Jamaican Till I Die!

Worth the Watch These people are armed to the teeth

Growing up in Jamaica, we were brainwashed into believing the USA system of Government, Constitution and laws was superior to any other system on planet earth. The average Jamaican knows more about the US Constitution and Bill of Right than they do about the Jamaican Constitution. It is not uncommon for them in a debate to quote the US constitution as if it was the Jamaican Constitution. The average Jamaica does not know one line of the Jamaican Constitution.  Imagine my shock and awe on finding out it is just as dysfunctional as most and more dysfunctional than some. Americans love to make their system of Government sound mystical and magical. Something unique and above all the rest. Like a self-aware and self-governing Artificial Intelligence that protects the biggest idiots from themselves. I remember a friend of mine describing the US Supreme Court as if it was controlled by super intelligent, omnipotent and omniscience beings, who were all knowing, Guardians of Freedom and Dem...

In any discussion on slavery and reparation with the British, the British love to highlight that the slave trade was facilitated by Black Africans, capturing and selling other Black Africans to white slavers. I am neither going to support or deny that narrative because I do not know the circumstances surrounding their decision to take part. If it was done, did they do it out of greed or fear? A bunch of heavily armed white people turn up at your village and demanding you or the people in the other tribe, then the human survival instinct kicks in.    However, the recent news that Rwanda will be paid to take refugees already in the UK, off British hands filled me with disappointment. If the British were right then Africans who use to sell other Africans to the British, are now buying Africans and middle easterners from the British. A kind of reverse middle passage. Denmark also has a deal with Rwanda to take refugees. So, Rwanda is trying to make a profit trading in human souls...

Lyrics [Verse 1: Stephen Marley] Educate yourselves, of Africa To liberate yourself, Africa Keep your heads up high No more will we cry Eeeeyh Our history that they stole, Africa Is written in our souls, Africa Oldest nation on this earth Know just what you worth Well well Ships that sail to distant places Robbed us of our rights and worth History says that you've betrayed us Talking of the Gods you serve Hear the rambling in the sky Tears that our forefathers cry And today we're still in chains Take the shackle from our minds You're the cornerstone The king upon the throne How beautiful are thou, Africa All nation have to bow, Africa Don't you fall from grace You're that secret place Aye! Aye-ah-aye! [Verse 2: Wale] Power to the people, Motherland representa I'm on trial with the man she my co-defendant And I demand her attention, can you focus women? I'm getting closer to the sky errytime I hit it Haile Selassie I, "Power of the Trinity" Soul mad...

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...