THE VENDORS have not moved. The taxis are still in place. Ward Theatre remains blockaded. The producers of the National Pantomime have reluctantly re-located this Season's production to the Little Theatre in midtown. Kingston continues to be the loser, ironically in the 200th year of its charter as a city. What will it take to restore honour and dignity to a once-proud metropolis?Political rhetoric is not doing it. Threats have been nothing more than hot air. It would be tempting to succumb to despair, throw up hands and walk away. But the city is here to stay and what ails it must be healed. Perhaps the answer lies in the micro, the small signals of hope which can be built upon to create the larger picture for progress.
One such small signal came in the midst of last week when the Institute of Jamaica (IOJ) braved the fear of the unknown to stage its annual Musgrave Medal Awards ceremony not in its famed lecture hall but in the middle of the street in front of the building on East Street, an act of creative defiance against those who would imprison the city by acts of brutishness and savagery.
As the Chairman of the IOJ, Prof. Barry Chevannes, reminded his audience: "The way of life of the arts, science and literature is diametrically opposed to the way of the gun". He has urged cultural agencies and institutions to become "missionaries of the arts promoting culture anywhere that our people can be reached." This approach may well be part of the solution which we seek to re-vitalize and revivify the heart of the city.
Imagine if the errant and the truant among us could be persuaded of the value of a softer, more humane way of life, as espoused in all forms of the creative arts, if we could draw the attention of the "shottas" and assorted wrongdoers to recognize that their children should be able to enjoy a Jamaica worth living in, a Jamaica where the rich diversity of cultural expression, which is a part of our heritage, can be theirs as much as anyone else's. Imagine if we could persuade those who have laid siege to the city that a gun never painted a picture, or composed a song, that real creativity is guarding life not destroying it.
An impossible dream some would say, but there are enough seeds of hope lying dormant, waiting to be coaxed into new life. Besides the security patrols, the cordon and curfews, it might well be time to enlist the creative artists in our midst to join in the crusade for a city and a nation with a heart where we will celebrate life -- not death.
The project to restore Marcus Garvey's Liberty Hall is under way. When it is completed it will add to the treasures of Downtown Kingston.
However, if order is not restored in the area, Liberty Hall will have to overcome the same challenges which beset other institutions in the area - the churches, the Theatre, the places of commerce. To the bewilderment and amazement of the citizenry, the much-daunted plans to relocate vendors and bring order to chaos seem to be going nowhere, yet again. The question has to be asked what will it take to restore civic pride? Who can bring us to our senses? Mr. Garvey's words resonate today as powerfully as they did yesterday: "The failures of life are really due to the fact that so few people understand themselves. When man realises the mighty power that lies in him, all the trials and troubles, woes and miseries of life will pass away."
