Recognizing alligator's eggs

Alligator lay egg, but him is not a fowl. (Jamaica)

Dear Zayda,

Things are not always as they appear. In a short while, you will be at the stage of questioning, and of saying “no”. You need to keep this quality when you are grown up. Sometimes people see one and one and they get two; at other times, people see one and one and swear they have 11 or even 1001. So fowls lay eggs, but not every egg was laid by a fowl.

Yet children as well as grownups can get into trouble for asking questions and saying “no”. And if we get into trouble often enough, we may start to say what others want us to say, rather than what we think and believe.
Jamaica’s State of Emergency ends today, after being in force for two months. The two parties continue to argue about who is to blame for ending this State of Emergency. It seems that most Jamaicans want it to continue, but those are not the Jamaicans like Leon.

Leon called me once when he needed someone to talk to. Actually, his uncle, a policeman, suggested that he call me. Leon was so angry at the police, that his uncle feared he might do something bad and get into real trouble with the law.

Leon was working with a man who refused to pay him what was due. One day, Leon decided to go to the man’s office to demand his money, but still had to leave without getting paid. On the street outside the office, the police came and arrested Leon. He spent a week or two in lock-up before the police released him. He was angry at the man who still owed him the money and caused him to be locked up. He was even angrier with the police who kept him in a jail cell that was smelly and crowded, where he needed to go to the bathroom in a bucket and the food was not what anyone should have to eat.

Well, Leon and I talked, and then I arranged for him to see a counselor. As a result, Leon seemed more hopeful, and decided to move on with his life even if he never got the money owed to him.

He lived in a poor community. Because he had no job and no money, he was sleeping the only place he found shelter – in a chicken coop. He was worried that he didn’t have the means to support his son whom he loved a lot. He talked with me about going back to Clarendon to work on his family’s land there.

He did return to Clarendon, and that where the police held him. He has been in lockup now for about three weeks, and the police have not charged him with doing anything wrong. The police could hold him for as long as the State of Emergency lasts, and no one could help him.

I will try to get Leon an attorney, and hope that he gets justice before he gets angrier.

The State of Emergency might look as harmless as a fowl egg to a lot of people. But young men like Leon see it as an egg that hatches an alligator with sharp teeth.

My grandniece, we need always to try to see the world from other people’s points of view as well as our own. We need to realize that truth can be a lot more than what we see or think we see.

Blessings,

Your shangazi

When sheep and goat need to unite

When rain fall, sheep and goat does have to mix. (Trinidad and Tobago)

Dear Zayda,

Sometimes we need to get together with others even if we don’t like them or agree with them. We may need to join with them because that is our best way of dealing with a crisis.

Many of us get caught up with who we are, what family we belong to, what schools we attended, and where we happen to live. :Too often we find reason to stay divided even when we need to come together under one umbrella to shelter from rain. Jamaica has a history of being divided, starting with the plantation where even slaves were divided among themselves. Some slaves worked in the house and they thought they were better than those who worked in the fields. Those who were light-skinned with less curly hair and straight noses thought they were better than those who were darker-skinned with more curly hair and broader noses. Some of us continue to find it hard, even today, to come together on matters we need to stay alive.

Yesterday we had an example. Jamaica’s leaders met yesterday to discuss whether the State of Emergency should continue. When they met a month ago, both sides voted to continue the State of Emergency. Yesterday, the orange side was not sure about continuing. People on that side said they needed more information to be sure they were doing the right thing for the Jamaican people. The green side said the police and soldiers said they needed to keep the State of Emergency for another month, because it was working to reduce crime.

Now, the orange side said they would not vote for the extending the State of Emergency just because the green side wanted them to. They said they wanted to see reason to take away the rights of people. You see, the police held about four thousand persons on one side of the divide (those who were poor and uneducated). Most of them were let go after they spent days or weeks in filthy jails, and it was not clear whether the police had charged any of the others.

Well, the sheep and the goat just could not mix, even though the rain was falling. They could agree that crime was a problem, but what to do about it? The orange side offered a way out of the rain. They would vote for the State of Emergency to continue for 15 days instead of 30 days. During that time, the green side could give reasons to keep the State of Emergency. The two sides could then discuss the crime problems, and decide what best to do.

The green side said it had to be 30 days or nothing at all. That side didn’t have enough people to vote for 30 days, so they lost the vote.

Well, it is hard to say who won and who lost here. Green and orange blame each other, as usual. Both sides could try to discuss a plan to deal with crime, but that seems unlikely while each side decide it is right and the other is wrong.

My grandniece, no matter how strongly we feel, we need to be open to discussion and perhaps even change. In our own interest. And in the interest of others. Humility goes a long way.

Blessings,

Your shangazi

Replacing fear and hate with courage

This Adinkra symbol is "Akofena". These two swords represent courage.





That which you fear most is likely to occur; the one you hate the most is likely to take over. (Ethiopia)

Dear Zayda,

If this Ethiopian proverb is right (and I think it is), we seem to be building up a lot of trouble in Jamaica right now. Whatever we fear and whomever we hate has power over us. On the other hand, faith and love have power beyond what we can imagine. Our strength comes from the courage to think our way to solutions, rather than simply react to problems.

People in Jamaica seem to fear crime so much that they don’t want to look at it. And if you don’t look at something, you can’t solve it. In fact, looking at something puts you have way toward solving it since you know what you are dealing with. Or at least you are willing to see what the problem is.

So at this moment we have a State of Emergency that has gone on for almost two months. The government is likely to renew this State of Emergency this week, and seem likely to continue renewing it for the rest of the year. The police like it, business people like it, people uptown and downtown seem to like it, and I can think of few people who think it should end now. But sometimes, Zayda, we have to stand up for what we believe even if we are alone or in a small group. It’s not a question if we are right or wrong, it’s a question of being firm in what we are convinced is true.

I can understand the public response to the State of Emergency, because living with crime and fear of crime can make people so stressed out they get sick. Living that way makes many of us prisoners in our homes and in our cars. We feel we must live behind grills and with our windows rolled up and car doors locked all the time. We panic if we hear a sound at night, even if it is just a neighbour’s cat hunting for mice. If the wind rattles a window we might freeze in our beds. Yes, it is that bad to live in a country with a high rate of crime.

So the State of Emergency gives an ease, at least for a while. However, it is like a band-aid over a broken leg. The State of Emergency gives the police huge powers, so every the police cordon and search areas – they surround a community and block it so people can’t just go in and out as they wish, and then they search for bad men and guns. The police can also arrest as many people as they like, and they don’t need to have a reason. Besides, they can hold the people for months, and they don’t need to charge the people with any offences. So crime is down, mainly because the wrongdoers are laying low for a while. The band aid is on, but the broken leg is not fixed.

At some point, the band aid is going to drop off or be taken off, and then what? That which people fear most is likely to return, perhaps all the worse for being allowed to get worse because we feared it so much we would not look at it and try to deal with it directly. The State of Emergency will end, even though I think there are those who would like it to continue indefinitely, so we never have to start healing what is admittedly ugly to look at.
At this time, people are saying how much they hate criminals. Some would like criminals locked up forever, and many say outright that they have no problem with killing criminals. Others compare criminals to cockroaches or other pests that the country needs to get rid of, even if some innocents die in the process. So, if the Ethiopian proverb is correct, the criminals seem likely to take over when the State of Emergency ends – what we hate most is likely to take over. Worse still, if our fears prevented us from solving the problems that were making people do bad things rather than look to what is good for everyone.

We probably can’t help all of Jamaica to turn from fear and hate, but we can help ourselves. So, my grandniece, let us look at life through the eyes of love. Let us look at people, no matter their actions, through the eyes of love. Love doesn’t mean we allow bad things to happen. Love means we try to prevent the bad things from happening. And if the bad things happen, love means we look for ways to prevent them from happening again. And courage means we take steps that may not make us popular.

Our solutions don’t need to be perfect, since we can keep learning how to do things better. What is important is that, no matter our fears, we keep growing. And loving.

Blessings,

Your shangazi

Not judging the meagre mule

When fly bother meagre mule nobody see; but when the mule kick, everybody say him bad. (Jamaica)


My dear grandniece,

I knew the events in Jamaica of May 23 and after had an effect, but I didn’t think it would be such as to silence this blog for two months. I made attempts to write blog entries, and seemed to find no words I chose to publish. Perhaps I wanted to be hopeful in this space, but could not see my way these months. I am not sure what makes the difference today, but I think I am deciding that silence is not the way to go, no matter what.

On May 23, there was a kickback in Jamaica that took us on the edge of a cliff. It seemed for a moment that criminal gangs were truly in charge. Police stations were under attack, two police stations were set on fire, and security persons were being fired at and killed. Chaos.

So the government took strong steps – the strongest action a government can take – to control the conflict. The Governor-General declared a State of Emergency. This means that everyone in the country loses their rights while the security forces makes the country secure. As a result of this action, Jamaica quieted down in a few days.

The country felt relieved, especially as the State of Emergency created a breathing space that we had not had in years. People were being locked up, and wrongdoers seemed to be on the run. Most importantly, the security forces seemed to be in charge of the situation.

So the mule kick, and everyone say him bad, but were there flies bothering the meagre mule that nobody see? It is important to take action and serious action, Zayda, when a crisis occurs. Equally important, we need to see what caused the crisis. If we don’t address the cause, the incident is likely to occur again. We could cuss the meagre mule all we want when it kicks, but it will kick again if we don’t get rid of the flies that bring about the bad or the criminal behaviour. And if we tie mule’s legs together, he won’t be able to kick, so we will have solved the problem – up to a point. However, if the flies continue to bother the mule, we better be sure we tie the mule so it can never move again. The flies will make the mule more and more angry, and not being able to kick will make the mule more and more frustrated. So no one will want to be around if ever the mule gets a chance to kick again.

At present, most people in Jamaica feel so relieved to have been spared this kickback, that I think they wouldn’t mind getting rid of the mule altogether. Except that, in reality, we are talking about human beings who can talk and say what is wrong and what was the build up to what happened on May 23. Perhaps people need to be calmer to get to the point of listening to each other even if they don’t like each other, and even if some would want others to be permanently locked up or else removed from society.

Zayda, perhaps these messages can help. Maybe those who are fat can see that those who are meagre have reasons to kick. Maybe we will get around to seeing and listening. Maybe we will get around to removing the reasons for anger strong enough for some to kill and destroy. Maybe we will manage to deal with our own anger.

So I am back on the blog. With hope.

Blessings,

Your Shangazi