'We De People'

Groundins

By: Charles H.E. Campbell

There are a few statistics that starkly define our current social environment. When he was head of the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), I once heard Dr Wesley Hughes say that, an estimated 60% of Jamaica's economic activity and gross domestic product is not captured by official statistics. That means that the underground economy plays a significant role in providing employment and social mobility. I give you three guesses as to the main means of production.

In Jamaica, the lives of over 750 people have already been snuffed out this year; some in the most barbaric ways. It reminds one of the Poll Pot and Idi Amin regimes. Our national murder rate averages more than 62 per hundred thousand. The weapon of choice used to commit 80% of these killings was the gun. The police further inform us, 80% of these fatal confrontations are gang related.

This situation did not mysteriously descend upon us, like the plague of locusts (God's Army), in the biblical book of Joel. We have all watched as it slowly devolved to this. Too frightened, too tribal, too complicit, too benefited to do anything about it -- until now -- now, when it envelopes all our social activities and threatens our very survival.

Now don't get me wrong, I whole heartedly support any effort to rid of us this mobster rule and return Jamaica to more peaceful times. The security forces have shown more resolve than ever before and we have already begun to see positive results from the brave, onerous efforts on our behalf. Whereas, in the past, I doubted their capacity and ability to take decisive, effective, prolonged action, I now believe that, given the support and perseverance of civil society, they can, to a large extent, rid of us this spectre.

The problems we face have to be attacked on other layers as well. Three questions immediately arise. Even if the police and soldiers are reasonably successful in purging our communities of this crop of terrorist/criminals, with the drug trade being an economic imperative, won't a new set of goons just replace them, as we have continually seen occur, over the decades since the 1970s?

How do we substitute the income and reorient the minds, especially of our youth, from the violent and mendicant mentality, that tribal politics and easy drug money have inculcated in them? What are we going to do about the widespread, brazen, corrupt practices by our political leadership, which created and fosters the atmosphere that breeds and engenders this backward cultural manifestation?

Over 30 years ago, Ernie Smith asked some potent questions in his song, We the People/ The Power and the Glory, and they still go a begging for answers: We de people want fi know/Just where we're going/Right now we hands are tied/Tied behind we back while certain people/If and buttin'/Where do we stand?/We have too far to go/Not to really know/Just how we're getting there/And if we getting anywhere/We have too much to change/Not to know the range/Of possibility/And changeability/Violence and crime are common place/Within this said times/No man walk free/Prophecy come closer to fulfilment/In these dread times/Why should this be?/And as we fight one another/Fi de power and de glory/Jah Kingdom goes to waste.

Although spurred by the unfortunate shooting death of Voicemail's O'Neil Edwards and the gun wounding of Mad Cobra, the recent activism of the dancehall fraternity in the cause of peace and against criminality, is a welcome turn of events. Marcus Garvey did warn us that "til our backs are against the wall, will we not know ourselves". I hope that the postponed peace march -- planned by them -- which is to proceed from the Police Officers Club on Hope Road to National Heroes Circle will still take place, soon after the lifting of the state of emergency.

The music industry in Jamaica will have an important part to play if we are going to succeed in taking back Jamaica. We have to clean up our own act, and also hold the feet of the politicians firmly to the fire, this time. More than any other sector of civil society, we have the ears and hearts of everyday persons. Through our songs, talks and social interaction, we can motivate and mobilise them to lend support to the united cause of civil society, in pressing for the transformation required in the social architecture of our communities; and of the political superstructure, in a clearly defined, committed and reasonable time-frame. No more "if and buttin", while Jah Kingdom goes to waste.

While most other business sectors have regained relative normality, the entertainment sector continues to bleed, and will do so for some time still. Our sector has suffered the main brunt of the current security operations. As a consequence, there has been a drastic fall-off in business for all those concerned: from the recording studios that have lost significant bookings from overseas customers, who have cancelled their trips to Jamaica; to live concerts, the night clubs and other places of entertainment, activities have been postponed, scaled back or cancelled. Most entrepreneurs' income streams have either ground to a screeching halt or all but dried up. [In the national interest (pun intended)] we have to reverse this recurring decimal, once and for all, before we are totally decimated.

Email: che.campbell@gmail.com
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/entertainment/-We-de-people-_7726279

Cyaan Ketch Quakuh...

Groundins

By: Charles H.E. Campbell

“IF yu cyaan ketch Quakuh, you ketch im shut” is a very well-known Jamaican proverb. I am reasonably sure, however, that if a survey was conducted, very few would be able to tell who Quakuh really was. Yet, he was someone who played a most significant role in the early history of our people’s struggle against foreign domination by the Spanish, followed by the British colonisers.

Quao (kwao) was the military strategist for the Windward Maroons. Without his brilliance, the legend of Nanny, our national heroine, would not burn as brightly, as it still does. Maroon folklore teaches us that Quao was called the invisible hunter and warrior. The many raids he planned, orchestrated and executed on the British army encampments during the Maroon war, were not only unsuspicious, but also very daring. They were implemented with such speed, precision and efficiency that they were totally effective in decimating the ranks of the British soldiers, and demoralising the resolve of the surviving British troops, remaining in the theatre of battle.

It was he who masterminded the strategy for the entrapment and defeat of the British at the Spanish River in 1739. Although most British soldiers died, applying sophisticated tactics of psychological warfare, a few were allowed to escape, to communicate the disastrous results of the battle to British military headquarters in Port Antonio. Quao’s objective, of course, was to create shock and awe amongst the rank and file of the British troops. It was also to drive further fear and despondency into the hearts of the local British population, about the seemingly inevitable consequences for them, of a continuation of the war against the Windward Maroons. Conversely, history records that at the conclusion of that seminal battle, the only injury that the Maroons suffered was when a musket ball — fired from the rifle of a British soldier — struck Quao’s rifle and a fragment ricocheted into his face.

Quao’s strategy was so successful that it forced the British to sue for peace with the Windward Maroons. This led to the signing of the peace treaty between the British and the Windward Maroon community on June 23, 1739; the British having previously signed a similar treaty with Kojo and the Leeward Maroons.

To quote Colonel Frank Lumsden, the current leader of the Charles Town Maroons, “Until Jamaica understands that the spirit of the Maroons is the ground of Jamaica’s being; that which gives its being meaning, we will not have the strong cultural identity to give us the clarity to guide, lead or manage — by ourselves — our own destiny. And so, we will continue to flounder; in search of values of the past.”

The main original settlement of the Windward Maroons was in the hilly hinterland of Portland, at a place called Old Crawford Town. Access to and from this village was treacherous for friend and foe alike. More importantly, its terrain did not allow for extensive cultivation, farming, animal husbandry or the establishment of a permanent, sustainable economy and community.

Soon after the treaty was signed, therefore, Nanny and some of her followers established a new community in Moore Town, closer to Port Antonio. Sometime after, another group of Maroons left the main village and founded a distant one at Scotts Hall in St Mary; of which Tacky became their most famous inhabitant.

Quao and his followers initially moved to New Crawford Town for approximately seven years. Subsequently, in 1747 Charles Town was established as a major Maroon village by Quao and his followers. This allowed them extensive stretches of arable land, and easier access to markets and the coast, for trading purposes. They even created and have continuously maintained, the oldest known public park in Jamaica, called Quao’s Village.

Every year, on June 23, the Maroons of Charles Town commemorate Quao and the peace treaty. In 2009, they staged the first international Maroon conference, hosted by the Jamaican Maroon community. It was titled “Maroons in the Americas,” and had participants from Suriname, Mexico, North America and Jamaica. This year the Maroons’ council has organised the second international Maroon convention, titled “Meet me in the Circle”. This event will proceed from Monday, June 21 to Wednesday, June 23. The four main panels will cover the following areas: African backgrounds, Maroon resistance, Global Maroons, and Maroon identities.

This inter- and multi-disciplinary conference seeks to explore representations of Maroon culture in literature, art, music, film, theatre, and history.

The conference strives to increase awareness of Maroon contributions to contemporary societies, bringing together Maroons with scholars interested in Maroon heritage and indigenous cultures. In addition to exploring Maroon history and culture, the various events aim to develop strategies for sustainable development and wealth creation in Maroon communities.

With the theme, “Meet me in the Circle,” the conference aims to establish a “Maroon Connection” beyond Jamaica, reaching out to communities in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Caribbean, South America, and Africa.

The conference will host cultural events to commemorate the Annual Quao’s Victory Day (June 23).This includes the following: Drumming from Accompong, Scotts Hall, Moore Town, Maroon Communities, Dance of Fanna - Charles Town Maroon Community, Afrocentric Fashion Show & Art Fair, Capero - Brazilian Dance/Martial Arts, Dance & Drumming - Moore Town, Halifax - Canadian Conscious Rapper, Museum Tour, River Bathing, Tour of the 1800th Century Coffee Plantation, Introduction to Sambo Hill, Bammy Making demonstration/Expo, Pork Cooked Maroon Style, Food & Beverage Stalls, Art & Craft Booths, Ring Games, Marbles, Gigs, Storytelling, Donkey Kart Shuttle/Ride, and Kite Flying.

Email: che.campbell@gmail.com
www.jamaicaobserver.com/entertainment/Caan-Ketch-Quakuh