Colonialism in Reverse

Groundins

By: Charles H.E. Campbell

Wat a joyful news, Miss Mattie,
I feel like me heart gwine burs
Jamaica people colonizin
Englan in Reverse
By de hundred, by de tousan
From country and from town,
By de ship-load, by de plane load
Jamaica is Englan boun...

Oonoo see how life is funny,
Oonoo see da turnabout?
Jamaica live fe box bread
Out a English people mout'.
(An excerpt of Colonisation in Reverse by Louise Bennett Coverly)

Louise Simone Bennett-Coverley or Miss Lou,a Jamaican poet, folklorist, writer, and educator.

THE above poem was a tribute to Jamaicans who have made major contributions to the development of the British society since the Second World War in various capacities and sectors of the economy. This relatively large Jamaican population and their offspring in Britain was also the base of the Internationalisation of Reggae music, as they popularised it all over Europe in the '60s and the '70s. They continue to provide a viable outlet and a spring board for our artistes on the European market.

In the 50th year of our Independence, it is truly colonialism in reverse as our Jamaican athletes and musicians are taking London by storm. While it is well known that our track and field athletes are expected to come away with a significant haul of medals, the fact that a large contingent of the crème de la crème of our artistes and musicians will be performing for 12 days at one of the most prestigious venues in the world, might not be as popularly recognised.

To quote from Google, "The O2 arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in the centre of The O2, a large entertainment complex on the Greenwich peninsula in London, England. With capacity of up to 20,000 depending on the event, it is the second largest arena in the UK after the Manchester Arena and one of the largest in Europe. In 2008, The O2 Arena took the crown of the world's busiest music arena from the Manchester Arena, a title which it had held since 2001."

The list of artistes reads like a who is who in Jamaican Reggae and Dancehall. It includes: Lee Scratch Perry, U-Roy, Yellow Man, Ernie Ranglin, Sly Dunbar, Robbie Shakespeare, Monty Alexander, Mutabaruka, Lloyd Parks Band, the Abyssinians, John Holt, Mighty Diamonds, Leroy Sibbles, Freddie McGregor, Marcia Griffiths, Maxi Priest, Taurus Riley, Gyptian, Toots and the Maytals, Horace Andy, Johnny Clarke, Morgan Heritage, Shaggy, Raging Fyah, Jimmy Cliff, Derrick Morgan, Max Romeo and Bob Andy. The mere fact that a promoter would invest in such a major venture, during the Olympics, when London is inhabited by people all over the world, speaks to the enormous power and international appeal of Jamaican popular music.

Meanwhile, back on the rock, the Jamaica 50 Secretariat, through their international media partner RJR will be broadcasting our celebration from the National Stadium facilities and selected venues across the island, throughout Western Europe, England, Florida, Canada and selected African countries. This is more ample evidence of the commercial viability of exporting our cultural products in a national thrust to increase the contribution of the cultural/creative industries to Jamaica's gross national product.

Email: che.campbell@gmail.com



Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/entertainment/Colonialism-in-Reverse_12054423#ixzz22DTznz00

Jamaica 50 Jubilee plans

Groundins

By: Charles H.E. Campbell

THE Jamaica 50 Secretariat and the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) have recently published details of their programme for the Jamaica Jubilee celebration. Happily, these are much more extensive and diversified than I had expected them to be, given budgetary constraints of the two entities. There is significant integration of the activities being executed by both agencies. While the JCDC is the lead implementer of events around the country, the Jamaica 50 Secretariat has put its main focus on the Jubilee Village headquartered at Independence Park [National Stadium].

The Jamaica 50 Golden Jubilee Village will concentrate its programme during the period August 1-6. The main features include food courts, art and crafts displays, a kiddies village, and commercial stalls, promoting the products of Jamaican enterprises and marketing their merchandise.

The Secretariat is currently in the process of transforming the National Arena into an exhibition hall, which will be called the Jamaica Independence 50 Expo and will include over 200 stalls showcasing the economic, social and artistic achievements of Jamaica over the last 50 years. Patrons will also get their first opportunity to see the nucleus of the new Jamaica Sports Museum, which was first announced by the prime minister in her budget presentation earlier this year.

A major performance stage and the children's village is currently being established in the car park and external spaces along Arthur Wint Drive, as part of a specially designed, temporary major outdoor venue. The programme of activities will commence from 12 noon to 1:00am each day. This includes live Olympic feeds as well as highlights from other celebrations occurring throughout Jamaica and in the diaspora. As is traditional, on Independence Day the National Stadium will be the venue for the Grand Gala, which from all indications will be a three-hour spectacle of music, images and movements by over 2,000 costumed revellers, telling the story of our glorious achievements.

Residents outside of Kingston will be happy to learn that they will have their own dedicated programmes of activities in all the parishes. To begin with, there are over 80 street dances planned for the period. In every major town, there is a diverse list of cultural activities which will be taking place over two consecutive days of August 5 and 6. Through the use of audio- visual equipment and inter-connectivity, 17 of these venues will be fully amalgamated, complemented by large screens and broadcast capability. This will provide every parish with snippets of the highlights of events at the Jubilee Village, the Olympic races as well as sharing the programme content from selected sites with the rest of the locations and bring the excitement in Jamaica to the world.

The general feedback on the ground is that many Jamaicans residing in the diaspora, who watched the last Olympics in America, Britain and Canada, but were dissatisfied with the focus on American athletes versus our own, are coming home to join us in this special period of celebrating our Jubilee and the anticipated successes of our athletes at the London Olympics.

Email: che.campbell@gmail.com


Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/entertainment/Jamaica-50-Jubilee-plans_11952612#ixzz20jlCR1i0

Mikey Bennett, the patriot

Groundins

Sunday, July 1, 2012

By: Charles H.E. Campbell


WE all should stop and take a page out of Mikey Bennett's book of diplomacy. In all his public utterances since the controversy broke about the 'official' Jamaica 50 song versus a commercial jingle, Mikey has been a model of restraint, sobriety and perfect gentleman. He has continually urged all Jamaicans to be patriotic; to look at the bright side, and so unite in celebrating our 50 years of political independence, as well as bask in the glory of the worldwide popularity of our Jamaican music.

As this producer extraordinaire, has repeatedly pointed out, Jamaica could never have paid for the tremendous international publicity that this controversy has generated. There is a saying in the music business, which carries some merit, that all publicity is good. It has therefore been a blessing in disguise and Jamaica should wisely be maximising on the potential commercial spin-offs that it offers.

BENNETT... model of restraint, sobriety and a perfect gentleman


On reflection, this would have largely been a non-issue and would not have gone viral nor gained such enormous traction, if our music brand was not so well known, loved and in demand globally. To demonstrate this, Alexander Walford, the European Commission Policy Officer responsible for trade between the Caribbean and Europe recently said "the demand [for Jamaican music in Europe] seems to be almost insatiable."

Over the last 60 years, Jamaica has been credited with creating five new genres of music including mento, ska, rocksteady, reggae and dancehall. Since Millie Small's song My Boy Lollipop soared to the top of the British charts in 1964, Jamaican artistes have accomplished at least one international hit song every year. From then on, all over the world, generations of music lovers have been listening to our music and adopted many other aspects of our culture. In today's market place it is not simply the music that has a commercial value but it is our lifestyle, our story, our rich narrative that is so appealing to people of various nationalities.

Reggae, therefore, constitutes only one part of a greater Jamaican artistic/cultural whole, in which, admittedly the voice plays an imperative, central role. As many of our public commentators and musical analysts have already suggested, with the attention of the entire planet now squarely focused on Jamaica, this is a perfect opportunity to organise the production of a compilation album of songs incorporating all the various genres, which we have popularised in all the continents. In addition, many artistes have already recorded a number of excellent songs, in tribute to the Golden Jubilee of Jamaica's independence and these should be included. This album should be accompanied by the making of appropriate music videos that capture images of Jamaica's alluring cultural life and beautiful tropical vistas.

This compilation encapsulating our dynamic musical legacy would be a premier coffee table souvenir item, which will have a very long shelf life. Without a doubt, Jamaicans at home and in the diaspora as well as our massive fan base shall take great pride in purchasing and promoting it to their friends and associates. As Bob Marley's song of the century urges 'One Love, One Heart, let's get together and feel alright.'

Email: che.campbell@gmail.com


Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/entertainment/Mikey-Bennett--the-patriot_11848480#ixzz1zNoDG7JI