May 25, 2010

If I keep this in, it will poison me...

I am not quite sure if I have the appropriate words but if I say nothing, I fear all the angst I have trapped in my heart and mind will poison me. Now, I'm no politics and public affairs guru but I am a born and raised Jamaican and there are certain indisputable truths re: the situation currently taking place in my island home. I'm not even going to get too specific because I don't even think the issue is related to the situation currently taking place...it is a result of a culture of denial and stigma that has existed in my island home for as long as I have been alive (and certainly, before).

I am angry at us. Me, you, all Jamaicans. The Jamaican citizenry. I mean, how long have we lived with, ignored, sometimes benefited, or suffered at the hands of corruption on the island? I know only too well that when reported, the victims are ignored or silenced. However, what if by some miracle, literal and definitely spiritual (because only GOD can help), we all decide to say NO. Regardless of the outcome. No to the shady cops. No the extortionists. No to the slippery slimy politicians. No to the connection to help you get off from paying some fee/tax/fine/ticket. JUST #$%! NO. What if? What if we stop frickin' inheriting our political alliances? What if? This is not damn sports day. This is our future.

When I hear of the Jamaica of my parents and realize the damage that can occur in just one generation, I could weep. As a babe, I still had the opportunity to experience the well advanced rail transport system. My parents can talk of the number of well-equipped hospitals/health care facilities, the excellent tradition our small island had in academic, athletic, and cultural achievement (& to a lesser degree we still do due to blessings I tell you and not because we value and support the talents we've been entrusted with). Not to mention the richness of our soil and the beauty of our island, natural and man made.

There's more in me but I am spent.

See why I have nothing to say? Because people with the power to say something and actually effect change always sit silently or feel sorry for 'those people' in times of war but when everything quiet down, do nothing. Because we aren't being shot at, because we survived another flare up, and of course there's Hawkeye/Kings Alarm/gated communities/friends in high places to protect us. No one is piling bodies of our family and friends feet high because none of us have to live in or loot in or fight in/against or die in the ghetto. So, when it is all over, we go back to work and play, and the struggle continues in the rural and urban ghettos of Jamaica. More children. More frustration. More injustice. More poverty. More sickness. More starvation. More death. More sadness. More anger. Less opportunity. Less education. Less self worth. Less value.

2 comments:

  1. So so true..particularly your point on inheriting political alliances! A a people, we've got to do better for our future's sake.

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  2. Thanks for reading and commenting...I really appreciate it. I agree with you. Right now, we have to do better for the generations behind us.

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