Gun ownership

 Hmm. Interesting statistics.

And Jamaica was on the same trajectory as Honduras!

The cultural mix

 I love Tamarac. It's such a fun city with a warm culture.

One Love is the unofficial Jamaican motto.

Today we seniors had a program called 'the cultural mix' where we celebrated our diverse cultures using food, fashion and dance.

It sure was fun.

Norma and I 

Jasmine

Edith

A variety of desserts

These are candle holders used in Hannukah

Jamaican flag big and bold

Ecuador flag

Venezuelan flags aplenty 

Joan, a super volunteer

Phyllis is 93 but rarely misses an event!

Eric

There was also a good selection of dishes from various countries, all brought by the attendees.

Curried chicken

Roti

Colombian potatoes?

Rice and peas

A Jamaican favorite, turned cornmeal aka polenta

Then it was time to demonstrate the dances from various countries..

Colombian rhythm.

         Puerto Ricans demonstrate their moves.

       Everyone got up for Bob Marley!

Exotic Latin moves.

A Honduran lady kept her flag throughout!

Maria from Ecuador sure knows her thing!

Yup. We have a wide representation of people from all over the world.

And it's peaceful coexistence.

Tamarac is in reality the city of your dreams.

Making opportunities

National Hero Marcus Mosiah Garvey summarized our long-established practice when he said; “Take advantage of every opportunity; where there is none, make it for yourself.”

After slavery was abolished, our ancestors who had been forcibly uprooted from their country and families, found themselves without any opportunities.  For whereas those who had enslaved them for years received monetary compensation for losing free labor, most who had labored free, got nothing, no land, no money nothing to start their free life with.

Some chose to go back to work for the wicked slave masters just to get food to survive. Others fled to unpopulated areas in the hills to find a piece of land on which to eke out a living. The really courageous ones found whatever could use to sail away from the island to shores unknown.

I say really courageous as they never knew where they would end up or even arrive alive at any place, but to them, even death was better than going back to work for those monsters.

They therefore took the ultimate sacrifice to try and make opportunities for themselves.

We have no idea how many of the freed slaves who embarked on those dangerous treks arrived alive anywhere. We know a large number found their way to nearby Cuba which was getting wealthier every day as a sugar and rum manufacturing hub. Some of us can still find our relatives in provinces such as Santiago De Cuba, Holguin, and Guantanamo Bay.

Work on the construction of the Panama Canal in 1881 was a next big opportunity for poverty-stricken Jamaicans. Thousands died on that project. In fact, it was suspended for many years because of the high mortality rate. However, among those who survived, places like Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica and even some countries in South America were where they later pursued opportunities.

The next big migration of Jamaicans came during the world wars, whether it was to fight for the former slave owing country or later, to provide cheap labor to rebuild their economy.

In short, marginalized Jamaicans have never been shy about seeking opportunities abroad where none existed at home. So, when countries such as Canada and the USA started to make migration easier, thousands trekked there too. Ever heard of the ‘farm work’ programs? Thousands never returned too!

Things took a different turn in the 1970’s though. For it was the threat of communism with all its ills, that caused mostly already-educated Jamaicans who never lacked opportunities at home as well as members of the affluent middle class to seek out countries where their safety and freedoms would not be in jeopardy.

That was when what is described as the real brain drain began.

And it has never ceased for as communication becomes better, individuals are finding that their skills and training can attract far bigger bucks in first world countries than they can earn at home.

Whatever the reasons, the fact is there are either about the same number of or even more Jamaicans living abroad as live on the island.

With a history like ours, it should surprise no one that the latest Fund for Peace data, shows Jamaica being second in the world in terms of migration. (See the table of the top 5 below.)

Countries	Human flight and brain drain, 2022	Global rank	Available data
Samoa	10	1	2007 - 2022
Jamaica	9.1	2	2007 - 2022
Palestine	8.8	3	2021 - 2022
Micronesia	8.7	4	2007 - 2022
Somalia	8.7	5	2007 - 2022

In most instances however, those Jamaicans who left their homeland for whatever reason, have never turned their backs on their country, for the record of their massive remittances sent to help those who were left behind, is living testimony of their love.

And, remittances have even on occasion topped tourism as our leading foreign exchange earner, especially after that horrible Covid virus struck.

Last year, the Business Observer carried an analysis entitled ‘Remittances — Jamaica's economic lynchpin.”

It said in part; even though the World Bank predicted global remittances would fall by 22 per cent, with the Latin America and Caribbean region expected to record a 19.3 percent drop, Jamaica has defied this fate as remittance inflows grew by 25 per cent to US $1.53 billion ($221.1 billion) and net remittances went up by 30 per cent to US $1.41 billion from April to September 2020.”

Although so many Jamaicans have made opportunities for themselves overseas, it has never been a risk-free enterprise.

Actually, it takes a great deal of courage to leave friends and families to pursue opportunities in countries unknown, at times even starting at rock bottom in places where neither the language or culture are familiar.

That is why so many in the diaspora took umbrage at the imbecilic pronouncement by the Deputy Mayor of Montego Bay, Richard Vernon.

I don’t know the level of education that Vernon has or even if he has any knowledge of our history, but by calling those who sought opportunities abroad cowards, he exposed a level of ignorance that is unacceptable for a so-called leader!

 

Strange christian rituals

With the recent events surrounding the life and death of the late Kevin Smith, discussions regarding strange religious practices, cults and cultism have taken center stage.

For those who have been living on Mars, Kevin Smith, a self-described doctor, prophet, healer, pastor and even king, who was addressed as His Excellency, was the founder of Pathways International Kingdom Restoration Ministers, in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Kevin Smith with former prime minster Portia Simpson-Miller

He came to national attention after the police raided his church because of reports that they had conducted human sacrifices there. Two sacrificed persons were found dead in his church, so Smith and several of his congregants were arrested for murder.

Within a week of his arrest, as Smith was being transferred to a court hearing in Kingston, the car in which he was travelling crashed and he and one of his police escorts were killed.

While it took reports of human sacrifices to wake up the nation to outrageous religious practices, I have for years been personally repulsed by the fixation on blood in many of the Christian religions.

A human who was sacrifice3d at Kevin Smith's church

I still remember my shock when first being exposed to this strange attraction. It was decades ago at a funeral in a Roman Catholic church, when during the communion, the congregants were invited to drink wine and eat bread which the parson said symbolized Jesus’ blood and flesh.

Thoughts that this must indicate a penchant towards cannibalism, immediately arose in my mind and have stayed with me since then, as far as that religion is concerned.

For why else would the consumption of flesh and blood arise!

While the suggestion of the intake of human blood remains weird to me, blood sacrifice seems to be quite common in a number of denominations in the Christian religion, and not only in Jamaica.

I remember being invited to a feast in Trinidad while on a visit to our sister island some years ago. It was the annual convention of the Spiritual Baptists there. What I wasn’t told beforehand however was that several of the animals that had been donated by some congregants, would have had their throats cut in sacrifice during the church service!

That one stayed with me too.

Then there was the time when I visited a Kumina ceremony in St. Thomas where one lady got into the spirit. Immediately, a “Bishop” from Bull Bay, bit off  the head of a live white chicken and scattered the blood all over her.

Lawd ha massi, it was gross.

But back to Kevin Smith.

This is a report from the Daily Gleaner  about a chilling incident;"Twenty-six-year-old Kevin 'Big Dog' Grant, who was recently captured on tape drinking blood from the head of a freshly slaughtered goat, was shot dead at a rented apartment in Discovery Bay, blood-drinking ritual is common among scammers, who believe that it offers them protection from harm, help them to elude the police, and make them more successful in fleecing money from unsuspecting victims.Investigators also believe that Grant had paid a huge sum in seeking spiritual protection from the late Kevin O. Smith...."

The king with some of his subjects

Since it was revealed that the sacrifices at his church extended from animals to humans, he is being described in some church circles as a devilish cult leader.

I won’t argue with that description, however, the fact is he had quite a large and dedicated congregation and, it is not unusual for people to be attracted to cults, no matter how evil some others say they are.

One precise definition of cultism is; a misplaced or excessive admiration for a particular person or thing. That being so, both religion and its evil twin brother, politics, is full of cultists!

I combine them, as those two vocations have been responsible for the most murder and mayhem in the world throughout history.

It therefore neither unusual nor strange, that Jamaica, the country which is reported to have the most churches per square mile, is among the top five most murderous countries in the world. (47 per hundred thousand). We are in lock step with Honduras and El Salvador, two other countries that also have religion coming out of their pores.

On the other hand, countries like Japan ( murder rate .26 per hundred thousand) and Estonia (murder rate 3.5 per hundred thousand) are listed in the World Population Review as being among the least religious places in the world.

Coincidence or a direct link?

I cringe every time I hear people trying to spread religion, for though I am by no means an atheist, the most impressive doctrine I have ever heard being promoted was by the Dalai Lama.

Unambiguously stated, it is; “My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.”

No weird rituals nor drama.

https://youtu.be/t896a9UQxtc

Jamaica an English-speaking country?

Every time I hear someone say Jamaica is an English-speaking country, I have a good laugh.  Not only because the last survey (2007) done on the topic showed that less than 18% of  us speak it, but because of the hilarious experiences I know about.

The first was when relatives from Nicaragua, Bluefields to be exact, sent their children here to learn English.

For the benefit of those who don’t know of our close connection to that part of the world, let me explain our links.

As you probably know, in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, thousands of Caribbean people including Jamaicans, went to Panama to seek work on the canal project. That was a dangerous project and thousands died, but when it was completed in 1914, some persons returned home. However, many others decided to seek opportunities in the region and those who did not remain in Panama, moved up to Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and even over to the San Andres Island among other places.

Interestingly, it was the Jamaicans who named an area on the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua where they settled, Bluefileds, after our own Bluefields in Westmorland.

This is where some of my relatives settled and it was some grandchildren of one of my cousins there, who were sent to Jamaica to learn English. They went to live in Clarendon with another relative who operated a bakery there. While there, they attended elementary school nearby.

Well, that project failed badly, so after a few weeks the parents had to come and retrieve their children, for not only did they not learn a word of English, but also every second word out of the mouth of the babes was a bad word.

I heard an even more amusing story from a young lady I met in Florida where she was studying psychology. She told me she was born in East Asia, Myanmar to be exact and her parents who were doctors, wanted herself and her young brother to learn English. They found on the internet, this beautiful island in the Caribbean where it was revealed that English was spoken. Excitedly, they wrote to the government to enquire if there was any demand for doctors and were quickly recruited.

When they arrived here, they were posted to a quite large, supposedly progressive district in St. Thomas, where, she then nine, and her brother then seven, were enrolled into a local elementary school.

She enjoyed her time there and better yet, how quickly she was becoming proficient at  ‘English!’

Three years later, she was sent to a prestigious high school in Kingston and from the first day, every time she opened her mouth to speak, her colleagues in class laughed uproariously!

At first, she couldn’t understand why, then someone drew her aside to tell her she was speaking patois they were not allowed to do so in class!

Long story short, she eventually learnt English there and was happy to report that she is now tri-lingual, speaking her native language, patois and English!

I don’t how common it is for foreigners to move here to learn English only to learn that we are not really an English-speaking Country. Unfortunately, the problem does not only lie with school kids and some parents but teachers as well. For how well I remember how often I had to go in to see the English Teacher at a Spanish Town high school when I lived there, because she was marking things wrong in my children’s English homework book, when they were right!

I love patois to the point where I now have a you tube channel teaching whoever wishes, to speak Jamaican patois. I, however, love learning other languages for I totally agree with the Canadian, Yama Mubtaker, that “If people had the right skills and intention to communicate well, there would be no conflict. The better we are at communicating, the better our lives will be.”

You know, we have many young ambitious Jamaicans all over the globe teaching English. By not ensuring that all our own citizens master this international language, we are really stymieing their progress in the midst of the myriad of opportunities worldwide in so many different areas.

Why don’t we use some of these specially trained young people  who are teaching foreigners all over the globe, to teach English in those sections of Jamaica where people’s progress is being impeded because of their inability to communicate in this important international language?

Let’s start living in the real world instead of the land of make believe.

English speaking indeed!

 

https://youtu.be/EG_UIhU0uac

(268) JAMAICAN PATWAH - YouTube

 

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Religion and Violence

As I have  tried to understand the love of  violence by the Jamaican people which has caused us to be number 6 in terms of countries with the highest number of murders per capita, yet according to the Guinness book of world records, we also boast the highest number of churches per square, I have been becoming more and more convinced that there is a direct relationship.

This small payer meeting was the only sign of religious activity I saw in a 146 km drive from Holguin to Frank Pais on good Friday!

More specifically, I have surmised  that our penchant for violence has something to do with our love for the Old Testament, which is in my book, one of the most violent publications ever unleashed on this world.

My views are even more reinforced now that I have returned to Cuba and seen that people there have no interest in religion although religious freedom is in no way restricted, yet they are such peaceful and loving people with a very low rate of violent confrontation .

Yes, some people tell me that it is because they have a repressive government but  Latin America is replete with a history of repressive governments while retaining their  love for religion yet the murder rates in countries like Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador are running Jamaica hard!

Yes sir, until I can find a more logical explanation, I remain even more convinced that as long as the Old Testament is drummed into the heads of our children, we have no hope of ever becoming a civilised,  peaceful, loving society!