THE EDITOR, Sir:
PLEASE ALLOW me to share with your readers some thoughts that occupied my mind as I watched excerpts from the funeral service of Coretta Scott King.
What was foremost in my mind was the power of leadership. Undoubtedly, the late, great Martin Luther King must have grinned from ear to ear as he saw blacks and whites united in celebrating the life of his wife who took up the mantle after his departure. To have three past presidents and the current president of the United States of America attend the funeral service of anyone, speaks to the importance of that individual. Coretta Scott King certainly earned a place in the history of black people. What better time to celebrate the life of a great black woman than Black History Month?
PRESIDENT CARTER
While I sat pondering these things, my friend's voice rang out as she saw President Carter.
"That's the President Mammy wrote to when she had difficulty getting Maxine, her adopted daughter, to leave Jamaica to join her in the United States."
"Your mother wrote to President Carter. So what happened?" I asked.
In response to Miss Thelma Walker's letter, a letter was sent to the United States Embassy in Jamaica, and she was able to take her adopted daughter to live with her in the United States. The courage and determination of a Jamaican woman who migrated to the United States of America was honoured by the president.
'CONNECTIONS'
Hearing this, my mind went to Jamaica and the race for the leadership of the People's National Party and to politicians in Jamaica. I wondered if an ordinary citizen in Jamaica could look at any of our prime ministers and say: "This is the man who helped my mother when she wrote to him about a problem she was having." I stand corrected, but I have a feeling that any Jamaican who can make such a claim has 'connections' in high places.
My wish for my country is that we will have a leader that is accessible to ordinary citizens, and not just those who are highly connected.
The life of Coretta Scott King should inspire us to break free from the chains of the past and not to allow ourselves to be led into a new kind of slavery where fellow slaves become our masters and lead us into temptation.
I am, etc.,
WINNIE ANDERSON-BROWN
winab@cwjamaica.com.
