Imagine Jamaica 50

Imagine Jamaica

Dr. Claire Nelson — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 09:38:32 +0000

January 10^th

Dear Aunty:

With all the challenges Jamaica faces, this year of Golden Jubilee is also a call to arms. As we are outnumbered by the naysayers internally, and the external global economic challenges, we will be required to engage in a guerilla war against the enemies of: self-doubt, crass partisanship, crab-in-the-barrelism and international laws made to favor the wellbeing of our former colonial masters. We are a tallawah people – only the strongest and fittest survived the trek through the jungles, the Middle Passage and the back-brukking labor of the midday canefield sun.

Now that the election is behind us– we can turn our attention to the bashment for the Jubillee. The Imagine Jamaica 50 Birthday Wish List is my contribution to the party planning process. I believe that enough of us can step up and make bold and seemingly impossible claims about what we will do, we can change the direction of this nation. Nanny showed us this power of the mind when she devised her strategies for battleground success. Marcus Garvey showed us this power of the mind when he launched a movement and three ships a sailing. Bob Marley showed us this power of the word with his message of self-emancipation and social justice which continues to reverberate throughout the world today.

Take the vision of planting 50,000 Trees in Jamaica (Wish #7). It is alive – because the Visioneurs from Farmville Jamaica Live have told me that they can taste the ackee and breadfruit and mangoes that will bear from the 50,000 trees they want to help plant in yards across the nation. Now with all the mention of the diaspora in speeches during the swearing in and aftersince, I am longing to see what the diaspora activists are planning on doing. I am hoping that someone will take up my Wish#4 – Support the Development of 50 Community Based Development Corporations or Wish #9 Organize Hometown Development Summits to result in Five Year Development Plans for each Parish. My girl who run the Hanover Homecoming Foundation – must be have something in mind…I cant wait to hear what she planning. And as a matter of fact, so too the Elizabethans and I understand there is a Trelawny group. What a thing if they could all come together and plan for each of them to come home between July 27^th and July 31^st and then on AUGUST 1^st across the nation – we could launch a Grand Emancipation Celebration with runners lighting the torch and running a relay around island from parish clock to parish clock. My heart can’t stop quivering. I longing to hear what they are planning. Please Let me know if you hear anything!

Walk Good,

Cousin

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Imagine Jamaica

Dr. Claire Nelson — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 07:04:59 +0000

January 8^th

Dear Aunty,

It is impossible to describe the sensations and thoughts that prompted the tears that flowed down my cheeks at the recent swearing in of the MOST Honourable Portia Lucretia Simpson Miller as the Prime Minister of Jamaica in this our year of Jubilee. It is her’s… truly her’s I thought. The title ” Mother of the Nation” for truly at the ripe age of 69, she can well be a grandmother to many of our youth. Being in Jamaica at election time, my first opportunity since the 1970s, has allowed my dreams of a thriving, happy and civil Jamaica to come to full bloom. At the polling station I observed (Unofficially I must add — since the diaspora are not included in any Official observer Mission that I know of) Outside Agents in their orange and green, working diligently to ensure our democracy. The day was calm. Civility reigned! And as I stayed glue to the TV Coverage all day – it became clear – Jamaica was growing up. The trigger may have been the blaspheme of those who promised to die for Dudus (who is looking well fed courtesy of the NY Taxpayers). Or maybe it was the prayers of the multitude who truly have had enough. Whatever the trigger – this election signals a shift in our collective consciousness. We are not afraid! We know who we are! We are empowered! The decisive win of Sister P—now Mama P – has shown that the average Jamaican is a thinking Jamaican. For even those who did not vote, and that numbers some 40%, were heard to say – they did not vote in order to send a message to both parties that they are fed up with business as usual. (The third Parties got less than 1% of the vote).

The solemn but festive mood of the inaugural festivities at Kings House yesterday – people being mindful to leave their pot covers and horns at home – showed that my people have come of age. Political overtones were relegated to orange tones in shirts and ties and blouses and suits and hair styles. The pride was pungent. As one lady said - ‘Sister P mek we woman from the inner city know that we can mek it’. Not since Marcus Garvey has the masses of Jamaicans had someone who proves that we can all make it. No matter the valley, zinc roof, or zinc fence yard from which we come. Allelulia! That is the gift of the ascension of Mama P at this juncture in our history. Who among us does not like a Come-Back Story? The poise and elegance and grace of the redeemed Portia is a dream realized for many if not all Jamaicans. She is the embodiment of our hopes for who we can become as a people. Men and Women of Jamaica across class and color lines know that if Portia can make her dream come true with her demonstration of self-knowledge, self-confidence, and resilience, under stiff and unrelenting opposition - SO CAN WE! We have only to hold fast! One old woman from her constituency gummed – ‘Sister P don’t mek no man – no one – hold her back or hold her down’. They said – she marches to her own drum. She dances to her own music! Maybe she does carry Nanny as a familiar spirit. That being the case, we must all pour a libation to Grandy Nanny who taught us the power of the dream – and the power of guerilla warfare. In fact, I have gotten word that per my 50^th Birthday wishlist, there is already a Monument to Grandy Nanny in Portland, but I understand as a Shrine, it is incomplete. Annual Celebrations are held under tents and tarpaulins. A proper Visitor’s Center complete with auditorium and library and gallery is needed. Maybe Maroons in the Diaspora will see to the construction of such a shrine. Is such a thing possible? I think it surely is. Honoring our heroes by telling their stories over and over and doing our best to ensure that their struggles were not in vain, is certainly one way to ensure the dream of Jamaica—Land we Love.

Walk Good,

Cousin

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Imagine Jamaica

Dr. Claire Nelson — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 07:19:16 +0000

January 1, 2012

Dear Aunty:

Happy New Year! I predict that 2012 will be a year to remember for Jamaicans at home and abroad. Between the Olympics, The US Election, the End of the World according to the Mayan Calendar, and the 50^th Anniversary of the Independence of Jamaica and Trinidad, we will have more than enough on our plate. Last independence, I told you to my 50^th Birthday wish list for Jamaica… and despite the fact that only 215 days remain in the countdown…I still believe we can pull off some miracles. Because the fact that Sister P horse run off with the Cash Pot is a miracle indeed. We in the Diaspora were in general on tenterhooks about which way it would go. Some of the diehards travelled home to vote, while others like me remained firmly on the bench praying above all for a free and fair and violence absent election. Well God answers prayers because the calm and quiet of December 29, 2011 will certainly go down in history. The high drama has played out and now that the election is over and the people have spoken about the need to balance people’s lives as well as the Bank book, I really hope that we can get down to the business of commemorating the 50^thin a really special way, I am praying we can go beyond events to using the occasion to plant the seeds for a transformational shift in the process of Jamaica’s development with the partnership and participation of the Jamaican diaspora. Not one of the fifty things on my list is impossible. All it takes it will!

Take NUMBER 2 on my birthday wish list – 5,000 Diaspora Mentors for 5,000 Student Mentees –. let’s call it for short – ‘The Mentors Project’ that is an easy-easy-easy sell off. All it would take is an organization like the Jamaica Council of Churches to set up a relationship with all the Jamaican-dominated churches in the US, Canada and UK which I guesstimate at a minimum of 100 … and ask them to nominate fifty people each to be mentors. Likewise 100 churches in Jamaica would nominate 50 youth to be mentees. The mechanics, rules and regulations of the mentorship program to be worked out will ensure a win-win for youth mentees and mentors alike and all participants would be asked to commit for one year. Planning, development and registration would be effected between now and through the period of Lent. On Easter Sunday – the program would be launched, consecrated and plans put in place in all participating Churches with partners linked by Skype or other such media. The project would culminate in a convocation on Easter Sunday 2013 in Jamaica. Can such a wish come true? Will the Jamaica Council of Churches and some church leaders in Jamaica at home and abroad help make my birthday wish come true? Would you like to help make my wish come true?

Fifty Wishes in 366 days!

Walk good,

Cousin

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A vision

mthompson — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 16:14:50 +0000

Ska, Rocksteady, Reggae and Soundsystem are Jamaica’s biggest cultural exports. Reggae Music and it’s sub musical genres Dancehall and Dub are ever finding new ground in Europe and other parts of the world. It is time to celebrate the rich narratives and larger that life characters that made this powerful music; names like Lee Stratch Pery, Bob Marley, Burning Spear, Trojan, Kilimanjaro, Studio One, Yellowman, Big Youth are not just important names but iconic brands recognized globally. Reggae is played in all corners of the world from South Africa to Japan from Rio to Berlin. This is the time to big Up all the pioneers that made this incredible music possible. This music has inspired millions and spawned many other popular global music such as Rap, Electronica Dubstep etc. The respect for Reggae is ever growing as a new generation embrace our culture and make it their own. What would be more fitting than to some day in the future see the construction of an iconic structure to celebrate the wonderful music in the land and city of it’s invention. Let us begin to dream big.

www.thereggaemovement.com/

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wu4ma2CHf4

Contributed by Michael Thompson – Visit his Flickr website to see more of his work.

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OnePeople is a collaborative documentary to celebrate Jamaica’s global reach 50 years after independence

X Murphy — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 17:34:46 +0000

OnePeople is a collaborative documentary that invites people worldwide to contribute footage . On August 6th, 2011 we pose the question “What does Jamaica mean to you?” with the aim that a global community of creative minded people will respond by uploading a visual representation of their answer to our website (www.onepeopledocumentary.com). We know that our tiny island nation has touched many outside of our country, even beyond our diaspora, and with this project we will embrace anyone who has ever been moved by a reggae song, enjoyed a plate of ackee and saltfish, been stirred by the words of Marcus Garvey, fell in love under a Negril sunset or simply has a point of view.

A portion of the documentary’s net profits will be used to create Jamaica’s first film fund to enable Jamaican filmmakers to tell their own stories in their own voices.

Submissions will close November 6th, 2011

OnePeople will premiere August 6th, 2012 in Miami, Toronto, New York, London and Kingston.

website: http://www.onepeopledocumentary.com
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/onepeopledoc
twitter: @onepeopledoc

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Our Top 10 Picks of Miss Jamaican World

X Murphy — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 15:08:51 +0000

This week Danielle Crosskill was crowned Miss Jamaica World 2011. Here are our picks for Miss Jamaica World since 1976. These pick are not based only on beauty but popularity amongst the Jamaican people and contributions back to the Jamaican society. Be sure to add your favorites to this list. During the year leading up to Jamaica’s 50th Independence on August 6, 2012, each week we’ll be compiling a list of things celebrating Jamaican foods, music, culture, people and more.

Here are our 10 picks of Miss Jamaica World (not in any order):

Miss Jamaica 1983 Cathy Levy (Miss World 4th place)
Miss Jamaica 1985 Allison Barnett (Miss World 5th place)
Miss Jamaica 1993 Lisa Hanna (Misss World winner)
Miss Jamaica 2007 Yendi Phillips (Miss World Semi-finalist)
Miss Jamaica 1991 Sandra Foster (Miss World 4th place)
Miss Jamaica 1987 Janice Wittingham
Miss Jamaica 2004 Tonoya Toyloy
Miss Jamaica 2005 Terri-Karelle Griffith (Miss World Semi-finalist)
Miss Jamaica 1976 Cindy Breakspeare (Miss World winner)
Miss Jamaica 1981 Sandra Cunningham (Miss World 2nd runner-up)

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Top 16 Jamaican Track Athletes – Countdown to Jamaica’s 50th Independence

admin — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 15:00:22 +0000

Herb McKinley ” href=”http://www.jamaicans.com/bm%7Epix/herbertmckinley%7Es600x600.jpg” rel=”bm_lightbox” target=”_blank”>

Herb McKinley

Here are our picks for the Top 16 Jamaican Track Athletes (not in any order). This is not in any Even though Jamaicans athletes have represented other countries our list is limited to those who represented Jamaica internationally. The biographies of the 16 athletes are below the list. Be sure to add your favorites to this list. During the year leading up to Jamaica’s 50th Independence on August 6, 2012, each week we’ll be compiling a list of things celebrating Jamaican foods, music, culture, people and more.

Herb McKinley – Specialty: 200m, 400m, 4×100, 4x400m
Arthur Wint – Specialty: 400m, 800m ,4x400m
Donald Quarrie – Specialty: 100m, 200m ,4x100m
Merlene Otty – Specialty: 100m, 200m, 4x100m
Veronica Campbell-Brown – Specialty: 100m, 200m, 4x100m
Usain Bolt – Specialty: 100m, 200m, 4x100m
Asafa Powell – Specialty: 100m, 4x100m
Raymond Stewart – Specialty: 100m, 4x100m
Shellly-Ann Fraser-Pryce - Specialty: 100m, 4x100m
Michael Frater – Specialty: 100m, 4x100m
Bert Cameron – Specialty: 400m & 4x400m
Marilyn Fay Neufville – Specialty: 400m & 4x400m
Jacqueline Pusey – Specialty: 100m, 200m, 4x100m
Davian Clarke – Specialty: 400m & 4x400m
Keith Gardner – Specialty: 100m, 110m Hurdles
Gillian Russell – Specialty: 100m hurdles, 4x100m

Herbert (“Herb”) Henry McKenley
Herbert (“Herb”) Henry McKenley OM (July 10, 1922 – November 26, 2007) was a Jamaican athlete, winner of a gold medal in the 4×400 m relay at the 1952 Summer Olympics.

Born in Pleasant Valley, Clarendon, Jamaica, Herb McKenley enrolled at the University of Illinois and won the NCAA championships in 220 yd (200 m) and 440 yd (400 m) in 1946 and 1947. He was also the AAU champion in 440 yd (400 m) in 1945, 1947 and 1948, and was also the head of the list of world best times in 100 m (10.3), 200 m (20.4) and 400 m (46.2) in 1947. He is the only person to have ever done this feat.

Just before the 1948 London Olympics, McKenley ran the new world record in 440 yd (400 m) of 46.0, a record he broke again a month later, clocking 45.9. But at the Olympics itself, McKenley finished only second in 400 m, behind teammate Arthur Wint and was fourth in 200 m. He probably lost a gold medal in the 4×400 m relay when Wint pulled his muscle in the final. He is the only person to have made the final in all three sprinting events, the 100 metres, 200 metres and 400 metres in the same Olympics. (Source: Wikipedia)

Arthur Wint
Arthur Stanley Wint (May 25, 1920 – October 19, 1992) was the first Jamaican Olympic gold medalist, winning the 400 m at 1948 Summer Olympics.

Arthur Wint, known as the Gentle Giant, was born in Plowden, Manchester, Jamaica. While at Calabar High School, he ran the sprints and did both the high jump and long jump. He later later transferred to Excelsior High School and finished his secondary education there. In 1937 he was the Jamaica Boy Athlete of the year, the following year he won a gold medal in the 800 m at the Central American Games in Panama.

In 1942 he joined the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan and set the Canadian 400 m record while training there. He was sent to Britain for active combat during the World War II as a pilot. He left the Royal Air Force in 1947 to attend St Bartholomew’s Hospital as a medical student.

In 1948 Wint won Jamaica’s first Olympic gold for the 400 m (46.2) in London, beating his team-mate Herb McKenley. In 800 m he won silver after American Mal Whitfield. He probably missed his third medal in London Games by pulling a muscle in the 4 x 400 m relay final.

In Helsinki 1952 he was part of the historic team setting the world record while capturing the gold in 4 x 400 m relay. He also won silver in 800 m, again coming second to Mal Whitfield. (Source: Wikipedia)

Donald O’Riley Quarrie
Donald O’Riley Quarrie C.D (born 25 February 1951) is a former Jamaican athlete, one of the world’s top sprinters during the 1970s. Don Quarrie competed in five Olympic games. He has received recognition both on and off the field, a statue of him is proudly positioned at the entrance to Jamaica’s National Stadium. There is also a school (Donald Quarrie High School) that bears his name in Eastern Kingston. Musical artists have also sung the praises for Don. There are a number of reggae tunes titled “Tribute to Donald Quarrie”, one by Joe Gibbs and The Guerillas and one by Bongo Herman. Many Jamaicans still refer to him in casual conversation, comparing his speed to that of everyday activities (as in, “not even Don Quarrie could catch me I was so fast”).(Source: Wikipedia)
Merlene Ottey
Merlene Ottey is undisputedly known as the “Queen of the Track”. Her nearly eighteen-year long reign began at the Moscow Olympics. From this beginning, she is the only female track athlete who has dominated the athletics world competing in five Olympic Games. Also she is the only track athlete to have achieved four medals in the same game. Ottey is the first female Caribbean athlete to win an Olympic medal, the first from the western Hemisphere (outside the USA) to win two individual medals at the same game. Regardless of male or female and outside of the USA, she has won more Olympic medals than any other athlete from the Western Hemisphere. Ottey is also one of two athletes to win twenty medals at the Olympic Games and the World Championships. In five World Championships, Ottey has so far won thirteen medals: three gold, four silver and six bronze medals, while at the Olympics she has earned two silver and five bronze medals. (Source: Galanis Sports Data)

Veronica Campbell-Brown
Veronica Campbell-Brown C.D (born 15 May 1982) is a track and field sprint athlete, competing internationally for Jamaica. A five-time Olympic medallist, she is the reigning World and Olympic 200 metres champion. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, she ran the 200 m in 21.74 seconds (the fastest time in a decade) and became the second woman in history to win two consecutive Olympic 200 m events, after Bärbel Wöckel of Germany did so at the 1976 and 1980 Olympics. Veronica Campbell-Brown is ranked the second fastest Jamaica woman over 60 meters, fourth fastest over 100 meters and third fastest over 200 meters. (Source: Wikipedia)

Usain Bolt
The Honourable Usain St. Leo Bolt, OJ, C.D. (Born 21 August 1986), is a Jamaican sprinter and a four-time World and three-time Olympic gold medalist. He is the world record and Olympic record holder in the 100 metres, the 200 metres and (along with his teammates) the 4×100 metres relay. He is the reigning Olympic champion in these three events.

Bolt distinguished himself with a 200 m gold medal at the 2002 World Junior Championships, making him the competition’s youngest-ever gold medalist. In 2004, at the CARIFTA Games, he became the first junior sprinter to run the 200 m in under 20 seconds with a time of 19.93 s, breaking the previous world junior record held by Roy Martin by two-tenths of a second. He turned professional in 2004, and although he competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics, he missed most of the next two seasons due to injuries. In 2007, he surpassed Don Quarrie’s 200 m Jamaican record with a run of 19.75 s.

His 2008 season began with his first world record performance—a 100 m world record of 9.72 s—and culminated in world and Olympic records in both the 100 m and 200 m events at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. He ran 9.69 s for the 100 m and 19.30 s in the 200 m, and also set a 4×100 m relay record of 37.10 s with the Jamaican team. This made him the first man to win three sprinting events at a single Olympics since Carl Lewis in 1984, and the first man to set world records in all three at a single Olympics. The following year he further lowered his own 100 m and 200 m world records to 9.58 s and 19.19 s respectively at the 2009 World Championships. This made him the first man to hold both the 100 and 200 m world and Olympic titles at the same time.

His 2009 record breaking margin over 100 m is the highest since the start of digital time measurements. His achievements in sprinting have earned him the media nickname “Lightning Bolt” and awards including the IAAF World Athlete of the Year, Track & Field Athlete of the Year, and Laureus Sportsman of the Year. (Source: Wikipedia)

Asafa Powell
Asafa Powell C.D (born 23 November 1982) is a Jamaican sprinter who specialises in the 100 metres. He held the 100 m world record between June 2005 and May 2008, with times of 9.77 and 9.74 seconds respectively. Powell has consistently broken the 10-second barrier in competition, with his personal best of 9.72 s being the fourth fastest time in the history of the event. As of July 2011, Powell has broken the ten-second barrier legally more times than anyone else – 80 times in total.

Powell competed in the 100 m at the 2004 Athens Olympics and the 2008 Beijing Olympics but failed to convert his success to the world stage, finishing fifth both times. However, in Beijing he won a gold medal and set the world and Olympic record in the 4 × 100 metres relay with the Jamaican team. At the 2007 Osaka World Championships he won a bronze and a silver medal in the 100 m and 4 x 100 m relay respectively and he has been successful at the Commonwealth Games, winning two gold and one silver medal. At the 2009 World Championships he won 100 m bronze and a relay gold. Powell has won five times at the IAAF World Athletics Final and is the 100 m record holder for the event.

Powell also holds the record for the fastest 100 metres run to place third. In August 2009, he ran 9.84 seconds in the World Athletics Championships from Berlin, Germany. (Source: Wikipedia)

Raymond Stewart
Raymond (“Ray”) Douglas Stewart (born March 18, 1965 in Kingston, Jamaica) is a former Jamaican athlete who specialised in the 100 metres event. As a junior athlete Stewart found much success at the CARIFTA Games, winning five gold medals within a four year period. In 1984 he reached the 100 m Olympic final and won an Olympic silver medal for the 4×100 metres relay. At the 1987 World Championships he took silver in the 100 m and bronze with the Jamaican relay team. A leg injury in the 1988 Olympic final of the 100 m ruined his medal chances in both the individual and relay events.

A new personal best of 9.97 seconds at the NCAA Outdoor Championships made him the number one ranked 100 m athlete in 1989 and the first Jamaican to officially break the 10-second barrier. At the competition he also recorded the third fastest relay time ever. He won his first Commonwealth Games medal the following year, taking bronze in the relay. Stewart recorded a national record of 9.96 seconds at the 1991 World Championships but this was surprisingly only enough for sixth place; two continental records and the world record were broken in the race. Stewart reached his third consecutive Olympic 100 m final in 1992, becoming the first man to do so. He reached the 1993 and 1995 World Championship finals of the 100 m but failed to medal. He attended his last Olympics in 1996.

Stewart had a career that lasted almost twenty years, competing at four successive Olympic Games and six World Championships. He also won the 100 m at the Jamaican national championships seven times. His 100 m personal best of 9.96 seconds makes him the fifth fastest Jamaican sprinter in the event, after Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell, Nesta Carter and Yohan Blake. He went on to coach a number of prominent sprinters, including Jerome Young. (Source: Wikipedia)

Shellly-Ann Fraser-Pryce
Shellly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, OD (born December 27, 1986) is a Jamaican sprinter, who specializes in the 100 m. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Fraser is the reigning Olympic champion and World champion over 100 metres, clocking a time of 10.78 and 10.73 respectively. She is only the second female sprinter to hold both World and Olympic 100m titles simultaneously (after Gail Devers), and is tied with Christine Arron as the fourth fastest woman in history over 100 metres. She attended the Wolmer’s High School for Girls and represented her school in many athletic occasions. (Source: Wikipedia)

Michael Frater
Michael Frater O.D (born October 6, 1982 in Manchester, Jamaica) is a sprinter who specialises in the 100 metres event. He won a silver medal at the 2005 World Championships and a gold medal at the 2003 Pan American Games for the event. He has also been successful as part of the Jamaican 4 × 100 metres relay team, setting the world record and Olympic record at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He also won gold in the relay at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and took silver in the 2002 edition. (Source: Wikipedia)

Bert Cameron
Bertland (“Bert”) Cameron (born 16 November 1959) is a retired Jamaican sprinter who mainly competed over 400 metres. He represented Jamaica at three consecutive editions of the Summer Olympics. Cameron won the 400 m title at the first World Championships in Athletics. He was also the 1978 Commonwealth Games champion in the event and won a number of gold medals at regional competitions. He helped the Jamaican runners to a silver medal in the 4×400 metres relay at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

He carried the Jamaican flag at the opening ceremony of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. He was chosen as the Jamaica Sportsperson of the year three times consecutively form 1981 to 1983. He is currently a coach in Jamaica.

Marilyn Fay Neufville
Marilyn Fay Neufville (born November 16, 1952) is a former Jamaican athlete who had success in the sprints between 1967 to 1971. Neufville broke the world record in the 400 m and won four gold medals and one bronze in various regional championships. (Source: Wikipedia).

Jacqueline Pusey
Jacqueline Pusey, born 14 August 1959 in St Mary, Jamaica is a retired sprinter who specialized in the 100 & 200 metres. She represented Jamaica at the 1976 Montreal (Canada) Olympics and the 1980 Moskva (Russia) Olympics. She won a bronze medal in the Women’s 4×100 metres relay at the first World Championships held in 1983 in Helsinki (Finland).

Davian Clarke
Davian Clarke (born April 30, 1976) is a Jamaican athlete, who mainly competes in the 400 metres. He won the bronze medal in the 4 x 400 metres relay at the 1996 Olympics, and many relay medals followed, before he won his first individual medal at the 2004 IAAF World Indoor Championships. (Source: Wikipedia)

Keith Gardner
Keith Alvin Saint Hope Gardner (born 6 September 1929) was a Jamaican athlete who competed in the 110 metre hurdles, 100 metres, 200 metres and 400 metres. He competed for the British West Indies in the 1960 Summer Olympics held in Rome, Italy in the 4 x 400 metre relay where he won the bronze medal with his team mates Malcolm Spence, James Wedderburn and George Kerr. (Source: Wikipedia)

Gillian Russell
Gillian Russell (born 28 September 1973 in St. Andrews) is a Jamaican athlete who specializes in the 100 metres hurdles. In her early career she won four gold medals at the World Junior Championships, which is a record. (Source: Wikipedia)

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Five Jamaican Foods & Drinks We Gave the World – Countdown to Jamaica’s 50th Independence

X Murphy — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 14:44:09 +0000

Here are our picks of “5 Jamaican Foods & Drinks” that Jamaica has given the world. During the year leading up to Jamaica’s 50th Independence on August 6, 2012, each week we’ll be compiling a list of things celebrating Jamaican foods, music, culture, people and more. Feel free post your top Jamaican foods and drinks.

Blue Mountain Coffee – The Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee is known worldwide for its great unique flavor. It’s one of the world’s most expensive and sought-after coffees. Even though 80% of all Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee is exported to Japan, you can find it almost anywhere in the world in upscale coffee shops.

Jerk Chicken and Pork – The Jerk style of cooking originated in Jamaica but has developed a following internationally. Meats are dry-rubbed and/or marinated with Jamaican jerk spice/sauce and smoked over pimento wood charcoal on an open fire in a pit. Today many use a “drum pan” (old oil barrel) rather than an open pit. The Jerk style of cooking was traditionally used on pork and chicken, but now has been extended to many modern recipes including fish, shrimp, shellfish, beef, sausage, and tofu.

Ting Jamaican Grapefruit Drink – Ting is non-alcoholic beverage produced by Desnoes & Geddes Limited that has become popular world wide. It was first produced in 1976 and is flavored with Jamaican grapefruit juice. It is tart and sweet. It green and yellow packaging is recognizable internationally as truly a Jamaican drink.

Jamaican Patty - The Jamaican patty is one of Jamaica biggest exports and can be found worldwide. Don’t be surprised if you see Jamaican patties in an airport in Europe. The world has discovered what we Jamaicans have known for years; a couple of patties can be eaten as a full meal. The traditional patty filling was ground beef but in modern times the fillings include chicken, vegetables, shrimp, lobster, fish, soy, ackee, mixed vegetables and cheese.

Photo from Red Strip Beer

Red Stripe Beer – The popular Jamaican Red Stripe beer is recognized worldwide. The beer is brewed by Desnoes & Geddes Limited, originally a soft drink manufacturer that started in Jamaica on July 31, 1918. It’s unique packing and entertaining advertising campaign has lifted the Red Stripe to an international level.

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Our Top 50 Picks of Jamaican Ska Songs

X Murphy — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 14:33:26 +0000

During the year leading up to Jamaica’s 50th Independence Day on August 6, 2012, every week we’ll be compiling a list of things celebrating Jamaican foods, music, culture, people and more. We begin with our picks of the Top 50 Ska songs (not in any order). Feel free post your comments with your top Jamaican Ska songs.

Here are our picks of the Top 50 Ska songs(not in any order):

Ska Ska Ska – The Skatalites
My boy lollypop – Millie Small
Forward March – Derrick Morgan
Ball Of Fire – The Skatalites
Simmer Down – Bob Marley & The Wailers
The Train is Coming Baby – Ken Boothe
Blazing Fire – Derrick Morgan
Riding For A Fall – John Holt
No Raise No Praise – Derrick Morgan
Eastern Standard Time – The Skatalites
Hard Man Fi Dead – Prince Buster
Occupation – The Skatalites
James Bond Theme – The Skatalites
Wear You To The Ball – Paragons
Rudies In Court – Prince Buster
Sammy No Dead – Clancy Eccles
Over The River – Justin Hinds & The Dominoes
Carry Go Bring Come – Justin Hinds
Baby I Love You – Carl Dawkins
When I Call Your Name – Stranger Cole & Patsy
Bend Down Low – Bob Marley & The Wailers
I’ve Gotto Go Back home – Alton Ellis
Dance Crashers – Alton Ellis
Girl I’ve Got A Date – Alton Ellis
Things You Say You Love – Brent Dowe
If You Knew How Much – Phylis Diller
oo7 – Desmond Decker
If I Had The World – Dennis Brown
Dancing Mood – Delroy Wilson
Oh Carolina – Clarendonians
54-46 was my number – Toots & The Maytalsl
Pressure Drop – Toots & The Maytals
Guns Of Navarone – The Skatalites
Shame and Scandal – The Skatalites
Ghost town – The Skatalites
Earthquake – Prince Buster
Dancing Mood – Delroy Wilson
Juice Box – Jackie Mittoo
Phoenix City – The Skatalites
Life – Laurel Aitken
Fever – Toots & the Maytals
Corner Stone – Don Drummond
Judge Not – Bob Marley
Engine 54 – The Ethiopians
Independence Ska – Baba Brooks band
Frankenstein Ska – Byron Lee and the Dragonaires
Bellevue Special (aka No More) – Don Drummond
Blackhead Chinaman – Prince Buster
Moon Hop – Derrick Morgan
Freedom Sounds – The Skatalites

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Speclarations – Jamaica Independence

Dr. Claire Nelson — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 02:28:12 +0000

Dear Aunty,
Is Independence Day! Jamaicans all around the world flying the black, green and gold with pride. For no matter our concern at all that is wrong on JamRock is still our Yahd! The place where our navel string bury. Is still Jamaica, Land we Love! In Washington Der Capital… the usual fanfare will take place…the dinner gala, the church service – but unfortunately not the Grand Market Day as money shortage this year has placed that on pause. Between the recession here in America as well as back at home, is like everything gone down, well except for the price of oil, cost of living, and the debt ceiling. Nonetheless, the money shortage this year is not as vexing as you would imagine because we all saving our breath for next year. All the buzz is about what we going to do next year, for our 50th. It’s strange how turning 49 is like a non-event. Think about it. At 19, there is the excitement of leaving the teenage years behind, so you do something to commemorate this rite of passage. Then at 29, there is the anxiety of leaving your roaring twenties and anticipation of entering your thirties and becoming fully adult. Then when you reach your 39th birthday, celebration is vital, because 40 is the age of no return! This is the last year when your mistakes and mishaps will be chalked up as youthful follies. When you reach 40, you are no longer eligible to be called a young turk, young professional, or rising star, so 39 is a banner year to be celebrated! But 49? No one bothers with celebrating the 49th. You don’t believe me, go look see if you Hallmark makes a 49th birthday card. Celebrating your 49th birthday would be like buying yourself a new car the day before they put out the next year’s model. Fifty is all the rage. Half a century. The age of turning wise!

So for the last few weeks even while planning for the 49th all the talk has been about what we doing for Jamaica 50th independence. Beginning today we start the 366 day journey to 50! Having just passed that milestone myself recently, well alright not so recently, I know the exhilaration of turning 50. Its hard to explain to non-fifty people, but its like you now know that you really know what you know; and you also know that you don’t know what you don’t know, and knowing all of that makes you really feel comfortable about yourself. Moreover in these days when 50 is the new 40, given that the days of retiring at 55 are long gone and the projected retirement age is 69 or never, depending on your welfare and wellbeing, people are having more and more extravagant celebrations to mark the milestone. They are throwing grand balls, going skydiving, skindiving, world cruising, and creating bucket lists of things they have to do before they expire. Some people celebrate their 50th the whole year beginning the day of their 49th birthday. With the buzz that has been building, I can already imagine the grand events that are being conjured up for Jamaica’s 50th birthday party around the world.

Aunty Girlie say she praying she live to see next year independence when she will be 85. She say she remember August 6, 1962 as one of the proudest days of her life. The West Indian students at Howard University had their own flagraising party in the student center on campus. Because in those days there was no Jamaican Embassy and the event was too momentous for Miss Lady’s basement on Webster Street. So right there in the Student Life Center, they organized a flagraising by mounting and dismounting first a Paper Union Jack, then a handsewn flag of the Black, Green and Gold, amidst a pot of rice and peas and curry chicken. In those days you could not get goat meat in Washington DC. Then they repeated the ceremony for Trinidad on August 31st.

Aunty Girlie say that she ready to do whatever she can to put on a Gala that will show Washington DC and therefore the world, how much Jamaica progress since 1962. I am also excited about the prospect of a really grand Independence celebration next year. But I really really wish that next year we do more than throw bigger and better parties and street festivals. I truly believe that a momentous occasion such as turning fifty calls for us to spend time in reflection, not just on our past achievements but also on our future promise. Arriving at our 50th anniversary is an occasion for us to look for an answer to our prayer ‘Give us Vision lest we Perish’. It is time we look to ways in which we can teach true respect for all, beginning with respect for self, respect for life, respect for community, respect for the land, and respect for law. It is time for us to call together our collective minds to help decipher the true wisdom that is needed to create the blessings for our land. For even as we ask Father-Mother God to keep us free from evil powers, we must find the matches and fuel needed to light our countless hours. We must stir response to duty’s call, and strengthen ourselves and our institutions, the weak to cherish. We must embark on a collective vision quest lest we perish. We must mine the knowledge needed to generate the wisdom required not just to survive the current daily realities of crime and conflagrations, but to thrive during the coming global whirlwinds of climate change and its attendant ills such as food security and water security. Yes next year as we turn 50, we must celebrate our achievements with fanfare and fandangles. And, we must contemplate our failures and weaknesses not just by navel-gazing, handwringing and dirty-laundry-airing but also by looking out and beyond, to the global horizon that now lies online at our finger tips.

Aunty, what I really want is a birthday celebration that goes on for the 366 days between today and August 6th 2012. I want a commemoration that goes beyond looking back on the past fifty years, and looks ahead to the next fifty. I imagine the architects and engineers (known and unknown) that commissioned our independence, as they met around dining room tables and rum bars and school rooms and church halls on August 6, 1961 to plan for the occasion then, and I wonder how can we best emulate their example and honor their sacrifices, today. I don’t know what the official government plans to do for next year, but I do know that democracy calls for government by the people. And so I am calling on all Jamaican people, at home and abroad, to become the architects and engineers of Jamaica Independence at 50. Since independence means we are free to establish as we freely will, we must in all corners of the world come together to strike a match for independence, by independently creating the commissions and committees that will engage to build a new Movement for Jamaica’s independence in an interdependent global community. Each of us has at least one dream for Jamaica that has yet to be fulfilled. I out some of mine in what I call the Imagine Jamaica 50 Birthday Wish List. Feel free to act on any of them that strikes your fancy, or to create your own to add to this list. But please be of good courage and act on at least one! Let us activate our inner hero to be the change we want to see. Let us meetup on the streets and in church halls or in cyber space over the course of the next 366 days and help each other to fashion our dreams into reality. By coming together, we will be able to right the wrongs, till the soil, and plant the seeds on the fertile ground of our collective vision and will, and thus to grow a continuingly independent – Jamaica Land we Love.

Walk Good, Cousin Claira.
PS

MY IMAGINE JAMAICA 50 BIRTHDAY WISH LIST
1   Establish Diaspora Bond to raise US$50 million @ shares as low as US$1000 to Invest in Small Business Equity Fund
2   5,000 Diaspora Mentors for 5,000 Student Mentees
3   Create a Real Estate Investment Trust to build 50,000 Units of Low Income Housing by 2015
4   Support the Development of 50 Community Based Development Corporations
5   Break Ground to build a New Parliament building and National Center for the Arts downtown by 2015
6   Buy Back Air Jamaica
7   Plant 50,000 Fruit and Shade Trees in Schools and Churches across Jamaica
8   Establish Company to Create Energy from Garbage
9   Organize Hometown Development Summits to result in Five Year Development Plans for each Parish
10   Enroll all 140,000 Unattached Youth in a Compulsory Service & Training Corps
11   Require all Food Use Plastic to be Corn-Based by 2015 and Recycle all non-biodegradable plastics as waste
12   Alumni pledge to partner with One Laptop per child to give each student starting CXC A Level studies in 2012 a Laptop
13   Create an Online Educational Platform for Science and Technology Training and Make access free for all students
14   Create a Marine Area Development Plan for the island’s territorial waters
15   Create a Biotech Venture Capital Fund
16   Organize a Tidy Town Contest for 50 Rural Communities Across Jamaica – the Winner to be Built a Smart Community Center
17   Establish a College Preparatory Program for Fifty Young People under 25 that are incarcerated
18   Establish A Marcus Garvey Elocution Contest at All Primary Schools – Top 5 winners share JA $500,000 in Cash and Prizes for High School
19   FaithBased Community Leaders in US Partner to Establish Economic Justice Missions in Jamaica
20   Create Work Study Programs for students at all Colleges and Universities
21   Create the World’s First Reggae Museum
22   Create a National Hall of Fame
23   Create a World Class Medical Marijuana Research Facility, Wellness Retreat Village in Accompong
24   Copyright and Licencse Jamaica Track Training Methodology
25   Pledge to install 50,000 Solar Panels and/or Windturbines on Roofs of Schools, Hospitals, Clinics, Police Stations, Churches across the island
26   Get 500,000 People to support Campaign to Exonerate Marcus Garvey by Signing Pledge and Donating US$1.00 to Legal Defense Fund
27   Make a Law requiring MPs to reside in and not just represent their Constituency
28   High School Alumni Associations create fifty Enterprise & Innovation Clubs
29   Make downtown Kingston an International Boxing Mecca by creating a Boxing Stadium as a Hub Facility
30   Organize the First All- Island “IronMan” Hepathalon (to include Running, Biking, Swimming, Horseback Riding, HangGliding, Driving, Boating Racing)
31   Diaspora to Invest in 50 Youth Enterprises @ US$2,000 each
32   Organize an Around the Island Regatta for FisherFolk and set up National FisherFolk Festival Program
33   Organize a Youth Futures Summit for 500 Young Professional Leaders
34   Create 50 Art in Public Spaces Projects
35   Build a World Class Children’s Science & Technology Museum by 2015
36   Create a digital library of all Jamaican books ever written
37   Create a world class trauma center at KPH and Cornwall Regional
38   Build a Peace Monument from Confiscated Guns
39   Start an Institute for Peace
40   Organize a National Dialogue on Financial Independence
41   Introduce Marine Sciences at the elementary school level
42   Organize a Twin Community Program between Jamican Diaspora Organizations and Communities at Home
43   Create 50,000 New Jobs by 2015
44   Refurbish National Heroes Circle and Interactive Museum
45   Organize a Science Engineering and Technology Summit with 50 of Jamaica’s Top Scientists in the Diaspora
46   Heroes Alive Around the Island - A Play A Day Festival (Fifty Plays in Fifty Days in Fifty Locations using Seven Actors representing our Seven National Heroes)
47   Build a Monument/Shrine to Nanny in Nanny Town
48   Clean up Kingston Harbor
49   Organize a Convention of All the Jamaicans who have done Medical Missions in the Last Fifty Years
50   Make Port Royal a Historical Theme Park with Live Reenactment of Pirates

FEEL FREE TO ADD MORE BUT ACT ON AT LEAST ONE!

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