Julian 'Jingles' Reynolds, Contributor
Bob Marley - File
It is impractical and illogical to believe that the country that produced Mary Seacole, Marcus Garvey and Bob Marley, the latter two in more recent times, would cease to produce other human wonders. For those of us who came of age, meaning, took responsibilities, in the 1960s, what Jamaica accomplished at the Beijing Olympics was expected - it was only a matter of time.
The strength, vision, forthrightness of Rastafari brethren such as Douglas Mack, Sam Clayton, Philmore Alvaranga, Count Ossie, Mortimo Planno, Sam Brown and many others inspired many of us as teenagers of the '60s to believe that we were very special people, 'a cut above the rest'.
When Planno told us of the attention and awe he garnered from New Yorkers when walking locks flying in mid-town Manhattan to and from his 1966 visit to Emperor Haile Selassie in Ethiopia, he instilled in those of us listening a sense of great pride and accomplishment.
At Kingston College, where I attended in the early to mid-'60s, there was a 'can do' spirit inculcated in us of by educators, alumnae and supporters led by principal Douglas Forrest, Clarence Hector, Don Taylor, Freddie Green, Teddy McCook, Howard Aris, Youngster Goldsmith, George Thompson, Foggy Burrowes, Trevor Parchment and April Parchment, G.C. Foster, Donovan Davis and groundsman Christie Francis, to name a few.
victory
The achievements of the KC Manning Cup and track and field teams of the mid-60s were borne out of raw talent, outstanding management and coaching, and the inspiration to achieve victory.
At home, my parents would not permit me to use the word, 'can't'. My mother would scold me when I attempted to explain why something was not done. "Nothing nuh name can't boy; you a man; try and try again." The great success Jamaica has experienced at Beijing Olympics was nurtured over 60 years of the country's involvement in international athletics, starting at the 1948 Helsinki Olympics, with McKenley, Wint, Laing, Rhoden and LaBeach.
athletic glory
This quest for athletic glory was further demonstrated when KC started the successes at the Penn Relays in the mid-'60s, this evolving in Jamaica's dominance of this event in recent times, providing hundreds of scholarships to Jamaican students to improve themselves at American universities. The world-class achievements in the '60s and '70s by athletes such as Lennox 'Billy' Miller, Lyndie Headley, Rupert Hoilett, Ray Harvey, Tony Keyes, Patrick Robinson, George Kerr, Dennis Johnson, Keith Gardner, Neville Myton, Pablo McNeil, Earl Belcher, Vilma Charlton, Quida Walker, Michael Fray, and Donald Quarrie established the paradigm which culminated in the Beijing experience.
Years of dedicated, committed and unified leadership, many giving voluntarily to achieve the common objective of developing a sound athletic programme in Jamaica that would lead to victories for Jamaican athletes, is what has manifested in Usain Bolt, Veronica Campbell-Brown and their teammates' remarkable accomplishments in Beijing. No wonder Jamaica has been able to produce talent to compete successfully for other countries, currently with Sanya Richards for America in the 400 metres, Germaine Mason for the UK in high jump, and Cydonie Mothersill for the Cayman Islands in the 200 metres.
Jamaican explosion
It's no coincidence either, that the Jamaican explosion of excellence in athletics at Beijing began on the eve of the Honourable Marcus Garvey's birthday, and affirmed itself on the day itself, August 17, with exceptional performances by Bolt, Shelly-Ann Fraser, Kerron Stewart and Sherone Simpson.
Garvey, who performed the remarkable and unequalled feat of organising six million people in the US, Central America, the Caribbean and Africa, instilled black pride and accomplishment to the people of his generation and beyond, to counter the rampant racism of that period.
But the question many are now asking is how Jamaica will benefit - short, medium and long term - from this outstanding performance on the world stage. In the words of one observer, "This is a golden opportunity for the Government of Jamaica, but can they do it?"
Jamaica in world culture is among a handful of countries that have produced musical forms ska, rocksteady, reggae, and dancehall that have been recognised and played around the world.
The Jamaicans who have produced and performed these world influencing music are exemplary: Alton Ellis, Dennis Brown, Don Drummond, 'Dizzy' Johnny Moore, Clement 'Coxsone' Dodd, Arthur 'Duke' Reid, Beres Hammond, Marcia Griffiths, Yellowman, Shabba Ranks are comparable to any of their counterparts in the United States or Europe.
The instrumental ska music played by the Skatalites is as beautiful as any jazz music played by the Duke Ellington and Count Basie orchestras. It is significant to note that the Jamaican talent on display in Beijing and on the concert stages and arenas around the world comprises young people from the working class; of humble inner-city and rural backgrounds.
In many instances, these performers were the first from their families to attend high schools and universities. But many of them will quickly inform you that the Jamaican Government and leaders contributed very little or nothing to their successes.
economic assets
Jamaican governments have never seen the music, sports and, to a lesser extent, agricultural outputs, as great economic assets to be nurtured, encouraged, administered and invested in, in a proactive, focused and sustained way; like they do with bauxite, tourism and the financial sector, which are greatly supported and highlighted. It is instructive that Bolt in his celebration of his victories did some of the current popular Jamaican dance moves - 'Nuh Linga' and 'Gully Creeper', thus incorporating and promoting the reggae, dancehall Jamaican culture to 1.3 billion Chinese and a worldwide audience estimated at six billion.
This could not have been conceptualised and scripted better by all the top advertising and marketing gurus in the world. The statement he made is 'Come to Jamaica and feel all right.'
As I have written in previous articles, the United States government and private sector invested in and gave paramount importance to America's culture and sports that made them not only leading industries but served to promote 'Americanism' or American-style 'democracy' around the world. Whatever the speculated inputs or circumstances - the water, yam, dasheen, ackee, the trade winds blowing over the island, the magnetic poles running through Jamaica, genetics from west African mixing with British, or as my parents loved to say, "Jamaica a one God bless island," the results are that Jamaicans are extraordinary people who, once provided with the slimmest of opportunities, can achieve remarkable successes. And it matters not the social warts they carry.
I grew up among young men who were extremely talented and could have made Jamaica cricket and football teams (a few did) but for their 'badness'. The crime and violence that have attempted to destroy the society and tarnish the country's image internationally is fuelled mainly by lack of opportunities, frustration and ignorance.
The very positive experience of Beijing should be capitalised on to attack and eliminate these causes of excessive violence and a high murder rate. The country is now at a new crossroads coming from the Beijing experience, and needs now to take the right road to increased socio-economic prosperity for more Jamaicans at home.
creative thinking
What is required is fresh, creative thinking akin to the attitude of accomplishment demonstrated by our young ambassadors at Beijing; by a government obsessed with nation building and promoting national unity. I again appeal to the government to use this spotlight on Jamaica to raise capital exclusively to invest in Jamaica's talent in the agricultural, sports, entertainment, ITC and manufacturing sectors.
A bipartisan delegation led by Prime Minister Bruce Golding, Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller, the ministers of Finance, Sports and Culture, and Industry should immediately call on international financial powers in New York and London to attract concessionary financing and grants to be used to transform Jamaica from its current state of socio-economic depression to a financially successful nation state within the next ten years.
If Jamaica is denied this opportunity to develop to its true potential, as signalled by its extraordinary accomplishments at Beijing, then we would have clear evidence that there is a deliberate plan to stymie Jamaica's development, and keep the society in economic bondage.
Julian 'Jingles' Reynolds is a writer, film-maker and entrepreneur, who operates in Jamaica and New York.
