatever your circumstance, no matter how hard, work on that “I Am.” Deep introspection that should lead to action. Light a candle for those whom you loved, who are no longer with you – parents, boyfriends, friends. Eve for Life is a great believer in clients taking responsibility for their lives – going out and doing. Inaction, loneliness can lead to a kind of letting go, losing control, depression, inertia, self-pity. The other all-important aspect of empowering Eve’s young women is sharing with each other, supporting each other. Stay in touch.

The beauty of meditation. “It will calm you,” said Joy.

The party continued. Groups of young men and women sang carols. One group began quietly, then in the later verses gave the song some true Jamaican verve and swing. I have a wonderful photo of their laughing faces and dancing feet, but cannot share it here. One young man sang so beautifully that his voice was almost swamped with whoops and cheers.

So, as 2013 comes into sight, what are the opportunities and challenges for Eve for Life and these courageous young women? (Yes, they are courageous, believe me.) According to Pat Watson, the children need more support. Some are finding challenges at school, and they would like to set up a homework program for them. And most of their mothers are now at school, many of them in HEART training programs learning IT skills. They will emerge well qualified, eager and optimistic for a job; Eve for Life needs to find work for them, or all the hopes these marginalized women have of establishing themselves in a full, productive life will be dashed. Employers, please consider offering work to the disadvantaged – to those who just need a “second chance” in life…. And everyone, please consider supporting Eve for Life, and other organizations who help to hold together the lives of Jamaica’s most vulnerable citizens.

As I left, the party showed no signs of winding down. There were hugs, gifts, smiles, music, the exchange of contact numbers. The children chuckled, cried, chased each other.

This was a Christmas party with a difference. One I would not have missed for the whole world…

Love and Peace.

Georgia Green. The smile on her face says it all. (Photo: Eve for Life)

Respect and Protect…Eve for Life’s World AIDS Day message

Related articles – several bloggers’ thoughts on peace are listed below:

Christmas is a state of mind: On respect, love and understanding (petchary.wordpress.com)

http://petchary.wordpress.com/2012/11/29/everyday-courage/ (Everyday Courage: petchary.wordpress.com – my entry for the UNICEF #HashCon blog contest)

http://www.eveforlife.org/default.html (Eve for Life website)

Peace (apostcardaday.blogspot.com)

Peace Mantra: Preserving Peace Series (bringingspirit.wordpress.com)

Go Into the New Year as if it Were Your Last! (lipstick-chat.com)

The Symptoms of Inner Peace (mindmindful.wordpress.com)

Bloggers For Peace: WE Can Make A Difference (theobamacrat.com)

We Are All One (joejeeber.com)

Peace… (jruthkelly.com)

It’s an odd time of year. I often feel confused, but the predominant feeling is sheer, unadulterated laziness. I ought to be doing something constructive, I don’t know what. But I don’t feel like doing it. I want to continue slumped on the sofa, watching DVDs and finishing off the amazing box of dark chocolates (Christmas presents). Preferably with husband (who is never as lazy as me).

The box of chocolates has taken a bashing in the past day or two…

I know I can’t go on like this. But I want to.

There are resolutions to ponder, plans to make. OK, I know. The heart is willing, but the mind is very weak. And the body…even weaker. Especially after a decadent Christmas Day Brunch at Kingston’s Terra Nova Hotel. I ate about six different kinds of meat (and not a chicken in sight), and haven’t quite recovered. Maybe not such a great idea, but too late now.

My dessert plate at the Terra Nova (I couldn’t show you the first course – it would be just too much for you, dear reader).

Resolutions: Basically my resolutions all fall into one category: finish off all the projects I should have completed this year, but didn’t. This includes several short stories – more to be added; try to get my novel published (that was last year’s resolution by the way); get the front of the house painted a decent color (at the moment it is a hybrid  - an underlying pinkish color half-covered with white primer. Not very fetching). Promise to myself that I will remember all relatives’ birthdays and at least send them an e-card (thank God for the e-card). Call my sister in the UK once a week. Skype/email my brother in Australia at least once every two weeks (Skype is a struggle with Oz; for some reason my dearest brother and sister-in-law usually appear upside-down. Well, they are Down Under, after all). Most of all, be a more “engaged” mother to our son in London. Don’t know how to do this. Working on it. Try to laugh more at my husband’s simply dreadful jokes.

All of the above is pretty hard to achieve. Any one of these items is, in fact, much harder than it looks…Herculean. But, at least I am keeping them in mind. If I achieve even one of them, I will feel quite pleased with myself.

OK, that’s enough of resolutions. How to spend these doldrum times, as New Year crawls slowly up to the horizon? Well, Jamaicans know how to spend these days. Whether they have any money left or not, there is always partying, or some entertainment event to attend. And Jamaicans know how to have a good time, as Singapore’s prime minister Lee Kuan Yew wryly observed  after visiting Jamaica in 1975: “Theirs was a relaxed culture. The people were full of song and dance, spoke eloquently, danced vigorously, and drank copiously. Hard work they had left behind with slavery.”

Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, first Prime Minister of Singapore.

For example, there is the annual celebration of dancehall culture known as Sting (no, not the middle-aged, pretentious British pop star-cum-folk-singer). Weird things tend to happen at this show, which is probably why many people go – to see what sparks will fly. It surely could not be for the “music,” ninety per cent of which is of very poor quality (I make exception for singers like Etana, who are actually trying to sing, write songs, play musical instruments etc). For dancehall is not about musicality; it is about “culture.”  As such, it is studied very seriously at the University of the West Indies.

The other Sting, banging his head against a tree. He’s an environmentalist, you know.

This nightmarish figure is the latest dancehall craze, Tommy Lee Sparta. Is that a flag on his face? Looks like some kind of rather unpleasant Michael Jackson-meets-Dracula figure. I wonder if he can sing?

Anyway, Sting is all about “clashes.” There used to be sound system clashes; now it is deejays etc. The idea is to “diss” your opponent musically (or with lyrics) until he/she runs for cover. The audience, of course, have their favorites. If there is no clash, it is most disappointing. One female deejay turned up (with a donkey in tow) all ready to dish out some unpleasantness; but her rival did not turn up. Such a let-down, when the aggressor was all steamed up and ready for it…

A clash in progress at Sting 2012. Note that it takes place in a fake boxing ring. Not sure who this cast of characters is, but the serious dude in the white trilby looks like Ninja Man. Note also that it is broad daylight.

Other highlights of this annual ritual (which begins around midnight and ends well past sun-up) included the latest dancehall fad, a man called Tommy Lee Sparta. If you have the stomach for it (I don’t) you can read some of his “lyrics” at the link below. Then there was the evergreen, turbaned Sizzla, who could not help but resort to spouting his usual offensive, homophobic lyrics (he also did not have anything nice to say about the police, or child molesters). And don’t forget Busy Signal, who spent some time in a U.S. jail but has bounced back!! Another regular at this event is a strange figure called Ninja Man, one of the original deejays, a tall skinny man with hollow eyes who has also done time in a Jamaican jail and is (I think?) now out on bail with his son, on a murder charge. Another dancehall fave, a bleached and tattoed man called Vybz Kartel, is currently behind bars awaiting trial for not one, but two murders, along with members of his gang… sorry, “crew.” So Vybz couldn’t make it this year… maybe next.

A charming and attractive bunch, you will agree. Then, at the other end of the spectrum, there are the uptown parties, where everyone who is anyone is seen, and hopefully photographed – to appear in the social pages of our revered national newspapers. The women wear skirts as short as possible, and unfortunately among older women, the one-shouldered look is still de rigueur. There was a party called “A-List,” another called… OK, you’re bored, I can tell. So am I…

Well, the fun season isn’t quite over until the Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival 2013 is done. This annual event takes place in Montego Bay in mid-January every year. For Kingstonians, this normally necessitates taking at least one or two days off work, to get the full benefit. Although it is/was intended to attract foreign visitors to Jamaican shores with its all-star lineup, it has morphed over the years into yet another party opportunity for the well-heeled, who flock there in their hundreds in their SUVs, causing traffic jams for miles. Although the festival is named “jazz and blues,” any jazz or blues fan would be disappointed at the musical fare that is dished up – a mish-mash of local reggae acts and ageing pop/R&B singers looking to escape to a tropical island in mid-winter.

I don’t think Michael Bolton could be called a jazz or blues singer, could he? At a stretch? Errrrrr… No!

When I (and others) complain about this complete misnomer, I am told rather forcefully that the Festival (which, like Sting, has been around for many years) is a “brand” and therefore the name cannot be changed. All the local firms have booths there, where the uptowners imbibe local drinks and – again – make sure they get themselves photographed for the local papers. The resulting photos keep the social pages going for at least a couple of weeks, afterwards. And the local firms get their publicity in, while the true fans of the old pop singers get to swoon over their old hits.

Well, this year, at least they’ve got Mary J. Blige, too. She could sing jazz, if she tried.

So, you see, the time is usefully spent here on the island of Jamaica. By the end of January, perhaps, we will all be let gently down to earth as the crime rate starts to bite again, and the latest bad economic news starts to trickle in… I guess, after all, we will still be talking about the International Monetary Fund in 2013.

Dance till you drop… The young and the not-so-young of uptown Kingston (and Montego Bay) will party straight through to New Year’s Eve. (Photo: Winston Sill/Freelance photographer)

The creepy-looking Ninja Man.

An “artiste” named Spice turned up ready to put her opponent, Macka Diamond, firmly in her place – but as you can tell from the look on her face she was disappointed. She reportedly stormed off stage. Note the 1980s-Madonna-esque epaulettes! But the non-Madonna-like figure!

And me? I think I will just do mentally what I used to do  when I was a kid: freewheel along, bike pedals spinning, legs stuck out on either side. At some point, I will take control again. But…not just yet.

Happy in-between times! And Happy 2013 when it finally heaves into view!

Related articles for your reading pleasure:

http://www.stingjamaica.com.jm (Sting website)

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121228/ent/ent2.html (Varied, successful Sting 2012: Gleaner)

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/entertainment/Sting-2012–the-best-in-years_13281271 (Sting 2012: The best in years: Observer)

http://www.dancehallreggaeworld.com/tommy-lee-psycho-lyrics.html (Tommy Lee Psycho lyrics)

http://dancehallgeographies.wordpress.com (Dancehall Geographies: Jamaican blog)

http://jamaicajazzandblues.com (Jamaica Jazz and Blues 2013 website)

Dear Reader:

Firstly, warm wishes as the New Year approaches! May 2013 be happy, challenging, successful, and rewarding (yes, we have to have challenges!)

Secondly… I wonder if you would like to nominate me for a Jamaica Blog Award? This is an annual event, organized by a young Jamaican who wants to encourage good writing, sharing and creativity in the social media. Many young bloggers are just starting out; some, like me, have been blogging for a bit longer (over 360 blog posts in my case! How did I get there, I wonder?)

If you would like to nominate me, go to the Jamaica Blog Awards website at http://jamaicablogawards.org/jm/ Click on “nominate” when it comes up near the bottom of the page. There are quite a few categories…most of which my blog doesn’t qualify for. But if you find one that fits, all you need to do is put in your email address and my URL: http://petchary.wordpress.com.

I would be grateful for your support…and for your support for all Jamaican bloggers and writers! I will let you know how we all get on, in January…

DEADLINE: MIDNIGHT (JAMAICAN TIME) ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 3o!

THANK YOU!

Well, there are still a few more chocolates left in the box, after a bit of an onslaught by my husband and I in the last couple of days (see my blog post on freewheeling). It’s got to the point where I am glad they are nearly finished though. I just want to see them gone. They are haunting me. So let’s have another one…

Christmas week was, in a way, pretty quiet in Jamaica. Nothing much changed. As I mentioned in last week’s notes, there is unfinished business, like the turkey leftovers no one wants to eat. But we can’t throw them out. After the holidays are done, we will have to take these distasteful leftovers out. We will have to choke them down.

First of all, though, I have to get something out of the way. One of our two national daily newspapers saw it fit to print, on Christmas Day of all days, an editorial cartoon depicting gay Jamaicans as terrifying freaks apparently intent on doing something evil with our children. A little boy tells his mother he is no longer afraid of Jonkunnu. This is the traditional Jamaican masquerade depicted in the background to this blog; children (and some adults) often run screaming from the Devil, Pitchy Patchy and other costumed characters who pursue them (in fun, of course). No, nowadays the sweet little boy is afraid of…gays. Now, this is not the first time that the Jamaica Observer‘s cartoonist, Clovis, has produced such cartoons. Like many other Jamaicans, he seems obsessed with homosexuality – and he clearly thinks we are going to find these grotesque and cruel depictions of a highly marginalized community which is already persecuted (yes, I would use that word), somehow funny, too. No, it is not the same thing as poking fun at politicians and other public figures. It is targeting a particular group in a display of bigotry that disturbs me deeply…but does not surprise me.

How sad, Jamaica Observer. Is this how you intend to continue into 2013? Well, clearly your owners and editors must be in agreement with it all. So, what more can I say.

Clovis’ latest effort to demonize and dehumanize gays: the Christmas Day editorial cartoon in one of our national newspapers.

This morning, I watched President Barack Obama give a half-hour interview on “Meet the Press.” He started off by explaining what the “fiscal cliff” actually is, in ways viewers could understand, and went on to other pressing topics. How I wish our Prime Minister could sit down for half an hour with one of our TV journalists (we have some very good ones) for such a conversation. Because, we still have our own “fiscal cliff”  – whether we are ever going to sign an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and if so…when. We are teetering on the edge – and last week we came to the clear realization that we would not sign any such agreement by December 31, as the Minister of Finance had suggested (in September, I believe). Nor is there any clear indication as to what will be signed, or when. Is there?

Minister Phillips gave an interview to the Sunday Gleaner’s able journalists, Gary Spaulding and Arthur Hall, a day or two ago, and issued an “extensive” press release – which is actually printed in full in the Sunday Observer. The Sunday Gleaner headline, “No reason for panic,” immediately aroused suspicion in me. When people say “Don’t panic!” I generally…panic. That’s me. But anyway, one thing I think Minister Phillips really must avoid is comparing his administration’s handling of the IMF matter to the approach of the previous political administration. Mistake. Whether the Jamaica Labour Party handled it well or not (one suspects probably not very well at all) – that is water under the bridge now, Minister Phillips. It has been a year. And I don’t want to remind you that your leader said emphatically that her administration would have an agreement signed within two weeks of getting into office. But I realize she wasn’t really serious, it was just the excitement of the moment.

The “negotiations” (what does Jamaica have to negotiate with, Minister Phillips?) apparently are still hitting some snags. The Minister mentions the tax waivers and incentives issue and debt reduction, which remain sticking points. Phillips’ Opposition counterpart and former Finance Minister Audley Shaw (the only Opposition spokesman who actually speaks, it seems) believes the IMF agreement is still a few months away. Financial analyst Ralston Hyman thinks not before the end of the first quarter of 2013. Mr. Shaw also mentions the public sector wage bill, which I have mentioned before and which no one is talking about much…yet. Although I am sure the Minister has it on his mind. The nurses and the teachers and others do not sound very amenable to a continued wage freeze. They have been making noises.

Minister of Finance Peter Phillips

Nevertheless, Minister Phillips’ press release at last gives full details of some of the issues that, it seems, are still to be ironed out with the IMF technocrats. (Oh, I used that word! It’s one that Jamaican journalists love…technocrats). He refers, significantly perhaps, to “an instinctive insistence on the part of the IMF that as much as possible should be done up front.” In other words, before any agreement can be finalized, the Jamaican government will have to actually implement some of the key requirements. That doesn’t sound like a short-haul thing to me. Perhaps Mr. Shaw is right.   

By the way, be careful with the JIS (the government’s Jamaica Information Service) website. It has malware in it. So says my faithful iMac.

Meanwhile, National Security Minister Peter Bunting’s PR people have been working hard on a long press release, giving details of “significant progress made” in reducing major crimes. Murders down four per cent? Sorry, that doesn’t seem “significant” to me. But perhaps one should be grateful for small mercies. There has been a certain amount of “spin” though, in the way the police report on crime. The parish of Trelawny announced a reduction in murders this year – several days ago, before the end of the year. From eighteen murders down to fifteen. But at least this week there have not been any murders in the parish, so they are OK. Give thanks for the little progress made…three fewer is three fewer.

Cool baseball caps: Minister of National Security Peter Bunting (left) with Police Commissioner Owen Ellington during a community tour earlier this year. (Photo: Ricardo Makyn/Gleaner)

A reminder: today is exactly one year and one day since the People’s National Party swept the general elections on a wave of euphoria. As a Facebook critic noted, in that year “What has happened?” Many media houses are going through the annual ritual of “grading” the individual government ministers for their overall performance. Many have come up wanting. As at least one media practitioner has noted in recent weeks, the Simpson Miller administration’s main problem seems to be poor communication. Don’t you think? Press releases are OK, up to a point. As a result, ministers are constantly defending themselves against accusations that the Jamaican public don’t know what is going on. This is especially so with regard to the IMF and the economy in general. (By the way, the value of the Jamaican Dollar continues to slide, gently but it inexorably).

Dionne Jackson-Miller’s cutting-edge weekly current affairs program on TVJ “All Angles” recently examined the Cabinet’s performance with a bright and knowledgeable panel, including law student par excellence Maurice Smith. A few years ago, Maurice won the U.S. Embassy’s annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Essay Competition as a Manchester High School student. He deeply impressed me then, and he still does… He is going to make a positive impact in years to come; I am sure of that. There is a link to the program below. TVJ  is looking at promises made by the People’s National Party a year ago, and comparing it to what action has been taken – with a special focus on the leadership debate between Ms. Simpson Miller and then Prime Minister Andrew Holness, when all sorts of grand ideas were trotted out on both sides.

Fast forward to now, and Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller and Opposition Leader Andrew Holness appear to have gone off the radar, again. I know it’s Christmas time and all that… But when did we last hear from them? Sorry? When was that?

Ratings for the one-year-old political administration are almost universally low – whether it is informal man/woman-on-the-street sound bytes or in-depth discussions on radio and television. Newspaper columns are even more scathing.  We surged on the happy little wave of “Jamaica 50″ and our achievements at the London Olympics for two or three months this year. Now, the wave has broken on the shore, leaving us all high and dry. “Disappointment” is a word much bandied about. Young diaspora leader David Mullings and local columnist Mark Wignall believe we should all find a way to “buy into” Vision 203o – and do things differently. One major hindrance, Wignall asserts (and I agree) is the pervasive and persistent environment of crime and violence, which stymies investment and impedes progress. Talk show host and lecturer Orville Taylor gives the Portia Simpson Miller administration an F, pointing to higher youth unemployment. Oh dear.  But least, today, two columnists do give Minister Phillips and Education Minister Ronald Thwaites kudos for their work over the past year. In fact, Sunday Gleaner columnist Ian Boyne (who also works for the Jamaica Information Service) waxes quite lyrical on the latter. He believes that Minister Thwaites has  “energy, intellectual breadth and sophistication and a commitment to excellence that is not surpassed by any of his Cabinet colleagues.”  Wow.

The eloquent, expansive, loquacious Minister of Education Ronald Thwaites. Yes, all those adjectives and more…

And so on, and so on. Meanwhile, there were two little flutters of excitement last week. Firstly, the pile-up of garbage in Kingston and other parts of the island became so excessive that the media launched into it at some length. We were treated to a huge photo of piles of garbage on the Observer front page; and much video footage of further mountains of the stuff in every nook and cranny. I averted my eyes, hoping not to see rats. Ms. Jennifer Edwards, who heads the National Solid Waste Management Agency, mentioned that the trucks have mechanical problems; well, this has always been an issue with that agency. Local Government Minister Noel Arscott tried to help her out as she sat there smiling awkwardly by his side in one television interview. Why has it got so bad this time around? I suspect that the funds to fix the trucks were simply not there. Plus there is still raw sewage flowing on two downtown streets. Downtown, the Mayor blamed the holiday influx of vendors for the garbage. As for the flowing sewage…She has talked to the National Water Commission about that. (And?)

A woman navigates her way around garbage piled up on a street in downtown Kingston yesterday. You can imagine the smell… (Photo: Joseph Wellington/Observer)

Secondly, there was a ridiculous to-do over a tax amnesty for those Jamaicans with outstanding traffic tickets who are seeking to avoid prosecution. The amnesty expires on December 31, but with the usual last-minute mentality everyone left it too late. The tax offices in and around Kingston were besieged. Long lines outside these offices began before five in the morning, according to one television station! The poor civil servants, who had hoped for a nice quiet year-end break perhaps, sprang into action as best they could, but were completely overwhelmed. It then transpired that the various records and systems used by the various government offices were not in sync. In fact, it was a bit of a muddle. The chaos will continue tomorrow, no doubt. What a way to see the New Year in.

Bus driver Keron Brown displays his list of traffic tickets (above) with fines amounting to $84,500. (Photos: Bryan Cummings/Observer)

A couple of things we didn’t need this week: The Gleaner published at least two full pages of “prophecies” by various evangelists and – er, prophets, for 2013. Does anyone read this superstitious nonsense?

The Observer reprinted pages and pages of its “Lifestyle” section – so many photos of uptown Jamaicans at dozens of social events all through the year that I became quite dizzy. All those grinning faces and mini-skirts and sumptuous meals and wineglasses spun round and round in a perfect frenzy. Who are all these people, and where do they live?  And while we are at it, what is the point of the Saturday Observer? Or did I ask that before? It has morphed into a women’s magazine. Although I am supposed to like them, I really dislike women’s magazines as a genre.

OK, enough wingeing now. One thing I do love is Krista Samuels’ long-running feature on TVJ News, “A Ray of Hope.” She always highlights an act of kindness, generosity and community that makes me feel good. After the string of crime reports etc., I guess they have it at the end of the news to lift your spirits, a bit. Last week, Krista highlighted the work of the Mind, Body and Soul Health Ministry, an effort by a Jamaican couple living overseas and partners to restore a community hospital in rural Alexandria, St. Ann. Founded just a year ago, the organization is based in Tampa, Florida. Check out their Facebook page; you will be impressed. (I was so moved by the report of an American doctor, himself an amputee, who fitted local residents with prosthetic legs. The joy and gratitude on the face of one man was touching).

Mind Body and Soul Health Ministry at work in Alexandria, St. Ann – from their Facebook page.

Big ups too, to Javette Nixon, a young man who gave up his regular job to start a new online marketing company, Point Global Marketing (POINT). His start-up firm operates from the University of Technology’s Technology Innovation Centre in Kingston. Javette’s parents did not even go to high school; his mother started business as a higgler, bringing in goods from Panama to sell on Jamaica’s streets. I applaud Javette for his innovation and ambition; plus, he’s such a nice young man. Check out POINT’s lively and regularly updated Facebook page and its beautiful website: http://www.pointglobalmarketing.com.

The Technology Innovation Centre at the University of Technology.

Congratulations to Ms. Jasmine Thomas-Girvan, winner of the 2012 Aaron Matalon Award. This was presented to her at the 2012 National Biennial today for her contribution to this great artistic exhibit at the National Gallery. Ms. Thomas-Girvan is a sculptor and jewelry-maker. Here is a fascinating piece of hers… Don’t forget to visit the biennial, which features 126 works by 86 artists!  It will be on view until March 9, 2013 during the National Gallery’s regular opening hours: Tuesdays-Thursdays: 10 am to 4:30 pm, Fridays: 10 am to 4 pm, Saturdays: 10 am to 3 pm and every last Sunday of the month: 11 am to 4 pm. The Gallery is closed on the other Sundays and on Mondays and Public Holidays. Support, and enjoy, our local art!

And once again, cheers to the community of Camrose, near Montego Bay, which caught the Christmas “spirit” this year. The Tourism Product Development Company (under the Ministry of Tourism) will train community guides next year, in partnership with the Ras Natango Gallery and Gardens located in Camrose. Congratulations to benefactors Mark and Francis Tucci of North Carolina, Tamika and Ian Williams, and the people of Camrose. Good luck, and Happy New Year!

An ackee Christmas tree…and some of the youth of Camrose enjoying the “vibes” in the square recently. (Photo: Janet Silvera/Gleaner)

And the same to all of you, dear readers near and far!

Occupy (Alchemy of Promise) – detail, by Jasmine Thomas-Girvan. Mixed media. (Photo: National Gallery of Jamaica)

Even during Christmas week, the killings continued. I am very sad to see that at least six women were among those whose names I list below. It has been a Christmas of grief and mourning for many Jamaicans. Please let us not forget them.

Ruthlyn Brown, 47, Manchioneal, Portland

Rohan Moore, 33, Kensington, Portland

Andrew Falter, 51, Swift River, Portland

Woman in thirties, Arnett Gardens, Kingston 12

Unidentified man, Shannon Drive, Kingston 11

Private Leachim Whyte, 18, Twickenham Park, St. Catherine (Jamaica Defence Force)

Unidentified woman, Passage Fort/Portmore, St. Catherine

Norman Simpson, Burkesfield, St. Catherine

 Shanel Gilfillian, 20, Frankfield, Clarendon

Andrew Watt, 40, Canaan Heights, Clarendon

Reonno O’Sullivan, 30, Racecourse, Clarendon

Dahlia Powell, 46, May Day, Manchester

Wayne Johnson, 47, Kingsvale, Hanover

Jeneiva McKenzie-Lawrence, 48, Thatchfield, St. Ann

Ronald Thomas, 45, Discovery Bay, St. Ann

By the police:

Unidentified man, Top Hill, St. Elizabeth

Related articles:

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121230/lead/lead1.html (Phillips: no reason for panic: Sunday Gleaner)

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/What-s-holding-up-the-IMF-deal_13291296 (What’s holding up the IMF deal: Previous Government partly to blame: Sunday Observer)

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121230/lead/lead4.html (Shaw: IMF deal could be as late as June: Sunday Gleaner)

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121230/cleisure/cleisure2.html (Significant progress made in reducing major crimes – Bunting)

http://www.televisionjamaica.com/Programmes/AllAngles.aspx/Videos/22825 (All Angles: Assessing the Performance of the Cabinet: TVJ)

http://news.cvmtv.com/index.php?id=2431&news=watch (Traffic ticket amnesty: CVM Television)

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121226/lead/lead2.html#.UNrARGmunhA.facebook (An ackee Christmas in Camrose: Sunday Gleaner)

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/When-will-Jamaica-be-good-for-us-_13278595 (When will Jamaica be good for us? Mark Wignall column/Observer)

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121230/focus/focus1.html (2012 Year in Review: Failing grade for PNP: Orville Taylor column/Sunday Gleaner)

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/After-a-year–PNP-Gov-t-struggling-to-impress-Jamaicans_13246529 (After a year, PNP government struggling to impress Jamaicans: Sunday Observer)

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/The-year-that-might-have-been_13282558 (The year that might have been: Claude Robinson column/Sunday Observer)

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121230/focus/focus5.html (2012 Year in Review: Government must stop playing the blame game: Martin Henry column/Sunday Gleaner)

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/2013–here-we-come-_13281518 (2013, here we come! James Moss-Solomon column/Sunday Observer)

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/Rethink-some-approaches_13281542 (Rethink some approaches: David Mullings column/Sunday Observer)

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/A-nasty-dirty-shame- (A nasty dirty shame! (video/report): Observer)

http://repeatingislands.com/2012/12/29/jamaica-paper-publish-anti-gay-hate-cartoon-for-christmas/ (Jamaica paper publishes anti-gay hate cartoon for Christmas: Repeating Islands)

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121227/news/news6.html (Protect the rights of all Jamaicans: Karen Carpenter/Gleaner op-ed)

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121230/business/business6.html#disqus_thread (Javette Nixon eyes the future of online marketing: Sunday Gleaner)

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/page2/ (Jamaica Observer’s daily Page Two social page – not the only social pages of course; both newspapers devote at least one page daily to the socialites; more on weekends!)

Sunday Stupor: December 16, 2012 (petchary.wordpress.com)

A Great “Dig” for Jamaican Bloggers (petchary.wordpress.com)

Tivoli Gardens: On May 24, 2010, The People were “Deading” (petchary.wordpress.com)

The In-Between Blues: Freewheeling down to 2013 (petchary.wordpress.com)

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog. Here’s my annual report, with my most popular blog posts – rather surprising results, and some of those posts go back a little ways.

Dear readers: What would YOU like to see me write about in 2013? Feedback is more than welcome… Do let me know, and do browse some of my older blog posts too. I intend to step up the “African Postman” series to at least once per week, too. Tomorrow, I will dig back in the archives a little way, and share a few links to posts you might have missed during 2012…

Thank you for following me! Where would I be without you all! Please continue to comment and share with others, and I thank you for your support in 2012!

The Petchary

Here’s an excerpt:

19,000 people fit into the new Barclays Center to see Jay-Z perform. This blog was viewed about 94,000 times in 2012. If it were a concert at the Barclays Center, it would take about 5 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

I am not very fond of the “Year in Review” thing. Most of the time, we don’t want to be reminded of the famous people who died; the inevitable (and increasing number of) natural disasters; the wars; the politicians.

So I just thought I would list (for myself and for you all, if you are interested) some of the things I enjoyed in 2012 – including happy memories of our five-week visit to England in the autumn. It is good to acknowledge and recall all these moments, these things that you have treasured. In no particular order (and I have probably missed out a lot; so much to be thankful for).

My book list is books I have read and enjoyed this year. Music and movies include some new, some old, and some I have loved for years now! And birds are just special.

I haven’t added any photos. This is just a plain list. But I plan to add a photo from each “favorite thing” in the sidebar, each day – starting from the top. Plus, I am going to work on some long-overdue 2012 photo albums over the next few days…

If you are not already celebrating, Happy New Year to you all!

Random moments:

∞   Earth Day with Jamaica Environment Trust. This year’s event was with Jana Bent, who read, sang and danced along with her book “The Reggae Band Rescues Mama Edda Leatherback” – thoroughly enjoyed by the children

∞   Looking up at the mountains from my front gate

∞    Picking blackberries alone, on a hillside in north Cornwall

∞   “Gangnam Style”: Yes, the video is sort of tacky, but it makes people dance, laugh and have fun and that can’t be bad

∞   Bill Maher‘s “New Rules”: Bill is outrageous at times but when he is really wicked and smirks, he makes me shout with laughter

∞   Café Cody: Online radio station (cafecody.com) that plays superb chill out music, a bit of jazz, soul etc… “From Mallorca, Spain“

∞   Visiting the Emirates Stadium, home of Arsenal Football Club in north London – a pilgrimage with my son

∞   Walking through the autumn fields in Sussex, England with my brother

∞   Walking along Cornish lanes, studying wild flowers and butterflies and eating blackberries, with my husband

∞   The big guango tree in our yard, hardly touched by Hurricane Sandy, always filled with birds and draped with purple vines and bougainvillea

∞   Delighting in the Pre-Raphaelites exhibition at the Tate Gallery with my husband. Favorite painting: The Scapegoat by William Holman Hunt

∞   Singing “Hotel California” with my family, brother playing guitar, by the fireside

∞   The bright children at Trench Town Reading Centre planting seeds in pots

∞   Family wedding on Teesside in England, the bride’s veil bathed in sunlight

∞   Capital Pork (yes, that’s the name) at China Express restaurant in Kingston

∞   iPhotos

∞   Sharing serious but empowering conversations on violence with women (and men) at Women’s Media Watch/Prana event

∞   Bill Hader playing “Stefon” on Saturday Night Live: “And the hottest thing in New York is…”

∞   Very cold soursop juice

∞   Deepak Chopra’s “21-Day Meditation Challenge” 

∞   Walking aimlessly round the streets of London as darkness falls and the streets light up

∞   Palm fronds getting in the way

∞   Going through old family photos at my sister’s house in England

∞    Theo Walcott‘s hat trick in the last game of the year – English Premier League match against Newcastle. Gunners won 7-3.

∞    Watching a fox fast asleep in the sun, on the lawn of our friends’ home in London

∞    Garnier Dark Intense Auburn hair color

∞    Mist, drifting cloud and deep green hills in Mavis Bank, Blue Mountains just before Hurricane Sandy

∞    Holding hands with an old gentleman at JN Foundation’s Christmas treat – Golden Age Home, Cluster H, Vineyard Town

∞    Re-connecting and meeting with old friends, thanks to the power of Google and Facebook

∞    “Homeland” with the infuriatingly chin-wobbling, tearful Claire Danes

∞    Sunday morning breakfasts at Café Blue with my husband

∞    Café Latte at Café Blue; strong black coffee at home

Music:

◊    Jonsi and Sigur Ros: “Go” and “Valtari” (respective albums). This music is so sublime it is impossible to pick out one favorite track. The ethereal, earthy sound of the Universe according to the Icelandic post-rockers.

◊    Bon Iver: “Holocene” from “Bon Iver” and “The Wolves” from “For Emma, Forever Ago”

◊    Youssou N’Dour and the Fathy Salama Orchestra: “Shukran Bamba”  – one of many beautiful songs on “Egypt”

◊    Wilco:  “One Sunday Morning” from the album “The Whole Love”

◊    Kurt Elling: “Blue in Green” from “The Gate”

◊    Jimi Hendrix: “1983…A Merman I Should Turn to Be” from “Electric Ladyland”

◊    Salif Keita and Cesaria Evora: “Yamore” from “Moffou”

◊    Gustav Mahler:  ”Das Lied von der Erde” (Song of the Earth)

◊    Puccini: “Tosca” (from start to finish)

◊    Fleet Foxes: “Blue Ridge Mountains“ from “Fleet Foxes” and “The Shrine/An Argument” from “Helplessness Blues”

◊    Gregg Allman: “Blind Man” from “Low Country Blues”

◊    Frank Ocean: “Thinking About You” from “Channel Orange”

◊    Tedeschi Trucks Band: “Midnight in Harlem”  from “Revelator”

Birds (special section, bear with me): 

♦    Of course, the Petchary: Our summer visitor from South America is noisy and imperious

♦    The Black-Throated Blue Warbler: Bright, beautiful, always close to the house – and close to me when I am in the yard.

♦    All the other warblers: Sweet, charming, occasionally singing delicate, whispering songs – our winter visitors.

♦    The White-Crowned Pigeon or Baldpate: Big, glossy-black, shy and regally beautiful

♦    Mockingbird or “nightingale” in Jamaica: singing his heart out every day, patrolling the front yard.

♦    Jamaican Woodpecker:

♦    Smooth-Billed Anis, huddled together in a group around our bird bath – big, black, floppy-tailed and hook-nosed

♦    Robin: Its sweet, wistful winter song haunted me in the English countryside

♦    Sparrow: The regular chirping of sparrows in the eaves reminds me of my childhood in London – instantly

♦    Blackbird: Its alarm cry in the hedges of the Sussex countryside at evening time is such a nostalgic sound

Books

♥    The Stories of John Cheever

♥     The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick

♥    The Rules of the Tunnel by Ned Zeman

♥    Bird Cloud by Annie Proulx

♥    Where I’m Calling From: Selected Stories by Raymond Carver

♥    The Whale: In Search of the Giants of the Sea by Philip Hoare

♥    Death of the Adversary by Hans Keilson

♥    The Sly Company of People Who Care by Rahul Bhattacharya

♥   The Magician King by Lev Grossman

♥   The Festival of Wild Orchid: Poems by Ann-Margaret Lim

Films

♣    Blue Valentine with Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams

♠    All Good Things with Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst – my two favorite actors

♣   Marie Antoinette with Kirsten Dunst

♠   Batman movies with Christian Bale as Batman – he’s just right

♠   Flight with Denzel Washington

♣   The Band’s Visit with Ronit Elkabetz

♣   Everything is Illuminated with Elijah Wood and Eugene Hutz

♠   The Big Lebowski with Jeff Bridges and John Goodman

♣   That last Spiderman movie

♣    Ten Canoes with David Gulpilil and Crusoe Kurddal

♣   And Daniel Craig is delicious in everything

Our apple tree (which a few weeks ago was humming with bees) is now bursting with fruit. Seasons come and go quietly in the tropics, but here we are on January 1 – with hundreds of apples.

This is an otaheite apple tree, which is also known as a Malay Apple, Pommerac, etc. It bears no resemblance to, say, a Golden Delicious.

I took a couple of photos, which actually don’t do justice to the huge number of apples on our tree. But the thing is, we are not actually going to eat many of them…

So who will partake of this tasty fruit, you may ask?

I have done a little calculation, and the breakdown of consumers of our apples goes as follows:

Bats (fruit bats)……………………………………………………………….10 %

Birds (many kinds)…………………………………………………………..15 %

Dogs (after they have fallen)……………………………………………….30 %

Wasted (they mostly fall on a hard surface and are ruined then)…..25 %

Human beings (mainly the Lewises)…………………………………….20 %

Apple thieves (mango thieves being far more common)……………….0 %

It goes roughly like this. At night, the bats swoop back and forth, grabbing what they can. One night, sensing competition perhaps, our dogs managed to catch and kill one. This was quite upsetting; bats are in general quite endangered globally, like many other small creatures – frogs and the like. Unlike the dogs, we don’t mind sharing a few apples with them; although they are quite messy – they tend to do their toilet in mid-air, which is not pleasant. I was sad to find the creature’s little round body and tiny wings.

In the daytime, the tree is full of birds, large and small. They all seem to enjoy nibbling at the fruit, which eventually fall and are of course unusable. The Jamaican Oriole is partial to apples, and so are the little warblers. But why don’t they just eat the whole darn thing and be done with it? We don’t want the birds’ leftovers.

Then there are the dogs – the true scavengers of our yard. Of course, they much prefer mangoes, but have acquired a taste for apples. They are already eating the tiny fruit that have already fallen much too soon, and crunch the stones. Yum.

Then there’s us, the humans. The ones who actually planted the tree and own it and its contents. We are the last in line, and the best we can do is try to pick as many whole fruit as we can before the other creatures consume them.

Captain William Bligh of the “Bounty” (1754-1817)

Now, a little education for non-Jamaican readers: the otaheite apple is actually indigenous to the Pacific islands (otaheite is an archaic name for Tahiti). Like the breadfruit, it was introduced to the Caribbean. Captain Bligh does not have a great reputation historically – the Mutiny and all that; but apparently it was he who brought the otaheite apple tree and the breadfruit tree to our fair island in the eighteenth century. So he was a good guy in some ways. Thanks, Billy (if I may call you that…)

An otaheite apple. If you plant the stone it is easy to grow another tree.

Frankly, Jamaican apples are not as flavorsome as a Cox’s Orange Pippin or a Golden Russet or a Pearmain. They consist largely of water, like cucumbers, so they have that cool, bland taste. But they are incredibly refreshing when made into juice – delicate pink and slightly sweet – with a dash of ginger in it. And you can jazz them up a bit for desserts etc. I once stewed some with honey, but my family was not keen. The darkest red ones are the sweetest. Plus, unlike mangoes, they don’t have many calories. But then it’s always the boring food that has the least calories isn’t it?

The other thing about our apples is – they are incredibly delicate. The skin is very thin and is easily broken, and the white flesh rots easily. When ripe they have a very short shelf-life in our climate. Juice ‘em all as quickly as you can, I say!

Once the bats, birds and dogs have done their worst, that is… I sometimes wonder if it’s worth the bother.

This is otaheite apple sorbet. Looks pretty, anyway.

Related articles:

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20110310/cook/cook1.html (Otaheite! Recipes etc: Gleaner)

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20120215/health/health4.html (The Benefits of Otaheite Apples: Gleaner)

http://petchary.wordpress.com/2011/04/30/feeling-fruity/ (Feeling Fruity)

http://petchary.wordpress.com/2012/08/29/a-tale-of-two-soursops/ (A Tale of Two Soursops)

The Last Sunday of the Year: December 30, 2012 (petchary.wordpress.com)

Fighting on the Home Front (petchary.wordpress.com)

The In-Between Blues: Freewheeling down to 2013 (petchary.wordpress.com)

A Great “Dig” for Jamaican Bloggers (petchary.wordpress.com)

Enough apples already!

This is how Program Coordinator Jan Voordouw describes a program initiated by his non-profit organization Panos Caribbean, the Vancouver/Jamaica Exchange Project.

First, shall I tell you about Panos? Established in Washington, DC, in 1986, it is very much communication-oriented, in specific fields. With its head office in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and its secondary office in Jamaica, Panos’ aim is to “help people participate in the development debate, in particular through the media.”  Among other exciting projects, it has established youth journalist groups; a number of projects helping rural Jamaicans to cope with climate change, including“Voices for Climate Change“; has conducted research, offered fellowships and training in communicating HIV/AIDS-related issues; and in 2010 launched the ground-breaking“Oral Testimonies of Jamaican Sex Workers.”  Panos is now working harder to amplify the voices of marginalized populations in Jamaica; and it was with this in mind that the Vancouver/Jamaica project came into being.

A still from a video series produced by Kalilah Enriquez with funding from Panos on “Street Boys of Jamaica.” (Panos website)

So, a group of seven Jamaicans (five journalists and two young politicians) recently visited Vancouver. The aim was to share experiences on discrimination against men having sex with men, which still exists in Vancouver, too; and to learn more about strategies to address the concerns of gays living with HIV/AIDS. Although Vancouver is a “gay-friendly” city, it took decades to reach where it is today, says Jean-Claude Louis, who accompanied the group in Canada; and it is not by any means typical of the rest of the country. Everywhere has its complexities and its unique social issues. But Vancouver has put in place legislation and safeguards. It has established procedures, systems and entities (both governmental and non-governmental) that will always lend a helping hand, support, advise. Heal.

Vancouver, British Columbia (Photo: Wikipedia Commons)

Dr. Hamlet Nation is a medical doctor, and a member of the People’s National Party Youth Organization. Several key issues emerged for Dr. Nation during the week-long visit, from his discussions with those working in the health system in Vancouver. Firstly, there is the important role of leadership in Vancouver; not at first local politicians, who “jumped in later,” Dr. Nation noted. Community leaders helped foster dialogue, and encouraged openness and easier information-sharing – qualities he recognized and admired when he visited the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS. Dr. Nation also liked the STOP HIV/AIDS initiative piloted by Vancouver Coastal Health, which he regarded as proactive. Jamaica could easily adopt such a program of “treatment as prevention”  and early testing, he thought, using social media outreach to find those most at risk. He also liked the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control’s “highly targeted” programs.

Naomi Francis is well-known on radio, with her cheerful morning voice on Nationwide News Network’s “This Morning.”  Along with her co-host Emily Crooks, she packs a punch in incisive on-air interviews with politicians and public figures. She asked the question: How do marginalized Jamaicans tell their stories? Journalists love stories, of course. She felt the “stark” contrast in the way people communicate on human rights, noting that Vancouver was “proactive” in the way it works with First Nations people and other minorities, sexual or otherwise. Naomi met with Peer Navigators – HIV-positive gay men – at the Positive Living Society of  British Columbia, who had “found ways” to tell their stories. For them, she said, the acronym LGBT translated as “Listen, Guide, Balance, Translate.”  The Jamaican media is full of stories of “rampant violence” against gays, she says; but we are mostly looking at the symptoms of intolerance, anger, abuse. So, if those are the symptoms, then what is the root cause of discrimination against gays? “At the heart of it is an issue of poverty and abuse,”  Naomi suggests.

Wellness services offered by the Positive Living Society of British Columbia.

Vancouver is considered a “gay-friendly” city, but still has many social issues to contend with.

Collin Virgo is General Secretary of G2K, the young professionals arm of the Jamaica Labour Party. Although he completely avoided the issue of homosexuality, Mr. Virgo had some sharp comments and perceptive insights. He called the program “an amazing eye-opener.” Now, Mr. Virgo is what I would call a “character” - in the nicest way; he likes to be a little controversial, even “brutally frank,” as he puts it. In Jamaica“we are just wasting a lot of time,”  he observed, with a hint of impatience. “We don’t stay focused too long… We are always distracted by sideshows.” He contrasted this with what he saw in Vancouver – a culture of “seeing, feeling,” understanding and empathy. As well as what he called simply “common sense” solutions such as those offered by Insite – a supervised injection site for drug addicts. These simple solutions are not as easy as they seem to implement, Mr. Virgo observed; and politicians must “take note” of what he called “resistance from society” - which Insite also encountered when it was first established. “We cannot stay outside the system and help somebody,” Mr. Virgo added. “This is the dilemma of politicians.” Resistance from society. Something some politicians find hard to handle, it seems.

An Insite office in Vancouver.

Dervan Malcolm is a highly experienced radio man – producer, presenter and program host extraordinaire. His program, “Both Sides of the Story,” addresses all kinds of topics on weekday afternoons on Power 106 FM (which is owned by the Gleaner Company, by the way). Dervan also chaired the last televised leadership debate during the 2011 election campaign in Jamaica. He has a fresh, open style; he is cool and he is impartial.

Now, Dervan reminded us of former Canadian Premier Pierre Trudeau‘s remark to journalists in 1967: “We take the position that there is no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation.”  M. Trudeau was actually echoing an editorial in the Toronto“Globe and Mail” from the day before. So, here perhaps, all those years ago, was an example of politicians and media working together towards a change of mindset, of culture. Of course, the process was a gradual one. Changing the way people think – introducing different ideas, sharing new insights, explaining, clarifying, suggesting… it is all a painfully slow and complex process. But M. Trudeau decided that his country had got to start somewhere, and there was in fact some legislation pending at that point to strengthen human rights for sexual minorities. So, it is most telling to note that the first time any Jamaican politician made a similar comment was when current Prime Minister Portia Simpson spoke during the televised debate that Dervan himself moderated on December 20, 2011. That is, almost forty-five years to the day after Prime Minister Trudeau made his remarks. What a very long time that is.

Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau speaking in 1983. (Photo: Reuters)

Dervan believes that the rule of law must take center stage, and “must protect every single citizen.” During a meeting with the police in Vancouver, he recognized the importance of respect in dealing with sexual minorities and other disadvantaged groups. He also stated what seems to me the obvious when dealing with issues of discrimination and caring for minorities: the most important element is people. Yes, Vancouver has more resources than Jamaica; but many of the issues, he suggests, are not about resources but, yes, people - “We are all citizens.” We must do away with labels, with name-calling, with bullying. He learnt more about the latter topic from the Out in Schools program, which started up in 2004 in Vancouver. And it’s a very real issue for Jamaica too. Dervan described several other meetings with individuals who gave him deeper insights. Director of the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, Dr. Julio Montaner, is a remarkable leader, he believes: “Not a talker, a doer.” (I get the feeling that Dervan is sometimes impatient with the many talkers in Jamaica; but after all, he engages them all day long!)

Dr. Julio Montaner, Director of the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS

The Dr. Peter Centre in Vancouver is a remarkable institution, by all accounts. As its website notes, “Many of the people who come here have had lives marked by trauma and neglect. They have often been rejected by family, friends and society.”  It is the legacy of Dr. Peter Jepson-Young, a young Vancouver physician who was diagnosed with AIDS in 1985. He established the Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation just before his death in 1992. The Foundation began to collaborate and enlist the support of the Vancouver Health Department and several other health-related institutions. It has grown from strength to strength. But when Dr. Peter was too ill to practice any more, he did something remarkable that helped the Canadian people understand more about HIV/AIDS at a time when many did not understand. 111 episodes of the “Dr. Peter Diaries” - short pieces, honest, sometimes humorous, always human – were aired just before the CBC television news each evening. The impact was enormous. Yes, people living with HIV/AIDS are still…people.

Dr. Peter Jepson-Young (1957-1992)

And what were the lessons learned for Jamaica? Even more importantly, what actions may follow from this enlightening encounter?

Dr. Hamlet Nation sees the need for “greater discussion and dialogue.” He plans to meet with officials in the Ministry of Health’s HIV/STI Program to discuss and possibly partner with them on the issue of marginalized populations vulnerable to HIV/AIDS. He feels that anti-discrimination legislation needs to be looked at much more carefully. Naomi Francis believes that we need to remove our blinkers and speak “boldly, honestly, openly,” as she witnessed in Vancouver - “re-frame the dialogue.” Communication methods need to change. Politicians must play a greater role in delivering anti-discrimination messages, said Collin Virgo, with the media playing their part (in fact, he seemed to think that there should have been a higher ratio of politicians to journalists in the Jamaican group). The optimistic Dervan Malcolm believes that understanding is slowly growing in Jamaica. He would like to develop the contacts he made during his visit, and to use his program to encourage tolerance. He believes there should be much more outreach – Jamaican gays and those living with HIV/AIDS are not “over there.” We must reach them “where they are.”

I confess to being disappointed that more members of the media – especially print media – were not present at the Panos press briefing – although, perhaps, this was not so surprising. Two members of the Jamaican group – the Jamaica Observer’s Ingrid Brown and Carol Francis of Jamaica News Network – were regrettably also absent. However, young broadcast journalist Kathy-Ann Yetman joined the discussion after the presentations. Almost immediately, the issue of “The Church” came up (it is always described this way, like one huge, immovable monolith). It is a brave pastor or church leader who will try to confront the issue of homosexuality head-on, everyone agreed. Kathy-Ann, who produces CVM Television’s excellent “Live at Seven,” noted that the program would be talking to Reverend Peter Garth – a fundamentalist church man with strong views – on the matter. Some churches, it was noted, were more progressive in their thinking. So there is always hope. Perhaps Panos could have invited one or two church leaders on the program, someone suggested.

And the other almost immovable group, the politicians? Investment in older politicians is all but “wasted.” The burden is on the younger politicians to influence, to use different language, to lighten and sharpen the dialogue, to turn a laser-sharp focus on the issues that we are trying to avoid. The Jamaican people who we are trying to pretend don’t exist, or aren’t as important as certain other Jamaican citizens.

Why is this program so important? It’s not an academic exercise. It is an inspiration that will hopefully be a springboard for action. I congratulate all those who participated, and in particular the dedicated people at Panos for giving them this opportunity. I only feel sad for the many individuals and organizations who declined to participate in the Vancouver Exchange, once they learned what the focus was. Perhaps they might like to do a similar tour in Jamaica, instead. That would open their eyes, too.

Dervan Malcolm commented during his presentation, “Leaders must lead.” Or as management guru Peter Drucker said,

Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes.

Let’s get to it. Let’s make a change for the better. Thank you, Panos.

POST SCRIPT: Meanwhile, I just learned on television that no government representative attended the funeral of Vanessa Wint today. I guess they had better things to do on a lovely, sunny Saturday. Vanessa, a sixteen-year-old in the care of the State, committed suicide in an adult prison (where she should not have been held). But then, Vanessa was just a poor teenager with psychological problems, who was deemed “unruly.” Another of those Jamaicans whose lives are, somehow, less valuable. Politicians. Businessmen/women. Leaders. Followers. Can we all please try to care a little more, this year?

Vanessa Wint, who took her own life in December, was finally laid to rest today. No government representative attended her funeral, according to a TV Jamaica report.

Related articles and websites

Sharing Wisdom to Improve HIV/AIDS Treatment (in News) (thetyee.ca)

Love and Peace (petchary.wordpress.com)

Jamaica paper publish anti-gay hate cartoon for Christmas (repeatingislands.com)

Sex survey finds alarming trend among young people (antiguaobserver.com)

A Great “Dig” for Jamaican Bloggers (petchary.wordpress.com)

http://cfenet.ubc.ca (British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS website)

http://www.cfenet.ubc.ca/about-us/team/montaner-j (Dr. Julio Montaner)

http://www.positivelivingbc.org/services/peer-navigator-services (Positive Living Society of British Columbia: Peer Navigators)

http://cfenet.ubc.ca/news/in-the-news/hiv-care-transformed-dr-peter’s-legacy (HIV care transformed by Dr. Peter’s legacy)

http://www.vch.ca/403/7676/?program_id=12944 (Vancouver Coastal Health: STOP HIV/AIDS)

http://www.bccdc.ca/default.htm (British Columbia Centre for Disease Control)

http://supervisedinjection.vch.ca (Vancouver Coastal Health: Insite)

http://bccla.org (British Columbia Civil Liberties Association)

http://www.drpeter.org (Dr. Peter Centre)

http://www.cbc.ca/player/Embedded-Only/News/BC/The+Dr.+Peter+Diaries/Waterman/ID/1587093356/?sort=MostPopular (CBC: Dr. Peter Diaries)

The New Year is a funny time, isn’t it? We all feel we should be doing something bright and new, starting a fresh chapter in our lives. And many of us do.

Well, governments are no different. So early last week, the Jamaican Government started the New Year with a bang. The Minister of National Security Peter Bunting announced a “significant” reduction in major crimes in 2012 compared to the previous year (as noted in last week’s blog post – including a four per cent reduction in murders). He praised the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) for this achievement; and the JCF deserves praise, indeed. Half-way through last year, murders were up by seven per cent – so the second half of 2012 saw much improvement. In mid-2011 the JCF noted, however, that major crimes had fallen to an eight-year low. Of course, the police want to tout their successes; it’s morale-building, and even if some Jamaicans are not particularly encouraged by these figures, it shows a slow but steady progress in the right direction. I have added Minister Bunting’s Sunday Gleaner article below (in case you missed it last week) in which he sets out the many challenges. However, as the Gleaner noted last week, a far more drastic reduction will have to take place for Mr. Bunting to achieve his goal of twelve murders per 100,000 by 2016. We are currently at around 40 murders per 100,000 – a good reduction from a few years back, but still pretty much up there in terms of global statistics. Last year, our murder rate was still the third highest in the world. So yes, it’s good – but no room for complacency.

So for three consecutive nights last week, the television stations played excerpts of a speech by Minister Bunting, in which he extolled the virtues of the “crime-fighting“ effort. Rather embarrassingly, the crime rate in the area he represents as Member of Parliament (Central Manchester, including the once-sleepy town of Mandeville) has risen. The new police chief in the area is Derrick Knight. The media insist on including his nickname, “Cowboy,”  in his name, which I find unfortunate. Do we really want to foster a “Wild West” culture in our police force? Let’s drop it.

Then the figures for the number of police killings were released. Unfortunately, this created confusion. I haven’t quite sorted it out in my own head, yet. It appears though that figures released by the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) showing a slight increase in extra-judicial killings were based on records provided by the JCF (who noted a very small decrease in the number). INDECOM is now getting good support from the British Government over the next three years, which is excellent. This agency did not actually come into being until April 2011, so had to depend on the JCF for the figures for a while. But from now on, says INDECOM, they will keep their own records. Suffice it to say: Every year for the past ten years or more, agents of the state have killed at least 200 Jamaican citizens annually. Last year was no exception. March 2012 was the worst month, when the police killed 35. And it’s still much, much too high. (By the way, The worst year this century has been 2007 – an election year – with 272 civilians killed).

In May, 2011, a policeman allegedly shot a man outside the police station in Alexandria, St. Ann. The amateur video went viral on YouTube; this is a screen shot posted on the Gleaner website.

INDECOM is, however, severely limited not only by human and other resources, but also by the fact that it is endlessly waiting for medical and ballistics reports. Huge delays are the order of the day.

And over seventy Jamaicans died in Tivoli Gardens in May, 2010 during the so-called “incursion” by security forces – police and the Jamaica Defence Force. These weren’t included in that year’s figures. This reminds me: What is happening at the Public Defender‘s office? Last I heard, the Speaker of the House of Representatives Michael Peart told everyone the interim report on the Tivoli Gardens massacre (my word for it) would be ready in two weeks. It just needed to be collated and printed (what about email, I wonder?) Those were his words on December 5, 2012. Therefore, if I can count correctly, the report should have been made available on December 19, 2012. Can we have some news, please? Or are we going to wait until the third anniversary?

A wounded man is carried into hospital after violent clashes in Tivoli Gardens, west Kingston in May, 2010. (Photo:Credit: European Pressphoto Agency, via The Guardian)

When we talk about crime, let us not just think of murders; let us think about law and order. This is still a huge issue and it encompasses many different situations that Jamaicans find themselves in, day to day. In her inaugural speech exactly one year ago, Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller said:“On my watch, I pledge that the rule of law will be paramount.” This is something the police have to wrestle with – as well as many Jamaicans, who should know better but can’t somehow resist leaning in the wrong direction. You know what I mean. Let’s do better. Let’s not jump the line. Let’s just be cool.

And talking about crime… I had never heard the expression “praedial larceny“ before I lived in Jamaica. It means theft, in the agricultural context. It is an absolute plague for farmers; it nearly breaks my heart when I see a farmer on television weeping over the loss of his/her goats or other animals – which are sometimes dismembered on the spot by the thieves before they pack the meat into the back of a car. Truly, this does sound like the cattle rustlers of the Wild West. These criminals are depriving people of their entire livelihood (which sometimes only depends on a few animals), leaving them destitute and desperate. Recently, thieves stole 32 heads of cattle from a farm in St. James. And almost every week warnings go out about large vegetable crops that have been stolen when they have just been sprayed with pesticide and are therefore harmful to eat. Now in the Sunday Gleaner, the excellent reporter on rural issues and agriculture, Christopher Serju, says a senior police officer told him that the police do not consider this a serious crime. There are few records kept of this constant thieving, week in, week out. It is a disgrace. What does the Agriculture Minister have to say about it? For years, we have heard about new “plans” to deal with praedial larceny. Much hand-wringing, speechifying and big headlines – something must be done. But guess what? Nothing is done. Read Chris’ article, below. He has seen it for himself, for years.

The police rescued these cows from thieves last year. They were “taken into custody.” (Photo: Gleaner)

Law and order: A policeman tries to prevent people from looting a truck which had crashed. (Photo: Jamaica Observer)

“Politricks” news of the week: The Office of the Contractor General has recommended the entire Cabinet for prosecution – yes, the entire Cabinet. Acting Contractor General Craig Beresford (who took over after the high-profile Greg Christie stepped down) issued a press statement on January 2 saying his office has referred the Cabinet “for its collective failure to comply with several lawful requisitions of a contractor general.” The Cabinet apparently did not submit certain reports on time, says Mr. Beresford, despite reminders. The ever-cool and deliberate Director of Public Prosecutions, Paula Llewellyn, says she will be taking her time over this one. Meanwhile, I get the feeling that over the past year the relationship between Mr. Beresford’s office and the Simpson Miller administration has been far from comfortable. This is despite the fact that, in the last televised leadership debate in December 2011, Ms. Simpson Miller pledged to “strengthen” the Contractor General’s office. Actions by the Government so far seem to indicate the opposite… Or am I missing something?

Craig Beresford, now Acting Contractor General, speaking at a meeting last year. (Photo: Office of the Prime Minister)

News hangover of the week: The issue of the tax amnesty for those who have outstanding traffic tickets has progressed from the ridiculous to the “I just can’t take it any more” stage. It has now emerged that there are major discrepancies in the database. Many Jamaicans who have paid their tickets are coming up as not having paid, for example. As a result, there was growing frustration among Jamaicans, who continued to run up and down from one government office to another in the hot sun, with scraps of paper in their hand. What puzzles me is how so many Jamaicans can receive traffic tickets from the police for various traffic offenses and not pay them? One taxi driver has hundreds outstanding, amounting to millions of dollars in fines! Having said that, I still have a great liking for the no-nonsense head of the Traffic Division, Senior Superintendent Radcliffe Lewis – who has a great turn of phrase, too.  I wish I could give you a couple of his best sound-bytes. Anyway, he has given everyone two more weeks – I think that is until the end of next week. Another panic will then ensue. It really is a lesson in not only incompetence (the database is clearly corrupted, or something) – but more importantly, a lesson in how Jamaicans behave in such situations. Can’t we curb this “last-minute” mentality?

A quiver of doubt about… A comment made by Minister of Education Ronald Thwaites, who seems to have got into a bit of conflict with some sports administrators over an issue involving the transfer of student athletes from one high school to another. It appears that Minister Thwaites does not approve of this. His philosophy is: “You must grow where you are planted” (his words). I don’t know anything about the complexities of school sports, but found this comment rather perturbing. This comes from a man from one of Jamaica’s most privileged families (not just middle class – I would say, upper class) and a Rhodes Scholar. Of course he could happily stay where he was planted but…he must surely understand the value of young people seizing their educational opportunities. Did I read this wrong?

That’s enough of that. I’m handing out more bouquets this week, including some to the media!

The Gleaner newspaper has started a new feature on its website called The Gleaner Minute - a mini-synopsis of the week’s news narrated by Power 106 FM’s Damion Mitchell (one of my favorite radio voices). Take a look at the link below; it’s a nice innovation.

Power 106 FM’s Damion Mitchell. More often seen than heard, but it’s nice when you do see him. (Photo: Ian Allen/Gleaner)

CVM Television’s Andrew Cannon did a very good job with a series aired in place of the excellent “Live at Seven” last week, including thoughtful interviews. The series was called “Schooling for a Nation.”  Balanced and thought-provoking.

And I have to give diGJamaica another plug! At http://www.digjamaica.com you will have all kinds of information on Jamaica at your fingertips. I applaud Ms. Deika Morrison, the brains behind this venture. It’s an invaluable resource for researchers, students, journalists and anyone interested in our fair island. Check it out!

DiGJamaica is a Gleaner project that really fills a great need for reliable and relevant information.

I also have to rather belatedly give two of our leading athletes a pat on the back. Warren Weir (whom few of us had heard of before he won a bronze medal in the 100 meters at the London Olympics) proposed to his sweetheart with a beautiful cake inscribed: “Will You Marry Me?” OK, I get a bit sentimental sometimes; but this was so sweet. Good luck to them both.

Warren Weir’s proposal cake. (Photo: Forever Sweets; Gleaner)

And Mr. Bolt: Big hugs to you for giving back to the small rural community where you grew up. I am sure the men, women and children of Sherwood Content really enjoyed the treat you offered. Keep up the good work, and never forget where you came from, oh Famous One!

Olympic champion Usain Bolt puts a bag on a little girl’s back at the Christmas treat he funded in the village of Sherwood Content, Trelawny, along with a representative of Digicel. (Photo: Kenroy Pringle, Jamaica Observer)

There has been “nuff excitement” in the past week or so. If you think Jamaica has finished its seasonal partying, no – they aren’t done yet. Hundreds of uptown Kingstonians squeezed onto a small scrap of sand known as Maiden Cay, just outside Kingston Harbour, for the annual party. Most preferred to arrive in one of the many yachts lined up near the cay; and many had to stand up to their waists in water due to the lack of dry land. With global warming and sea levels rising faster than expected, who knows? Next year they might be partying up to their necks. But so long as they can hold a bottle or a can of something alcoholic, they probably won’t be bothered. (The Observer website has suddenly got issues, otherwise I would be posting here photos of all the lightly-clad bodies standing up in the water, and the row of gleaming white yachts).

And then, to everyone’s surprise, the erstwhile king of hip-hop (whom I always call Puff Daddy, but I know he isn’t) landed in Kingston on Saturday night with a former world boxing champion Lennox Lewis. He took the Limelight Club in Half Way Tree by storm, where a deejay “clash” was in progress (for those of you who don’t know what a clash is, see a link to my recent article below on Jamaica’s seasonal entertainment scene).

My applause is long overdue, too, for U.S. Ambassador to Jamaica Pamela Bridgewater, who opened her home again to around one hundred children from marginalized communities for a Christmas treat, aided and abetted by U.S. Embassy volunteers and the Ambassador’s lovely staff. She also again visited the Glenhope Place of Safety, which has been really spruced up since the distressing fire of 2011, together with the Embassy’s U.S. Marine representatives, bearing toys for these abandoned and needy children under their annual “Toys for Tots” toy drive.

U.S. Ambassador to Jamaica Pamela Bridgewater greets a child at the Glenhope Place of Safety. (Photo: U.S. Embassy)

U.S. Marines play with the kids at the Glenhope Place of Safety in Kingston. (Photo: U.S. Embassy)

P. Diddy (is that his name now?), right, hangs out with Jamaican deejays Beenie Man (in white hat) and KipRich in Half Way Tree, Kingston on Saturday night. (Photo: Winston Sill/Freelance)

Now (last but by no means least), a highly-anticipated broadcast address to the nation by our Prime Minister was aired last night. You can find the video link and transcript below. The initial reaction was one of disappointment. Members of the public interviewed on Television Jamaica news last night were hoping to hear more about what the government plans to do about crime, the economy, and “The IMF! The IMF!”  They were, perhaps, looking for reassurance, for a clear path to pursue, for a way forward, for action taken or to be taken very soon. Were their expectations unreasonable? Did they want too much? And did this address actually do more harm than good – that is, reinforce a perception among many Jamaicans that the Prime Minister is distant and not addressing the concerns of the man/woman on the street? The verdict is still out.

Finally, and perhaps in the context of the people’s disappointment with the address, my quote of the week from Lord Bishop of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands (and Sunday Observer columnist) Howard Gregory: “The potential for alienation of a people from their own society is indeed great, and is indeed happening.”

These Jamaicans lost their lives at the hands of their fellow-Jamaicans during the week. My deepest condolences to family, friends and loved ones. 

Melvin Chung, 52, East Street, Kingston

Unidentified man, Olympic Way, Kingston

Omar Bennett, 32, Lacovia, St. Elizabeth

Renford Williams, 66, Old Harbour, St. Catherine

Kevar Watson, 25, Bartons, St. Catherine

Dave Rowe, 36, Old Harbour, St. Catherine

Norman Simpson, Old Harbour, St. Catherine

Killed by the police:

Ricardo Allen, Greater Portmore, St. Catherine

Related articles:

http://74.54.30.150/news/leads-128/32668 (National Broadcast by Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller on January 6, 2013: Jamaica Information Service – transcript and video)]

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121230/cleisure/cleisure2.html (Significant progress made in reducing major crimes: op-ed by Peter Bunting, Sunday Gleaner)

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Well-known-Kingston-businessman-gunned-down–robbed_13322410  (Well-known businessman gunned down, robbed: Sunday Observer)

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20130103/cleisure/cleisure1.html (Does Mr. Bunting still hold to his target? Gleaner editorial)

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/editorial/Greater-effort-needed–but-well-done–JCF_13281549 (Greater effort needed, but well done JCF: Observer editorial)

http://rjrnewsonline.com/local/iachr-concerned-about-alarming-level-of-violence (IACHR concerned about “alarming level of violence”: RJR News)

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/-I-want-to-see-Jamaica-nicer-_13318653 ”I want to see Jamaica nicer”: Jamaica Observer

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/latest/article.php?id=42105 (INDECOM blames JCF for faulty figures on police killings: Gleaner)

http://petchary.wordpress.com/2012/12/01/tivoli-gardens-on-may-24-2010-the-people-were-deading/ (Tivoli Gardens: On May 24, 2010 The People were “Deading”)

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121206/lead/lead4.html (Tivoli report in two weeks: Gleaner, December 6, 2012)

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20100808/lead/lead5.html (Trigger-happy cops? More than 2,000 civilians killed in alleged gun battles with the police between 1999 and 2009: Gleaner)

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20130106/cleisure/cleisure2.html (Farm theft low priority for government: Christopher Serju op-ed: Sunday Gleaner)

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20120126/lead/lead9.html (Clarke urges cops to fight praedial larceny: Gleaner, January 26, 2012)

http://rjrnewsonline.com/local/jfj-questions-appointment-of-sadie-keating-to-youth-ministry (JFJ questions appointment of Sadie Keating to Youth Ministry: RJR News)

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/latest/article.php?id=42134 (The Gleaner Minute: video)

http://rjrnewsonline.com/local/tourism-ministry-explores-creation-of-entertainment-zones (Tourism Ministry explores creation of entertainment zones: RJR News)

http://rjrnewsonline.com/local/specific-laws-needed-to-target-discrimination-golding (Specific laws needed to target discrimination – Golding: RJR News)

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20130106/focus/focus3.html (No justice for homosexuals: Rev. Clinton Chisholm column: Sunday Gleaner)

http://rjrnewsonline.com/local/trafficking-in-persons-unit-cites-severe-limitations-in-prosecutions (Local Trafficking in Persons Unit cites severe limitations in prosecutions: RJR News)

http://rjrnewsonline.com/local/shake-up-at-nswma-backlog-to-be-cleared-in-two-weeks (Shake-up at NSWMA, backlog to be cleared in two weeks: RJR News)

http://rjrnewsonline.com/local/jcsa-wants-early-resumption-of-wage-talks (JCSA wants early resumption of wage talks: RJR News)

http://rjrnewsonline.com/local/nwu-president-requests-meeting-with-finance-minister-re-imf (NWU president requests meeting with finance minister re: IMF: RJR News)

http://digjamaica.com/blog/2013/01/06/chart-of-the-week-december-31-2012-january-6-2013/ (Chart of the Week: Up, up and away – Jamaica’s sliding dollar: DiGJamaica.com)

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/latest/article.php?id=42115 (Chavez’ ill health makes Petro-Caribe pact uncertain: Gleaner)

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/Waiting-to-exhale_13314022 (Waiting to exhale: Archbishop Howard Gregory column: Sunday Observer)

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20130106/cleisure/cleisure1.html (Cabinet should stay in retreat until it gets over cowardice: Sunday Gleaner editorial)

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20130106/focus/focus1.html (Corruption watchdog growls at Cabinet: Martin Henry column: Sunday Gleaner)

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/The-more-things–don-t–change—_13314028 (The more things (don’t) change: Claude Robinson column: Sunday Observer)

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/letters/Let-s-end-our-relationship–PNP_13299043 (Let’s end our relationship, PNP: Letter to the Jamaica Observer)

http://www.jis.gov.jm/news/leads/32665 (JEEP School Feeding Program starts this month: Jamaica Information Service)

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20130105/lead/lead4.html (The Next 50 Years: Moving Towards Greater Road Safety)

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/westernnews/Bolt-gives-back_13308257 (Bolt gives back: Observer)

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20130103/news/news2.html (Warren pops the question; Natalya says “yes”: Gleaner)

http://petchary.wordpress.com/2012/12/29/the-in-between-blues-freewheeling-down-to-2013/ (The In-Between Blues: Freewheeling down to 2013: petchary.wordpress.com)

My dear, long-suffering and loyal readers…

The Jamaica Blog Awards are here!  And the competition is hot…

My blog has been nominated in the Jamaica Blog Awards 2012 in four categories!  Thank you so much to all who nominated Petchary’s Blog – I am not sure who all of you are, of course…

I wrote this article on November 29, 2012. It is an entry in UNICEF Jamaica’s #HashCon Blogger Advocacy Challenge. 

PLEASE VOTE for my entry at http://jamaicablogawards.org/jm/everyday-courage-by-petcharys-blog/, This is the same website where you can also vote for my blog in its entirety in four categories: Best Lifestyle Blog, Best News/Current Affairs Blog, Best Jamaica -Focused Blog, and Best Writing in a Blog.

You can vote EVERY DAY. The competition closes on January 14, as do the Blog Awards votes.

I would greatly appreciate your support, You might also enjoy reading a post I wrote just before Christmas about an event where I met up with Keisha again and had the opportunity to hug her and her little girl. Keisha seemed focused, calm and happy. Her daughter was running around and having fun, like little girls do!

Here is the Christmas article: http://petchary.wordpress.com/2012/12/28/love-and-peace/

Thank you, again, for your support – and please stay tuned! Much more to follow!

Last month, around the time of National Heroes Day in Jamaica, I was turning the concept of “heroes” around in my head. I had some conversations with a few young Jamaicans in the social media. Two things occurred to me: firstly, that Jamaica seems to be badly in need of heroes. And secondly, that a hero is not someone who has simply done well in his/her field of influence. Winning elections, or selling millions of records, is praiseworthy; but not heroic.

I also do believe, in an old-fashioned way, that a hero must have the following qualities: strength, resilience, vision, determination, courage, seeking always to do better in his/her life. This spills over into the lives of others. He/she inspires others. And that inspiration may come from someone who, at some point, seemed weak, helpless, a victim of fate. The most unlikely hero or SHEro.

So where do we find our 21st century (s)heroes, here in Jamaica? Why, they are all around us, living among us.

Keisha* never saw herself as a SHEro. She still doesn’t. But I think she is.

Keisha is 24 years old. She has two children, a five-year-old daughter and a son aged two years old. She is HIV-positive. Her children are not.

Keisha loved the father of her youngest child; but he did not disclose his HIV status to her. After she was diagnosed in 2009, she was shocked, depressed, stressed - and very angry. She felt betrayed, and also broken-hearted; she loved her son’s father. The hurt was unbearable. Her hopes of a stable home life and a happy and loving relationship broke into small pieces, like shards of glass. “I neglected myself,” says Keisha. Why should she care? A young woman in her twenties has powerful dreams of the future. But her own future had disappeared – she could not imagine it. Depression, by the way, is twice as common among people living with HIV as it is in the general public.

Keisha stumbled through life.“I was like a walking zombie,” she says. And she told no one about her status. She did not even tell her mother, who could not understand the dramatic change in her daughter. “She wanted to send me to Bellevue,” Keisha says with a wry laugh. (Bellevue is Kingston‘s hospital for the mentally ill).

And still Keisha fought on, alone, without telling anyone her status. Then,the clinic she attended after the birth of her son in 2010 referred her to a Kingston-based non-governmental organisation called Eve for Life.

You will find many smiling faces on the pages of Eve for Life’s website. No sob stories. And this was the point in our story where Keisha’s life began to return to love - that little thing that seemed to have gone from her young life. Talking to Keisha, you are struck by a sense that this was the beginning of her spiritual transformation. It started with the need to disclose her status, and her preparing to do so. This was the first step. “They told us what to say, how to respond,” Keisha tells me. “We used role play for this.” With her mother, the revelation came in stages. “First of all, I told her my boyfriend ‘did something bad,’” she said. Her mother responded, “Did he hit you?” No, she said, but it was something very, very bad. In the end, she told her mother everything. She understood. “She has been very supportive up to this day,” says Keisha.

Keisha is not someone who goes to church every Sunday, but she does go. And she knows the power of forgiveness. She has forgiven her boyfriend. She still loves him, but she has let go. “Life does go on,” she says. Forgiving was a very important part of her healing. And it takes great courage to forgive, to release that bitterness.

And so, Keisha’s positive status has not condemned her to a life of despair; in fact, it has opened up possibilities that she never knew existed. Her diagnosis was “not the end of the world”; far from it. Attending an event at the U.S. Embassy in Kingston was an extraordinary experience for her. And so is her ongoing and growing involvement with Eve for Life. She is now a trainee facilitator and peer educator for newly diagnosed HIV-positive mothers. She is giving of herself to other young Jamaican women who are struggling to overcome her challenges. She is helping to lift them up out of that dark despair she herself once felt.

Keisha sees something now evolving from her weakness: it is strength, it is empowerment. “Everything happens for a reason… Down the line you will see a purpose,” she observes quietly. She now believes that her HIV status has turned her life around in the most unexpected way: “It has given me opportunities…The opportunity to help others.”

Now she is training for a diploma in Practical Nursing at the Garmex HEART Academy. She has two more tests this week. It is a challenge, but she is determined to see it through.  She will graduate in 2014, and she has already obtained high marks in her core subject as well as in Language and Communications. The only tricky one is Mathematics, but she is confident she will pass that too. While she is studying, her mother looks after her children.

Keisha believes – she knows – she will be a better mother. She looks forward to her children growing up. She wants them to be anything they want to be – a doctor, a lawyer. She has hope, she has plans for them. A good education, university. “I will guide them,” she says. She will talk to them in a way that her mother never spoke to her – about relationships, about sex, about love, about life. She will hide nothing from them. She hopes to be a grandmother, one day. She giggles. 

How does Keisha see her own future? “It gets better and better each day,” she says. She and her peer group at Eve for Life have their “ups and downs,” like any family. And they are family to her. They encourage and motivate each other, and help each other solve “everyday life problems.”

Because that is what it is all about. Heroism is not just about the limelight, the dramatic gesture, the applause, the awards. Our Jamaican SHEroes are here, with us. They are HIV positive; they get up and they carry on, every day.

And they are looking to the future, and to creating a stronger, more resilient, AIDS-free generation.

The future looks bright.

* not her real name

This blog post is dedicated to little Hope Divine. She is four years old, she is feisty, she has loving adoptive parents, she is going to school.

Related articles

• One More Thing… Please, if you wish, vote for Petchary in the Jamaica Blog Awards. Thank you!! (petchary.wordpress.com)
• An Exchange of Wisdom, Even (petchary.wordpress.com)
• UNICEF JA launches #HashCon2012: An Advocacy Challenge for Jamaican Bloggers (caribbeanhealth.org)
• Violence Against Women, Part 2: Gently Unplugging the Patriarchy (petchary.wordpress.com)
• First Sunday of 2013: January 6, 2013 (petchary.wordpress.com)
• Top 10 LGBT achievements in 2012 in Jamaica (76crimes.com)

It’s a New Year, but that doesn’t mean we have put aside those difficult issues that we faced in 2012, and then failed to tackle. And this one is certainly unresolved.

Not long before Christmas (on December 10), the human rights lobby group Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ) hosted one of its Public Forums on “Accountability and Governance for Children in the Justice System” at Kingston‘s Knutsford Court Hotel. The United Kingdom’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office funded the event.

The room was full, and the atmosphere was just a little prickly. For indeed, this was an issue that had been burning a hole in the consciences of many Jamaicans, at home and abroad. A group of young activists sitting in the middle of the room was not going to let some statements go unchallenged; there were murmurings and sotto voce comments at times.

And JFJ has been doing some branding, with funding from the Federal Republic of Germany. The new human rights logo is snappy and attractive. I have a little button; there are also other information items that JFJ will distribute during a series of forty community workshops and thirty presentations on human rights to high school students. JFJ also plans to reach six hundred new police recruits annually with its messages. Let’s face it: many Jamaicans still don’t understand the meaning and importance of human rights. Or that human rights are universal. For all. For all Jamaicans, even!

Earlier that day, JFJ had launched a very important campaign, under the theme “Lift Up, Don’t Lock Up Our Children.” In this effort, it is collaborating with eight other civil society advocacy groups to pressure the government to move decisively on the issue of children in State care. Yes, after years of talking about it, we are still locking up children in adult prisons and (worse still) in police lock-ups. And if you have ever seen inside a police lock-up – the conditions are simply horrible, whether you are an adult or a child. Just use your imagination.

Commissioner of Corrections Lt. Col. Sean Prendergast made the first presentation at the forum. He is the man in charge of the prisons. He gave us some cold, hard facts. As of December 10, 2012 there were approximately 4,500 prison inmates. There were 354 juveniles (under the age of eighteen) in custody for various offenses or awaiting trial, 257 of them males. 77 of these juveniles are deemed “uncontrollable.” (Stick a pin for a moment…) In other words, they have not committed any crime.

Commissioner of Corrections Lt. Col. Sean Prendergast (Photo: Jamaica Observer)

Now, I have a problem with that word, personally. What does “uncontrollable” mean? It means (to me) that the child must have serious psychological challenges; he or she is in need of medical care perhaps; counseling certainly. This is just my layperson’s view, you understand. I am not an expert on child psychology. But it seems to me that if a child is behaving in a certain way, they must need help, professional help. It is very likely that the child has experienced some kind of abuse in his/her short life; he/she may have witnessed violence and/or abuse on a regular basis, at home or in the community, bullying at school, and so on.

And what do we do with these “uncontrollable” children? We beat them, tell them they are “bad,” reduce their self-esteem to zero. Then, when we can’t manage them at all any more, we have them locked up. This is what happened to Vanessa Wint, who, it is reported, was molested by a neighbor at age thirteen (he threatened to kill her parents if she told on him) and ran away from home several times. She was held by the police; deemed uncontrollable by a Family Court; ordered to be put in “State care” for three years; locked up at the Armadale Correctional Centre for girls in St. Ann; survived the fire which killed seven girls there; returned to her parents at age sixteen; ran away again; and was remanded at the Fort Augusta maximum security prison for women (adults). She was then transferred to the Horizon Adult Remand Centre in Kingston – again, a maximum security prison for adults. There, on the night of Thursday, November 22, 2012, Vanessa was found in her cell, with a sheet around her neck – an apparent suicide. The autopsy results are not out yet, but Vanessa was finally buried recently. According to her relatives, no government representative attended her funeral.

The burnt-out dormitory after the fire at Armadale Juvenile Correctional Centre for girls in St. Ann in 2009. The girls were “on lock-down” and could not escape. (Photo: Gleaner)

Vanessa Wint died in an adult remand prison at age sixteen, on November 22, 2012.

Lt. Col. Prendergast informed us at the forum that there are six juvenile facilities housing children in Jamaica – plus two adult correctional centers (Fort Augusta and Horizon). Both, he told us, are ‘gazetted’ to hold juveniles (I am not sure what this means). At Horizon, adults and children are completely separated; at Fort Augusta, women and girls do “mix in the corridors.”  He told us candidly, however, that most prisons in Jamaica are “extremely old” and in that sense, they are “not built with human rights in mind.” In other words, most prisons are Dickensian in construction and layout, and, to a large extent, the culture within hasn’t changed much either. Lt. Col. Prendergast said these buildings can’t be retrofitted, and that he wants to lobby for the building of new prisons (but he realizes, as we do, that we are desperately in need of new schools, new hospitals, too). New prisons may not be high on the government’s agenda.

The entrance to Fort Augusta women’s prison near Portmore, St. Catherine, which was built by the British in the 1740s as a sea defense.

In short, the Commissioner appeared well aware of the failings of the system, and was in no way making excuses for it. He recognizes that the children have “psychological issues,” but noted that “we don’t have adequate capacity” to deal with troubled teens in conflict with the law – or those 77 “uncontrollable” incarcerated children, either.

Capacity = resources. Resources = money. It is a familiar story (but odd that we always seem to find the resources for new Toyota Prados, Audis and the like).

Human rights activists Carla Gullotta is Executive Director of a group called Stand Up for Jamaica, which works in the area of prison rehabilitation. She spoke passionately, swiftly and sharply; her presentation was at times spine-chilling.

“I am sick and tired of hearing ‘the children are our future,’”  Ms. Gullotta declared. I am tired of hearing that, too. We pretend to love our children, and smother them with platitudes. But why, then, I ask, do we treat our young people as if they are aliens from Planet Zog?

Ms. Gullotta, who visits prisons on a regular basis with JFJ representatives and others, notes that in fact, conditions at the scary-sounding Fort Augusta prison are better than in some state-run children’s homes. One of these homes, she said, has a “cage” where the most unruly children are kept. The staff are little more than “watchmen and watch women” - not, Ms. Gullotta suggested, caregivers in any sense of the word. The Child Development Agency (CDA), which is responsible for these homes, is a “total failure,” she asserted. Note: At one time, the CDA was under the Ministry of Health; it now falls under the purview of the glamorous Minister of Youth and Culture, Lisa Hanna. Is this the Ministry responsible for adhering to the Child Care and Protection Act of 2004? I am not clear. Which ministry is responsible for what, these days?

Ms. Carla Gullotta of Stand Up for Jamaica.

It is remarkable how many government offices there are that are responsible for children. There is also the Office of the Children’s Advocate, who is Ms. Diahann Gordon Harrison. This office was only established in 2006 and according to its website it is “mandated to enforce and protect the rights and best interest of children.”  (At the moment, however, I can’t get beyond the home page; can you? When I click nothing happens). Ms. Gordon Harrison described, at length and in detail, all the legal work that her office was doing and would like to see done on behalf of Jamaica’s children. There is still the need for legislative change, she is sure. She is of the “firm view” that preliminary enquiries, which slow down the courts considerably and prolong painful cases involving children, should be abolished. I do agree with her. She was glad that legislators passed the Evidence Act (Special Measures) Act last November; this provides for the use of video evidence in court, avoiding the need for children to attend court (I have seen how traumatic this is for myself, as a juror in a child abuse case some years ago). It has not yet come into force as I don’t believe the regulations have been published.

Once again, it soon became apparent that the Office of the Children’s Advocate operates on a shoestring. It has only three attorneys across the island. They cannot be in several places at once. The Office is supposed to watch court proceedings to ensure that the rights of children are protected. It can (and does) institute civil proceedings on behalf of children, and has 24 matters in court now, challenging government entities; and it provides legal representation for children. But they have reached out to the private bar for help. The Children’s Advocate would like to have “children’s attorneys” on call, outside Kingston. It is very hard for them to reach all corners of the island.

Ms. Gordon Harrison has started doing unannounced visits to children’s homes, to see what is going on. She would like to see a cadre of trained inspectors for the homes (shouldn’t this be the CDA’s responsibility? Just asking…) She knows that “institutionalization is not the solution” for children in conflict with the law or with behavioral problems. She believes that a “therapeutic, holistic approach is an urgent priority.” Yes, Ms. Gordon Harrison, we heartily agree. But…

Once again – something which I noted while listening to the Children’s Advocate – I got the distinct impression that there was a severe lack of resources.

No comment needed.

After all this – which left me and others with a feeling of déjà vu and, well, frustration – Ms. Sheila Mitchell, Chief Probation Officer in the County of Santa Clara, California, came to tell us about her program. As one of Silicon Valley’s 100 Women of Influence (yes, Santa Clara is Silicon Valley) and a former high-powered executive with AT&T, she sounded a little daunting at first. But she is anything but. According to a press release when she was appointed in 2004, Ms. Mitchell observes, “My philosophy is that we should treat the children in our custody as though they were our own and provide them with the services and care they deserve.”  In other words, in loco parentis. I will leave you, dear reader, to consider how far Jamaica has moved away from that philosophy (if we ever subscribed to it).

Chief Probation Officer at Santa Clara County Sheila Mitchell. Not as daunting as she sounds, she left a top level job in the private sector to study conflict resolution.

There are 2,500 children in conflict with the law in Santa Clara County. Yes, it’s not all technology riches, it seems. Like everywhere else, it has its social problems and it has its troubled kids. But having said that, Ms. Mitchell notes, “only a handful” of its juvenile offenders are in prisons. 98 per cent are with families – it costs less. We must work with the families, Ms. Mitchell stresses; a great deal of work is done in prevention – and in restorative justice, too – in a “continuum of services.”  But a lot of faith and trust is placed in families, who are as Ms. Mitchell says, “the experts…The family is vital to the treatment process” with young offenders.

Ms. Mitchell showed us photos of the old design of a juvenile facility in Santa Clara, when she first saw it some years ago. There were bleak rows of iron beds; polished linoleum floors; one could almost smell that institutional smell of bleach and stale food. Now, in the same place, there is the Enhanced Ranch Program, which she instituted. Now, before I go further, I should point out that in Jamaica, quite a bit of emphasis is placed on how dangerous many of our juveniles are (as if they don’t have dangerous individuals anywhere else). I just saw the Minister of National Security on television (with the usual smile on his face) talking about this. So, the emphasis is always on security. Lock ‘em up!  Well, Ms. Mitchell’s program also works with dangerous kids, too. These are ”gang-bangers” with a history of violence. 

So what’s the difference? In the Enhanced Ranch Program, Ms. Mitchell makes members of opposing gangs sit together round a table, instead of trying to quell inter-gang conflicts in a prison setting. The inmates (I doubt they use that word) realize they are all, actually, the same kids with the same problems. The barriers fall down. What else happens with these kids? They are treated with respect. Yes, respect (a word so popular in Jamaica and yet so often not practiced). Because of that, they start behaving better. None of the “Shut up, sit down, behave yourself, stop that” etc Victorian-type “discipline.” And how Jamaicans love that word, too!

But these juvenile offenders (not “uncontrollable,” these are children who have all committed actual crimes, many of them serious) don’t have an easy time. They have to take responsibility for their lives. There is structure and order in the program and there are rules of behavior – they have to earn respect as well as give it. The motto is “safety first” – not quite the same as a security clampdown, although of course the place is secure. Their families and their communities also have to shoulder the responsibility of rehabilitation.

Ms. Mitchell asserts that she is not being “soft on crime.” But she has moved from the autocratic, rules-oriented, regimented world of the old juvenile facility. The young people are steered back towards living productive lives. They learn skills – welding, computer skills, engineering – that will help them to obtain jobs when they leave. They earn an income from this – but the money is paid to make restitution for their crimes. And the focus is on changing the mindset of the offenders – not just changing their behavior.

Ms. Mitchell is also a firm believer in staff training. She vets the staff closely herself – administrators must be hands-on, she asserts – and they must believe in the philosophy of the Ranch. There are other similar programs elsewhere – in Missouri, for example, where they have only a 7 per cent recidivism rate now. The Santa Clara facility was modeled on Missouri. There are two members of staff to every twelve youngsters. The once stark environment is more of a “home-like” setting, with armchairs, sofas, modular units.

The results have been remarkable. Violations of probation and re-arrests have dropped dramatically. There have been almost no escapees – they were always trying to get out of the old ranch. And there have been far fewer “incidents” in the facility.

Ms. Mitchell is, clearly, a reform-minded woman, a clear-headed administrator. She emphasizes that such a system is actually more cost-effective in the long term than the former punitive system, which institutionalizes children, “re-traumatizes” them and creates repeat offenders and more anti-social individuals for the future. It makes good sense. Yes, we can say we have no resources, now; but what will the consequences be down the road if we continue with our current mindset? And are there no Jamaicans who think as Ms. Mitchell does – who feel that we cannot destroy our vulnerable youth in the way that we are doing? I know there are. Those Jamaicans need to have the courage of their convictions, and make a change.

Our beautiful Minister responsible for youth, Ms. Lisa Hanna, M.P. Did she issue a statement of condolence or any comment on the death of a teenage girl in the care of the State? Could she show more compassion and caring through her actions?

It’s not always just a question of resources – of the money to buy the sofas, for example. It is about vision, political will. And seriously – is the welfare of children in the care of the state really a priority for this administration (was it for previous administrations)? And can we start thinking about what the consequences of our actions will be in the future, if we continue doing the same thing over and over? Transferring children from one adult penal institution to another, like chattels? Is Jamaica complying with the international conventions that it has signed? Where do we go from here – are we just muddling along, or is there still a possibility for a radical re-think? Why has the Minister of Youth not even responded to a speedy, genuine and thoughtful offer from the Mustard Seed Communities to help care for the girls in State care, after Vanessa’s alleged suicide?

Children are not aliens. They are young human beings. We were all children once. Remember, Minister Hanna?

I leave you, dear readers, with these thoughts and questions. Please, in 2013, let’s do better for our children. Somehow.

P.S. On the Armadale fire, which took place nearly four years ago, the Children’s Advocate has not yet been able to obtain compensation or justice for the families of the seven girls who perished or for those who were injured. Still working on it.

Please take a read of several previous blog posts I have written on this topic in the past year. And please support organizations like Jamaicans for Justice and the youthful Help JA Children, who are trying to make real change in our society.

Jamaica’s Children’s Advocate, Diahann Gordon Harrison.

Lift Up, Don’t Lock Up Our Children!

This is the new universal human rights logo, which is being incorporated into many other logos around the world – including JFJ’s.

Promotional items for JFJ’s Human Rights Awareness Campaign. They can go a long way in getting the message out… (Photo: German Embassy Jamaica)

Related articles:

http://www.jamaicansforjustice.org/nmcms.php?snippets=news&p=news_details&id=3856 (JFJ Press Release: Honorable Ministers Hanna and Bunting, who is responsible for the death of a child at Horizon Adult Remand Centre?

https://www.facebook.com/helpJAchildren (Help JA Children Facebook page)

http://www.televisionjamaica.com/Programmes/PrimeTimeNews.aspx/Videos/22775 (TVJ report on launch of “Lift Up Don’t Lock Up” advocacy campaign, December 10, 2012)

http://rjrnewsonline.com/local/jfj-to-pursue-legal-action-against-the-government (JFJ to pursue legal action against the government: RJR)

https://www.facebook.com/notes/help-ja-children/vanessa-wint-needs-our-help/388636417883750 (Vanessa Wint needs our help: Help JA Children/Facebook Note)

http://jamaica-star.com/thestar/20110713/news/news2.html (Mother says raped child suffering in lock-up: Jamaica Star, July 13, 2011)

http://www.moj.gov.jm/node/731 (Ministry of Justice: Child Care and Protection Act, 2004 – download)

http://www.ocajamaica.gov.jm (Office of the Chldren’s Advocate website)

http://www.unicef.org/jamaica/promoting_child_rights_2990.htm (Jamaica gets first Children’s Advocate: UNICEF Jamaica)

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20100224/lead/lead91.html (Assessing Armadale: Gleaner, February 24, 2010)

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/-We-are-still-waiting-_13346061 (“We are still waiting”: Observer)

http://www.unicef.org/jamaica/children.html (UNICEF Jamaica: The Children – Overview)

http://www.library.ca.gov/crb/09/SantaClara.pdf (Evaluation of the Enhanced Ranch Program, Santa Clara County)

http://www.sccgov.org/sites/opa/nr/Pages/County-of-Santa-Clara-Strategic-Investment-in-Innovative-Juvenile-Support-Paying-Off.aspx (County of Santa Clara Strategic Investment in Innovative Juvenile Support Paying Off:

http://www.kingston.diplo.de/Vertretung/kingston/en/06/Embassy_20Events/HR-Signing_20Ceremony.html (Human Rights Awareness Campaign: Germany Embassy Jamaica)

http://www.humanrightslogo.net (The Universal Logo for Human Rights: How can you use it in your country or for your organization?)