Burning Spear, Bob Marley, Damian 'Junior Gong' Marley and Peter Tosh

While the National Commission on Reparations moves across the island, canvassing public opinion on compensation for slavery, there is a strong possibility that they will be moving with the rhythm of songs specifically about or in the general mood of the topic.

Commission member Garth White has compiled a Preliminary Reparations Discography comprising nine songs and points out that "it is not yet extensive".

It does not appear that it needs to be, as the immediate possible application of the songs is to set the mood for the public meetings. Commission member Tanya Batson-Savage, director of cultural policy and monitoring, Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, told The Sunday Gleaner two of these meetings have already been held, the first on October 15 at Liberty Hall, Kingston, and the second last Thursday at the Webster Memorial Church on Half-Way Tree Road, St Andrew.

The third will be held in St Catherine on November 11 and the commission moves to Clarendon on November 27.

some selections

Among the songs are Slavery Days (Burning Spear), Declaration of Rights (The Abyssinians), 400 Years (Peter Tosh and the Wailers), Redemption Song (Bob Marley), 40 Acres and a Donkey (Junior Gong) and True Alpha's Reparations Due, which is in the process of being mixed and produced.

Batson-Savage said, "It would be good to use these songs at our public sittings, to set the mood". They are also useful for assessing a general attitude towards reparations, Batson-Savage saying the list of songs "also allows us to gauge the mood of Jamaicans as it relates to reparations".

White said in terms of setting the tone at a public sitting the songs so far are adequate as "it is not a party we are keeping or a dance. It does not have to be extensive, as most of the time will be taken up in discussions."

He does, however, intend to expand the Reparations Discography significantly "as far as possible, so we have it for the records. That will proceed at a timely pace".

Batson-Savage said "Jamaican music, especially reggae, has had such a history of speaking about rights and justice. What we have discovered is that there are songs that have touched on the reparations debate". She pointed out that "music can grapple with issues so well and get to the heart of discussions."

commission role

It is not, however, a matter of whipping up support for reparations, as Batson-Savage says "the role of the commission is not to drum up support. It is to find out what the public thinks about reparations. The direction we will advise must be reflective of the public opinion."

That direction will be indicated to the Government, the commission having an 18-month deadline from the date of its first private sitting.

Batson-Savage said the commission was established subsequent to a debate in Parliament during the previous administration, which involved both major political parties. A decision was subsequently made to establish a commission whose responsibility would involve exploring whether or not the Government should explore reparations and what form it should take.

While the public fora are being held and the feedback documented, White will continue to compile the list of songs which speak to reparations. "I would certainly like to have a more extensive list by the end of the year," he told The Sunday Gleaner.

Eventually, he said, "I would like to know about every song."

The commission's members are Professor Barry Chevannes, Garth White, Jeanette Grant-Woodham, Professor Rupert Lewis, Lord Anthony Gifford, Ras Junior Manning, Robert Miller, Kim Marie Spence, Donna Parchment-Brown and Batson-Savage.