September 7 would have been the 90th. birthday of Miss Lou.
Dr. the Hon. Louise Simone Bennett Coverley
She was a thought leader that use her gifts of words and presence to influence the Jamaican culture to embrace its preciousness. In honor of her, we share one of her works.
Dutty Tough - Louise Bennett
Sun a shine but tings no bright;
Doah pot a bwile, bickle no nuff;
River flood but water scarce, yawl
Rain a fall but dutty tough.
Tings so bad dat nowadays when
Yuh ask smaddy how dem do
Dem fraid yuh tek it tell dem back,
So dem no answer yuh.
No care omuch we dah work fa
Hard-time still een we shut;
We dah fight, Hard-time a beat we,
Dem might raise we wages, but
One poun gawn awn pon we pay, an
We no feel no merriment
For ten poun gawn pon we food
An ten pound pon we rent!
Saltfish gawn up, mackerel gawn up.
Pork en beef gawn up,
An when rice and butter ready
Dem just go pon holiday!
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We interrupt this fine work to share the wisdom of a passionate senior Jamaican.
Over the past week, we have been lashed with several emotional hurricanes.
The slaughter of freedom fighters in Iran as symbolized by Neda, the horrific train tragedy in DC and the passing of several celebrity icons have ripped our hearts with a varying category of ferocity dependent on our personal affinity.
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Why? Why ? Why? echo through our hearts. Nothing can fully prepare us for such moments. Few thoughts can steady us , except…
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There is one that I turn to in stormy seasons like this. It comes from a life story that speaks strongly to loss, suffering, grief, hope , and renewal.
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Consider Job . . .
You’ve lost your mules, and donkeys. The thieves made off with them.
Your goat and cows were gone.
Your employees were murdered.
And to top it off, your children were crushed in a freak windstorm . All ten of them were in the local morgue.
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That actually happened. Job got all this news in one short season .
Then it got real personal, as he broke out in boils—from head to toe, like a full dose of adult chicken pox. Talk about having the full barrel of hurricane misfortune with category 5 force inflicting its devastation.
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There was no explanation , no FEMA or national guards, only the cold, chilly silence of heaven. The weight was unbearable for his wife that in her grief and despair she uttered:
“Curse God and die!”
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Somehow through the Vail of tears and pain, and with eyes of faith to see beyond the visible, Job stated,
“Shall we accept only good from God and never adversity?”
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Job grabbed on to a twig of fragile faith, and held on. One of my favorite pastor animate his strength by placing the following words in his mouth.
“GOD IS TOO KIND TO DO ANYTHING CRUEL
TOO WISE TO MAKE A MISTAKE
TOO DEEP TO EXPLAIN HIMSELF.”
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May you been given a faith hearing aid to hear the still small voice of heaven coming with comfort and joy during this stormy season.
At a recent after dinner stroll, I could not help but notice several men engaged with their kids in ordinary, but meaningful manner. First, I noticed a pile of three parked bikes, followed by a bouncing ball. Yes, this dad was teaching his three daughters soccer. The kids ranged from 3 to 9, and it was marvelous to see him balance their varied skills and interest. A block away, I spotted a nervous dad, teaching his daughter to drive. she was learning how to reverse and park between two vehicles. Talk about a hair removal situation.
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These men are the salt of the earth, doing day in day out the ordinary things to keep their families going. I want you to notice how much advise on being a good father will be spewed around today.
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Contrast this with mother’s day, where women are simply affirmed for their nurturing, sacrificial ways.
Why is this? Some men are just “seed sowers” who do not participate in their children lives. These are not dads, so do not confuse the responsible men with these men.
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Let me take this moment to salute all men whose fathering go beyond the boundaries of the biological sphere.
Join me in saluting the coaches, teachers, deacons, elders, uncles who give of themselves to make a difference in so many lives.
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If he sits in shirt sleeves and suspenders at a ballgame or a picnic, call him ‘Pop‘
If he wheels the baby carriage and carries the bundle meekly, call him ‘Papa‘
If, however, he makes a pal of you when you’re good, and is too wise to let you pull the wool over his loving eyes when you’re not; if moreover you’re quite sure no other fellow you know has quite so fine a father, you may call him ‘Dad‘.
On last Saturday, even the New York skies rained tears as we said good bye to my dear Uncle C.
Uncle Cyrilexpired early on St Patty’s day in the hospital after surgery. Death is like an earthquake, an emotional earthquake that jolts us from our normal daily routines as we unite in our grieving, and sort out our emotions.
The suddenness and shock have different reverberation measure on our personal Richter scales.
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Thank goodness for rituals that help us channel our emotions and allow us to continue to function and regain our equilibrium.
We reflect on our loss, and on our personal mortality. For an oasis in tender time, the important come to the fore and the minor to the periphery.
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Being in Diasporia, weddings and class reunions do bring us together, but these are usually planned events. A funeral forces upon us a torrent of decisions to make in a brief time frame. For a funeral in Diaspora, some unique elements may come in to play.
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When in Diasporia, deciding on final internment can become a major issue. That haunting song, “Green, Green Grass of Home” made famous by Tom Jones in the late sixties came rummaging through my mind around this issue. Being buried in a strange land can have an emotional disconnectiveness to some. This song captures the sentiments of a prisoner awaiting his death, and he will only return home when he is dead and buried: “Yes, they’ll all come to see me in the shade of that old oak tree, as they lay me ‘neath the green, green grass of home.”
Have you given much thought to the geography of your final resting place?
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Another of the other major cluster of decisions has to do with the details of the funeral service. Being in Diaspora lends itself to the adoption of a wider berth of cultural and religious values. Family members with different faith perspectives may want their deep convictions to be represented at this life engaging ceremony. This could bring differences into sharp contrast if the departed had not shared instructions or was not a traditional church attendee.
Have you considered detailing final instructions regarding these issues?
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We will truly miss our loved ones, but if you are a person of Christian faith, please remember, we do not weep as those without hope. We have a hope that burn within our hearts, a confidence that one day we will be re-united.
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Can you imagine the day when death and its gang members will be history?
Let us remember that death and disease can wound, but their claws and thuggery are limited to this side of eternity, and even so:
They cannot cripple the love we experienced from our loved one.
They cannot erode our faith in their solid decency.
They cannot destroy our confidence in their strength.
They cannot kill the rich friendships that bonded us to them.
They cannot erase the warm memories of them that continue to live within our hearts.
They cannot silence the courage we witness in their many actions.
They cannot lessen the power of the resurrection that will enable the grand reunion someday.
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So let our loved one take their rest. Morning will soon come, and they will awaken to an eternal glorious day.
With a surname like Daley, you better have an affinity to St. Patrick’s Day!
Well, I’m in trouble.
No green beer
No beads
No parade
No Corned beef
and other St. Patrick’s Day traditions
Okay,here is a shamrock!
Let me share some life wisdom to bless you on this St Patty’s day. It won’t get you in the party spirit, but may it’s deep insight bless you with riches more precious than a pot of gold.
“Any day I’m vertical is a good day” …that’s what I always say.
If you ask me, “How are you?”
I’ll answer, “GREAT!” because in saying so, I make it so.
When Life gives me dark clouds and rain, I appreciate the moisture that brings a soft curl to my hair.
When Life gives me sunshine, I gratefully turn my face up to feel its warmth on my cheeks.
When Life brings fog, I hug my sweater around me and give thanks for the cool shroud of mystery that makes the familiar seem different and intriguing.
When Life brings snow, I dash outside to catch the first flakes on my tongue, relishing the icy miracle that is a snowflake.
Life’s events and experiences are like the weather - they come and go, no matter what my preference.
So, what the heck?! I might as well decide to enjoy them.
For indeed, there IS a time for every purpose under Heaven.
If there is a phrase that resonates throughout the world regarding the state of Jamaica’s happiness, the above statement would indicate our world class position. Well, so I thought!
We own the area code of bliss!
Really?
When I saw the headline of the survey, The World’s Happiest Countries, I just figured we would be getting a Bolt-like jolt of new recognition.
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The study was conducted by the University of Michigan, one of my alumnus school. I just figured the stars were all aligned! Boy do we need some good news to change it up, given our global economic circumstances!
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You can then imagine my horror when we did not even place or show!
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This genius group measures the happiness of individuals by two different means.
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The first is to simply ask them how “happy” they are.
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The second is to ask them how “happy” they are, and also how “satisfied” they are.
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The results are then combined to arrive at a measure of their “subjective well-being,” a term generally considered synonymous with happiness.
Now for the results:
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Ranking of the World’ Happiest Countries
1. Nigeria
2. Mexico
3. Venezuela
4. El Salvador
5. Puerto Rico
Here is a summary statement I took from their website.
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“Happiness is not only important to our personal and societal lives, it is important to our global community. Unhappiness breeds wars and terrorism. Countries who unjustly attack other countries are doing so because they are not happy with certain international realities. Terrorists who attack individuals and populations are deeply dissatisfied with various social, political, religious and/or economic realities. Very happy countries would not wage unjust wars. Very happy individuals would not commit acts of terror.
Why is happiness so important?
As individuals and as societies, happiness is both our highest goal and an extremely effective means of achieving many of our other cherished goals. Both as individuals and as a planet, happiness is our ultimate reason for living. Happiness is really all there is and all there ever will be; all else is only a means to happiness.”
Well, having more than one study may help to give some balance. Here is a report from a British study completed in 2006 that created the first world happiness map.
A feature story in Business week featured a mass migration of Indians and Chinese back to their native land. H1B visas issues, frayed family ties, along with career opportunities are major contributors.
I could not help but think about Tom Friedman’s book, ‘The World is Flat”, where technologies, and mega trends have upset the apple cart and are driving a new globalization era.
Tom’s Ten flatteners
Friedman defines ten “flatteners” that he sees as leveling the global playing field:
#1: Collapse of Berlin Wall–11/’89: The event not only symbolized the end of the Cold war, it allowed people from other side of the wall to join the economic mainstream. (09/11/1989)
#2: Netscape: Netscape and the Web broadened the audience for the Internet from its roots as a communications medium used primarily by ‘early adopters and geeks’ to something that made the Internet accessible to everyone from five-year-olds to ninety-five-year olds. (8/9/1995). The digitization that took place meant that everyday occurrences such as words, files, films, music and pictures could be accessed and manipulated on a computer screen by all people across the world.
#3: Workflow software: The ability of machines to talk to other machines with no humans involved. Friedman believes these first three forces have become a “crude foundation of a whole new global platform for collaboration.”
#4: Open sourcing: Communities uploading and collaborating on online projects. Examples include open source software, blogs, and Wikipedia. Friedman considers the phenomenon “the most disruptive force of all.”
#5: Outsourcing: Friedman argues that outsourcing has allowed companies to split service and manufacturing activities into components which can be subcontracted and performed in the most efficient, cost-effective way.
#6: Offshoring: The internal relocation of a company’s manufacturing or other processes to a foreign land in order to take advantage of less costly operations there. China’s entrance in the WTO allowed for greater competition in the playing field. Now countries such as Malaysia, Mexico, Brazil must compete against China and each other to have businesses offshore to them.
#7: Supply chaining: Friedman compares the modern retail supply chain to a river, and points to Wal-Mart as the best example of a company using technology to streamline item sales, distribution, and shipping.
#8: Insourcing: Friedman uses UPS as a prime example for insourcing, in which the company’s employees perform services–beyond shipping–for another company. For example, UPS repairs Toshiba computers on behalf of Toshiba. The work is done at the UPS hub, by UPS employees.
#9: In-forming: Google and other search engines are the prime example. “Never before in the history of the planet have so many people-on their own-had the ability to find so much information about so many things and about so many other people”, writes Friedman. The growth of search engines is tremendous; for example take Google, in which Friedman states that it is “now processing roughly one billion searches per day, up from 150 million just three years ago”.
#10: “The Steroids”: Personal digital devices like mobile phones, iPods, personal digital assistants, instant messaging, and voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).
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On the heels of these thoughts, I ran across a fellow Jamaican blogger who is pioneering a back to Jamaica phenomenon. In our email conversation, he shared that he sees a similar trend happening in Trinidad.
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I will wager a bet that the current economic tsunami with its far reaching rippling effects will rearrange many lives and some of us may find ourselves heading home.This will be reverse immigration’s X factor.
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We are used to returning in our golden years, but what about those of us still in the prime years of our lives?
I am planning a more extensive conversation with him, and would like to represent a comprehensive inquiry. We will be using some webcast technology to allow folks to listen in.
What questions flood your mind around this issue?
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So, please submit your questions either here or at the email recessionbegone@gmail.com. Will be taking questions through Sunday, March 8, 2009.
Have you notice a growing line these days at the coin exchange machine in your local supermarket?
I could not help but notice a line of adults at the machine while shopping on yesterday.
This scene triggered some memories of a few year ago. I had used penny collecting as a means of teaching my youngest daughter a keen life lesson. I wanted to teach her the discipline of patience to under gird her emotional intelligence development.
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I would give her all of my pennies. Every few months, we would go to the coin machine and, wah lah!, her diligence and savings turn into a receipt that became $10! She could use this money to invest in a personal item.
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Overtime she badgered me for nickels, and dimes, but I stuck to my guns, and she had to live within the limits of the power of the penny. She does know how to pinch a penny , I just wished her college education could be measured in those terms.
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Folks are using all their imagination to make even the penny count. Take a look and see if you agree.
I live in a space of thankfulness, and I have been rewarded a million times over for it. I started giving thanks for small things, and the more thankful I became, the more my bounty increased. That’s because what you focus on expands, and when you focus on the goodness in your life, you create more of it.”
– Oprah Winfrey
How are you leveraging your pennies to stretch all your budgets?
This Saturday evening, I was privileged to watch the TNT movie on the life of one of my living heroes, Dr. Ben Carson.
I have admired this giant of a man for many years. My kids have read all his books, and we have driven to any of his lectures, which were within our geographic possibility.
You may ask why this seemly obsession. I am very selective in whom I recommend as role models to my kids, and Dr. Carson fits the bill.
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I consider his mom the co-MVP of his story, that we as parents need to emulate.
When we have a dedicated vision for the possibility for our kids, nothing, yes nothing will stop us from attaining them. Not racism, not the poverty of an inner city school system.
Here was a poor single mom, who believe in the potential of her kids and sacrificed much to allow them to attain their potential.
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I am easily bored with movies, so I took notes to keep me focused. Here is a listing of my ramblings from a parent’s perspective:
Human frailties such as temper can be managed and channeled for greatness.
Turn off the television (let me add IPODS, and other media devices). Manage the influences that others can have on your children, and make sure they are positive ones.
Persevere in telling our children what special gifts we see in them.
Model the importance of education - she learned to read.
Get them to make the library a favorite hang out.
Develop their love for great baroque music, not 7-11 music.
Nurture their faith formation.
Support the development of their imagination and their dreams.
Challenge them with stretch goals, even if they protest.
At the end of the movie, Dr. Carson came on and invited us to go to his
Dr. Carson uses his gifted hands and marvelous mind to perform miracles in restoring brain function. He clearly recognizes that knowledge and brain power is our most critical raw material in our current information age.
The future belongs to those who invest in learning and developing their God given human potential.
He and his wife are dedicated to educational excellence and are investing their blessings in the development of the next generation through their scholarship program.
Do your family a great favor. Drive, run, take the bus, ride your bike, do whatever to introduce your children to living heroes like the Carsons! Your generations will thank you for this simple act.
Tough economic times can be tough on relationships.
As a part of my commitment to our community in providing resources to combat these tough times, I have secured 30 minutes of free consulting time on the schedule of a very experienced relationship coach. She will be addressing my top 10 questions on how to thrive even with the economic pressures we face.
You will just have to trust my judgment on this one as I will not let the cat of of the bag just yet.
I will only tease you with some hints.
She and her husband are founders of a world famous marriage retreat, and are authors of a relationship column in a national magazine.
Instead of trying to guess the mystery guru, here is what I am requesting you to do. Help me formulate the best questions possible to submit to this expert.
Submit your best relationship question regarding the impact of the recession.
