Hilary Robertson-Hickling

Jamaica's struggle with its identity has taken a turn which has forced me to re-examine my antipathy to beauty contests. Ms. Redwood has gone to represent Jamaica in Mexico in a context in which her brains and beauty will be matched to contestants from all over the world.

This is the story of the rise of the empress in the mythology of Rastafari, as a part of the family headed by the Emperor Haile Selassie and the Empress Taitu. Every society needs a royal family which represents its nobility and its place in the pantheon of gods. The idea of the divine right of kings cannot be fully experienced through our relationship with the Windsor family of Queen Elizabeth the second, so we have adopted Ethiopia's nobility.

The significance of this in this beauty contest-mad country is that a dreadlocked Rastafarian university graduate has broken through many psychological, historical and economic barriers. A woman who was born of a family that has celebrated its African heritage has succeeded in a society which is still ambivalent about this heritage. Her parents have been present and supportive of her efforts in life. This is a good thing and augurs well in this Child Month of May.

Issues of identity

I realise that issues of identity can play a significant role in the advance of a people. If we believe that we are ugly, unworthy, unlovable and second class we will be unable to succeed. I also recognise that women as the major culture bearers in the society have many issues which must be addressed in partnership with the men of the society. The way that we treat each must improve as we recognise that there are aspects of our way of life which must become more affirming of the things that this empress represents: competence, confidence, beauty, concern for the community, the development of the mind and the intellect, physical and mental health and the recognition that young people must represent their families, generation and country as ambassadors.

Hopefully, young men of integrity and noble character can step forward as worthy partners to women like the empress. We have seen that many of our young men are falling behind and need to be reminded of whom they can become and the possibilities of aspiration. It appears to me that in many parts of the new world there remains a desire for royalty to be present.

There own royalties

After the royal families of the Amerindians were decimated by the Europeans, many societies have tried to invent there own royal families in the present times. The Kennedy's in the United States of America represented the age of Camelot and the beauty and tragedy of a society which ostensibly had discarded the monarchy.

The current visit of Queen Elizabeth to Jamestown, Virginia, to mark the second 400th anniversary of the settlement of Britons there has no doubt revived many of the issues of conquest and coexistence for the native Americans, the Europeans and the Africans. It would appear that politicians, industrialists and movie stars, and sports personalities are treated like royalty in America. Their every breath is observed and they are constantly under a microscope.

Here in Jamaica our efforts at creating royal families have been largely focused on the political domain with mixed results. I look forward to the changes which the rise of our own empress will achieve for us.