- FileThe flag signals Jamaica is a free nation. But how much does Emancipation mean to Jamaicans?
Ian Boyne, Contributor
JAMAICANS ARE overwhelmingly, elated over the Government's decision to reintroduce the celebration of Emancipation Day.
After all, with the increasing pressures of life, and its everyday hustle and bustle, it's another day for the beach, attending fetes, partying the night before, relaxing with friends or just "chilling out".
Beyond that, Emancipation Day means nothing to the vast majority of our people. And, no, they don't care for an education on "the real meaning of Emancipation", thank you. A trickle of the remaining Pan-Africanists and "conscious ones" will attend a lecture on Emancipation and perhaps bemoan the undeniable apathy toward the whole issue, but if pressed into a discussion on Emancipation, many Jamaicans will recite our many woes which belie our emancipation, and their lyricism toward it.
Some 162 years after "Full Free" Emancipation, what does Jamaica have to show for it? Yes, we have our own national institutions and even our own flag. We have produced world-class statesmen, musicians, artists, sports personalities, dancers, intellectuals, scientists. We have our own indigenous Rastafarian religion, world-renowned coffee, liqueurs, hotel chains, spices and jerks. Yes, indeed, "we little but we Tallawah".
Measuring
We have achieved a lot since Emancipation and Indepen-dence. This is unquestionable, but are we on the road to Emancipation? How do we measure it?
Can anybody say what are our overarching goals as a society? What is it that really binds us together? What is it that gives us a sense of bonding apart from sports? What is the Jamaican identity? Have we fashioned distinctive cultural values, woven from the fabric of other cultures but something uniquely ours? Or are we merely aping Western, primarily American values?
Don Robotham puts it well in that unforgettable and analytically incomparable 1998 Grace Kennedy Foundation Lecture: "The real challenge is to define what the Jamaican should be that we can stand for and that we should be trying to bring into being".
It's hard to improve on Dr. Robotham's analysis of our malaise so here is some more from him:
"There is no rationale behind the term Jamaican which expresses any sense of common purpose. That is our fundamental problem. There is no common vision which strongly unites a wide cross-section of the people of what it means to be Jamaican. Therefore, there is almost no sense of what are our mutual obligations to one another".
There are concepts of uptown, downtown, inner-city, blackman, brownman, redman but no sense of Jamaican.
Crisis
Our major crisis is a moral and cultural one. Trying to fix that by attracting investments, producing economic growth and making money jingle in people's pockets is a colossal miscalculation.
Consequently, Jamaica's greatest need today is for an inspiring visionary leadership which has the credibility and charismatic force to forge a unity in the country.
It is this unity of purpose, this synergy, this sense of national purpose which will release our entrepreneurial energy and consensus-building capacity, and which will catapult us into sustainable growth for the 21st century.
It is putting the cart before the horse if we continue to stress economics and macroeconomic targets, naively believing that this will provide the foundation for the social capital we need to build.
History has proven that people short on resources, but big on purpose and vision, have achieved extraordinary feats. How was Korea, Japan and Germany able to rebuild their economies after military defeat? How have parish states like Israel and Taiwan achieved success in the face of incredible odds? Because they have a sense of national purpose, even destiny. They have experienced emancipation. They have forged their own values, though they have not done so through autarky and any anti-Western posture.
Emancipation does not mean one foolishly cuts oneself off from other cultures and civilisations and attempts silly experiments like the North Koreans and Albanians. It means that you borrow from others and enrich yourself, but all the time knowing what you want and what your goals are. There is no sense of that in Jamaica.
Our youth in the ghetto have bought North American crude materialistic values lock, stock and barrel. Listen to the dancehall songs. All the bragging is about the cars one drives, the size of one's house, one's name-brand clothes, one's visa, satellite dish, bank account etc. While the women bleach their black skins.
There is no lauding of community commitment, struggling for something worthwhile, whether the upliftment of the poor, justice or even struggle for the Motherland Africa. There are only a few voices in the dancehall chanting these positive lyrics. The youth have been brainwashed by Babylon.
The uptown youth have no commitment to Jamaica or its development. They are heading for the next plane or are scraping as much as they can get here. Voluntary service, community involvement, giving back to the less fortunate? That's for the old socialists of the 1970s. They're liberated not Emancipated.
Missing leadership
The country is crying out for leadership to articulate. A shared vision, a set of goals and values to which we can all aspire. Until we have this it doesn't matter who occupies Jamaica House, we are doomed. Changing parties without changing values is cosmetic and we are setting up ourselves for anarchy and total social breakdown in this country if we continue to raise the masses' hope and then dash them because we have not properly analysed - or don't have the courage to face the real issues.
Dr. Robotham puts it well in that Grace Kennedy Foundation Lecture: "The economic goals presuppose that moral goals have been articulated and taken root...Why should I put out an effort to increase the living standards of all Jamaicans as opposed to those of myself and my immediate circle of family and friends?"
Only inspiring, skilful political and civic leadership can lead the change process toward communitarian and nationalistic values.
As two of the world's leading authorities on leadership, Warren Bennis and James O'Toole, said in their insightful article on leadership in the May-June 2000 issue of the Harvard Business Review:
"Real leaders are great because they demonstrate integrity, provide meaning, generate trust and communicate values. In so doing they energise their followers...Real leaders, in a phrase, move the human heart".
We need these leaders to help in the Emancipation process.
