Jamaica...A Mental Slavery State

It was a beautiful evening on the plantations across Jamaica on July 31, 1834, the sun was setting in the west and the slaves were singing, singing songs like “Amazing Grace”, “Freedom is coming tomorrow”, “Swing Low Sweet Chariot”, and "Song of the Free".

As the slaves continued to sing these songs way into the night, the drums were beating the fires were burning and at last it was midnight. It was August 1, 1934…..

…..On that day many slaves were said to have walked up hills and climbed trees so as to clearly witness the literal dawning of their freedom. Around the island thousands attended "Divine Services" to give thanks and praise. August 1, 1834, marked the emancipation of all slaves in British colonies but it was a case of freedom with conditions. Although the Abolition Act stated that slavery shall be and is hereby utterly abolished and unlawful, the only slaves truly freed were those not yet born and those under six years of age. All other slaves were to enter a six-year 'apprenticeship' during which they were to be 'apprenticed' to the plantations.

It was July 31, 1838, and again freedom songs were bellowing across the island, this time full emancipation from chattel slavery was at hand. The slaves dance with jubilation as the day was finally at hand I can just imagine how happy my ancestors were and echoing the phrase “We Free, We Finally Free”….with great pride many slaves journeyed to the hilltops to greet the sunrise of Friday, August 1, 1838 that symbolized a new beginning in their lives. When morning broke, large congregations joined in thanksgiving services held in several chapels and churches across the island

William Knibb, non-conformist Baptist preacher and abolitionist, at the dawning of Aug. 1, 1838 said: "The hour is at hand, the Monster is dying...the winds of freedom appeared to have been set loose, the very building shook at the strange yet sacred joy."

According to Sherlock and Bennett in "The Story of the Jamaican People" (1998): “Emancipation did not mean the beginning of good times. Emancipation gave them the right to free movement, the right to choose where and when they wished to work, but without basic education and training many were compelled to remain on the plantation as field hands and tenants-at-will under conditions determined by the landlord, and for wages set by him."

Fast forward to Nova Scotia, Canada October 1937, Marcus Garvey in his speech said: “We are going to emancipate ourselves from mental slavery because whilst others might free the body, none but ourselves can free the mind. Mind is your only ruler, sovereign. The man who is not able to develop and use his mind is bound to be the slave of the other man who uses his mind….”

July 31, 2013 on the eve of the anniversary of Emancipation day, I sit and wonder how far we have come…are we truly emancipated?

According to http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/ Emancipation is defined as “freeing someone from the control of another; especially a parent's relinquishing authority and control over a minor child”.

Are we as a nation really free from our parent/parents?

Bob Marley borrowed the words from Marcus Garvey and used in his Redemption song, “Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds.”

After all the historical reflections earlier, I’m pretty sure the well thinking among us will argue that many of us still remain mental enslaved.

We have allowed our colonial past to haunt us and dictate our future. Maybe we feel safe holding on to that and fear the future but I could be wrong.

Nevertheless, mental slavery is more insidious than physical slavery.

Physical slavery is imposed by force from outside the person, while mental comes from within.

A mental slave is a person who suspends his intellectual ability and suppresses himself/herself to the will and beliefs and attitudes of another person or group. This leads to the inability to view events, or one's self, objectively, this will not apply his/her brain to evaluate what he/she is being told, to determine what is true and lucid.

They are in the habit of accepting and believing what is told to them, whether it logical or not, they do not even stop to ask themselves whether what is being said makes sense or not; what is important is that my side said it.

And then if the other side says something, the mental slave is conditioned to rebuff it as being nonsense.

No we’ve seen this being ever present in our interesting political history. We see where the masses have their judgment clouded by their political ideologies that they seem to forget what’s important and what’s factual.

The sad truth, this trend looks to continue for years to come. As we look forward to another “Emancipation Day” let’s learn from the lessons of the past, make changes in the present and build towards a better and brighter future.

Jamaica, the place of choice to live, work, raise families and do business!!!

S.B. Stanberry  

Jamaica: A Lost Society, But There is Hope

“It takes a village to raise a child” – African Proverb

I sit around this computer pondering how to start this blog and I’m in yet another state of depression regarding my country.

A 14 year old girl student of Anchovy High school was fatally stabbed allegedly by one of her classmates.

 “The police report that about 12:20 pm the two schoolgirls had a fight when a knife was brought into play. Dawkins was stabbed and was rushed to the Cornwall Regional Hospital where doctors declared her dead.” – The Jamaica Observer

Couple hours later the Minister of National Security, Peter Bunting said that 'serious and violent crimes' had dropped 10 per cent and proclaimed that it was an indication of progress.

Progress? Really?

A 14-year-old girl laid dead yet the Minister made the above state. I guess we live in a society where we no longer know what or how to define serious or violent crimes.

Crimes in our schools are on the increase, crime in every facet of our society is on the increase. Our law enforcement is laced with corruption and our people remain silent.

Where are the Politicians?

Our country from all looks of it seems to be in a doomed state.

The media seems to be caught up with negativity and entertainment rather than going out and finding the positive and inspirational stories that are happening in our country.

Again I ask; where are the Politicians?

 The ever climbing dollar is a cause for concern yet we sit down and feed on the crap which we hear daily.

I go back to my opening statement “It takes a village to raise a child”. No longer in Jamaica do we see communities raising a child. Children lack manners, bleaching has become a norm that even children in primary schools applying this product to their skin.

I weep for my country, I weep for our economy, I weep for our schools, families and communities.

We have lost our identity as a people, we’ve lost belief in our leaders, and we’ve lost faith in our own selves to lift and bring this nation from the poverty stricken state it’s currently in.

Our motto states “out of many one people” and we are so divided. Historical nations have rise and fall, are we on that current path?

Who will take up the mantle and pull us from our slum? Who will be brave enough to lead our people a once proud nation back to the top?

We can’t keep hiding behind our achievements in sports. We have a country were negativity has become the norm of our society, we watch and news and we expect to see nothing positive.

Full time now Jamaicans Rise Up and be proactive, be innovative and let the Words of our National Anthem flow through our veins let us be proud to wear the black green and gold not because it is fashionable but because it represents something to us.

Let us Unite and believe in our abilities, let’s bring back sweet Jamaica, let communities raise our children and not hurt them. Let us protect our future generations from the scourge that has soaked into our society over the last decade.

We are a strong and powerful set off people who can achieve anything.

Live by these words “It’s not what our leaders can do for you, but it’s what we can do for the betterment of our society.”     

Never give up, Pray for Jamaica, Believe in Jamaica, Hope for Jamaica.

S.B. Stanberry

Blood versus Loyalty

“Always question where your loyalty lies. The people you trust will expect it, your greatest enemies will desire it and those you treasure the most will without fail, abuse it. Loyalty takes years to build and only seconds to destroy.”

Since the beginning of time the concept of blood versus loyalty has been ever present no matter how mythical or real the story is.

Blood and Loyalty are intertwined, bound together by the laws of nature.

We are loyal to our country, friends, religion, political affiliations, schools and the list could go on and on.

But where do we separate it? Where do we draw the line between blood and loyalty?

Our own life situations pretty much influence where our loyalty lies while blood will always be blood.

There’s a quote that says “blood makes you related, loyalty makes you family”. Now this I agree with.

Nobody can prove to me that we should be loyal to someone because we are related.

Now everybody is entitled to their opinion but based on my own experience I pretty much can decide where my own loyalty lies.

Family isn’t blood.

Example look at somebody who was adopted, are we gonna say they are not our family because we are not “blood” related?

Life will always conjure up these mysterious mind boggling challenges.

Ask yourself, where does your loyalty lie? Think about it. Are you loyal because you’re blood related or are you loyal because those people have been there in your corner supporting you through some of life’s most difficult challenges?

Whether those people are your blood relatives or not, that is where your loyalty should lie.

As for me, I know where my loyalty lies and its simple it’s with my family.

S.B. Stanberry

Jamaica: An Athletic Superpower, But a Football Joke.

Jamaica an island country located in the Caribbean Sea with a population of about 2.8 million people.

Now many around the world have sit and wondered how this little invisible nation on the map can become a “superpower” in the world of Athletics. It’s simple; it’s down to our fighting spirit, determination, hard work and of course the fact that Jamaicans are taught the basics about track and field from a very tender age.

With that being said they compete amongst and against each other from an early stage.

Examples:

1)    Sports days within the schools

2)    Basic School Champs

3)    Primary/Prep School Champs

4)    High School Champs

5)    Junior and Senior National Championships

6)    Regional and World Competitions

Now let’s journey over to the sport which is described as “the world’s greatest game” the “only sport” which is used to bring warring communities and nations together.

If you're still clueless as to which sport I am referring to, then the answer is “Football”. Historically, Jamaica has produced some of the most talented footballers on the face of the earth such as Lindy Delapenha, Allan Cole, Walter Boyd, Jermaine Johnson and Theodore Whitmore just to name a few.

But for various numbers of reasons the world has never seen the footballing talent that this island nation possesses.

Backtracking to 1998, Jamaica made history by becoming the first “English speaking country” in the Caribbean to qualify for the FIFA World Cup Final.

The Jamaican team supported by a proud nation wore its heart on its sleeve and pursued this dream through hard work and determination. Though they are known as “The Reggae Boyz” these men rose above all obstacles and mark their names in the history books forever.

Fast forward to 2013, the hopes of qualifying for another World Cup has quickly become a dream and though mathematically it is still possible to make it, the country finds itself stacked against the odds.

But let’s look at this:

1)    Have we really progressed much in our football development?

2)    Do we apply the same principle to football as we do athletics?

In answering the first question I must say to an extent we have progressed, we see more local players earning contracts across the world.

The ironic thing is, despite this large exportation of local talent we still decide to bring in a number of British/German born players.

Secondly the amount of time devoted to athletics I personally feel does not apply in the football circle.

I've heard many people describe our footballers as “late bloomers” and this hampers our development and progression on the world stage.

In the modern footballing world, development of young talent through academies or clubs is very important. Kids are enrolled from as early as the 5-10 learning the basics about this sport. Their talent is nurtured as they progress into stars and superstars.

Look at this:

1)    Zinedine Zidane signed for a club at age 8 but was playing since he was 5.

2)    Cristiano Ronaldo signed at 10 as well but was playing at 8 for an amateur club.

3)    Lionel Messi started at age 5 before moving to Barcelona at 11.

4)    Rooney joined Everton at age nine

Do I really need to say more? Our leaders over the years claimed to support sports yet they have failed in investing in youth development. We already have the land space and I'm pretty sure if we had a sporting academy the Ministry of Education could create a curriculum that would accommodate the different sporting disciplines as well as different subjects which are currently being offered in schools.

The failure of our Senior footballers begins with the lack of youth development. If we had taken sports seriously then we would have invested and there would be no need to “import” British born players.

We are now at a point where we have enough qualified coaches to groom these young minds, also this would create more jobs for teachers who are currently unemployed.

The truth is everybody cannot be a Usain Bolt or a Shelly-Ann Fraser, it’s time we search and produce our own Lionel Messi, Roger Federer, Serena Williams, Michael Phelps, Tiger Woods, Michael Jordon and the list could go on and on.

Jamaica though small we are, we have achieved great things and the potential is there to be even greater. It’s time we move from the potential stage and advance above and beyond.

There is this theory that the British born players bring “professionalism” to the national team, if this is true then clearly they haven't brought anything else which shows why we are in such a precarious position.

Our local players are talented enough, we are physical enough, lets invest the time and energy in them, teach them the techniques and professionalism from a early age let them transition from the under 15s under 17s under 20s under 23s and finally the senior team. Mexico, Spain, Holland and Germany are prime examples of this method.

This should solve our aged old problem of our football failures. But who I am? Who will listen to my suggestion? Only time will reveal all. Mek we wait and see nuh!!!!

S.B. Stanberry

Random Brambles About Jamaica's Current State. DEPRESSING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday June 7, 2013 the news broke that the Jamaican dollar reached a record high against the United States (US) currency at average selling rate climbing to J$100.08, according to the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) foreign-exchange trading summary.

According to the historical exchange selling rates provided by the BOJ in a time series of the US dollar versus the Jamaican dollar, in 1971, the US dollar was sold at an average rate of J$0.77.

Tracking J$ over three decades

1971 - J$0.77

1980 - J$1.78

1990 - J$6.50

2000 - J$41.49

2010 - J$89.59

2011 - J$85.87

2012 - J$86.60

2013 - J$92.77

Present - J$100.08

Daily I wake up and I’m in a very depressed state. Reason being I have never seen Jamaica achieve positive economic growth in all my existence.

Jamaica is a country blessed with potential but we seem to be stuck in that state. Our leaders have failed us and we have failed ourselves. I look around me and I see poverty, unemployment, and underemployment.

I even lack the motivation required to blog this article.

I sit and scratch my head daily trying to figure out how to turn this country around, bear in mind this isn’t my job as I was not elected leader of the blessed nation.

I am proud to be a Jamaica but I’m ashamed of where we are in our development. I believe we are the laughing stock of CARICOM.

I am a patriot but right now as it stands if I get a chance to leave this place then I will take it.

We cannot continue to fool ourselves and hide behind our successes in sports and music. We preach tourism yet we are not doing anything different from the rest of the Caribbean and the Americas in that sector.

We need to think “outside the box.” No scratch that we need to “think like there is no box”. We should become innovators of our own destiny.

The world is at a stage in history when technology has shown its capabilities. We hear of Solar and Wind energy. But it confuses me as to why an island located in the tropics blessed with wind and never ending sunshine fails to invest in these technologies on a large scale.

Also we need to invest in Green House technology to assist our farmers and feed our nation and stop all these imports.

I ask myself the question…Do we really care about each other? Does our government care about us?

We elect them yet all we get are broken promises and in those broken promises the rest of us sit and complain.

Are our voices being heard? The news each day is all negative. What will we do?

Where will we go? Who will we look to? Who will lead this country? I have lost faith in our leaders? 51 years after Independence we have failed to live up to expectation.

S.B. Stanberry

Jamaica 50: Patriotism or “Waggonism”? Either Way, We Proud a Wi Island

12:01am August 6, 1962, the Union Jack was lowered one last time; the National Stadium went into darkness. As the lights came back on the colours of black, green and gold were seen flowing in the air. That was the colour of the national flag. A new nation was born, free from the British monarch. A nation filled with promise, prosperity and a set of people who planned on taking the world by storm. 

Fast forward into present day August 6, 2012, Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake stood on the podium in London as Jamaica’s National Anthem played loudly and proudly in the stadium as over 80,000 people watched in awe. If you’ve never believed in destiny then today your minds were persuaded to. It was no coincidence that Jamaica’s national anthem was being played in London (Land of the British Monarchs) on the day we celebrated 50 years of Independence. Whatever God you believe in must have carved this into the destiny of our island.
The title of this article might cause some controversy but I’m never one to stay away from that. Over the last two weeks I’ve seen an increase in patriotism. A friend of mine even told me she was annoyed because most of these people are a bunch of waggonist. Truth be told, I kinda support that view. Over the years I’ve heard people say we’d be better off as a British colony but I cannot determine whether or not that would be true. One can only assume.
I am born and raised Jamaican and I believe I can judge my own country and say majority of the time we are waggonist. Just pay attention to our sports teams and you’ll see we only back them when they are doing well and desert them when they don’t perform to expectation. Don’t bother comparing them to other teams in the world because we talking about Jamaica here.
Now I have to ask myself this question whether we are really into this Jamaica50 celebration or we just in the Jamaica fever because of the Olympics? Frankly, I’m in no support of only wearing your colours to be considered a Jamaican or only wear it on special occasions like today. I’m sure somebody’s gonna bash me and say I should just enjoy the moment. Well I am enjoying the moment but I still have to point out my observation. Make no mistake, I Stephen Stanberry, am a very patriotic and proud Jamaican and if you know me personally you would know that. It would have been nice if they took 50 schools on the island and carry out some major refurbishing.
But enough drama, seriously, our nation has come a far way in the last 50 years. We set the world alight in music, sports, education and many other fields. We are blessed with the fighting spirit of our African forefathers mixed with Western Society as we enjoy our very unique culture. For a small dot on the worlds map there is no better example to the Jamaican proverb “We likkle but we tallawah”. I implore each and every Jamaican whether at yard or abroad, born and raised or naturalized citizen and those who even want to be Jamaican, never forget this blessed island located in the wonderful Caribbean Sea; a nation abundantly blessed with food and the coolest set of people on the planet. Let your voices be heard, though we are small in land size we are mighty in heart. Let the Black, Green and Gold continue to shine brightly around the world. We are on A Mission to Find the Flag in Our Hearts. Jump Jump Jump we are 50 and despite the hardship and difficulties we face we are PROUD to be JAMAICAN.
"Sing the words of our National Anthem Eternal Father Bless our Land, guard us with thy mighty hand. Say the Words of our National Pledge, Before God and all mankind I pledge the love and loyalty of my heart” and never forget the words of the National Pledge Song, I Pledge my heart forever to serve with Humble Pride."
This is the land of my birth, One Nation, One Mission, The Pride of the Caribbean. To all Jamaicans around the world and all who admire this blessed island, let’s all work together to make this nation increase in beauty and prosperity. Happy 50th Independence Jamaica!!!!!!!!

One Nation, One Mission, One Pride, Glory for Gold!!!!!

It's July 27, 2012 and we are just minutes away from London 2012. Once again the worlds greatest sporting event (the Olympics) is here. Let me not bore you too long after finally coming out of my self imposed retirement of writing. So lets get cracking!

This year marks 50 years of independence for our proud nation. The colours of our national flag exemplifies who we are. A proud set of people who occupy the largest English speaking country in the Caribbean. Despite our mismanagement of various resources we've certainly redefined ourselves in the field of creativity, technology, sports, music and a bunch of other stuff. But as we embark on this momentous journey in London, I'm sure I stand correct when I say the pressure is on our athletes. No point in our history have we ever seen such a pressure. 2008 Olympics completely redefined our nation with the emergency of Shelly-Ann Fraser and Usain Bolt. Now we have emerged from the shadows of the United States while they eat our dust and try to play catch up. Don't expect this Olympics to be a walk in the park for Jamaica. The Americans are hell-bent on proving they are the sprint nation of the world.

As I close this short piece of whatever you make of it, be proud to be Jamaican. Be a nation on a mission and find the flag in your heart.

Lets support team Jamaica. One Nation, One Mission, One Pride, Glory for Gold!!!!!