Rastafari complacency

Groundins

By: Charles H.E. Campbell

Sunday, November 21, 2010


AS I surveyed the artiste fraternity backstage at Gregory Issacs tribute show, held at the Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre on Thursday, November 18, I couldn't help thinking what a positive force Rastafari has been in channelling the minds of Jamaican youth, especially many of those who have become involved in the cultural industries, since the 1960s.

In our national quest to define who we are as individuals and as a people, inspired by the early Marcus Garvey Movement, a significant number of Jamaicans who felt alienated from the prevailing power structure have rejected Europe as their spiritual centre. Instead, they have looked to Africa, the ancestral homeland of the majority, for a better understanding of our history, folk traditions, art and other cultural forms, and adopted or adapted many of these in their daily lives.



From the late 50s, the emerging potential power of Rastafari to be a countervailing influence on the brightest, more conscious youths began to occupy the minds of the ruling and political classes. During the turbulent decade of the sixties, two parallel trends developed. Simultaneous with the many atrocities being meted out against Rastafari communities across the island, the most famous of these being the Coral Gardens massacre on Black Thursday, the day before Good Friday 1963, and the Back-o-Wall deportations of 1966, on the grassroots level, the movement took on a greater participatory role in cultural, national and geo-political issues, concerning universal peace, love and harmony, race pride and African decolonisation.

This in turn inspired the works of many musicians and artistes, some even adopting the tenets of the movement in guiding their lives. Musicians, beginning with Count Ossie, Don Drummond, Ernie Ranglin and many more; along with Mortimer Planno, the quintessential Guru, spurred a second generation, including Jacob Miller, Peter Tosh, Bob Marley, Dennis Brown, Gregory Issacs -- warts and all. While the list is much longer, of course, I have singled out these dreadlocked cultural super-icons to make my point, because since their untimely passing (when any perceived threat to the status quo has been neutralised), each has been embraced, to varying degrees, by the local establishment; at least their prolific musical catalogues.

Now also, high-profile Rastafari abound in almost every sphere of our lives, including media, politics, law, academics, medicine, public/ private bureaucracy/technocracy, engineering and business, as well as the arts, making valuable contributions to our international profile, development and society, in general.

So, I am forced to reflect on the continued prejudice and discrimination experienced by Rastafarians in Jamaica today, and I ask myself, why does this state of affairs still persist in our country?

These are some of the issues that the late Professor Barry Chevannes grappled with in his research, writings and social activism. If we truly want to make his posthumous Order of Jamaica award meaningful, we should begin to legislate against these irrational, outdated public policies. Two examples suffice. Firstly, Rastafari is still not recognised as an official religion in Jamaica, because this requires an act of Parliament, which has not been forthcoming. Secondly, dreadlocked children in our school system are required to wear tams, and their tams can't be knitted with red, green and gold -- the colours of their religion.

If the entire Rastafari community in Jamaica had been united over the years, many of these barriers would have already been smashed, however to quote an elder, speaking at a recent Rastafari Millennium Council press conference, "Fifty years of experience has taught us that disunity has stymied our progress significantly." He adds succinctly, "Comfort made Rasta complacent."

In closing, I wish to express my condolences to Paulette and the kids, while being grateful, and paying respect to Professor Barry Chevannes, who was one of my mentors for most of my adult life. Through the years, he kept me on the straight and narrow, shared his research, insight, and frequently gave me feedback on these columns.

During the last fortnight we also lost Jamaica's pioneer female record producer, Sonia Pottinger, who was honoured by JARIA in 2009, and Keith 'Yellow Bird' Stewart, of 'Enid & Keith' fame. May their works live on in perpetuity.

Email:che.campbell@gmail.com


Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/entertainment/Rastafari-complacency_8173057#ixzz15zdJils0

From Byron to Gregory

Groundins

By: Charles H.E. Campbell

ALTHOUGH it has been almost two weeks since the transition of Gregory Isaacs, and during that time so much has been written about him, Gregory and his signature 'Lovers Rock' was such a game-changer for Reggae music that, today it is essential to pay my last respects to him.

Some time ago, I had decided to refrain from immediately acknowledging the passing of fraternity members, because suddenly, it seemed to be occurring with such rapidity that my articles could become morbid, as I would be caught in a perpetual focus on this subject. Also, I tend to subscribe to elements of the Buddhist/Hindu principle of karma, and irrationally hoped that by publicly ignoring them, I could somehow slow down the rate of industry persons' demise.


ISAACS... He rebranded, rebounded and rebuilt his career and life so many times, he and us, thought he was invincible

Unfortunately, from the evidence of the past year, this approach has paid paltry dividends. Last Thursday, November 4, makes it two years since Byron Lee — another cultural giant and icon — died. Between then and this moment, we have lost so many other musical pioneers and stalwarts; it should now be clear to everyone, that we are witnessing a generational baton change, not only in Jamaican music, but it's practitioners as well.

I was informed on Saturday, October 23, that Gregory's attending physician had indicated to his family members, that no further treatment could reverse the terminal onslaught of the cancer, and that it was now only a matter of time. I was told that Gregory had made his peace with his Creator, was no longer able to communicate, and was prepared for the inevitable. I thought it would have been good indeed, for all his colleagues, compatriots and fans to send him appropriate messages of appreciation and respect, while he was still alive, but tradition got in the way. As a people, we still hold fast to some very superstitious habits.

As someone who was never afraid to recognise, openly reflect on and address his foibles, I think that, were they to have been received by him while he was on his death bed, Gregory would have cherished the many tributes that have been pouring in since he physically left this world. Gregory had two songs in particular, Hard Drugs and Rumours that openly addressed issues pertinent to his personal life, which were in the public domain.

I remember the first time he performed Hard Drugs on Sunsplash, having been recently released from prison. In his customary fashion, rather than at stage side, he collected the mike in his dressing room, and as the backing band played the musical introduction to his (then) new hit, while making his entry, Gregory adlibbed "tired a de jailhouse, but jail house never tired of me." The immediate applause and outbreak of laughter from the audience, in appreciation of his witty self-depreciating comment, was an awesome display of his ability to connect with the soul of his audience, and still remains for me, one of the most magical moments in Sunsplash history. He also coined a similarly witty phrase to mock the mongers, for when he opened his act with Rumours.

I detect a contradiction in some of our evolving cultural nuances where-in, while we are losing our sense of empathy, we latch on for dear life, to some outmoded rituals in order to preserve, it seems, what little is left of our traditional cultural mores. This has been buttressed by the growing popularity of new age neo-conservatism in our social, religious and political practices.

It would be healthy, if our society used this sad moment to reflect on how we treat and deal with certain Human maladies and frailties, such as mental illnesses and retardations, physical deformities, and drug addiction. To be frank, we tend to treat these people like outcasts, rather than in a more enlightened, embracing, rehabilitative manner. Truly, this approach belongs to the dark ages, and often robs our nation of the fruits of rich, but under-tapped talent, especially in the artistic arena. Before it is too late, we should be doing more to help such awesome talents like Junior Byles and Harold Butler, as we will all be singing praises to their genius, brilliant works and profound impact, long after they have gone.

For years, when many other local promoters abandoned him because of his drug problems, Gregory was a mainstay on the stages of 'De Bus' and 'Bourbon Beach' where' I am told he ultimately did more than a thousand performances. This gave him not only sustenance, but tremendous, sustained, international exposure through the tourists vacationing in Negril.

As a maturing fraternity, and with the wisdom gained through age and the passage of time, we have to admit that for decades, the abuse of hard drugs has had quite a deleterious impact on individual careers, and the entire genre. Furthermore, we have still, to come up with a successful strategy for mitigating against its tragic consequences. Gregory rebranded, rebounded and rebuilt his career and life so many times, he and us, thought he was invincible. We have all been proven wrong. Other similar stories abound. It is imperative that we change our policy of simply turning a blind eye, and hoping it will disappear ... only more icons are in danger of doing so.

While writing, I have been informed of the passing of Professor Barry Chevannes. Another keeper of the faith, whose work we have benefited from over the years.

Email: che.campbell@gmail.com