This comes after years of vacillation on the part of any Jamaican government to wholeheartedly recognise and commemorate the achievements and contribution of Reggae music and its practitioners to Jamaica and the world at large.
One of the ironies of Jamaican social life is the fact that most of our post-colonial politicians derive from and represent the interests of the middle class. This class happens to be the most conservative of all the local classes and in the main is hostile to Reggae because of prejudices against its creators who are largely from the urban working class and peasantry. Furthermore, Reggae and Rasta are so closely associated that it compounds this backward neo-colonial instinct.
Now that the government has taken this progressive initiative, hopefully it will propel the crumbling of psychological barriers inhibiting the acceptance and further development of Reggae among the Jamaican middle classes.
Recognising the obviously short planning and organisational timeframe leading up to the announcement, I still must express my hope that from next year and going forward, the events commemorating the month will be more multi-dimensional than the current activities. Whereas Bob Marley is undoubtedly the king of Reggae and deserves all the accolades being bestowed on him, to the average onlooker it would seem that the focus is almost exclusively on Bob. To the cynics at large, it gives the distinct impression that the Ministry of Culture simply adopted the usual programme of activities normally organised by the Bob Marley and Rita Marley Foundations.
Furthermore, the Global Reggae Conference, organised by the University of the West Indies' Reggae Studies Unit, as well as the Reggae Academy Awards, established by the Recording Industry Association of Jamaica (RIAJam) while giving the month of activities more depth, these events were planned long in advance of Minister Grange's announcement. Therefore, the Ministry has really not given us anything new or substantial which would give practical effect to its own initiative. This gives rise to the suspicion that the sudden announcement was inspired solely by the intent to enhance the Marley Foundations' Africa Unite and Smile Jamaica 2008 efforts.
One of the things we are very good at in Jamaica is using a broad brush to gloss over the need for comprehensive research and analysis which should inform the planning and development of national programmes and agendas of this nature. From time to time this has allowed the general population to be manipulated under the banner of a good cause or national interest. We must aggressively guard against that happening in this particular instance.
In truth, I expected more emphasis on other artistes and other aspects of Reggae. For instance, a most obvious oversight and a simple way of broadening the focus would have been to recognise the works of artistes whose birthdays fall within the month of February. This would have included the works of notably, Dennis Brown and Pam Hall, who were born on February 1 and Horace Andy, born on February 19. Then, has it dawned on any one involved in the planning of this year's celebration of Reggae Month, that Derrick Harriott, Bunny Rugs of Third World and Marley all share the same birth day? These are all artistes who richly deserve their fair share of the lime light during Reggae Month.
While I do not want to be too quick to judge, nor do I want to see Reggae Month being celebrated superficially in Jamaica simply to advance a political agenda or singular interest within the industry, as I have said repeatedly, Reggae is the patrimony of all Jamaicans, even those who do not ascribe to its ingenuity.
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