Kingston in 2009 is a very different place than it was 60 years ago. Daily bloodletting, mass murders, widespread domestic violence, fire-bombings, chaotic community demonstrations and social upheavals were not even an idea. Nor were depraved inner-city communities that many dare not enter, night or day.

But, how did we get to where we are? One man who remembers vividly what life was like in Kingston in the '30s and '40s is Enrico Stennett. Remember him? 'Buckra Massa Pickney' is back to take us down memory lane. It's a story of nostalgia and social decadence.

Stowed away

Enrico, a half-white Jamaican boy, was stolen from his family in St James and taken to Kingston by two of his cousins. After years of disillusionment, he stowed away to England in the late 1940s. He suffered tremendously for years in racist Britain, but he himself went on to play a significant role in the betterment of the lot of black people, especially newly arrived West Indians, in the 1950s London.

He has been back in Jamaica for a while now, and in his early 80s, but the memories of his youthful days in Kingston are as sharp as a razor. Enrico: "Downtown Kingston, as it is called today, is quite different from the Kingston of old. The old Kingston was a polite and orderly place, the streets were clean and there was very little violence ... There was no begging or swearing on the street, no drunken men hanging around on street corners, only white sailors."

"As adolescents, we were free to go anywhere as there was no part of Kingston that was out of bounds, and both young girls and boys could leave their homes and stroll along the streets as far as they wished without any fear of violence or improper approach by anyone."

The popular music at the time was black American, and young people were tuned in to Count Bassie Orchestra, Duke Ellington, Glen Miller, Benny Goodman, etc. Their music was adopted and played by Jamaican orchestras such as Milton McPherson's, Redver Cook's, Roy White's, Doc Bromwell's, and other great bands with musicians such as saxophonist Jocelyn Trott.

"The jitterbug, jive, and the bobby sox were the order of the day, and thousands of Jamaicans would gather around the houses of people who could afford a wireless to listen to the music of Geraldo and his Orchestra with the mellow, sweet voice of their black Jamaican brother, Archie Lewis, singing Beautiful Dreamer," he recalled.

While jazz, blues and bee bop were the most popular genres, there were also Cuban rumba, mento and calypso. Like now, competing on the dance floor was a common feature at dances, with folks imitating the Nicolas Brothers, Fred Astaire and all the great dancers of the day. The great American singers, too, were their idols.

Popular music

"The soothing voice of Lena Horne, the melodious voice of Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Bessie Smith and the Andrews Sisters, all of these people were popular in the 1930s, '40s, and '50s when music was at its best. They brought comfort and happiness, which eased our daily struggles in life," he declared.

It was a time when blacks were still regarded as second-class citizens who were exempt from holding certain jobs and executive positions. For instance, the chief of police and the inspectors were white. The highest position that a black man could attain in the police force was that of sergeant. Menial tasks, such as sweeping the streets and working in factories, were reserved for blacks. Yet, people were generally safe from harm.

Enrico: "It is a fact that there was much poverty, high unemployment and little to do at the time, but somehow we did seem to have the inner strength and self-respect to overcome all the obstacles that poverty brought, without stealing from our neighbours." The importation of American movies, however, was to be the beginning of the end of the peace and sobriety that downtown Kingston enjoyed.

"From the time I was a child until I became an adolescent, there was little crime of any kind, and murder was non-existent on the island, but as the youngsters in Kingston became young men, they began to take on the role of their American heroes. This was the destruction of an innocent people," he claimed.

Major cinemas

There were five major cinemas in Kingston: The Ward Theatre, The Majestic, Gaiety, Palace, and Carib, which were frequented mainly by white people. Movies featuring cowboys killing Indians, Al Capone, Baby-Faced Nelson, John Dillinger, and Bonnie and Clyde were popular. The young men imitated these characters, and began to feint shooting at each other with wooden guns that they had made.

"Some of the young men made the movie stars their heroes and role models, while they lusted after the beautiful women. Now, they all wanted to be movie stars and gangsters, emulating what they saw on the screen each night of the week. Young boys changed their names and were now known as John Dee, Al Capone ... and names of other American crooks and gangsters.

"The adoption of the American culture, which was bred on guns and violence, was the beginning of the downfall of Jamaica. There would now be gangs shooting each other, and acting out the fights they had seen on the screen. Jamaican culture was now changing and we were becoming Americanised, not for the better, but for the worse," he lamented.

paul.williams@gleanerjm.com