Action, not a bagga mout!

Neither Bruce Golding nor Andrew Holness seemed to have learnt much from the mantra of their late mentor, Edward Phillip George Seaga.

His catchy but important mantra was “Action not a bagga mout".

Every time I hear the JLP squealing like petulant teenagers over the dual citizenship issue, this comes to mind. 

Let me state unequivocally up and front, I personally don’t believe any member of the legislature should be allowed to have one foot in one foot out. For they make the laws that affect us all and when they make bad decisions, dual citizenship allows them the out when things go awry.

So, when leader of the Opposition Mark Golding who has British citizenship, says those who have dual citizenship should be allowed to sit in parliament, I disagree with him vehemently.

The constitutional anomaly allowing some legislators to have dual citizenship and be in parliament while barring others, is found in sections 39 and 40. It allows anyone who is a citizen of a Commonwealth country and is a resident in Jamaica for the immediately preceding twelve months, to be appointed to the Senate or elected to the House of Representatives.

But, guess what, in our constitution, dual only means American!

(I am wondering what we get from being members of the commonwealth anyway, apart from occasionally eating, drinking and making merry with the leaders of other former British colonies! Is it that we can’t stomach the thought of not celebrating British imperialism which oppressed our ancestors for centuries?)

Now considering how our love of foreign shifted radically from England to the United States since 1962, one would have thought our brilliant politicians would have sought to clarify the issue by now.

No sir, this nonesense had remained conveniently tucked away for 46 years, until January 2008, when attorney Abe Dabdoud who was a PNP candidate, thought he could get into parliament via a back door, by having the courts remove West Portland MP Daryl Vaz because he held a US citizenship.

Vaz had beat him at the polls.

Dabdoud failed but the country received a rude awakening as quite a few other JLP MP’s had to renounce their US citizenship, while those PNP MP's who held Commonwealth citizenship at that very time (I know of two at that time) watched in amusement.

This is where the bagga mout comes in.

For despite the grief it caused at the time, Bruce Golding, the then Prime Minister, did not think it important enough to try and undo the anomaly and chaos in the country as a result of that quirk in our constitution.

So, no action was taken following the weeping and wailing in the JLP and the bagga mout that prevailed for months on end!

(Oh, I forget, Golding must have been too taken up with Dudus to pay too much attention to parliamentary matters!)

Then came October 2017, when we had another bout of weeping and wailing over the same issue, as the PNP put up former Medical Association of Jamaica president, Dr. Shane Alexis to be their candidate in a by-election in St. Mary.

Alexis was legally nominated as although he was born in Canada, he had lived in Jamaica for decades but had never applied for Jamaican citizenship.

 Canada is a commonwealth country.

By then, young Andrew Holness had become prime minister, but he too took no action, once the bagga mout subsided.

Now here we are again in 2024, and the bagga mout from the JLP and its surrogates over the same issue, is once again becoming overwhelming.

You see, Mark Golding, leader of the Opposition, though born in Jamaica, has British citizenship. 

Oh mercy me!

Because some noise makers are belatedly realizing that they have no legal grounds to demand Golding’s withdrawal from parliament, they are now using words like morality and hypocrisy, in the argument.

Would someone like to tell me who are the moral and non-hypocritical politicians in our parliament?

Those who give themselves 200% and 300% salary increases while giving deserving people 40%? Those whose financial accounts can’t be verified for 3 years or have illegally enriched themselves off the backs of taxpayers?

After Barbados (little England) got rid of the British monarchy as head of their government, our government, having been shamed by their bold action, established a Constitutional Reform Committee to do the same.

But they don’t seem to want to reform thoroughly, for if we get rid of the British monarch as our head of state, why aren’t we getting out of this expensive and useless Commonwealth club, (also headed by the British monarch), replacing the Privy council as our final court, (wouldn't it be justice to resume hanging, if only for those who murder children!) and get rid of all those British titles bestowed on our citizens?

And why are we seeking to replace the overpaid and useless ribbon-cutting  Governor General with an equally useless ceremonial president?

Does any Jamaican think we will ever achieve effective constitutional reform under a bunch of bureaucratic tinkerers?

I certainly don’t think the ongoing fiasco will be anything but another total waste of money and energy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Learning to draw 😊

I love my art class, mainly because I have such a great, motivating teacher.

 Her name is Michelle and our art class with her is on Wednesdays.

With my art teacher Michelle

I really don't think I have much artistic talent, but she thinks she sees some in me😊.

 So I am trying hard not to disappoint her and myself.

All who celebrated with me today

Another good thing I love about Michelle, is that she loves parties☺.

For every occasion, be it mother's day, or any other event, she is quick to provide drinks, plates, napkins etc and encourage us to bring snacks, so we can take a few minutes to celebrate.

It's a fun group

When I declared at our last class that my birthday would be the following Monday, she immediately declared, party next week.

I celebrate whenever and wherever, so this was before my usual scrabble game on Sunday.

I happen to go to yoga before my drawing class and as promised, drinks, cookies and delicious cheese cakes were ready and waiting when I got there. 

In addition, Donna, (in red and white stripes above) had made the beautiful card below and everyone signed.

Donna also brought a cheese cake.

And Norma, (extreme left) who had also promised to bring me a strawberry cheesecake, did so and even brought champagne!

However, as our senior center is a non-alchohol zone, we didn't open it, so the bottle was donated to me to carry home.

And didn't I enjoy it😊. 

I not only love my art teacher, but everyone who attends our class, as Michelle knows

how to motivate us how to celebrate life, and everyone had the party spirit today!

Yup, I may never become a great artist, but I will certainly continue to enjoy attending this class.😁

93 and chugging along😊

I can't think of anyone I have known all my life on this planet, apart from my immediate family. 

Apart from the  Ramsay's.

Sybil youngest son Hon. Peter Davis, starts the proceedings.

They lived in Middle Quarters, nextdoor to my grandparents, so everytime I visited my grandmother, I saw them.

                  Second son Robert, with Camara

Sybil, or rather Dr. Sybil Davis, who turned 93 years old this week, is only one of three surviving members of the children of that family, so I was honored to be able to celebrate the milestone with her.

The birthday girl with her eldest son

Richard.

She has been consistently celebrating her birthday every year, (since I moved to Florida) but this year she declared it would be the last. 

Hope it isn't, as I always look forward to the get together.

My cousin Barry, serenading the birthday girl

Her brother, the late Father Ken Ramsay, had been one of my closest friends in Jamaica for decades, but he died during Thanksgiving weekend, about 4 years ago.

Always missing him.

 Apart from being a priest, he was an accomplished water color artist, and I am happy Sybil gave me this painting from his collection, as it cements my memory of him.

A watercolor by the late father Ken Ramsay

Sybil is of course a Taurean as I am, (our birthdays are four days apart) so her parties have  always been more or less mine too.😊.

So hoping next year's will be on as usual.

Afrrican American Museum, Charleston

There was so much to see at the International African American Museum, that I was disappointed that I had so little time to take it in properly.

In fact, from all appearances, it appeared to have a far more comprehensive history than many others I have visited. For as it promises; it tells the unvarnished stories of the African American experience across generations, the trauma and triumph that gave rise to a resilient people.

The pictures and story boards I was able to see during a limited period, were really good.

So, below I have recorded all the pics and stories I was able to take, in the hope that soon I will be able to return to them and educate myself thoroughtly. 

section of thesculpture garden outside the museum

If I ever visit Charleston again, I will certainly put aside an entire day to spend inside this beautiful and educational museum.

 

Charleston, S.C

On visiting a new city, I usually take the hop on hop off bus tour, but none was available in Charleston, so I took a city tour with Adventure Tours.

After that tour, I concluded that  Charleston remains a solidly segregated city. (You never get a second chance to make a first impression !).

Beautiful Charleston was established in 1670,  and is named in honor of King Charles 11. It is the oldest city in South Carolina. 

During the Transatlantic Slave Trade, about 40 percent of enslaved Africans brought into the country passed through Charleston Harbor, and while many were sold around the south, a great number were kept there to enrich the greedy and brutal land owners.

It is today a very beautiful city with magnificent architecture, emphasizing the affluence of its bloody past.

It is today a very beautiful city with magnificent architecture, emphasizing the affluence of its bloody past.

 Of course, as Christianity has always walked hand in hand with slavery and oppression, on my visit there in 2024, I wasn't surprised at seeing the vast number of Churches that this one city had! (It's recorded as 400 churches).

All buildings have to maintain their original look on the outside but inside can be used for anything.  

A private dwelling

Even through my visit was so many centuries after slavery was allegedly abolished,  I had no difficulty imagining how it must have been during that horrible period and the Jim Crow era, as the disparities are still so obvious. 

For where the multi-million dollar mansions were located (average price $7 million for one of those residences, we were told), you would see the white people lolling around, tanning, walking their dogs, jogging, enjoying a leisurely life, while the black people were outside tending the lawns, cleaning and fixing the roads.

I had to shake my head in disbelief at the disparities which were so obvious today!

Interestingly, Charlson was voted seven times as the best tourist destination in the world by Travel and Leisure, we were told. And yes, you see hundreds of tourists on the streets.

 Of course, they are mostly white, and I learnt at the African American Museum, that most who visit that city, come to see if they can experience some of the 'Scarlett Ohara' lifestyle, as portrayed in Gone with the Wind!

On the table in front, roses made from sweetgrass which young afro American boys sell on the streets as they hustle to make a buck.

It was pathetic scene in such a wealthy place.

I don't know what the racial situation is in offices is, but that's what I saw on the streets outside.

The regular market where you get great Gullah art and craft.

Everything about Charleston still seems to revolve around color, I concluded.

This is the Citadel, which was established in the early 1820's with the formation of a militia and state arsenal, to defeat a slave revolt.

 In 1842, it became an academy, establishing it as the South Carolina Military Academy.

 In 1910 it was renamed The Citadel, but it took sixteen years after legal segregation ended in public schools, for this important institution to admit its first black student!

An actual aircraft on the lawn at the Citidel

You can get a tour of the city in a horse drawn carriage

This elegant jail was originally built for white prisoners!  

Senator Tim Scott

Considering its history and present appearance, Charleston is naturally a solid bastion for the Republicans. 

So, who better to try to hide the troubling realities other than the one and only Tim Scott, who is now striving to be Donald Trump's vice president!

 Despite its current distasteful racial situation and troubling past, I must commend the local authorities there for necessary futuristic action!

 For it was there at the Visitor Center that I found a restroom where women don’t have to wait in long lines while no one uses the men’s restrooms!

 You see, there, both women and men use the same restroom.

Just close your bathroom door.

I have always wondered why architects don't just design buildings with twice as many female rest rooms as men’, but this is also a solution to our problem!😆.

Yes, pretty city and fururistic, but Charleston still left me feeling depressed and uncomfortable!

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