I didn’t paint my toes and I didn’t groom my hair
I had been sick and under repair
I didn’t mean for them to stare
I just wanted to remain bare
To see if he would still care
Needless to say he failed
But to his own avail;
He says he still loves me
But he left out
“only when you are pre-tty”
Now that I am healed, my emotions are cold
And they refuse to respond to his breathless hold.
He cannot understand what he has done to me
To have ignited such repeal.
Because all I’ve been is polite
For in me there is no spite
And in my body there is no fight
I was not screening him, I’m sure
But he has failed his own tests galore
Now we should go our separate ways
But instead we latch on to these our ending days
Is there hope for us I ask?
As I gently put on back my mask
I get stronger every day
And rebuild my walls from their de-kay.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Rock Music Coming Out of Jamaica?
Last Thursday, February 16, 2012, the Institute of Caribbean Studies and Reggae Studies unit at the University of the West Indies, Mona hosted the 15th Annual Bob Marley Lecture. Over the last four years that I have been attending this particular lecture, the various presenters have sought to look at issues emanating from Bob’s life such as: the politics involved in the relationship of the Wailers; Africa; Rastafari and Dancehall. But this year, Professor Mike Alleyne, a UWI PhD in Literatures of English Graduate, colourfully and excitedly exposed a rather captivated audience to “For the Record: Bob Marley’s Island Albums and the 40th Anniversary of Catch A Fire”
The presentation was filled with some lively and vivid slides of album covers and a sharp demonstration in sounds of the different kinds of mixing of Marley’s music over the years. This year, the lecture was actually about Marley’s music, how it was made, mixed and marketed.
The term ‘Island Albums’ refer to those Albums which were executively produced and marketed by Chris Blackwell’s Island Records. Alleyne in his presentation looked at the first such album, Catch a Fire, now in its fortieth year, in relation to all the other Island Albums which came after and compared their successes. Of course he spent quite a bit of time on Catch A Fire showing his audience how the mixing, the album cover and the sequencing of the songs contributed to its success on the overseas market.
It was rather surprising to hear that it was marketed as ‘rock reggae’ over and against ‘raw reggae’ to the international community as Blackwell believed that at that time in 1972 rock music was what appealed to patrons. And so, Catch A Fire was popular and successful beyond Jamaica because of its foreign rock infusions in the mixing of the songs. To demonstrate his point, Alleyne played a piece of the local version of Stir It Up and also the rock version which was marketed abroad. This, much to his audience pleasure and delight. Indeed the sounds are different, but the question is which sound is better and is there an ‘authentic’ sound for reggae music? In order to make the discussion a little more complicated, Alleyne showed Marley in an interview who when asked about the mixing answered “…plenty music get lost in mixing”.
In the cross cultural synthesis of Catch A Fire, even the album cover was rock focused. Alleyne believes that “the cover represents the epitome of album packaging”. And it was not until later on that the cover with Marley smoking the ganja spliff came out. The other Island albums, Survival, Kaya, Rastaman Vibration, Uprising and even Exedous were not as popular as Catch a Fire which was a work of artistic contradictions.
This year’s Bob Marley lecture is the best I have attended so far and undoubtedly, this was due to the high quality of the presentation. The venue, the Neville Hall Lecture Theatre added some amount of essence to the affair over and against the laid back, free flow attitude that one usually gets when events of such cultural importance are held at the Undercroft.
The presentation was filled with some lively and vivid slides of album covers and a sharp demonstration in sounds of the different kinds of mixing of Marley’s music over the years. This year, the lecture was actually about Marley’s music, how it was made, mixed and marketed.
The term ‘Island Albums’ refer to those Albums which were executively produced and marketed by Chris Blackwell’s Island Records. Alleyne in his presentation looked at the first such album, Catch a Fire, now in its fortieth year, in relation to all the other Island Albums which came after and compared their successes. Of course he spent quite a bit of time on Catch A Fire showing his audience how the mixing, the album cover and the sequencing of the songs contributed to its success on the overseas market.
It was rather surprising to hear that it was marketed as ‘rock reggae’ over and against ‘raw reggae’ to the international community as Blackwell believed that at that time in 1972 rock music was what appealed to patrons. And so, Catch A Fire was popular and successful beyond Jamaica because of its foreign rock infusions in the mixing of the songs. To demonstrate his point, Alleyne played a piece of the local version of Stir It Up and also the rock version which was marketed abroad. This, much to his audience pleasure and delight. Indeed the sounds are different, but the question is which sound is better and is there an ‘authentic’ sound for reggae music? In order to make the discussion a little more complicated, Alleyne showed Marley in an interview who when asked about the mixing answered “…plenty music get lost in mixing”.
In the cross cultural synthesis of Catch A Fire, even the album cover was rock focused. Alleyne believes that “the cover represents the epitome of album packaging”. And it was not until later on that the cover with Marley smoking the ganja spliff came out. The other Island albums, Survival, Kaya, Rastaman Vibration, Uprising and even Exedous were not as popular as Catch a Fire which was a work of artistic contradictions.
This year’s Bob Marley lecture is the best I have attended so far and undoubtedly, this was due to the high quality of the presentation. The venue, the Neville Hall Lecture Theatre added some amount of essence to the affair over and against the laid back, free flow attitude that one usually gets when events of such cultural importance are held at the Undercroft.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Natural Disasters: Let us be mindful
On January 12, 2011, the world and Haiti remembered the great devastation which Haiti experienced in the form of an earthquake one year ago. To date, the country, with all the 'promised' international aid and assistance has made very little progress in rebuilding as 800,000 people are still living in tents and make shift dwellings. The makeshift homes are made up of tarpaulin and pieces of cardboard boxes while the lesser quality ones are made up of sheets or other sown together pieces of cloth.
As if the earthquake was not overwhelming enough, later in the year (2010) Haiti was hit with a cholera epidemic where so far about 2,500 people have died. With all the attention that that country has been getting, no semblance of order has been able to take form there so as to benefit the Haitian people in any meaningful way. The general consensus is that the country's political leadership lacks the capacity and is not up to the task to make any real impact in rebuilding the country.
Haiti has not been the only country struck by disaster. Sri Lanka is now feeling the effects of a massive flood in which more than 360,000 of its people have been displaced. Twenty Seven persons died as a result and 12 are missing and fear dead.
Brisbane, Australia's third largest city has also experienced weeks of rain and flooding where more than half of its buildings, both residential and commercial, have been completely covered by flood waters. So far, at least 22 persons have died and 50 are missing. Many residents have had to vacate their homes forcing them to stay with family and friends as 40,000 homes have been affected.
Brazil too has suffered devastation from a massive mud slide. Urban planners have said that the devastation was able to escalate due to the illegal buildings which exist mainly in what we would call "the inner-cities" in the north of Rio de Janeiro. And they too struggle to restore order to their country in which 500 persons have died as a result and vehicles cannot drive because of blocked roads.
With everything that is happening around the world, I cannot help but wonder if our (Jamaica's) time will come. Of course, there might be some scientific explanations and no doubt numerous speculations as to why so many natural disasters are taking place but whatever the reason, we need to be mindful of what is going on around us and help in any way we can.
As if the earthquake was not overwhelming enough, later in the year (2010) Haiti was hit with a cholera epidemic where so far about 2,500 people have died. With all the attention that that country has been getting, no semblance of order has been able to take form there so as to benefit the Haitian people in any meaningful way. The general consensus is that the country's political leadership lacks the capacity and is not up to the task to make any real impact in rebuilding the country.
Haiti has not been the only country struck by disaster. Sri Lanka is now feeling the effects of a massive flood in which more than 360,000 of its people have been displaced. Twenty Seven persons died as a result and 12 are missing and fear dead.
Brisbane, Australia's third largest city has also experienced weeks of rain and flooding where more than half of its buildings, both residential and commercial, have been completely covered by flood waters. So far, at least 22 persons have died and 50 are missing. Many residents have had to vacate their homes forcing them to stay with family and friends as 40,000 homes have been affected.
Brazil too has suffered devastation from a massive mud slide. Urban planners have said that the devastation was able to escalate due to the illegal buildings which exist mainly in what we would call "the inner-cities" in the north of Rio de Janeiro. And they too struggle to restore order to their country in which 500 persons have died as a result and vehicles cannot drive because of blocked roads.
With everything that is happening around the world, I cannot help but wonder if our (Jamaica's) time will come. Of course, there might be some scientific explanations and no doubt numerous speculations as to why so many natural disasters are taking place but whatever the reason, we need to be mindful of what is going on around us and help in any way we can.
Friday, October 15, 2010
The 33 - The Chilean Miners' Rescue
I believe that the story of the rescue of the 33 Chilean miners who spent sixty nine days underground could be named the story of the year. It is indeed a story of human resilience and perseverance, solidarity, hope kept alive and of a people determined to work together to keep 33 of their people alive, safe and well.
On August 5 this year 33 miners from Chile were trapped underground when a tunnel collapsed while working at the San Jose Mine located about 700 km north of Santiago. Mining is one of the main earners of foreign exchange for Chile and provides 40 percent of income for Chileans. So on August 5, while they were doing what Miners do, there was an explosion, the mine caved in and sent them underground. For the first 17 days no one knew if they were alive or dead. Families waited in hope and with faith never ceasing to pray. Then after much drilling and searching, a face surfaced on one of the devices and a note was sent subsequently telling the world that all 33 of them were alive and ok. A note the President, Sebastian Pinera kept with him for the entire time the miners were trapped underground. Hope soared and families waited with great anticipation while the government worked on a plan to get them out alive.
The rescue effort in and of itself was remarkably coordinated. Headed by the Minister of Mining, it involved hundred of rescue workers, some who are experienced miners, engineers and basically a wide variety of technical expertise. The NASA team from the United States played a significant role giving advice and sharing technical equipment all of which contributed to a mastermind of turning what could have been a disaster into probably the most remarkable, joyful, touching story of the year.
Now that the 33 are out, everything is not smooth sailing. Thankfully, except for two of the men, all of them are in very good health and at the time of writing most of them have been sent home. But the not so nice issues surround some of the men, their wives and their mistresses. It has come to light that about 5 of the men have more than one family. Some of the sweethearts (or second families) claim not to have known about the legitimate families and of course the wives did not know about the sweethearts. An expert consultant in relationship (man-woman) matters could tell from the first "hugs" out of the hole which of those wives had found out that their husbands have been having affairs. Then there is the matter of the pact that the men made while underground that they would evenly divide proceeds gained from any interviews done by anyone or a sub-group of them. Will this hold? or will some dipping into the cookie jar occur?
Another issue that needs to be carefully looked at and monitored is the psychological state of both the miners and their loved ones. The mothers, the sisters, wives and children who do not wish for their men to go back and work in the mines. No one can imagine what they went through, especially in the first 17 days when no one knew if they were alive, nor did the miners know that Chile had not given up on the possibility that they might be alive. The special bond and comradeship that was formed by the men while underground is what is going to keep them healthy. In other words, they have to keep the group active and alive and in doing so they have to help each other and their families as well. In maintaining the bonds formed, this will lessen the psychological deterrents that may arise as a result of the ordeal itself. Hopefully they will keep the pact so every can benefit.
The story is still unfolding, the President has closed the Mine saying no mining will be done there again. He has promised to improve the working and safety conditions of Miners in Chile through renewed and revived legislation. The younger members of the 33 can go back to school if they so desire. The men themselves have given thanks to God over and over and so has the President. The ordeal has united the country and has given its people a renewed hope and sense of pride.
On August 5 this year 33 miners from Chile were trapped underground when a tunnel collapsed while working at the San Jose Mine located about 700 km north of Santiago. Mining is one of the main earners of foreign exchange for Chile and provides 40 percent of income for Chileans. So on August 5, while they were doing what Miners do, there was an explosion, the mine caved in and sent them underground. For the first 17 days no one knew if they were alive or dead. Families waited in hope and with faith never ceasing to pray. Then after much drilling and searching, a face surfaced on one of the devices and a note was sent subsequently telling the world that all 33 of them were alive and ok. A note the President, Sebastian Pinera kept with him for the entire time the miners were trapped underground. Hope soared and families waited with great anticipation while the government worked on a plan to get them out alive.
The rescue effort in and of itself was remarkably coordinated. Headed by the Minister of Mining, it involved hundred of rescue workers, some who are experienced miners, engineers and basically a wide variety of technical expertise. The NASA team from the United States played a significant role giving advice and sharing technical equipment all of which contributed to a mastermind of turning what could have been a disaster into probably the most remarkable, joyful, touching story of the year.
Now that the 33 are out, everything is not smooth sailing. Thankfully, except for two of the men, all of them are in very good health and at the time of writing most of them have been sent home. But the not so nice issues surround some of the men, their wives and their mistresses. It has come to light that about 5 of the men have more than one family. Some of the sweethearts (or second families) claim not to have known about the legitimate families and of course the wives did not know about the sweethearts. An expert consultant in relationship (man-woman) matters could tell from the first "hugs" out of the hole which of those wives had found out that their husbands have been having affairs. Then there is the matter of the pact that the men made while underground that they would evenly divide proceeds gained from any interviews done by anyone or a sub-group of them. Will this hold? or will some dipping into the cookie jar occur?
Another issue that needs to be carefully looked at and monitored is the psychological state of both the miners and their loved ones. The mothers, the sisters, wives and children who do not wish for their men to go back and work in the mines. No one can imagine what they went through, especially in the first 17 days when no one knew if they were alive, nor did the miners know that Chile had not given up on the possibility that they might be alive. The special bond and comradeship that was formed by the men while underground is what is going to keep them healthy. In other words, they have to keep the group active and alive and in doing so they have to help each other and their families as well. In maintaining the bonds formed, this will lessen the psychological deterrents that may arise as a result of the ordeal itself. Hopefully they will keep the pact so every can benefit.
The story is still unfolding, the President has closed the Mine saying no mining will be done there again. He has promised to improve the working and safety conditions of Miners in Chile through renewed and revived legislation. The younger members of the 33 can go back to school if they so desire. The men themselves have given thanks to God over and over and so has the President. The ordeal has united the country and has given its people a renewed hope and sense of pride.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Rastafari
Recently, August 17 -21, 2010, the University of the West Indies hosted the Inaugural Rastafari Studies Conference under the theme "Negotiating the African Presence: Rastafari Livity and Scholarship". The Conference highlighted the 50th anniversary of the publication of the Report on the Rastafari movement in Kingston, Jamaica which was written by M.G. Smith (now deceased), Rex Nettleford (also deceased) and Roy Augier.
I have been interested in Rastafari from a very young age and Rastafari, to my mind, is a very controversial religion in and of itself. From my brief reading of the Report many many years ago, it states that the Rastafari Brethren are a very heterogeneous group and hold only two beliefs in common: 1) Rastafari (ie. Haile Selassie) is the living God, and 2) Salvation can come to black men only through repatriation to Africa. The Report states that "...on all other matters the opinions of the brethren vary as widely as the opinions of the rest of the population". The Report goes on to tell us that some Rastafarians wear beards while others do not; and only a small minority of them wear the locks. Some are men of highest moral fibre, while at the other extreme some are men of crime and violence. Some smoke ganja while others abhor it. Some are excellent workmen, while others are lazy and avoid work at all cost.
The Report, written fifty years ago also pointed out that Rastafari is very disorganised and lacking in leadership. There is no leader or group of leaders who can speak for the movement as a whole or define its doctrines. This is still the case today. At the Opening Ceremony of the Conference on Tuesday August 17, 2010, there was a variety of Rastafarians present. Quite of few of them were given the opportunity to bring greetings. This was a very entertaining aspect of the programme as some purported for repatriation while others pushed for reparation. Some said "peace and love" while others from the audience shouted "peace and love can't buy food". Some hailed Haile Selassie I as god, yet others hailed Je-sus and yet still others hailed Marcus Mosiah Garvey as the "Black Je-sus" and prophet.
According to Noel Leo Erskine in his book "From Garvey to Marley", the twin concepts of Haile Selasie as god and the redemption of black people have distinguished Rastafari from other Afro-Caribbean movements that have sought to promote an awareness of black consciousness in the Caribbean. For the Rasta man or woman, the ultimate evil is 'Babylon' and here 'Babylon' represents the oppressor or all oppressive sources which could range from racism, lack of employment, injustice, the police's response to their smoking of the herb otherwise known as ganja.
In going back to the study however, it was because the Rastas in Jamaica were so misunderstood (I think this is still true today) and so mistreated that they asked for a study to be done to show the Jamaican government that they were not a set of disruptive 'raggamuffins'. "The study not only revealed the socio-economic conditions of the movement to the general public, but also, for the first time, articulated the history and doctrine of the movement. The Report found that the vast majority of Rastafari brethren are peaceful citizens who do not believe in violence" (Erskine quoting Bennett and Sherlock).
Professor Rex Nettleford gave an excellent overview of the position of the Rastafari movement in society in his book Mirror Mirror when he pointed out that there were vast cleavages in the Jamaican society, many of which were caused by the colonial education system. He explained that the system trained the middle class who had matriculated through the secondary school system, to view Jamaica through Eurpoean eyes. This placed the middle class on a collision course with Rastafari who viewed life through Afrocentric lenses. It was the University Report which helped middle class Jamaica to see that Rastas were not as unpatriotic as they had originally thought. The desire of the Rastas to repatriate to Ethiopia was presented as not un-Jamaican but rather was more likened to the migration of middle class Jamaicans in search of their destinies. I should say here that after the report was written a number of middle class Jamaicans became Rastas themselves.
The controversies of Rastafari are still evident today or even more so. For in Rastafari there are so many different sects and sub-sects representing varying views. This disparity causes the the movement to be viewed as ludicrous or even senseless and a lot of the middle class who had become a part of the movement in the 60s and 70s have now pulled away saying that the movement served its purpose then but many of them still hold on to the ideologies concerning the advancement for the blackman.
I have been interested in Rastafari from a very young age and Rastafari, to my mind, is a very controversial religion in and of itself. From my brief reading of the Report many many years ago, it states that the Rastafari Brethren are a very heterogeneous group and hold only two beliefs in common: 1) Rastafari (ie. Haile Selassie) is the living God, and 2) Salvation can come to black men only through repatriation to Africa. The Report states that "...on all other matters the opinions of the brethren vary as widely as the opinions of the rest of the population". The Report goes on to tell us that some Rastafarians wear beards while others do not; and only a small minority of them wear the locks. Some are men of highest moral fibre, while at the other extreme some are men of crime and violence. Some smoke ganja while others abhor it. Some are excellent workmen, while others are lazy and avoid work at all cost.
The Report, written fifty years ago also pointed out that Rastafari is very disorganised and lacking in leadership. There is no leader or group of leaders who can speak for the movement as a whole or define its doctrines. This is still the case today. At the Opening Ceremony of the Conference on Tuesday August 17, 2010, there was a variety of Rastafarians present. Quite of few of them were given the opportunity to bring greetings. This was a very entertaining aspect of the programme as some purported for repatriation while others pushed for reparation. Some said "peace and love" while others from the audience shouted "peace and love can't buy food". Some hailed Haile Selassie I as god, yet others hailed Je-sus and yet still others hailed Marcus Mosiah Garvey as the "Black Je-sus" and prophet.
According to Noel Leo Erskine in his book "From Garvey to Marley", the twin concepts of Haile Selasie as god and the redemption of black people have distinguished Rastafari from other Afro-Caribbean movements that have sought to promote an awareness of black consciousness in the Caribbean. For the Rasta man or woman, the ultimate evil is 'Babylon' and here 'Babylon' represents the oppressor or all oppressive sources which could range from racism, lack of employment, injustice, the police's response to their smoking of the herb otherwise known as ganja.
In going back to the study however, it was because the Rastas in Jamaica were so misunderstood (I think this is still true today) and so mistreated that they asked for a study to be done to show the Jamaican government that they were not a set of disruptive 'raggamuffins'. "The study not only revealed the socio-economic conditions of the movement to the general public, but also, for the first time, articulated the history and doctrine of the movement. The Report found that the vast majority of Rastafari brethren are peaceful citizens who do not believe in violence" (Erskine quoting Bennett and Sherlock).
Professor Rex Nettleford gave an excellent overview of the position of the Rastafari movement in society in his book Mirror Mirror when he pointed out that there were vast cleavages in the Jamaican society, many of which were caused by the colonial education system. He explained that the system trained the middle class who had matriculated through the secondary school system, to view Jamaica through Eurpoean eyes. This placed the middle class on a collision course with Rastafari who viewed life through Afrocentric lenses. It was the University Report which helped middle class Jamaica to see that Rastas were not as unpatriotic as they had originally thought. The desire of the Rastas to repatriate to Ethiopia was presented as not un-Jamaican but rather was more likened to the migration of middle class Jamaicans in search of their destinies. I should say here that after the report was written a number of middle class Jamaicans became Rastas themselves.
The controversies of Rastafari are still evident today or even more so. For in Rastafari there are so many different sects and sub-sects representing varying views. This disparity causes the the movement to be viewed as ludicrous or even senseless and a lot of the middle class who had become a part of the movement in the 60s and 70s have now pulled away saying that the movement served its purpose then but many of them still hold on to the ideologies concerning the advancement for the blackman.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
The Catholic Church and Jamaica
Since I last wrote in this blog a lot has happened. Needless to say about about 76 persons died in what has become known as "The Tivoli Offensive" and Michael Christopher Coke the man who the extradition request was out for was finally captured on Tuesday June 22, 2010 and was sent to New York on Thursday June 24, 2010, the same day he waved his right to an extradition hearing here in Jamaica. So what could have happened in two days, had the government dealt with the matter confidentially and in the best interest of the country and not politically, took us ten months to complete. So as a country we have lost ten months over what? Because of what? Over selfishness, because of political ambitions and fear. I get to understand that if as a country we go ahead with a commission of enquiry to assess everything that has happened and why they happened, along with if Mr Coke opens up just a little bit, there are going to be some big troubling politically exciting times for Jamaica land we love.
Also too, the Roman Catholics are at it again. Almost daily a new or should I say an old sex scandal is revealed. There is a saying "whatever is done in darkness must come to light". Maybe the Roman Catholic priests have never heard it but I doubt that. There are a lot of theories, especially psychological, that are being circulated as to why priests commit these sexual sins. The most popular of which is that the vow of celibacy stifles or should I say go against a man's natural make up. We are sexual beings. As adults we should be having sex. How can someone live without sex for all their lives? That is why for priests that sexual energy is usually dispensed with in an inappropriate channel or usually leads to perversion. A channel that has harmed many many young boys over the years.
Just this week, the Roman Catholic Church in Belgium was invaded in an abuse enquiry. And in May a Nun was excommunicated for allowing an abortion, a decision that was made to save the life of a 27 year old woman who was 11 weeks pregnant with her fifth child and who would have died, along with her child. The doctors had told her that if she continued with the pregnancy that there was a 100 percent chance that she would die. Now this happened at St Joseph's Hospital and Medical Centre in Phoenix and this Nun, Sister Margaret McBride who was an administrator at the hospital as well as liaison officer to the diocese, gave her approval to proceed with the abortion under what I get to understand (from an article by Barbara Bradley Hagerty) is called "Directive 47". These are ethical guidelines which allow for procedures that could kill the fetus to save the mother. And so, when the Bishop heard about Sister Margaret's decision he automatically excommunicated her. Excommunication is the worst penalty anyone could receive in the Catholic Church.
Now then, after all these priests molested all these little boys, over all these years, non of them were excommunicated. Take Father Marcial Maciel for example; a great achiever in the Catholic church in Mexico and a close associate of Pope John Paul II; had at least two common law wives and a string of kids from a number of women; stole academic work from someone else, translated it, renamed it and called it his own and sexually abused most of his students and seminarians. He even sexually molested his own children (for more on this please see Alma Guillermoprieto's nyrblog 2010/may/17 enitled Father Maciel, John Paul II, and the Vatican Sex Crisis). But Maciel was never excommunicated. He died a priest.
In concluding I ask the following questions: does this highlight the inequality and double standard which exist in the Catholic church?; Is the Jamaican government mirroring the negative aspects of the Catholic Church with its double standard, where the constitutional rights of some citizens are more important than others? Mr Coke in a statement thanked the security forces for not treating him badly. But isn't this the basic standard by which all peoples are to be treated? Or are some alleged wrong doers more special than others?
Also too, the Roman Catholics are at it again. Almost daily a new or should I say an old sex scandal is revealed. There is a saying "whatever is done in darkness must come to light". Maybe the Roman Catholic priests have never heard it but I doubt that. There are a lot of theories, especially psychological, that are being circulated as to why priests commit these sexual sins. The most popular of which is that the vow of celibacy stifles or should I say go against a man's natural make up. We are sexual beings. As adults we should be having sex. How can someone live without sex for all their lives? That is why for priests that sexual energy is usually dispensed with in an inappropriate channel or usually leads to perversion. A channel that has harmed many many young boys over the years.
Just this week, the Roman Catholic Church in Belgium was invaded in an abuse enquiry. And in May a Nun was excommunicated for allowing an abortion, a decision that was made to save the life of a 27 year old woman who was 11 weeks pregnant with her fifth child and who would have died, along with her child. The doctors had told her that if she continued with the pregnancy that there was a 100 percent chance that she would die. Now this happened at St Joseph's Hospital and Medical Centre in Phoenix and this Nun, Sister Margaret McBride who was an administrator at the hospital as well as liaison officer to the diocese, gave her approval to proceed with the abortion under what I get to understand (from an article by Barbara Bradley Hagerty) is called "Directive 47". These are ethical guidelines which allow for procedures that could kill the fetus to save the mother. And so, when the Bishop heard about Sister Margaret's decision he automatically excommunicated her. Excommunication is the worst penalty anyone could receive in the Catholic Church.
Now then, after all these priests molested all these little boys, over all these years, non of them were excommunicated. Take Father Marcial Maciel for example; a great achiever in the Catholic church in Mexico and a close associate of Pope John Paul II; had at least two common law wives and a string of kids from a number of women; stole academic work from someone else, translated it, renamed it and called it his own and sexually abused most of his students and seminarians. He even sexually molested his own children (for more on this please see Alma Guillermoprieto's nyrblog 2010/may/17 enitled Father Maciel, John Paul II, and the Vatican Sex Crisis). But Maciel was never excommunicated. He died a priest.
In concluding I ask the following questions: does this highlight the inequality and double standard which exist in the Catholic church?; Is the Jamaican government mirroring the negative aspects of the Catholic Church with its double standard, where the constitutional rights of some citizens are more important than others? Mr Coke in a statement thanked the security forces for not treating him badly. But isn't this the basic standard by which all peoples are to be treated? Or are some alleged wrong doers more special than others?
Monday, May 24, 2010
Jamaica Under Siege - A personal reflection
It's been a long time since I wrote anything on my blog. I guess I was having a 'writer's block'. You might ask how could I have had a writer's block when there is so much happening right here in my country Jamaica land we love. I had decided that I would not touch any of the social, national and political issues concerning Jamaica in my blog. But after today I felt that I could no longer remain silent.
My heart is full. My heart is broken for my country Jamaica land we love. At first I told myself that I did not care, that I would not allow myself to be affected. With all the calls for the Prime Minister's resignation over his handling of the Manatt Phelps Phillips and the extradition affairs I did not allow myself to care. Many of my friends who know that I have strong political views have called me to get my opinion on the saga as it unfolded, but they were disappointed with my response as all I had to say to them was "I have nothing to say". I did not care to tell them that I think the Attorney General and the Solicitor-General should resign for the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing. That is unless someone is lying. I did not want to tell them (for I believe they already knew) that it is a reason why the opposition was in power for eighteen years. Neither did I want to comment on the convenient attempt to all of a sudden separate the ruling political party politics/doings from government business.
It was not only my mouth that was zipped but my sensitivities to political and national issues had died. My friends know why my response was like that. They know that I was a casualty. I just didn't have anything to say about national politics anymore. The country could rot for all I care.
But last week when the examinations council had to re-schedule venues for students to sit their exams, I started to feel as if the walls that I had built up to protect my sensitivities were being torn down and I could do nothing to stop it. I started to feel ANGRY. Angry that our children were the ones to suffer for the mess that the government had created. Now tomorrow, May 25 2010, some schools will remain close and there will be more bundling in the re-scheduled exam centres where students have to write exams while hearing the echoes of thousands of shots being fired.
Now I know what it feels like to be living in a country where there is war. I always thanked God that I was not born in one of the middle eastern countries but now I find myself living and existing in a literal war zone of Kingston, Jamaica land we love. The Prime Minister has called a limited state of emergency but twenty four hours later he has not yet specified what those 'limitations' are. So far I am hearing from the news that seven members of the security forces have been injured (one fatally), five civilians and nine gun men are dead (these are unconfirmed reports), flights have been cancelled in and out of the country, our tourism product is negatively affected, and the war continues...
I am at home, my heart is breaking, my heart is bleeding. I am waiting until 8:00 pm when I will receive an advisory on where the hot spots in the war zone will be tomorrow and if we will have to remain marooned in our house for one more day. I hope I will be alive to write another entry in a few days time.
(For a balanced background to the issues mentioned in my above entry, please see the Jamaica Observer's article in the panel across)
My heart is full. My heart is broken for my country Jamaica land we love. At first I told myself that I did not care, that I would not allow myself to be affected. With all the calls for the Prime Minister's resignation over his handling of the Manatt Phelps Phillips and the extradition affairs I did not allow myself to care. Many of my friends who know that I have strong political views have called me to get my opinion on the saga as it unfolded, but they were disappointed with my response as all I had to say to them was "I have nothing to say". I did not care to tell them that I think the Attorney General and the Solicitor-General should resign for the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing. That is unless someone is lying. I did not want to tell them (for I believe they already knew) that it is a reason why the opposition was in power for eighteen years. Neither did I want to comment on the convenient attempt to all of a sudden separate the ruling political party politics/doings from government business.
It was not only my mouth that was zipped but my sensitivities to political and national issues had died. My friends know why my response was like that. They know that I was a casualty. I just didn't have anything to say about national politics anymore. The country could rot for all I care.
But last week when the examinations council had to re-schedule venues for students to sit their exams, I started to feel as if the walls that I had built up to protect my sensitivities were being torn down and I could do nothing to stop it. I started to feel ANGRY. Angry that our children were the ones to suffer for the mess that the government had created. Now tomorrow, May 25 2010, some schools will remain close and there will be more bundling in the re-scheduled exam centres where students have to write exams while hearing the echoes of thousands of shots being fired.
Now I know what it feels like to be living in a country where there is war. I always thanked God that I was not born in one of the middle eastern countries but now I find myself living and existing in a literal war zone of Kingston, Jamaica land we love. The Prime Minister has called a limited state of emergency but twenty four hours later he has not yet specified what those 'limitations' are. So far I am hearing from the news that seven members of the security forces have been injured (one fatally), five civilians and nine gun men are dead (these are unconfirmed reports), flights have been cancelled in and out of the country, our tourism product is negatively affected, and the war continues...
I am at home, my heart is breaking, my heart is bleeding. I am waiting until 8:00 pm when I will receive an advisory on where the hot spots in the war zone will be tomorrow and if we will have to remain marooned in our house for one more day. I hope I will be alive to write another entry in a few days time.
(For a balanced background to the issues mentioned in my above entry, please see the Jamaica Observer's article in the panel across)
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