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A season of hope
Jean Lowrie-Chin
Monday, January 07, 2008
This new year brings a new season of hope. Since September 3 of last year, we Jamaicans have been like anxious children praying that our quarrelling parents would not come to blows. Now it seems that the prayers of last Wednesday's "Heal the Family, Heal the Nation Day" at the National Arena have been answered. On Thursday, Leader of the Opposition Portia Simpson Miller announced her willingness to resume the Vale Royal talks with Prime Minister Bruce Golding.
There was another noteworthy occasion in Jamaica last week - Beres Hammond's "A Moment in Time" concert. The significance of this event is beyond the rave reviews: this was a clean, world-class performance before a packed and disciplined house. Jamaican people sent the message that will give their vote of confidence to a class act, even if it is staged on the fringe of the volatile Mountain View Area.
The papers showed an enthusiastic Portia Simpson Miller at the concert dancing away while her husband looked on happily. No doubt, she was moved - Beres hailed politicians from both sides during the show and lifted us up as he sang his new spiritual piece with a large combined choir, I'll Live Again.
Oh yes, we will live again. Nursing our many wounds of 2007, Jamaicans of all stripes cooled off in Hammond's healing stream of great music. We enjoyed a concert that would have packed Madison Square Gardens with a regal Marcia Griffiths, Peter Ashbourne, vintage artists U-Roy, Big Youth, Bob Andy, Freddie McGregor, Dean Fraser, a cameo appearance from Beenie Man, fine instrumentalists and backup singers.
But it was the synergy between Beres and Buju Banton that moved us. Let us remember that even as other deejays were lionising gangsterism, it was Buju that hollered, "Murderer - yuh inside mussi hollow!" and gave us the modern anthem, Destiny. With the two bantering, exchanging roles, working the four-sided stage, we saw not just two excellent performers, but two big-hearted poets.
And so, the Violence Prevention Alliance which has pleaded for less violence in media reports can cite Beres Hammond to those reluctant reporters. If you don't follow the crowd but follow the finer feelings of your heart, the crowd will follow you.
When Brother Bruce and Sister Portia show their mettle as leaders, putting aside partisan differences to meet at Vale Royal, they will have with them, the hardworking, well-thinking Jamaicans who simply want the best for their country. When we look at the debacles in Pakistan and Kenya, we realise how well ahead we are in our strong democracy.
We should also have hope when we hear the forthright statements from our new Commissioner of Police, Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin. On CVM's Direct with PAJ Journalist of the Year Garfield Burford, this respected former JDF chief of staff appealed to the media to assist him and the JCF in their fight against crime.
He is obviously a seasoned communicator: when he was tackled on his "mother of all garrisons" comment, he produced the script of his speech and proceeded to read some very worthwhile observations he had made about the decent citizens who lived in Jamaica's garrisons, and who deserved a better way of life. Commissioner Lewin challenged the media to make the effort to report the whole story and not become too enamoured with soundbites.
He also made a simple but profound observation about how he had been going about his new job in the few weeks since he had taken up office: he was working at getting people to do properly the jobs they had been assigned. This is indeed the crux of our national challenge: getting people to do their jobs, with diligence and dispatch. Every single leader should make this their number one priority for 2008 - this is far from whip-cracking because studies have shown that with the proper training and motivation, people will work willingly and happily.
Our leaders therefore have a big job to do. Their party members, employees, congregations, club members, teams are all looking to them for guidance. As our leaders meet at Vale Royal, as our poets remind us that we must rule our destiny, each of us who are privileged to be leaders have a terrific responsibility. To lead in love takes a lot more work, but pays the richest returns.
Great night in Iowa
Last Thursday, history was made when a young man born of a father from Kenya and a mother from Kansas, became the first black presidential hopeful to win a primary, the first phase of choosing US presidential candidates. Barack Obama, 46, campaigning on a platform for change pulled ahead of fellow Democratic candidates John Edwards and Hillary Clinton in the Iowa caucuses. "They said this day would never come," Obama commented. "They said our sights were set too high. They said this country was too divided - too disillusioned to ever come together around a common purpose."
Obama's words have special significance for Jamaica. He said Americans should not think of themselves in terms of "red" or "blue" states because "we are one nation, we are one people."
I had written the headline for this column before the results became known, but coincidentally, Obama spoke about hope: "We are choosing hope over fear. We are choosing unity over division. Hope is not blind optimism. It's not ignoring the enormity of the task ahead. Hope is that thing inside us that insists despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it and to work for it."
The Republican winner Mike Huckabee, other Democratic nominees Hillary Clinton and John Edwards also spoke with respect for fellow candidates and genuine concern for their country. It was a good night for Huckabee and Obama, and a great night for America and the cause of democracy.
lowriechin@aim.com
Jean Lowrie-Chin
Monday, January 07, 2008
This new year brings a new season of hope. Since September 3 of last year, we Jamaicans have been like anxious children praying that our quarrelling parents would not come to blows. Now it seems that the prayers of last Wednesday's "Heal the Family, Heal the Nation Day" at the National Arena have been answered. On Thursday, Leader of the Opposition Portia Simpson Miller announced her willingness to resume the Vale Royal talks with Prime Minister Bruce Golding.
There was another noteworthy occasion in Jamaica last week - Beres Hammond's "A Moment in Time" concert. The significance of this event is beyond the rave reviews: this was a clean, world-class performance before a packed and disciplined house. Jamaican people sent the message that will give their vote of confidence to a class act, even if it is staged on the fringe of the volatile Mountain View Area.
The papers showed an enthusiastic Portia Simpson Miller at the concert dancing away while her husband looked on happily. No doubt, she was moved - Beres hailed politicians from both sides during the show and lifted us up as he sang his new spiritual piece with a large combined choir, I'll Live Again.
Oh yes, we will live again. Nursing our many wounds of 2007, Jamaicans of all stripes cooled off in Hammond's healing stream of great music. We enjoyed a concert that would have packed Madison Square Gardens with a regal Marcia Griffiths, Peter Ashbourne, vintage artists U-Roy, Big Youth, Bob Andy, Freddie McGregor, Dean Fraser, a cameo appearance from Beenie Man, fine instrumentalists and backup singers.
But it was the synergy between Beres and Buju Banton that moved us. Let us remember that even as other deejays were lionising gangsterism, it was Buju that hollered, "Murderer - yuh inside mussi hollow!" and gave us the modern anthem, Destiny. With the two bantering, exchanging roles, working the four-sided stage, we saw not just two excellent performers, but two big-hearted poets.
And so, the Violence Prevention Alliance which has pleaded for less violence in media reports can cite Beres Hammond to those reluctant reporters. If you don't follow the crowd but follow the finer feelings of your heart, the crowd will follow you.
When Brother Bruce and Sister Portia show their mettle as leaders, putting aside partisan differences to meet at Vale Royal, they will have with them, the hardworking, well-thinking Jamaicans who simply want the best for their country. When we look at the debacles in Pakistan and Kenya, we realise how well ahead we are in our strong democracy.
We should also have hope when we hear the forthright statements from our new Commissioner of Police, Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin. On CVM's Direct with PAJ Journalist of the Year Garfield Burford, this respected former JDF chief of staff appealed to the media to assist him and the JCF in their fight against crime.
He is obviously a seasoned communicator: when he was tackled on his "mother of all garrisons" comment, he produced the script of his speech and proceeded to read some very worthwhile observations he had made about the decent citizens who lived in Jamaica's garrisons, and who deserved a better way of life. Commissioner Lewin challenged the media to make the effort to report the whole story and not become too enamoured with soundbites.
He also made a simple but profound observation about how he had been going about his new job in the few weeks since he had taken up office: he was working at getting people to do properly the jobs they had been assigned. This is indeed the crux of our national challenge: getting people to do their jobs, with diligence and dispatch. Every single leader should make this their number one priority for 2008 - this is far from whip-cracking because studies have shown that with the proper training and motivation, people will work willingly and happily.
Our leaders therefore have a big job to do. Their party members, employees, congregations, club members, teams are all looking to them for guidance. As our leaders meet at Vale Royal, as our poets remind us that we must rule our destiny, each of us who are privileged to be leaders have a terrific responsibility. To lead in love takes a lot more work, but pays the richest returns.
Great night in Iowa
Last Thursday, history was made when a young man born of a father from Kenya and a mother from Kansas, became the first black presidential hopeful to win a primary, the first phase of choosing US presidential candidates. Barack Obama, 46, campaigning on a platform for change pulled ahead of fellow Democratic candidates John Edwards and Hillary Clinton in the Iowa caucuses. "They said this day would never come," Obama commented. "They said our sights were set too high. They said this country was too divided - too disillusioned to ever come together around a common purpose."
Obama's words have special significance for Jamaica. He said Americans should not think of themselves in terms of "red" or "blue" states because "we are one nation, we are one people."
I had written the headline for this column before the results became known, but coincidentally, Obama spoke about hope: "We are choosing hope over fear. We are choosing unity over division. Hope is not blind optimism. It's not ignoring the enormity of the task ahead. Hope is that thing inside us that insists despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it and to work for it."
The Republican winner Mike Huckabee, other Democratic nominees Hillary Clinton and John Edwards also spoke with respect for fellow candidates and genuine concern for their country. It was a good night for Huckabee and Obama, and a great night for America and the cause of democracy.
lowriechin@aim.com