Jamaican American Club Newsletter
SUMMER 2019
WANTED IN JAMAICA: EMPATHY Special points of interest:
Wanted in Jamaica: Empathy
Trivia
A Brief Tirade on Insurgency and Government
The Black Woman I Am
By Diana McCaulay One of the most frequent questions I get asked about my novel Dog-Heart is this: How did you, an uptown woman, put yourself in the mind of a 12-year-old inner city boy? (I often think the sub-text is – how dare you? And please add the word “white” before woman and the word “black” before boy, although they are never actually uttered…)
Tr iv i a Jamaica has the oldest Jewish cemetery in the Western Hemisphere. This cemetery is located at 1 Hunt's Bay in St. Andrew. It was founded by the Jews of Port Royal in the latter part of the seventeenth century when a Jewish community flourished there. The Jews excelled in the trade of gold, silver and insurance. According to the Jamaica National Heritage Trust, the site was declared a national monument on July 15, 1993.
I always say in response that I went through a period of very focused observation of children on the streets of Kingston, and then I thought about what I had seen, tried to imagine what the lives of the children were like, tried to feel what they might feel. So no, I tell my questioners, I didn’t research DogHeart, I empathized it. Since May of last year, following what is now being euphemistically called the “Tivoli Incursion” where between 70 and 120 Jamaicans died in circumstances that have never been fully explained, I have been struck by the lack of empathy in the way in which we regard our fellow Jamaicans. This is not a new
revelation; of course, we Jamaicans have always been fierce individualists. But as I continue to think about possible solutions to the apparently intractable problems of our society, I wonder if the answer is to be found in that simple word – empathy. What if we could put down the baggage we all carry – racism, classism, a host of categories by which we identify “us” and “them,” our perfectly justified hurt, rage and fear – and just ask ourselves: how would I feel if that were me?
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JAMAICAN AMERICAN CLUB NEWSLETTER
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We think empathy equates to softness on crime and call those who express it bleeding hearts.
I look at one of the photos on line of recently-apprehended Christopher Linton – I refuse to call him Dog Paw – and I see a thin young man, sitting on the floor, wearing only his briefs, his hands obviously handcuffed or tied. This is Jamaica’s most wanted man, a boy I knew, a child with a sweet character and a bright future, had he been born into other circumstances. And I ask myself – how does he feel, there on that floor? How
does his mother feel, seeing that picture? I ask myself about his victims too – assuming he did commit the crimes he is accused of – and I can all too easily imagine their anger and pain and their wish for revenge. But suppose they were to put themselves in the place of a fifteen year old boy, out of school, no real programme for him to join, no one to champion or guide his life, his much loved
older brother beaten to death while in the custody of the police? Might we be able to understand the hardening of his heart? At a more day to day level, might we be able to appreciate the driving of taxi drivers, if we understood the economics of their lives, might we marvel at the smiling faces of market vendors if we had taken their journey to market the night before and slept for a few hours on a piece of cardboard on the
ground, might we support the railing against authority that is now being defined as a “personality disorder” if we appreciated the arbitrariness and incompetence of that authority when directed against those without friends in high places?
Nesbeth has simply walked out of police custody due to a “processing error”. I want someone to explain to me why that sort of authority is due our respect and deference. Perhaps the best thing we could do for each other is merely to listen with our whole attention, to hear the true stories of each other’s lives, to say to each other: I understand. I see you, sister, I hear you, brother. We don’t like to do this in Jamaica, we call it washing our dirty lin-
en in public and our leaders complain about the effects on tourism. We think empathy equates to softness on crime and call those who express it bleeding hearts. But if we empathized, all of us, concerning big things and small, we would not play our music so loudly as to keep school children and old people awake, we would yield to taxi drivers and pedestrians, we would give our time and our money to those organizations that try to help the young
This morning, having made a song and dance about the outstanding performance of the security forces in apprehending Christopher Linton and his “lieutenant” Nicholas Nesbeth, we learn that somehow or other people on our streets. Empathy might just bring us a country worth living in.
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VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1
A Brief Tirade on Insurgency and Government In the timeline of history one thing holds true in regards to governments, liberation movements and paramilitary groups and that is they wrestling for power within the state. These struggles between the factions may be covert, overt or collaborative. But the end result is always the same as the formal structure now has to deal with the dynamics which will always lead to social unrest. In the development of dictatorships, it What is striking is the balance needed between them all. The strong arm of the state while give the citizen the choice to choose which opportunity to purse to build wealth while protecting the weakest to allow them to have access to the capital that they need to survive. Such a system is the ideal but where does the system begin or end. To have seen democracies where there is none.
They have entered into a formal war under the veil that they are in the country as unknown participants. Functionaries of the state will always have access to the information hence it will always move information up the chain of command and the objective is the survival of the state and information is key. So when a country like Lebanon allows for Hezbollah to organ-
is the state failure to control and maintain society because of the compromise given to the factions. Democracy is a scaring concept if the parties involve are not willing to safe guard it. Theocracy in of itself cannot be avoided as in any society one religion will be dominant but with this dominance it must allow all to seek their own enlightenment in the belief of a higher being.
Socialism in Capitalism is a paradox. The ism of government is an illusion as good governance is about making decisions based upon the need of the state. Hence to allow covert or overt groups to develop system above the platform of government will lead to strife and the eventual takeover of government. In war torn region, it is the warlord who governs not the state, in inner city fiefdom it is the don through the collection of gains from transaction
ize, finance, set support social systems and military logistics system it should not be surprise that if Hezbollah cannot destroy its enemy, it will turn against its host like a parasite as it has already undermined the state in that an entity can wage war against a sovereign nation and undermine the state ability to protect its borders and deploy diplomatic policy that leads to
Socialism is an artificial state because of the availability of limit resources yet unlimited wants and the difference in talents and ability between people. Capitalism in its pure state is by far the best but pure capitalism without safeguards to protect the weakest of society will lead to corruption and social unrest hence no system is superior. Written by Carol Lawton
(unofficial tax), in war, the military rules the ground while the insurgency rules the night, and then the terrorists who rule by fear due to their ability to strike without regards for damage; human or material. The state of government can only exist in peace. Hence peace is the objective of all government in the end regardless of the form. So when a state foster insurgency groups or terrorists with agenda against another state.
peace. Woe be unto a state that believe that it can exist in peace while pseudo governments exist within.
The ism of government is an illusion as good governance is about making decisions based upon the need of the state. PAGE 7
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Organization www.JamaicanAmericanClub.org
Jamaican American Club PO Box 62 Elk Grove, IL 60009 USA JAMAICANAMERICANCLUB @YAHOO.COM
This not for profit club's sole purpose is to create unity among positive people who have passion; therefore, the Jamaican American Club will not align itself with any religious, political or social classes that are unwilling to respect an individual's choice for their interpretation of the world. Goal: Help the community remain viable. Intended audience: Any individual who would like to help is welcome.
Untied we build, divided we beg
The Black Woman I Am When they look at us black women, They see the oldcotton-picking field hand, the old slave cook. But that was a long time ago, Now, the Black woman has arrived! She has moved up from being a housewife to a Business woman to a politician She has taken charge! Charge of her life, charge of her future. All the fears, all the reminiscing of the past, The humiliation, are all behind her now. When I look at the black woman of today, I see me. I see my future, what I would like to be. How I would like people to see me as a person, as a career woman. The black woman has
combined fulfilling her role as a mother and being a career woman. People look upon her and respect her. The 80’s have brought new prospects for the black woman, It has opened doors…
Some even told her to go back to picking cotton But, what does she care? She is strong and determined to get ahead. That’s the black woman I am.
Open the outlook on careers and other opportunities. As a woman and …being Black She has moved up from being an ordinary nurse to a doctor, an engineer. People may try to put her down They tell her that her place is in the kitchen!
Written by Alicia Fleming www.ririjam.com
