Amina Blackwood Meeks
WELL WHAT a way November start. Miss Lady blame it all on de tings dem dat rise up during de Halloween celebrations. She sey it seems to her dat while people was putting on costumes an painting dem face fe pretend to be what dem was not as a likkle fun an joke ting, de real monsters were planning dem own scary-oaky shinding. For she sey it look like dat is some people's chosen vocation, fe do tings into de dead of night fe scare de daylights outa adda people, set up roadblock into anyting what dem plan. For who gwine pay any attention to any quiet unheralded ting name Youth Month or Parenting Month dat start wit a church service widout benefit of television camera, when running from gunshot or holding up baby inna police an solja way an den bawl out sey dem wicked an nearly kill de baby an have two point five million people sey you a do dat pan teevee an see yu pickcha pan front-page an hear yu vice pan call-in radio is infinitely more exciting.
FILM WAITING TO BE MADE
She sey Jamaica is a film waiting to be made. Shoot it from any angle top a house, backa ole kyar, chu bush jus meck sure yu shoot it, shoot I up if yu wish. For whatever de mind of man can conceive smaddy dey hay fe transform it into reality. Imagine a carpet of barbed wires pan de road. Imagine sey yu figure out sey all escape routes from mayhem must also be converted to mayhem. Imagine that kind of imagination being channelled for good.
But you know who Miss Lady sey she really sorry fah in all of dis? De young people dem who really an truly daon know sey it nuh haffe go so. She sey de way she hear some a dem a talk bout it remind har bout when she did likkle an go double-bill matinee an come back an a describe de show to har fren dem word fe word an action fe action. Ongly difference is dat she did know sey what was show an one was life. But she sey nuh line nuh deh yah so. She sey jus like how some people bawn into silver spoon an daon know sey bus can teck go anywhere is same way yu have a nex set who do not know dat it is possible to live a whole year widout roadblock an national speaky-spoky people into kass-kass bout how it go. But if is a show, all de same, dat jus come in like a next scene. An al who see a similar show like dat before jus wait fe when dah part deh a come an start talk it out to all who a come show fe de first time. Dat part name de show-off an yu dun know, a so it fe go.
Miss Lady sey if it continue so, nex ting yu know de Disaster Office People is going to have to issue advisory on include into it how to prepare a personal survival kit. One: Always have a escape route. Two: Wake up before day everyday an turn on yu radio. Lissen fe news of roadblockage. Tree. Meck sure yu give yuself two extra hours pan de street in case of roadblock an needs arise to divert. Four: Set out cautiously in case escape route has been discovered an trap has been set fe put spokes into yu wheel causing you to wheel an go back home. Five: Should in case yu meck it undetected, have alternate place fe sleep in case yu kean get home.
BEARING HARDSHIP
But she sey what really warm har heart is de people dem who find de back route, come outa dem yard, bear de hardship, bun de extra gas an go bout business. Disrupt all plans fe shut dung de place. A so it fe go. Every student who do dat fe get yout award fe bravery and dedication. Principal is to call dem up pan platform into devotion time and big dem up. Dem parents instantly qualify fe parent of de year award and fe instant help wid bag an uniform and lunch money fe de pickney. Every worker who meck it chu dat dem storm fe get heroes medal. For all dose who refuse fe bow or teck it meck excuse fe kean do what dem suppose to is de heroes of Jamaica. A dem kip de place going. A dem a lead de struggle called Resistance to Folly.
For if dem nuh do dat imagine Jamaica 10 years from now wid people who nuh know sey a nuh so it fe go. Miss Lady sey we is to shut dung de excuse mecking business an put a stoppage to foolishniss. No ask nobaddi how dem mean fe cross de line. Turn dem back. Or dem might ask yu which line meantime dem a cross anedda one.
NATIONAL SURVIVAL KIT
For it daon mean nutten to dem. Dem nuh conneck more money fe fix road to how dem live. Dem is doing fe dem job. We fe do our own. An, ascardin to Miss Lady, we need to have a national survival kit. It must include work for change. Part a dat deh work must sey we mus stop give certain kine a destruction more weight dan addas. For she sey if Spanish Town was out west yu wudda hear de weight bout de impack pan de touris mecca. Yu wudda see de cos start compute in tourism index. Inna Spanish Town a jus people a get juk by makka for is jus Spanish Town again! Nex ting in de national survival kit is dat public officals must demonstrate good conflict resolution skills. Stop de passa passa an de finga pinting. Stop gwaan like sey dem know is who but dem naw talk but a dare de somebody who a smear dem good name fe do de talking. All who want de nation fe talk what dem know must talk like dem is part of de nation to.
An a nex ting Miss Lady sey it cause har fe tink bout is how we love believe lie. Ascardin to de report in reference to where de scene of apprehension dat lead to de mayhem beyond comprehension, de people dem sey dem see big house and hear sey is a returning resident. Stop right deh so an ask returning to who? Who is dem madda an fadda? Is when dem did leave? Which part is dem returnin fram? How long him did gane? In de ole time Jamaica at least one smaddy wudda know. Ole time values and community spirit wudda send smaddy go welcome him back an deh so story wudda bump up. But second of all, she sey, nearly everybaddy have somebody who go a farin an struggle fe send dem likkle barrel a year time. Which part we suddenly get de notion sey every Jamaican what travel go shake dung tree wid ton load a dallas so dem can tun returning resident an de whole a dem have it wanga. We tun fool? We abandon de likkle wisdom we have in order fe believe lie whey can harm de whole a we. Den if a so it go, come meck de whole a we jus leave Jamaica fe a year an come back an set up weself den. Poverty dun. If it so easy, nuh leff it to one smaddy.
If we doan give weself a chance to grow we pickney dem naw go have nuh likkle nutten fe grow fe dem pickney pan, an all who a talk bout child survival a waste time. For pikney kean be good by demself. Dem have to be good in a good world. Dem kean survive into vile worl an part of dat vileness is de lies dat we tell weself dat lead to de violence dat treaten we and we pickney day by day.
We know how many children die each year as a result of diseases. We know how many bodies we bury. And we also know how many duppies we make but it look like do we start tink yet bout know how many spirits are killed an exit an leff so-so body fe jus walk bout an nuh care bout which part into dem movie dem get fe play.
