Jamaican Till I Die!

There was a time when Jamaica would honor our nation builders long after their contribution to nation building. As a nation we would look back on their contributions, evaluate the historical facts and decided if they were worth honoring. Leaving it up to future generations to decide if their body of work and their names are worth remembering. So, they could use them as nation building role models for generations to come. Today’s generation of politicians are narcissistic, entitled and self-serving just like the people they serve. They are consumed by their own self-importance and self-interest and are not about to let future generations be the of judge them. By defining their legacy by their actions and contribution to Nation Building. They are very happy pinning the medal on their own chest and patting themselves on the back. The current Jamaica Labour party Government is no exception. They are moving at great speed, slapping their names on everything in Jamaica that is nailed down....

I remember when the National Housing Trust was created. I understood its mandate at the time of its creation and understood why it was needed in post-colonial Jamaica. Home ownership was very low in a country where most of the population lived in the low-income category. It is the same reason why the Government at the time introduced free education because we had a high illiteracy rate. The objective was to reverse rapidly, over 300 years of colonial wrongs in the shortest time. The Government of the day decided that social engineering and social develop was a requirement. So it was created as a tool to fix a certain problem. Many of us at the time lived in poverty, one can say that most of us are only two or three generation out of abject poverty and my mother’s side of my family is no exception. Over the decades, 11 children with substandard education, who lived in a two-room board house that was full of holes, with no electricity, running water or indoor plumbing. When they moved t...

In the simplest terms, the one drop is defined by the lack of the always-expected kick drum on beat 1 (hence the name - the 1 is dropped) and the emphasis in the bar moving to beat 3, with simultaneous kick and sidestick or snare hits. With just that in place, the feel is immediately transformed. What is Reggae music? Is it how a person sounds while riding the rhythm. That Jamaican accent, with our unique dialect, or terminologies? Is it the music, that distinctive Jamaican reggae beat? You know that combination of sweet-sounding roots and culture, drum, and bass rhythm. Allowing the DJ to ride the chune like a cool Caribbean breeze at Christmas, blowing over mountains and through valleys.  I normally say to people that, lyrically, reggae is message music, with progressive, forward thinking, revolutionary uplifting messages and as such, anything that delivers this progressive, forward thinking, revolutionary message can be regarded as reggae. But reggae is not wording alone, it is...

This Global Britain/Empire 2.0 fantasy is undesirable and self-defeating. This history makes the goal of rediscovering Britain’s role as “a great, global trading nation” not only a shameful approach to international trade post-Brexit but also counterproductive. Why would former colonies embrace a Britain that not only refuses to atone for its colonial sins but worse still, envisions its future as “Empire 2.0”? Soon a white man will be King of the Black and Brown Commonwealth. Bending the Knee to King Charles? I would rather death! During the Brexit movement the British declared their intentions of creating an Empire 2.0 with the former Commonwealth countries. This simply means the British intends once again to organize their ex-colonial countries into serving and support British interest at the expense of their very own interest. Before the British can start this Commonwealth reorganization process, they must first put in place at various management levels of the Commonwealth people th...

One of those nights, drinking the Appleton Estate 15 Year Old Black River Casks served neat and listening to some chunes. <