THE FIRST RASTA- STORY OF LENNOX HOWELL

If you haven’t seen this documentary on @LennoxHowell , the First Rasta in Jamaica then you are short changing yourself of some critical history. Its a fascinating Story that sadly not a lot of Jamaicans know as our history is whitewashed.

In many respects Jamaica🇯🇲 is , despite it’s so called symbolic Independence, a nation on a constant struggle to determine how can an island, stocked with different peoples from all over the World come together as a nation and find commonality in creating a successful and thriving economic life that is significantly different to what they were forcibly asked to do.

EMANCIPATION only meant the legal right of people who were SLAVES to refuse to work with the Gun placed by their head. It didn’t mean suddenly the same people were now economically on par with their former bosses _ The history of Leonard Howell, the First Rastafarian is one that opens the doors to our dramatic and sordid history of how a people, scattered and hammered in humanity is still figuring a #System that still hovers over their heads like a dark cloud. _

We have a far way to go. A leader will have to emerge and free us from the mental slavery that has never been emancipated, to allow US to see our future as ONE people with ONE mission.

(c) All Rights Reserved: September 2020

JAMAICA WILL NEVER BE A USA

I recently read an article that Jamaica’s economic woes are tied to the “culture” of the people. Let me quote the writer:

.”it does not matter which political party is in power, our success will have dismal limitations. It does not matter how many loans we can access from the International Monetary Fund and multilateral institutions, it will just be for the purpose of feeding our insatiable appetite of instant gratification. It does not matter how many graduates we turn out from our universities, because the economy, in its limping impotence, will not be able to marshal a workforce to absorb them. Culture matters and it is a definitive difference between countries that are prosperous and countries that are not.”

With comparison to the USA the writer was drawing attention  that the difference in culture between the two countries was directly related to their individual success. Let me first agree with something the writer has alluded to and that is one has to develop a culture of success, aggressive leadership, and strong fortitude to achieve success. But where the writer is incorrect in their analogy is  aaligning the lack of success to a seemingly lackadaisical cultural lifestyle, a lifestyle stereotypically Jamaican. 

Every human wants to succeed, There is no human that calls himself a human that does not have that ingrained in his DNA. Which human , with all senses intact, will tell you he is a failure? Who will tell you he is bad at what he does? I have not met that human as yet. Jamaica’s economic problem is among other things , directly pinned to a lack of leadership, clarity of vision and the natural instinct of Jamaicans to think that anything foreign is better than what they have. It is  inextricably pinned to the lack of quality education denied to the masses of the people for various reasons. It is troubling but it is no different from the USA, the difference is Jamaica is smaller so the problem is heightened.

A country the size of Jamaica has a “brain drain” problem and ever since the big departure in the early 80s it has been the cancer that eats at Jamaica’s economic recovery.  Then Prime Minister Manley invited Jamaicans to leave on flights to Miami and they granted his wish. That educated culture  left the country to develop the USA and other countries.

Education breeds an informed and a more refined culture. Culture is not a singular lifestyle unto itself. It is the daughter of a refined and educated mind. If you were to agree totally with the writer then how do you explain the success of our  athletes in the international arena? How do you explain the many other success achieved by Jamaicans in every discipline of life both here and abroad?  I disagree with the writer. Jamaica’s culture is as strong as the US and they want the dream, not necessarily the American dream, but a dream of a quality of life that they can enjoy in Jamaica. No Jamaican living abroad and I mean none, do not aspire and want to come back home to live their last years in  Jamaica. 

Our woes are big and seems to be in the forefront as Jamaica enjoys a high-profile, ironically because of  its culture, yes the same culture that everyone,  including the US , is trying to emulate. We cannot hold the country responsible for  who the people are? Jamaica is who it is. It will never be a US, but it can enjoy the quality of life similar to the US. Jamaicans are not driven by the same morals or ideals as Americans , but they share the word that is sweet on the lips of those that experience it – and that is SUCCESS. Jamaica’s wish to succeed is far greater than fear itself. The writer obviously has limited knowledge that the freedom of fear is also a part of our culture. Success is not final. It is a living thing that keeps on going as long as the believer holds on to his dreams and move towards it .  

An educated culture breeds success but to blame our “culture” solely for the inefficiency and backwardness of the economy is like saying the US immigration is responsible for its crime. No one should be so short-sighted.

Paul Tomlinson © 2014

Here is the letter in its entirety. Feel free to leave your comments.

USA and JA — a difference in culture

Monday, November 12, 2012

Dear Editor,

If it were in Jamaica that President Barack Obama was running for a second term, say, as prime minister, he would not have been voted back into office, given the slow pace of the economic recovery he has presided over for the past four years. Although he did not create the dismal economic problems in the first place, he would’ve been soundly defeated at the polls for the sheer reason that our culture is one of instant gratification. We want it here; we want it all and we want it now.

For those who reject the idea that culture has a lot to do with economic prosperity, this is a lesson we should not neglect to learn, and a revelation to purposefully observe. Let me quote my favourite Jamaican journalist, Ian Boyne here: “I am one of those who believe that economic development cannot be divorced from culture; or at least that culture either advances or hinders economic development. I have no doubt that some of our cultural proclivities are inimical to economic development; so no matter which party is in power, we continue to stagnate. It’s not just our corruption. Other countries experiencing corruption grow (China, India and Russia are prime examples).”

Despite 20 million Americans still without jobs today, and although Mitt Romney touts a relatively excellent résumé in business, Americans took the long view, and invested their vote in steady progress, not instant and ephemeral results. They rewarded the president for making significant incremental progress, however slow the pace. What is the difference? Culture. Americans think in terms of what is best for their children and grandchildren. They will give up today’s cash for tomorrow’s certain post-dated cheque. The American culture emphasises wealth creation and long-term rewards, and as a result, their politicians are forced to think long-term rather than in election cycles. Jamaica, please take note: politicians will lift their game when their constituents lift the standard of their expectations and demand the available best.

It is my considered opinion that our best leaders have not yet emerged at the podium of national leadership and the reason is because our culture does not accommodate or embrace what they have to offer to this dying country. They are instead forced to dangle on the under-achievement line of mediocrity or migrate to cultures where the work ethic and durable success are far superior to ours. One of the distinguishing characteristics of a prosperous country is that the future takes precedence over the here and now. The American dream, for example, is not about pursuing a loaf of bread for today’s hunger, it is the pursuit of owning the bakery. Owning the bakery requires strategic planning, goal setting, sacrifices, smart work, delayed gratification, and discipline.

Therefore, it does not matter which political party is in power, our success will have dismal limitations. It does not matter how many loans we can access from the International Monetary Fund and multilateral institutions, it will just be for the purpose of feeding our insatiable appetite of instant gratification. It does not matter how many graduates we turn out from our universities, because the economy, in its limping impotence, will not be able to marshal a workforce to absorb them. Culture matters and it is a definitive difference between countries that are prosperous and countries that are not.

Laval Wilkinson

10 NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS FOR JAMAICA

January 1, the day when the entire world makes resolutions . Really cannot blame them. After looking back at the previous year it is a natural human want to improve on where you have fallen short. Sad thing is – resolutions always stay where they were conceived, either in the euphoria of the mind over a glass of champagne , with friends having careless banter, or in response to other people’s resolution just to make you feel as part of the in crowd. Our mind is never at a place of deep thought when we make our  resolutions neither are they achievable and so they usually fail or fall short . Where there is no grit, it won’t stick.

Resolutions are a personal commitment to self. It is paying good diligence to your time on this journey called Life and it gives you good discipline when it is used properly.  As we roll out a new year I begin to wonder about my homeland and trying to figure out what resolutions can be made for my country. After all my country is a living entity of 3 million people in a beautiful place called the Caribbean. But whiter Jamaica? Where do we go in 2014? The number 2014 defies our understanding of how the world has come of age and how fast it is moving.

Jamaica, like most places cannot boast of 2013 as a year of forward movement for its people, its economy and its cultural lifestyle. Yes there have been strides but as the athlete will tell you strides are like elegant footsteps on the way to accomplishing a goal. We cannot meet the goal if we don’t push and enlighten ourselves. We cannot meet our goals if we don’t accelerate with energy , power and form. In other words, if we are intent that our warm ups are good enough to take us to the finish line , then we must not be surprised when everyone has passed us and we are a distant last. This intent has been with us since we got our independence. There is this unspoken truth that because we live on  an island we must slow down, live on our own pace.  Living on an island means one thing here in Jamaica and that is to take life for granted.

Jamaica is not an island unto itself. We are part of the world and the world is and has changed. If we could only educate ourselves to that fact. If I were stranded in Jamaica a book I would certainly have is “How to build a country, not an Island.”  Our knowledge in Jamaica is a little island in a great ocean of knowledge and progress. We must change our mentality. We must change our perceived perception. Strides are good. But strides are like our beating heart. It reminds us that we are still alive. Lets move Jamaica, lets jump, lets sprint, lets throw as far as we can. Our island is a sea of ignorance. Being an island does not make us any less than other progressive nations. England is an island. England never allowed its size to be its reality. Neither should we Jamaica. We are better than an island. So here are my resolutions for Jamaica. We cannot quit on these either. We cannot afford to do nothing.

Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude. (Thomas Jefferson)

1. We resolve to ……BE ON TIME

Jamaica Time is a tourism cliché used to attract guest to our island. It is meant for our guests to slow down., not for us to use it as part of our lifestyle and culture. TIME is money Jamaica. We lose it, we can never get it back. Stop this nonsense . Get up and be on time.

 2. We resolve to ……BE CLEAN  

Every corner of our cities, roads, towns, beaches are full of human garbage. If we don’t keep our island clean, then we have not left the plantation and our parents and ancestors have not taught us anything. Its called pride Jamaica. We keep our homes clean but outside our doors it’s a garbage war zone.  Cleanliness is an attitude made powerful by action. If you don’t believe cleanliness can move your country a zillion miles forward, ask the Swiss. 

3. We resolve to ……RESPECT- ITS NOT A WORD..ITS AN ACTION.    

 A lack of respect usually means the person has no respect for himself either. Self respect leads to self-discipline. Respect our laws, each other, our visitors, our creativity and our culture. When we do, that is Real Power.  A country without respect and discipline is a country afloat with no wind to direct its sail. 

4. We resolve to ……BE LIBERATED BY EDUCATION

We promote sex in everything we do , degrading it to the lowest common human activity, in the things we wear and say, liberalism in how we drive, in how and where we live our lives, in how we do whatever we want when we want is not the sign of a liberated and civilized country. Let us instead be liberated by our education, not by our indiscipline. 

5. We resolve to…….PRACTICE CUSTOMER SERVICE                                         

Jamaica has a new word in its vocabulary..its NO, usually said with a stern face of robotic mechanism and eyes looking away staring at the floor as if you the customer is there, at the feet of the messenger.  Imagine the power of the word YES in everything we do and the power of the word NO accompanied with a positive alternative. Jamaica would be welcoming its 3 millionth visitor for 2013 and creating a society of doers , not followers.

6. We resolve to ……HAVE COURAGE                                      

Time and time again those that display courage reap the spoils and the citizens pack the streets and squares and jump in exhilaration at someone elses success. This is usually followed by the comments..‘yea mon, me feel good  she or he a mek Jamaica proud…” What does that mean..“make Jamaica proud”? Does it mean you are proud of YOURSELF as a Jamaican citizen basking in the collective euphoria or are you proud of Jamaica competing in the world of progressive nations? I think I know the answer. Courage is not overrated.It is the root to all things becoming right,  it makes all justice served equally, politicians & church leaders becoming accountable, it is the virtue that makes all other virtues possible. It is the wind beneath our wings. YES we CAN…TOGETHER!

7. We resolve to……BE DIFFERENT                           

Einstein quote is “education is what remains after you have forgotten what you’ve learned in school..” In Jamaica’s case we can also add “after what you have been taught by your elders”. Going to school does not mean you are educated. The “village” educates you, not the school. So think positively and progressively. Think out of the box.  Jamaicans like to follow fashion and believe that if it  comes from foreign it must be good or better than what they were doing. When you follow you are floating on a river going nowhere. Everyman is a good teacher because he is an expert of what he does So learn and think for yourself. Life is your education. Remember the saying…if you judge a fish by how he can climb a tree, he will think he is useless.

8. We resolve to ……DON’T BLAME THE SYSTEM                                      

It amazes me that we blame the system for our failure, for avarice, for selfishness, for decadence, for greed and we love these qualities in ourselves. And those  qualities of manners, kindness, honesty we admire them and convince ourselves those  qualities are the mark of the ‘Big Man” as if there are 2 kinds of people in Jamaica- the ‘big man’ and ‘the poor man.” Nonsense. That type of thinking is based on our emotions and is an illusion, a vulgar conception to soothe ourselves and give credence to our illusion. We create the system of which we complain. Fix it and succeed. Live with it and die. 

9. We resolve to ……SELL OUR BRAND                                    

Don’t be fooled . People visit our island because of YOU, US , nothing else. No beach, no sun, no mountain, no hotel, no music can replace or supersede the Jamaican, that smiling, friendly, confident, talented and beautifully speaking island man. So sell US. Sell YOU. This is what Brand Jamaica is – it’s not the THINGS made in the country..its YOU, its US. 

10. We resolve to…..PURSUE OUR OWN PATH      

“We run t’ings, t’ings noh run we “ is a common Jamaican phrase we use daily in our dialect and sometimes we need to stop and think on what we are saying. What we are saying is we decide our own path so Jamaica  let’s do just that. Jamaica was at her wealthiest when we were rooted in the soil. We were feeders of  the world once upon a time but we have turned our backs on our natural resources. We have rivers , brilliant sunshine , mountains, perfect soil and still we import things that can be grown here. We have wasted our resources on importing oil instead of focusing on expanding and developing  our solar energy resources.  A national policy of solar panel on every house in Jamaica would set world standards. That is where our leaders need to fight for its citizens. We need to run tings Jamaica. We have our own path. We are not producing . We are busy selling made in China and India cheap items when there should be a national policy of agriculture first, development of natural resources, national policies on river engineering for energy production, wind energy. We are destroying our own identity. Lets resolve to be Jamaican. Let us be leaders in the Caribbean again. Lets fall in love with Jamaica once again.  

Let’s start again Jamaica. it’s a new year but this time with feelings and resolve.

 

TWO HUGE LIES

“Our culture has accepted two huge lies. The first is that if you disagree with someone’s lifestyle, you must hate or fear them. The second is to love someone means you agree with everything they believe and do. Both are nonsense. You don’t have to compromise convictions to be compassionate.”

Freedom for everyone , not just the Black Man

Freedom for everyone , not just the Black Man

“People want to listen to a message, word from Jah. This could be passed through me or anybody. I am not a leader. Messenger. The words of the songs, not the person, is what attracts people.”  Bob Marley.

I saw this whirling around the internet but did not pay attention to it. It came up again on my Fb page and this time I paid attention to the message. It is typical black man culture .. always blaming someone else for his short comings- the same ones who use the term ‘niggas’ more frequently than ‘thank you’; The same ones that abuse their own women in their music , exalt money and badness dreaming of getting rich quick and then show off with the biggest gold chain around their neck; the same ones that continue to kill each other with their east coast/west coast wars; the same ones that kill each other in Chicago; the same ones that give up and says America is for the white man so therefore he is going to take what’s his; the same ones that have 10 kids with 9 different women; the same ones that wears their pants showing their ass and calling it ‘style’; I can go on but you get the picture. Until we clean up our own act then don’t expect manna falling from the sky on our plates. Martin Luther King spoke about it- but we selectively listen to what we want to hear and makes us comfortable.

“Open your eyes, look within. Are you satisfied with the life you’re living?” Bob Marley.

The sad thing is that all that is said in the video can be applied right here in Jamaica. Racism is not local. Its not exclusive to America. We suffer from the same mentality lead by a government that contributes to the continuing devaluation of the Jamaican people. Everywhere you turn you see mediocrity exalted, badmanism the role model for youths, weed smoking  the hobby of choice, cronyism , bureaucracy and the culture of NO the standard bearer for economic growth and customer service.

“Emancipate yourself from mental slavery none but ourselves can free up our mind”….’ Bob Marley

Jamaica is dying economically, culturally and spiritually  not by any IMF deal, not by any global recession, not by any invasion of foreigners on our social culture. Its dying one breath at a time by our lack of education, lack of and absence of enforcing the laws, the thinking that anything or anyone foreign’ has to be better then ‘me’ so let us pillage and harass. Its dying drip by drip as corruption has taken over the sunshine of this country as the guiding light to prosperity. Unless we change, unless the ‘negro’ change as Martin Luther and for our reference Bob Marley have already spoken, then we will continue to sit in the parched dessert of economic and cultural  despair ,holding our hands up, waiting for a miracle to happen.

“I believe in freedom for everyone, not just the black man.” Bob Marley.

Paradise Lost

We made some steps, baby steps since Emancipation was granted to our fore fathers. Never forget the blood, sweat and tears that shed to attain this freedom. Unlike the Jews whose reverence of their holocaust is bred in their culture we do not hold this day in reverence enough to make the pain of those that fought for this day bearable. Are we too far removed, have times changed so much that our memory is lost as well?  We are here because of their pain and their death. Our freedom now is forever carried in the blood of our fore fathers. So let us pause and reflect and give them the honor and praise.

179 years later the steps we make and took are but a hop scotch in our development as a nation and Caribbean. Now we are shrouded by in fighting, pettiness, crime, rape, murder, incest, chicanery. Two thirds of our population is nothing more than a cast of the unruly mob, trapped in the bubble of hopelessness whilst the others emancipate themselves with riches bred on the backs of the hopeless.

We hang on to politics and religion , taught to us by our slave owners and despite our social conversions our people are still illiterate unable to articulate their passions. As a nation we seem to be happy with the present. Each man for himself. We choose to live our life in a false sense of pride. 

There can be no pride when our systems have failed. There can be no pride when our children are still fatherless and motherless, when our education is limited, when our economy is flat lined, when our churches and politicians are silent on justice, when our judicial system is over run with corruption and bureaucracy, when national pride is only evident when our athletes are on the track, when we spend millions of dollars for Independence celebrations but the symbols of nationhood are left to decay. I can go on but we know our problems. The good thing is..God smiles on this land called Jamaica and receives his blessings abundantly every day. 

We have made small steps but the road is long, so so long. 51 years since we took the leap of faith to forge our own path but that path is still marred with bush , weed and shrubs. The weed waker is useless in shaping the future. We need to face the truth, the hard bitter truth- that we as Jamaicans can be better, that our masses can be elevated and educated, that owning a house and car are not symbols of wealth but a necessity to living a modern life, that health care is only a modern necessity that any civilized nation provides for its people, that dehumanizing women , men , children is nothing more than embracing a backward mentality.

I bring these thoughts to the forefront hoping that the next generation will be a more progressive one and take this country closer to the utopia of emancipation. Until justice is blind to color and class, until education is unaware of race or wealth, until opportunity is unconcerned with the color of men’s skins or the social status that he is put in, emancipation will be a proclamation but not a fact.