In fact, whenever I am accused of "playing the Race Card ", I always let folk know that I didn't deal die hand. It has been my experience that if you ask "why?" long enough eventually it will come down to race. And if it is between or amongst people of the same color, Class becomes the issue. But we can argue about that in another post at another time. With instances such as these it's tough to holler "race" because Black folk make it easy for White folk to say, "Forget it". I have heard Black folk say, "Who do they think they are? How are White folks going to raise Black children? They have no idea what it's like to be Black"! And maybe they don't . . . but they don't know what it's like to be Asian, Indian, Haitian or African either. Now I am sure there will be those who will read this and say, "My family adopts ... in fact, they adopted me!" and they will go down a list that reads like that fifth chapter of Genesis in the Bible inserting "adopt" for every "begat". And while that is good for that particular family, that family and those like it are the exception and not the rule.
"It must be relevant because most of the Jamaican population is of African stock, and we have never been able to forge that link between the motherland and the Caribbean," he told IPS. "It's very important to decide on our next step (to develop) a South-South relationship because we've always been looking to the North." Pan-Africanism is in one sense a united movement of countries on the African continent, but in the wider sense, encompasses a collective consciousness of all peoples of African descent. "[Marcus Garvey], as the father of Pan-Africanism, always tried to forge that link - that's why he started the (shipping line) Black Star liner," said Mutabaruka. "Politicians, people don't see the necessity to deal with Africa because they say Africa is not a place of development." "There wasn't a single nation or country with people of African descent and Africans which did not celebrate Nelson Mandela becoming president (in South Africa), because there was such a strong sense of identification with that," [Zweledinga Pallo Jordan] notes. "(But) it wasn't just identification, it was based on the fact that everyone in the entire African community across the Atlantic had participated in one way or another, some in big ways, some in small ways, but everyone had made a contribution, that's why people felt it was their victory."
What needs to be considered after 29 years of this awards event is how to produce a show that not only showcases the best of the best but how to present it in a timely fashion so that everyone can enjoy the evening. Unfortunately, we were unable to remain for the full presentation due to the interminable time it took to present the awards and numerous proclamations. We were fortunate to see Gramps Morgan, Dean Fraser, Brigadier Jerry, Tony Rebel, and the indomitable Alison Hinds. However, we missed Tarrus Riley, [Julian Marley], Queen lirica and some of the other top artists slated to perform.
Today Haiti is looked at as a struggling island filled with poverty and conflict. It truly gets labeled with the "Third World" stereotype. Actually, the history of Haiti is rich and shows that it was actually the home of some of the greatest heroes in the fight to end western hemisphere slavery. Haiti caused the break up of the worst form of slavery in the history of the world. This island with the largest Black population in the Caribbean has immense economic challenges. This adventure taught the Haitian survivors a great lesson: The European military machines are vulnerable and can be defeated with proper planning. When they returned to Haiti, they spread that information amongst the slave populace and the planning began. In 1791, the historical slave revolt in Haiti began. It lasted until 1804. The rebellions caused Britain to give up on the slave trade in 1807 and the rest of Europe started their withdrawal of this evil practice. Many white French settlers left Louisiana and Haiti and moved to what are now Cuba, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. Many of the free Haitians moved to New Orleans and those ties still exist. Haiti was the catalyst in the abolishment of slavery. Thank you my brother Haitians.
