Garvey Museum at last?

Am I dreaming or are we finally going to get a Garvey Museum at his birthplace in St. Ann?

My reason for hope is coming from an article I read in the Gleaner of 22^nd December 2022, entitled “Sisters receive houses to make way for Garvey’s museum”.

According to the report, “Sisters Jacinth and Carla Johnson were overcome with emotion when they received the keys to their new houses in Seville Heights, St Ann, from Prime Minister Andrew Holness, just in time for Christmas.”

These sisters had occupied the house in which Garvey was born, for years. 

It was a squabble about relocating them which had been given as the excuse by succesive governments for years, as the  reason why the museum could not be built there. 

Many years ago, I had visited the location in the middle of St. Ann, where Garvey was born and the sign demarking te property is extremely visible at the bottom of the steps of this humble home.

For years after that, I kept asking on Facebook what happened to the promised Museum (last post May 2020!) but could get no progress report. Then I was informed that the project was delayed because of financial wrangling with the current residents.

Well apparently, this has been now rectified which paves the way for the construction of the museum to honor of our first national hero.

While in Jamaica, there are normally years if not decades between when announcements are made and action taken, I hope this will not be the case in giving Garvey the honor he deserves by making his boyhood home a museum where we can all go and be reminded of his struggles and gifts to the world. 

For as the prime minister said at the handing over ceremony, “….Marcus Garvey’s philosophy, work and fight for equality helped pave the way for the liberation of an entire race worldwide, and in that regard his legacy deserved to be monumentalized.

He emphasized; “In any other country, a figure like Marcus Garvey, whose work, philosophy and leadership contributed significantly to the liberation of an entire race of people, his boyhood home would be a Mecca, a place where people from all over the world, particularly people of African descent, would come to see where it is that he drank water, mixed with the people, had the culture infused, and the life experiences from which he was able to generate with great eloquence and clarity of thought.”

My problem is though that we Jamaicans do not have much of a tradition of embracing the important symbols of our heroes.

Bogle's monument at Stony Gut is rundown and virtually abandoned

Take for example, the monument to National Hero Paul Bogle, in St. Thomas. 

Bogle was a leader of the 1865 Morant Bay protesters, who marched for justice and fair treatment for all the people in Jamaica. After leading the Morant Bay rebellion,  he was captured, tried and convicted by the colonial government (who had declared martial law), and hanged on 24 October 1865 in the Morant Bay court house.

But you would never know it if you visited his monument in Stony Gut or anywhere in St. Thomas. Joan, my views: Reggae Falls and Barren Monuments (joan-myviews.blogspot.com)

Even the home of the late, National Hero Norman which was extensively and expensively refurbished, remains a virtually empty and rarely visited monument in Manchester.

Yes, we pay lip service to our heroes and even spend money making memorials, but what publicity is given regularly to encourage our citizens to visit these places and appreciate our history?

None in my book. 

Not even the age-old custom of introducing kids to these historically significant sites by organizing school trips, seems to be done anymore.😡

Let’s hope that if and when the museum in St. Ann’s Bay is constructed, it will not be similarly ignored, for you could hardly ask for a more central location than this could you?

 

Of guns and conservatism

I find most members of the Republican Party in the USA (aka conservatives) very dangerous indeed. For if their philosophy is to be believed, when young children who are raped or been the victim incest, they must be reminded of the horror every day by being forced to carry an unwanted child for nine months.

On the other hand, if anyone wants an assault weapon to murder innocent children or anyone, they must be allowed to get it.

For why else would a civilian want an assault weapon except to commit mass murder?

I am not at all anti-gun, for in my book if someone wants to have a gun to protect themselves or their family, or to go hunting, they should by all means be allowed to do so.

However, there are guns for various types of activities. So, for example, some people tell me that assault weapons should be allowed for hunting. But my understanding of hunting is that it is a sport, so shouldn't the poor animal have some kind of a chance of survival?

According to the U.S. Department of Justice (in a 1994 debate,) "assault weapons are semiautomatic firearms with a large magazine of ammunition that were designed and configured for rapid fire and combat use."

I think the most relevant word above is combat, for that is really what they are designed for.

That means war.

Is it this love for weapons of war among a significant proportion of the Republicans in my book, which have caused America to start so many wars against far less armed nations too. For example, recent incursions into places like Iraq, and Libya.

It seems to me too, that American philosophy is really built on bullyism....... I have better weapons so I will kill you and take what you have.

Wasn’t that the entire foundation of the nation as they tried to wipe out the native Americans? And they have carried on that tradition over the years with non-whites being the targets under Jim Crow and ever since. (Heard of the Tulsa Massacre etc?)

According to the National Library of Medicine, assault weapons and other high-capacity semiautomatics appear to be used in a higher share of firearm mass murders (up to 57% in total)"

Would you believe the majority of decent Americans oppose having assault weapons in civilian hands?

 According to Gallup, between 57-61% of persons polled in the USA think assault weapons should be banned, but the legislators have consistently ignored these facts.

So why are most Republican legislators opposed to the banning of assault weapons when their constituents want them to be.

Corruption it would appear.

 In the USA, there is a well-entrenched method of bribing legislators called lobbying.

This is how Wikipedia begins its description of lobbying;

“In politics, lobbying, bribery, persuasion or 'special' interest representation is the act of a legally sanctioned attempt at influencing the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies.”

Among the richest organizations which use lobbyists in the USA; are gun manufacturers and the NRA (National Rifle Association). Why you may very well ask? The answer lies in the piece published by the Huffington Post in 2017 entitled "Assault Weapons Sales Boom Fuels Gun Industry Profits, And Tragedy." (It is interesting to learn via the History Newsletter, that the NRA opposed access and carrying of weapons in the 1960's when the Black Panters were the propoonents and whites were scared out of their pants by them!The NRA Supported Gun Control When the Black Panthers Had the Weapons - HISTORY)

 It is therefore my view that until the USA addresses the corrupt system of lobbying, they will forever be shedding tears and saying prayers for victims of mass murders, be they mere infants, Texas May 24th, black people two weeks before in Buffalo, or people in churches, cinemas, malls etc.

Yes, every country suffers from crime with which violence is often associated. For humans will forever reach for weapons with which to harm others, be they sticks, cars, guns etc.

 But must the USA continue to make it easy for anyone with a grudge to kill people by the dozens in the flash of an eye, simply because that is what the NRA and gun manufacturers want?