Melville CookeI'm just a man who is trying
To do some good before dying
Guantanamera
FOR ME, January 1 is not just another holiday, the day after the party the night before when we ring out the old and ring in the new, making resolutions that we probably do not have the resolve to keep.
For me, January 1 signifies the hope for a new world in the New World that was old long before Columbus lost his way to India. It signifies the fact that, despite the odds, change is not only possible it is unstoppable.
The two historical landmarks which make this day so special to me are 155 years apart and in countries physically very close to Jamaica but, in our thinking, rather far away. I speak, of course, of the Declaration of Haitian Independence on January 1, 1804, and the success of the Cuban Revolution on January 1, 1959, as US-backed strongman Fulgencio Batista fled the country.
200TH YEAR
This being the 200th year celebration of Haiti's independence, for once some attention is being paid to Haiti's achievements and not the mess it has been made. Even then, the protests against President Aristide and the media attention paid to them have vastly overshadowed the bicentennial.
It has been 45 years and 10 US presidents (including the illegal incumbent) since Jose Marti's legacy resulted in the Batista and associates taking flight, literally and figuratively, from Cuba. The celebrations, of course, are much more pronounced than in Haiti. The state of the country naturally gives them more cause for noting the landmark occasion.
The 155 years between January 1, 1804, and January 1, 1959, made all the difference. The French for Haiti and the US for Cuba were very vengeful losers, but the French had much more leverage in the early 19th century than the US 45 years ago. Demanding and getting paid by the Haitians for their own independence was possible then, but the Cubans could nationalise industries and snub the US demands for compensation. And they did.
Furthermore, Haiti and Cuba both faced trade embargoes but in a world situation with the then USSR as a rival superpower Cuba had an alternative to the widescale US economic blockade. Of course, the USSR is history and the US blockade continues, but the Cubans survive.
What with UNESCO-run celebrations of Haiti's independence bicentenary set for the year in Jamaica, there has been - for once - some positive press about the country. Cuba has a very strong state media and some of the stories have filtered over into local media.
It is curious that there has been successful revolution on both sides of Jamaica, yet we here with a notorious tendency towards unruliness have not had our January 1 or its equivalent. There has not even been a real attempt to overthrow the pecking order, despite the Maroons having fought the British into a peace treaty.
LAND REFORM
Paul Bogle did not have an agenda of independence when he presented calls for land reform and got his neck stretched for his troubles and even that has been downplayed in our history.
What we have is a penchant for riot, rebellion and roadblock, but no ideology of real change to back it up. In addition the middle class, that essential component for change, is more intent on moving into a gated community than creating a society that does not have neighbourhood signs sponsored by security firms.
I sat in the Mas Camp Village on Oxford Road in St. Andrew, where I was on assignment, on January 1, 2004, and amongst the hoots, hollers and kisses I wondered when if ever a new year will mean a new day for Jamaica.
It may take another 155 years at least.
They caught me on the loose
Fighting to be free
Show me a noose under cotton tree
Entertainment for you
Martyrdom for me
96 Degrees in the Shade, Third World.
Melville Cooke is a freelance writer.
