Book Review - A dream that is still elusive

TITLE: ETERNAL FATHER BLESS OUR LAND
AUTHOR: YVONNE O. COKE
REVIEWED BY: BALFORD HENRY

"I THINK the immediate need, particularly in the area of west Kingston, an area wrecked by violence, is peace, understanding, the cessation of this meaningless violence and unnecessary, uncalled for murders".

Those were the words of Father Hugh Sherlock, reacting to author Yvonne O. Coke's question: "How would you like to see Jamaica changed to become more like what you envisioned when you wrote the (Jamaican National) Anthem?"

Father Sherlock said that his immediate hope for all Jamaica was the cessation of violence and the putting away of the gun and the cessation of cruelty to children.

It was his hope that a new vision, "an ethic of life that will bear good fruit, a way of behaviour, of talk; a way of work that will see that many of the unemployed get employment; that the poor will not become poorer but would be helped by those who can afford to help; and that there would be more production, more exporting of the things that we produce and less importing of the very things that we can produce and which are sold at a higher price than we can afford," would come to the nation.

Father Sherlock also had an explanation, for those who claim not to be cognizant of the role, of the community "dons".

"So called and acclaimed by these communities because of their likeness in mode of operation to the profile of the Italian Mafia bosses (they) have decided to use the gun as the weapon of overpowering, silencing and getting their own against other members of the constituency..."

Still relevant

Father Sherlock died in 1998 but his words, recorded in several interviews with Ms. Cooke in 1995, is still extremely relevant and cogent and his life remains an inspiration to the nation.

Ms. Coke's book is titled after the first line of Father Sherlock's own words to the Jamaican National Anthem: "Eternal Father, Bless Our Land..."

It was originally launched a year ago by Kingston Publishers, which went out of business shortly after, however.

The proceeds are geared towards the redevelopment of Boys Town which is still situated in west Kingston.

Father Sherlock, a native of Portland, is regarded as being among the great Jamaicans of the 20th century. He was the son of a Methodist minister and followed in his father's footsteps after being educated at the former Beckford & Smith's School (now St. Jago High School), Calabar High School and Caenwood Methodist Theological College.

After being transferred to the Ocho Rios circuit in 1937, he answered the call from the YMCA to start the Kingston Boys Club in 1940, working with boys in western Kingston leading to the development of Boys Town.

Through the motto "We build", the school set out to build body, mind and spirit through its various programmes.

Among the old boys of the school, which he recalled, was the cricketer Collie Smith, who died tragically and prematurely at the height of his career; the reggae megastar Bob Marley, who also passed away at quite a young age too; business executive Gladstone Robinson; current national football coach and former player Carl Brown; pastor Ken Robinson; engineer Locksley Comrie; and economist Raymond Forrester.

Coke, the founder of another important charitable organisation, Hands Across Jamaica for Righteousness, recorded the interviews in 1995.

Luckily for us, she was able to record some important aspects of the history of Boys Town, how Father Sherlock came to write the words for the anthem and his recollections of Trench Town in the 1940s to the 1980s.

Sad reminder

Boys Town today is a sad reminder of the results of the ravages of inner-city violence.

No longer does it boast an imposing structure surrounded by green fields, and no longer does it attract throngs from all over the Corporate Area drawn to support its successful sport teams or interested in its useful youth development projects. Father Sherlock's dream, reflected in the words of the anthem, is still only a flashing vision of what could have been, if only we could have concentrated more on the things that makes this island blessed and less on those with which we are cursed.

PUBLISHED BY: LMH PUBLISHING

Back to Arts &Leisure