Vybz Kartel, dancehall and slavery
Franklin JOHNSTON
Friday, March 21, 2014 23 Comments
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Vybz Kartel
WITHOUT slavery there would be no dancehall. Without dancehall, no Vybz Kartel. And, if no Kartel, Lizard Williams would be alive and his sister would have no reason to hide. The nexus of English language, Jamaica land, slavery, the British, and their Bible is intertwined; and these retentions define the texture of our entertainment.
Vybz Kartel is proof of concept, and his verdict says our justice system may not find truth or a body, but it makes decisions. The trial per se has little significance in the scheme of things, but it puts our culture in the dock. There is connectivity between murder and "murda music", but how? Tell me.
If you are open to take life, be ready to lose yours. The Kartel verdict will not happen for 80 per cent of murders, so we cannot celebrate. The trial did not get us food, education, peace, jobs, but it elicited the best in our justice system and the worst of our "lickie-lickie" people. Unemployment in the Kingston metropoliton area was down for several weeks as the "rent-a-crowd" was on duty -- the finest men, children and women money can buy. Sale of goods was up during the trial and, if it had gone on for another 60-plus days, GCT might have met IMF targets. His acolytes complained that Kartel did not get public support, but do they not know a court of law is not The Voice talent show? How many votes for Kartel? Life is dancehall; court is justice, and the good guys won this time. The world is truly a stage.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...avery_16317492
Franklin JOHNSTON
Friday, March 21, 2014 23 Comments
Print this page Email A Friend!
Vybz Kartel
WITHOUT slavery there would be no dancehall. Without dancehall, no Vybz Kartel. And, if no Kartel, Lizard Williams would be alive and his sister would have no reason to hide. The nexus of English language, Jamaica land, slavery, the British, and their Bible is intertwined; and these retentions define the texture of our entertainment.
Vybz Kartel is proof of concept, and his verdict says our justice system may not find truth or a body, but it makes decisions. The trial per se has little significance in the scheme of things, but it puts our culture in the dock. There is connectivity between murder and "murda music", but how? Tell me.
If you are open to take life, be ready to lose yours. The Kartel verdict will not happen for 80 per cent of murders, so we cannot celebrate. The trial did not get us food, education, peace, jobs, but it elicited the best in our justice system and the worst of our "lickie-lickie" people. Unemployment in the Kingston metropoliton area was down for several weeks as the "rent-a-crowd" was on duty -- the finest men, children and women money can buy. Sale of goods was up during the trial and, if it had gone on for another 60-plus days, GCT might have met IMF targets. His acolytes complained that Kartel did not get public support, but do they not know a court of law is not The Voice talent show? How many votes for Kartel? Life is dancehall; court is justice, and the good guys won this time. The world is truly a stage.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...avery_16317492
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