Hilary Robertson -Hickling

The birthday of Jamaica's international hero Marcus Mosiah Garvey always provokes deep reflection in Jamaica and many parts of the world where we consider the condition of Africa's children at home and abroad. The month of August encompasses Emancipation Day and Independence Day here in Jamaica as well as the birthday and we, therefore, measure the progress which has been made on the Garvey agenda.

Not only is this a Pan African agenda, and here I must mention the work of Pilot Francis, a marine pilot, entrepreneur and Pan Africanist in Jamaica, but also what Fidel Castro expressed in his words "we are latinafricans." Castro's comments were related to the Cuban contribution to the liberation struggles in Southern Africa in the 1970s and 1980s.

Anniversary of 'Katrina'

August is also the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in which African-Americans were identified as refugees in their own native land, America. Their situation evoked Claude McKay's poem "If we must die, let it not be like hogs penned in an inglorious spot ...". Although he was talking about lynching, which is another American institution perpetrated by many Christian gentlemen in the southern United States who burned black people on the cross, there is a sense of anguish and powerlessness which provokes a kind of rage at this injustice. Spike Lee the cinematographer has produced a documentary which will be aired on HBO about New Orleans.

The conference in Toronto which highlighted the devastating effect of HIV/AIDS in the world particularly in Africa and the Caribbean was also a platform for reflection about the future. During the same month the Democratic Republic of Congo has held elections for the first time in over 40 years and a brutal civil war which has taken the lives of millions. I was happy to see Dikembe Mutombo, the Congolese NBA basketball star, in the news for the generosity he has displayed by financing the building of a hospital in that country in which his own mother had died as she had been unable to reach the hospital in time.

This generosity and the continued success of our marvellous athletes restored my equilibrium at a time when many terrible things are happening in the world. A tremendous love of war is abroad in the world and in our own land. The military-industrial complex and its political backers are beneficiaries of this terrible time. People of all ages and backgrounds are losing so much while the spin doctors identify the progress which is being made. I listened in amazement at the level of cynicism being expressed by callers on a recent BBC programme about the 'so-called terrorist threat' in the U.K. The loss of faith in the leaders of some of the world's leading nations was quite evident.

Continue the great work

At a time of reflection, there is also the action which has been taken and will have to be taken to continue the great work that Garvey championed. He was a thinker and a doer and he was able to capture the imagination of millions. Today, as yesterday, he inspires people of good faith to try to transform a world which is sorely in need of change. May this country produce many more leaders who have the vision, confidence and commitment to revive Africa's fortunes at home and abroad. Jamaica continues to have a tremendous role in its own development and that of the world.

Hilary Robertson-Hickling is a lecturer in the Department of Management Studies, University of the West Indies, Mona.