Letter of the Day | Dream of a First-World Jamaica

THE EDITOR, Madam:

Did not our forebears fight to reclaim the freedom we now enjoy today? Was freedom to our forebears just a dream? You know, that burning desire that must have weighed heavily on the chest plate of heroes like a Daddy Sharpe in the 1820s? To be on Daddy Sharpe’s dreamland should feel like heaven to me, but does it?

What was the purpose of our forebears’ resistance in the struggle to end chattel slavery as we know it? Was it not for us to be on this dreamland? Was it not so that for generations to come, instead of working the fields of the estate at Hope, we would now be educated there by teachers with similar features to ours? Whatever education we acquire out of their sacrifice must be used for the salvation of our people.

On Heroes Day, we reflect on the indelible contribution of our leaders to the upliftment and advancement of the Jamaican society.

Like A.L. Hendricks’ poem Old Jamaican Woman, what are your thoughts of us as a people and our beloved island State’s hereafter? It is undeniable the strides we’ve made as a nation on the one hand, and it is undeniable how much farther we have to go on this journey on the other.

There is no future for a people who deny their past. Our forebears did not suffer and die to give us the opportunity to be educated to slight, oppress or discourage our people. If black people knew their glorious past, they would be more inclined to respect themselves. The world is indebted to us for the benefits of civilisation.

Why did scholars such as Marcus Garvey (Jamaican), Eric Williams (Trinidadian) and Walter Rodney (Guyanese) left us a wealth of knowledge that enables us to understand our history and to help us stride forward into our glorious future? Was it not to edify us as men and women, human beings? To let us all know we are capable of the same acts as any other race, possessing under fair circumstance the same intelligence as any other race? We must not abuse God’s confidence in us as men.

Jamaica is a developing country, with a lesser industrial-based economy, low life expectancy, a low rate of education, and a low standard of living.

Is it too much to dream of a First-World Jamaica? Is it not our duty as Jamaican people with as colourful a history as ours to demonstrate through our deeds that we, with all our hearts, with all our souls and with all our might, will strive for Jamaica to become a developed State? Can we do it? We can do it. We must do it.

We must decide. The cause is grand. Surely, we shall not turn back. To have you on my dreamland would be like heaven to me.

JAHMAR CLARKE

Attorney-at-Law