Fire spreading

"I see the fire spreading; it's getting hotter and hot. The haves will want to be in the shoes of the have-nots."

Remember that Marcia Griffiths song? Who knew it was truly an omen? If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth a thousand pictures. I saw a thousand pictures the other day - a fascinating video of Jamaica in 1929. The footage offered a truly amazing view of our island nearly a century ago.

The images of tree-lined streets, littered with pedestrians scurrying about while dodging classic buggies and horse-drawn carriages are a ghostly reminder of buoyant times. The close-up shots of their faces are truly mesmerising. These faces - unmistakably Jamaican - were different from the ones to which we've grown accustomed. These faces were hopeful - unspoiled by the bitterness of futility.

The fire travelled across England recently. From Tottenham to Birmingham, young people took to the streets in violent protest. The initial salvo occurred when police gunned down alleged gang-banger Mark Duggan (no relation). A police sharpshooter's bullet terminated the 29-year-old's life and ignited the powder keg of social tension that has long been brewing in England.

The ensuing riots were less about Duggan and more about a generation of embittered young Britons growing increasingly desperate with their lot in life. Idle, jobless and despondent, this generation has been brought up in an era of ostentatious materialism, bombarded with overt displays of wealth, yet rendered virtually useless within the current global industrial configuration.

Shrinking government budgets, including drastic cuts to social safety programmes, have compounded the problem, leaving hordes of wayward youth ready to unleash their fury at the slightest provocation.

Flames licking elsewhere

Similar protests have transpired throughout Europe. With countries preparing tough austerity measures, more are expected. Uprisings across the Arab world have toppled previously entrenched regimes. In China, polls show that 96 per cent of the population resent the wealthy. Even in the United States, the Tea Party movement has thrust America's teetering social fabric into a new phase of dysfunction.

The sparks flared on our own shores last year. Unlike the faces in 1929, the faces in 2010 were anything but hopeful; they were callous, angry and defiant. They took to the streets to defend their 'President' - the only source of benevolence they have ever known.

While the smoke has since cleared, the inflammatory conditions persist - at least 25 per cent of youth are unemployed; record numbers wallow in poverty as the gap between rich and poor distends; gangs are rapidly plugging holes left by broken homes. Despite baseless assurances to the contrary, the Government's looming budget cuts will only compound the problems.

Look around the streets. Look at the youths' faces - from the safety of your car if you must. It's not hope that's brimming in their eyes; it's malice, it's discontentment, it's raging fire - and it's getting hotter and hot.

In Memoriam

In 1987, video cameras weren't the ubiquitous technology they are today. There were no YouTubes or Facebooks through which regular people could instantly broadcast videos across the globe. It's amazing, then, that in a little town, in our little island, the memories of my eldest sister, Allison's, sweet sixteen were captured and forever cemented in history. It's intriguing to watch those moments frozen in time - the laughter; the toasts; the '80s music; my big, seven-year-old head darting around the venue.

Back then, if you wanted video documentation of these special moments, you had to turn to one of a handful of videographers who possessed the talent and equipment to do the job. In Mandeville, in 1987, just about the only person who could be entrusted with that responsibility was an enterprising teenager by the name of Christopher Gooden. Over the years, Chris' camera captured prized moments throughout Mandeville and across Jamaica. From weddings to concerts and everything in-between, Chris was called upon to record those priceless instants that would have otherwise disappeared into the unforgiving abyss of time.

Early Sunday morning, as he drove home from filming a wedding in Montego Bay, Chris Gooden's life came to a tragic and abrupt end. Today, I take a moment to remember a young man who spent half a lifetime capturing the treasured moments of countless Jamaicans - a thousand pictures at a time. May God comfort his family and friends and may He keep his soul in everlasting peace.

Din Duggan is an attorney working as a consultant with a global legal search firm. Email him at columns@gleanerjm.com or dinduggan@gmail.com, or view his past columns at facebook.com/dinduggan and twitter.com/YoungDuggan.