Amina Blackwood Meeks
THE TUESDAY July 20, 2004 edition of The Star carried an article regarding an alleged schism between Lady Saw and Tanya Stephens. I have spoken to neither of them on the issue. I have not heard the songs through which the alleged schism is playing out itself, nor have I heard the songs, but I recognise what they are all about.
Let me state that Lady Saw is not my kind of artist. Neither in form nor content. Tanya Stephens, on the other hand, is someone for whom I have a great deal of time. She has significant skills as a writer, she handles musical notes with some kind of uniqueness to her voice and she consistently strives to enlighten as she entertains. Her quest for personal growth and collective progress is obvious. This, of course, accords with my own personal view of the role of artists acknowledging a responsibility to the greater social good even as they seek to make a buck, pay bills and live comfortably.
THE ARTICLE
The tone of the article, however, is something I find very disturbing. A tracing match. And, yes, I am well aware that this tracing in the music is also an ancient phenomenon, from the days of Paul and Silas, and maybe that's where it should stay. This after all is the year 2004 and although the hype about ensuring that as a people we are prepared for the twenty-first century is significantly muted in officialdom, maybe to what that means, those who speak in public and capture the ears of many, in whatever art form, should begin to give a little more consideration to the context within which they so often boast dat a 'dem bring de foreign currency pan de island'. Recent events have clearly demonstrated that some foreign currency routes are taking us into a very dark dead end. Is it time to reconsider the impact of the work and conduct of our artistes when politicians tell us that they need additional personal security from the hydra-headed, illusive, ever-scheming monster known as 'Crime and Violence'?
Is it time to reconsider when some politicians tell us that they are reassessing at least their public association with criminal elements and have found that it might not have been a good thing for the country so they are sorry, while others remain unrepentant that they have nothing to apologise for?
SOWING OF THE WIND
And by the way, ordinary people have been saying since the days of Paul and Silas that this association was a sowing of the wind. Politicians who have always known more and better than ordinary people have always poured scorn on their assessment while they continued to pocket the meagre earnings of these same ordinary people in their 103 per cent, while ordinary, poor black people continue to cannibalise each other over which politician will earn the x to ensure that they get an even smaller slice of the dwindling bread, or preside over the deadly allocation of the foreign currency that finds its way on the island. And the Minister of Finance is quoted as saying that the economy is healthy but that is not yet time to spend: maybe just in case of a relapse there is need for medical insurance.
In the stunned aftershock of Mr. Shearer's burial we quietly fete the 20th generation of His Grace, Christopher Columbus, and Food for The Poor was made to apologise for telling people in 'farin' that 250,000 Jamaicans are starving because there is 'no data to support the allegation' although the most recent figures of the PIOJ reveals that one in every five Jamaicans survives on less that $3900 per month, that is a quarter of us are living below the poverty line, near the death line and most certainly on the front line of all vulnerabilities. Fellow artistes, what are we fighting for?
Yu see dis rubbish 'bout who drive nicer cyar dan who, sip more expensive champagne, get more forwards at the stage show, get invited to politicians' cocktail party, have a room full a Grammy and whatever other outward symbols by which we measure success? It don't mean a ting if our children cannot find even a summer job, if no matter how much we let off people still starving, if we have to go home to our lovely homes and peep through burglar bars like parakeet inna cage, if our fans line up behind us on this side or that like gangsters across the great political divide that has left us unprepared for this millennium and maybe the next.
The monster known as tribalism is all around us. It is between political parties and within political parties. Only few people are dancing. It is in the pitting of this media house against that one for their share of the market. Only the people get shared-out of the information and programme content that could really make a positive impact on how they journey through this plane. It is in the ring tones of cell phone providers laughing all the way to the bank while sufferers duel about which is better and which gets their 'loyalty'. Does it really need to be in the limited access our artistes get to the airwaves or newspaper columns, even when 'dem big inna de business'? Or can we consciously and consistently use our talents to create a society a little less tense and fractious than the one we presently inhabit, even if we have not found a way to make it better?
NECESSARY COMPONENTS
Peace and brotherhood, and sisterhood too, are necessary components of the prosperity we all seek. We could begin with prosperity of the spirit, without which so much else has so little meaning. Part of this prosperity is the conduct that honours those who came before us who were never part of the trend of using their public art to settle private scores or spread conflicts, but rather to educate, inform and uplift. Give thanks for Marcia Griffiths, a symbol of nothing but grace and dignity in her 40-year career as an artist. And even if Millie Small gave us nothing but her 'Boy Lollipop', give thanks that she demonstrated that there are any number of non-destructive fashions fe falla. We might not know how to heal, but we certainly do not have to injure. So, what are we fighting for?
Tribal war we nuh want no more a dat Tribal war, a nuh dat we a defend.
