The culture of violence
published:
Friday | February 22, 2008
The Editor, Sir:
In 'From Marley to Mavado' published in The Sunday Gleaner (February 17), Ian Boyne aptly criticises the lack of critical thought in academic discourse on reggae and the unwillingness to see a correlation between the violence in our society and dancehall lyrics that extol criminality.
Boyne makes reference to a presentation by Dr Donna Hope. I did not hear Dr Hope's presentation, but I have heard other scholars engage in near hero-worship of dancehall artistes, holding them up as defenders of Jamaican culture and survivors of an elitist system, devoid of any critique of the artistes' apparent rejection of the responsibility that comes with their prominence in society.
If, as I understand it, one of the many purposes of academic discourse is to stimulate critical thinking and influence change toward a developmental goal, then this will not do.
But academics are not alone in their failure to see the big picture and seriously consider their role in nation-building. Responding to a front-page article in the Star last April, titled, Killer, Mavado anger MoBay: DJs chided for 'bigging up' Stone Crusher Gang, I called on the business community and the media to use their collective power to silence these artistes who tell our young people to pay homage and aspire to be criminals who kill our children or make orphans of them.
The private sector must address the schizophrenic manner in which they sponsor Crime Stop, while at the same time signing endorsement deals with artistes who declare that "informer fi dead".
Profanity and lyrics devoid of decency
The media must also decide if they will continue on the hypocritical path of denouncing violence and declaring support for national development, yet, continuing to play poorly edited tracks replete with profanity and lyrics devoid of decency, promoting artistes who 'big up' child killers and publishing headlines that appeal to the lowest of the low.
I heard Olivia Grange, the minister responsible for culture, giving an update on Reggae Month activities and discussing plans for next year. I hope minister, that in addition to promoting reggae, you will use Reggae Month 2009 as a tool to encourage social responsibility, not only among artistes, but also among the media, business people and academics.
