'Righting' ourselves

Jamaicans have a sort of 'fundamentalist' approach to our lives. Many of us demonstrate crass, 'lumpen' behaviour. We support political parties because we believe that they will 'do' for us. We are willing to see those who support the rival party as 'the enemy' when election time comes around and to speak of the leaders of that party as 'wicked' and self-serving and accuse them wholeheartedly of not caring for the poor.

But our sociologists explain this as a direct result of the nature of our politics, and the traditions our political leaders had developed of sharing, among the party faithful mainly, the scarce benefits available. So the 'other' party was indeed the enemy as, if it succeeds, that means suffering for your own family; and if 'your' party wins, it means a period of reasonably good times. So the logic, though crude, is understandable. It is all a matter of survival or, at least, of ensuring a bearable life for one's family.

But, when erstwhile political gangs developed a measure of self-sufficiency and were able to operate independently of the politicians, and when these gangs became independently wealthy and powerful, loyalties shifted. It was no longer 'we will follow Bustamante till we die'; political leaders were no longer Moses and Joshua. Rather, it became 'after God, is Dudus!'

The new power wielders

In Jamaica, the new power wielders are the 'dons', and this is where much of the loyalty now lies. It will take tremendous political will and social change to wrest this power back from them. And 'removing' the leaders will not work, as new ones will emerge. 'Zekes' has been replaced, and so has 'Bun Man' of One Order, and so will Dudus. As I write, there is a battle raging among those who wish to replace Tesha, who reputedly replaced 'Bulbie' as the Clansman leader.

What is fascinating is the role of the local pop musician in all of this. From the earliest days, he was signi-ficant. Under artistes like Bob Marley, Burning Spear and Culture, he became a voice of protest, the revolutionary arm of the people's struggle. Somewhere in the '90s, this changed. He no longer was the voice crying out for justice and pointing out the inequities of the system. He became the apologist for, the defender of the don.

'Never let a politician do you favour' came to be interpreted as: put your faith in the 'area leader' instead! 'Throw down your arms and come' became 'mi a go shop wid mi nine'. The 'peace and love' cries have become 'informer fi dead', 'chichi man fi dead'. The 'informer' theme has led to the situation where our youth genuinely believe that there is something wrong with reporting a crime to the police and that going to the area leader is the correct route.

Battle for 'leadership'

A concomitant development also moved us in a direction that is diametrically opposed to that of the heady days when we led the world in the protest against injustice and in calling for the black man to find his beauty. Out of the blue, a battle has emerged for 'leadership' in the industry between Mavado, the 'Gully God', and Vybz Kartel, 'the Teacher' affiliated with 'Gaza'. There were a lot of negatives coming from both men, but, interestingly, when Mavado began to move away from the negative and Kartel went more deeply into it, Kartel became all the rage. It was now not only about the valorisation of criminality, but also the justification of bleaching and the reduction of women to sex 'objects' and a subtle attempt to get the women themselves to accept this and to degrade themselves while so doing.

Yet, as in everything in this country, the negatives could not hold sway for too long, and there has been a swing in the attention of the people away from the negatives. They are coming from everywhere: Tony Rebel and his ilk have gained more authority; the singers of love songs are beginning to hold greater sway, and from everywhere have come the women, the 'lionesses on the rise'. Bolt, Asafa, VC, the Sunshine Girls are our new heroes. And in schools, the Schools' Challenge Quiz team, if successful, are bigger heroes than ever.

This society has a way of righting itself when things become desperate. We are witnessing that now.

Keith Noel is an educator. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and keithanoel@gmail.com.