Amina Blackwood-Meeks, Contributor
PROFESSOR CAROLYN Cooper is absolutely right - whatever children love will live forever.
My son Neto expressed similar sentiment confirming this to me recently in a discussion we were having about the Doctor den nuh mus Beenie Man, me mean, Jamaica have anymore doctor? Not in the understanding of many of our children.
My son says he knew that a particular Beenie Man creation was going to be a huge hit. How? He heard a group of children singing "yu want a real mix, call me; yu want a real fix, call me". And that was before the song really hit the streets, till all him ah ask "is what dat?" Lo and behold it turned out to be a concoction by the Doctor.
YOUNG PEOPLE
In a class of young people, 18 years and over, that I teach at a tertiary institution (and it is not Edna Manley College or Exed, thank you very much), I had cause recently to mention the name of Hugh Shearer. I was greeted with a few 'who's that?' And those who asked the question were not joking. Wheel and come again, Amina. So I did what I thought was a brilliant job and spoke about the man as trade unionist and Prime Minister till one of them asked "of which party?" Wheel and come again, because I did not know we had Prime Ministers of particular parties but me tink me know how Jamaicans view dat so me say him did belong to de JLP. Believe me as I stand on a mountain of Bibles, one likkle child proceeded to explain why she did not know about the esteemed gentleman, and I quote, "Oh! Well in my house we are PNP we don't talk about the JLP".
Wheeeel! We want a real fix! This is definitely a case where de doctor don't have time to ask "how did the patient get this way" or "how long has this been going on". We going directly to emergency intervention.
In the month that combines the celebration of Black History with outpourings of love, we are desperately in need of massive injections of what it is that we want our children to love.
At least they could begin by loving the fact that they have knowledge of their history, even if dem don't like the people who figure in the history. You know like Drake and Hawkins or the people dem up into America now trying to copyright Kumina rhythm as theirs. L'Antoinette Stines dun bawl it out areddi an bring it direckly to de attention of wi fren who is the Director of Culture. So we don't want to hear dat Kumina gone an dem coming fe Brukins, Dinki Mini, Gerreh, Anansean de whole a we again too. Re-Colonising we an we verse.
So back to what we want our children to love. Come to think of it, they could just start with the recognition that they have a history and that it is rich in everything which we have already created, preserved, shared with the world and with which we have laid the foundations of their potentials to continue the tradition of extending ourselves for the benefit of all humankind.
ANTI-APARTHEID STRUGGLE
You know one time Winnie Mandela did tell we sey the arts played a critical role in the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa and particularly in the release of Nelson from prison?
She did sey more than that. She said that the largest body of anti-apartheid pro-liberation music came out of Jamaica. And just the other day, music industry icon Junior Manning said as he walked through Malawi persons would ask him how many people there are in Jamaica and would accuse him of mishandling the truth when him tell dem sey is only 2.5 million.
Maybe we want our children to love the fact that in places many of them may not have heard of they are seen to be larger than life.
And maybe we want to ensure that they are at least exposed to those things that we take for granted, sometimes despise but which continue to bring the world to our doorsteps. Like FiWiSinting at Nature's Way in Portland. The 14th renewal of this festival on February 15, the day after Valentine's Day, was nothing short of idyllic, a modern step back into time. It was a display of arts and culture only of the highest quality, and the best part, for me, was how everybody behaving like dem know one anedda long time and is just peace and love.
Our children need to know, need to be given the chance to love the fact that peace and love is not just a ole time dead dream but is a reality of the culture every day all over Jamaica where skyscrapers don't reach. Like the Black History Month celebrations put on by the Hanover Branch of the Jamaica Reparations Movement a gathering of various schools in Hanover at Rusea's, courtesy of the principal, where the students spent more than four hours in the sunny outdoors enjoying the display of traditional dances, music, food and poetry. They also shared with adults in discussions on the theme for the day, saluting the dignity of the black woman. You could just block out the dreadful news for a few days and hold on to these images and feel like you're born again.
ROUTINE
You could imagine just one school in each parish doing something like that as routine to the curriculum like Maths and English? You can imagine Nature's Way packed to capacity next year? Then maybe we wouldn't have to worry about how to stop the bleaching, the dirty lyrics, the disrespect to our women, the abuse of our children, the waywardness of our men, the gun ting and the partisan assessment of who we are. Just give our children wholesome uplifting things that they can love. Otherwise the parents suck the sour grapes and you know what happen to the children's teeth. You want a real fix? We dey yah, yaw!
(The Ghanaian spelling of the name of the god of wit and trickery and the spelling I prefer to use as part of the process of reclamation and healing).
