Global Criminal Links (Part2-Gangs of Jamaica by Donovan Reynolds)

Chapter5

Global Criminal Link

This chapter seeks to build on the understanding of how the Jamaican Gangs have extended their network and influences to the United Kingdom the United States and Canada. After the infamous 1980 General Election politicians in Jamaica disassociated themselves publicly with these criminal gangs while privately soliciting their assistance to maintain their political base in the garrisons. As a result the gangsters turned their activities to the global drug trade forging alliances with migrant communities in the above mentioned countries. The war on drugs spearheaded by the Regan administration had two effects the first was that the Seaga administration collaborated with the US government to undertake a massive cannabis eradication programme in Jamaica. This move hit especially the rural cannabis farmers hard in the pocket. Secondly the traditional cocaine transhipment port used by the South American drug lords were sealed off and an alternative route was found Via the Caribbean and as a result the Jamaican Drug Barons seized upon the opportunity presented and shifted their activities to cocaine smuggling. They formed a strategic alliance with their mainly Colombians and Panamanian counterparts and begun using the island as a passage way and transhipment port for the illegal but lucrative cocaine trade intended for the European and North American markets. One of the criticisms of the war on drugs spearheaded by the Regan administration was that it focused on supply reduction while the Americans appetite for drugs consumption remained the same.

By 1980 the gangsters in the garrisons recognised that the local political hustling was insufficient to go around more over the cocaine trade was a more profitable means of financing their activities lured by the lucrative lifestyles. They began to muscle in on the cocaine trade and venture out to the cities of North America and Europe to forge their vicious reputation and extend their influence. With cocaine awash on the island they began the process of recruiting mainly women from poor and vulnerable families in Jamaica as drug mules to the USA and Europe. On the back of this activates the Jamaican gangs created satellite networks in the major cities of North America and Europe. They wrestled the cocaine trade away from indigenous gangs and foisted their interest by vicious acts of gun violence, callus murders, extortion and racketeering.

The Jamaican Posse is a loose coalition of Gangs based predominantly in New York and Toronto Ontario. It is widely acclaimed that these gangs are affiliated to the two major political parties in Jamaica-The Peoples National Party and the Jamaica Labour Party. Their first involvement can be traced back to the 1980s where they began with gun running then extending to drug smuggling and racketeering. The Jamaican Possies are known for ferocious gun battles with the police. They have a reputation of committing drive by shootings stemming from disputes over drug turf. The Posse members are known for ritualised killings of members who steal drug proceeds or profits. Ritual violent acts have included the use of laundry irons, chain saw, hammer and nails to pulverise their assailants to death. They have and extreme violent code of conduct against their opponents or among those within their ranks that step out of line.

The most famous of all is the Notorious Shower Posse a JLP aligned gang with its head quarters in West Kingston run by Lester Lloyd Coke Alias “Jim Brown” a garrison Don and political enforcer. The international arm was run North America by a middle class Jamaican business man turned gangster called Vivian Blake.Coke was believed to have been responsible for the deaths of 68 alleged murders that included 13 police officers over a six month period in 1090.Coke was arrested on suspicion of 14 alleged murders but walked away scotch free by making witnesses disappear on his trial date. Lester Lloyd Coke and 60 of his hence men were cornered after and arrested after a blazing gun battle with the Jamaican Police. The arrest triggered extradition proceedings in the Jamaican court where he was wanted for murder and drug trafficking. While waiting to be extradited to the US his jail cell mysteriously caught afire and he was burnt to death. While Coke was awaiting extradition in prison his son Mark Coke took control of the gang and was cut down by a hail of bullets by a rival gangster this sparked a bloody feud for the control of the Jamaican drug market. Coke is survived by three sons that head the West Kingston gang but they maintain a low profile.

Coke counterpart Vivian Blake continue to deny that he is the leader of the North American Wing of the Shower Posse according to him his label stems from the constant stereotyping of Jamaican men. Prior to his entry into gang land activities he was described as a poet, writer and businessman. He is born of a union between a Jewish housewife and a Jamaican merchant tailor. He spent a part of his early years in London, United Kingdom attending a Catholic School. His family returned to Jamaica where he completed High School in Jamaica with   satisfactory academic credentials. It is widely believed that Blake used his upper class status and his political connections to steer attention away from the Shower Posse corrupt criminal activities. Blake turned his activities to get a piece of the American drug market by establishing a base in Miami which over time spawned the major capital of the US to include New York while back in Jamaica Lester  Coke ran the enforcement arm of the feared organisation back in Jamaica.

Over a period of eight years he expanded his influence in North America by wielding his sphere of influence backed up by acts of brutality. It is believed that he was responsible for about 1,400 deaths and the criminal empire was valued at about 2.5 billion US dollars. This drew the attention of the US Drug enforcement agency and the Federal Buro of Investigation( FBI) By 1989 Blake’s name headed the list of 38 members of the Notorious Shower Posse wanted on an indictment by the US authority on racketeering,smuggling and murder charges. He escaped being cornered by the US authority boarding a cruise ship destined for Jamaica. He remained free in Jamaica for five years fighting the extradition proceedings but he case was loaded against him as one of his lieutenants was a vital witness in the case. During his extradition proceedings in the Jamaican court Blake remained a legend of Robin Hood fame by the Jamaican people who organised rallies and protest demanding his release. The legal battle ended in 1998 when he was secretly handed over to the DEA in Miami. After a plea bargain arrangement in which Blake provided evidence against his accuser he received a 28 years sentence and released to the Jamaica in 2008 amidst a media fanfare and cheering from his West Kingston adorers.

Other members of the notorious Shower posse were caught by the US authority and are serving sentences in US federal Prisons. For example Richard “Story Teller” Morrison a high ranking aid of Cooke and Blake was extradited and sent to prison and is now serving a term of 30 years to life on murder and racketeering. Maxwell Bogle who had been listed as one of the world’s 100 most dangerous men in 2001and was sentenced to 58 years to life in absentia was caught in the same year and is behind bars. Another extremely low ranking lieutenant Rycliffe  Bruce on the FBI most wanted list for gunning down a DJ in a crowded dance with two automatic pistols in his hands.

Jamaican gang activities have extended itself to Canada the Malvern Crew and the Galloway crew wreaked havoc in the Scarborough area of Toronto committing random acts of violence gunning down innocent bystanders in an attempt to intimidate and assert their badness honour status. The terrorised the Toronto areas for about two years. One of the most feared gangsters that headed the Galloway Gang was Tyshan Riley a 23 years man of Jamaican descent. He was described by the Canadian Mounted Troupe as the worst killer that the City had ever seen. Things came to a head for the gangsters when they gunned down an innocent bystander in 2004.A joint Canadian Police Command was assembled code named Project Pathfinder. It consisted of officers from the Homicide Squad, the Special Investigation Service, the Intelligence Bureau and Prosecutors from the Attorney Generals Office. The officers swoop down on the gangs and Tyshan Riley and Phillip Atkins along with seven other gang members were arrested. Project Pathfinder according to a Canadian police source got its name from a Nissan SUV used by one of the alleged gangster who is from a Jamaican decent. Most of the men caught in the police sting are behind bars serving lengthy prison sentences for charges ranging from intimidating witness, gangsterism, robberies, and murder.

The United Kingdom and England in specific is vulnerable to the activities of Jamaican gangsters and their satellite network due to its large West Indian migrant population made up mainly of Jamaicans. The first wave of immigrants(492 persons)that formed the British African Caribbean community arrived in 1948 from Jamaica on a Ship known as the Empire Wind rush the first generation of these Caribbean immigrant are often referred to as the wind rush generation. They were for the most part hard working people who migrated to seek work and helped to rebuild the United Kingdom after the ravages of the Second World War. Most of these immigrants settled around South London and made Brixton their unofficial capital. The town of Brixton is often described as the soul of black Britain. It is famous for the Brixton riot of 1980, Nelson Mandela visited the town in 1996 and a street is named in his honour. A square in the centre of the town has been named and dedicated to the memory of the Wind rush Generation contribution to the development of the United Kingdom. This historic and proud contribution to the development of British life is now overshadowed by the activities of Jamaican Gangs who have stretched their influence across England and have forged their reputation by drug dealing and several episodes of gruesome blood -letting.

In 2003 things came to a head so much that the Independent a respected British news paper broke the story that around 200 “hard core yardies” are based in Lambeth South London. The paper recorded that they were operating as members of the “firehouse posse” or Brixton “Cartel crew”. Most of the gangs connected to the Jamaican Migrant communities in the united Kingdom are loosely called yardies the operate and integrate themselves across the UK among the migrant communities and have recruited their members from mostly recent Jamaican migrants and second generation Jamaicans living in the United Kingdom.Peter Walsh the author of Gang war makes an important point that term “yardie” has become so ubiquitous so that it means any Jamaican, African or black gang. These gangs are so entrenched in London that a famous estate in Brixton is referred to as “Little Tivoli” after Tivoli gardens a JLP garrison in Jamaica. Other prolific Jamaican influenced gangs are: the lock city crew, the much love crew in Harlsden,the Hackney posse in East London, The young Peck ham boys ,the Peck ham boys, the ghetto boys in Lewis ham, the murder zone crew, The poverty driven crew and the paid in full crew. Turf war is rife among yardie gangs and the recent trend is the younger gang members breaking of to form their own unit. For example the young Peckham boys broke away and form their own unit and were said to be involved in the murder of a ten year old African youth Damilola Taylor.

For both old and young Jamaican influenced gangsters automatic and semi- automatic guns is a necessity. They move from house to house at nights making it hard for the London Metropolitan Police to track them. This took place after a spate of shootings in the black community in London in the mid nineteen nineties. The Metropolitan Police launched Operation Trident consisting of an elite core of armed police officer to deal with the spate of shooting and gun related murders across London. At that time Cold Harbour Lane in Brixton was reporting three shootings per week along with a number of shootings in Lambeth and Brent. By 2001 things got out of hand so much that the police in a desperate bid to stem the escalation shot dead Derek Bennett a man of Jamaican decent after brandishing a gun shaped cigarette lighter in public. Despite wide spread outcry of murder by his relatives. A coroner’s inquest was held and a verdict of unlawful killing was handed down by the coroner and subsequently held upon appeal.

The killings continued unabated without the police making inroads with the recovery of firearms and operation Trident focused their swoop around the Broxton area in an attempt to deter gangsters from carrying firearms while appealing to the public for information this created a positive effect in terms of containment but by 2006 Brixton was again in the headlines. In September 2006 Brixton was the scene of a widely reported shooting of two boys in a McDonald Restaurant on Brixton Road Acre lane.

The new breed of Jamaican style yardie gangsters and “wannabees” in the United Kingdom is propelled by the growing availability of three commodities: greed, drugs and guns. The new trend is for the more powerful urban crew of gangsters to deliberately encroach in nearby northern cities. The headline making conflict that earned Manchester the infamous label of “Britain’s Chicago” in 2004- was a chilling episode aptly captured by Peter Walsh the author of Gangs War: The Inside Story of the Manchester Gangs and one of the authors of the book Cocky, about British drug baron Curtis Warren. Gangsters on mountain bikes chased each other down a Manchester hospital corridor as staff bravely tried to barricade doors and protect patience who were members of the Goosh Close Gang and their rivals the Long Sight Crew hunted each other through the wards masked in hoods, balaclavas and bandannas. The incident occurred because a member of each gang had been taken to hospitals with gun shot wounds in an incident that also involved the killing of Leon Johnson a Goochie member who had been mowed down in a hit an run attack. As a result of the incident ten young men were later jailed for either affair or pubic order offences. Things died down between both gangs but in July 2005 they were at it again: the Goosh and the Dooddington gang fought hand in hand and traded gun shots at each other in broad day light in the Manchester city centre.

The West Indian involvement has been key to the spread of gangs in many UK cities. A 2003 report suggested Jamaican Yardies had invaded Britain at an ‘alarming rate’ and their control of the crack trade had gradually spread north, reaching as far as Aberdeen. Of 43 police forces in England and Wales, 36 reported a problem with Yardie gangs. Yet in spite of their almost insane brutality, the Yardies have not always fared well against home grown rivals. In Birmingham, Jamaica interlopers were faced down by the ‘homeboys’ of Hands worth and Lozells: the Burger Bar Boys and the Johnson Crew. The Burgers and the Johnnies, however, then turned there guns on each other in a tit-for tat spiral. That culminating in the tragic killing of Charlene Ellis and Letisha Shakespeare at a New Years day party. Far from cowing the gangs, such high-profile incidents seem to heighten their bravado. The Birmingham gangsters have even made and distributed DVDs of their exploit

The city of Leeds was relatively free of violence until the murder of towering gangsters Clifton “Junior” Bryan in 2002 before that he survive a close assassination bid when he was lured in a house with another man, Dennis Wilson, who was shot in the head. Their bodies were bundled into the trunk of a car which was later found abandoned in a district in the outskirts of Leeds.

The clutches and influence of the Jamaican Yardie gangs which has its roots in the political garrisons of Jamaica have been exported and entrenched in the capitals and cities of North America and Europe. Hundreds of deportees have been repatriated by European and North American law enforcement agencies. Some of these deportees have found their way back to their point of deportation shortly after. Others continue to contribute to the burgeoning crime statistics in Jamaica yet a few have been rehabilitated and have turned their life around. The legend and reputation of Jamaican influence gang activity is etched on the mind of law enforcement agencies globally who often shudder and cringe when confronted by their fearless activities. 

 Donovan Reynolds is a British based Jamaican Social Worker who is a Human Rights campaigner,Independent Writer,Blogger and Author of" Poor and Boasy": a tour de force of Jamaican culture seen trough secular point of view.He also has an interest  in culture,politics and international development issuesThis is an edited version of chapter 5.Readers wanting to comment or critique this article can do so at the space provided for comments on this blog.Alternatively they may give their feedback at dannygerm63@hotmail.co.uk, or on the facbook or  Twitter link.

Why I am asking you to Support “The Intisar Sharif Abdalla Appeal”

Whether you live in Kingston or Khartoum London or Lima the sentencing to death of Sharif Intisar Aabdalla a Young Female Muslim in North Sudan is a stark reminder why human rights is borderless vocation. She was sentenced to prison in April for Adultery waiting to be stoned to death under Sharia Law in Sudan. We know that her child is in prison with her but the government Ministry in Khartoum refuses to give information about her. From information received she needs psychological Therapy. Let us raise our voice in an attempt to secure her release. “Justice somewhere should be Justice everywhere”. Intisar Sharif Abdallah, whose age has not been determined but is believed to be under the age of 18, was sentenced by a judge on April 22, 2012, in the city of Omdurman, near Khartoum. Since her sentencing, she been held in Omdurman prison with her 5-month-old baby, with her legs shackled.

 Her sentencing has drawn condemnation human rights groups across the word and Amnesty International has launched an appeal for her release. Africa’s director of Human Rights Watch. Daniel Bekele  has lead the charge by demanding that:"Sudan should immediately reform discriminatory laws and abolish both the death penalty and all corporal punishments that violate the international treaty obligations it has promised to respect." According to Mr Bekele no one should be stoned to death - and imposing this punishment on someone who may be a child is especially shocking,"

According to credible sources in Khartoum Abdalla initially denied the charge of adultery but later confessed after she was allegedly beaten by a family member. The court relied solely on her coerced confession to convict and sentence her in a single court session, while the man alleged to have committed adultery with her denied the charges and was released. Sudan is one of only seven countries that provide death by stoning as a punishment. Sudanese judges have sentenced several women to death by stoning in recent years, but courts have overturned all the sentences on appeal. The vast majority of adultery cases and stoning sentences have been imposed on women, pointing to the disproportionate and unequal application of this law.

The crime of adultery under Muslim practiced Sharia Law has long been a bone of contention with Human Rights protagonist who regard it as draconian moreover it often attracts the death penalty which is ridiculous and cruel overreaction. On a purely human rights basis it, also violates guarantees of a woman's right to have control over and decide freely and responsibly matters related to their sexual autonomy. In other words it a private personal matter and the assumption therefore is that it’s not the courts prerogative.

Under Sudan's public order regime, women and girls may also face arrest and flogging, up to 40 lashes, if they violate article 152 of the Criminal Act prohibiting vaguely defined "indecent and immoral acts." Women have been sentenced to flogging for wearing trousers and knee-length skirts, among other acts. The Protocol to the Charter on Human and People's Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa explicitly prohibits all forms of cruel, degrading, and inhuman treatment of women. The African Commission on Human and People's Rights has declared that flogging violates article 5 of the charter, which prohibits "cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment or treatment."

It is for this reason that as a human rights advocate I have launched an appeal on Face book called “The Free Intisar Sharif Abdallah Appeal” and urge my friends on Google, Twitter and face book to support this valuable appeal. I have also written to President Omar al- Bashir asking him for her Pardon and release on the Grounds of Human Rights. I have initiated this appeal because I believe that Sudan should uphold international and African standards on Human Rights .It should ban death by stoning and other corporal punishment, and revise laws that discriminate against women and girls."

In closing my readers let me reveal a secret to you that is a factual irony that sheds light on why this case appeal is so close to my heart. I was born in Jamaica in 1963 to a mother while my father was married to another woman. Should he have been stoned to death? I leave the answer to my reader’s imagination. Imagination aside -it shows how Kingston and Khartoum seem to be on different planets in terms of human rights. Finally my valuable readers I am compelled to leave you this quote from the great African American feminist Anna Julia Cooper as an apt reminder of why we should all support this appeal:

“We takeout stand on the solidarity of humanity, the oneness of life, and the unnaturalness and Justice of all special favoritisms, ether of sex, race, color and condition”. end of Quote.

Donovan Reynolds is a London based Social Worker/Human Rights Campaigner and Independent writer who has an interest in politics, and International Development issues. Readers are invited to critique or comment on this Blog, Face book, Google network or Twitter. Alternatively they may e-mail him atdannygerm63@hotmail.co.uk

Exploring subtle resistance, oppression class prejudice intertwined in the fabric of the Jamaican experience

Chapter 3

Exploring subtle resistance, oppression class prejudice intertwined in the fabric of the Jamaican experience.

This section of the discourse seeks to highlight the extent to which our cultural liberation began during slavery through subtle beginnings and the extent to which it was smothered by slavery, oppression and class-prejudice. The vehicle of transmission was by social encounter, dance and protest songs on the plantations pre and post slavery. The ghosts of these negative social forces continue to represent themselves along our cultural journey. Evidence is presented to debunk the myth that dance hall queens and lewd music is a product of the musical revolution of the 1970s and 1980s. It is believed that these repressive forces are continually riding the waves of our cultural evolution. It maps the progress of our culturally rich heritage, the social actors, power relationships and the hegemonic masculinity, the devaluing of women’s contributions and homophobia. It also offers insights, suggestions and strategies for future socio-cultural progress.

In order for me to generate the discussion of our cultural evolutionary process it is necessary for me to digress briefly by giving definitions of race and class prejudice in order to press home the unfortunate fact of how these twin evils and their associated power relationships stifled our creativity as a people. Unfortunately there is still a trickle down effect on our cultural space. It is instructive to note that in post slavery, post colonial Jamaica racism is no longer being perpetuated in its purest form. However, it is replaced by a subtle form of bigotry where lighter shades of persons bearing closer biological traits of white persons receive favourable acceptance in relationships and social institutions

Michael McIntosh, a Social Worker and a black second generation Jamaican born in the United Kingdom summed up his frustration with the class bias that he experienced while on vacation in Jamaica as follows: “In the hotels we were snubbed by workers in favour of white tourists totally ignoring us as if we were not there. When we met our family it became apparent that those of us with lighter hue were treated more favourably. We could tell how they felt by their positive or negative body language. While hanging out with my relatives there I heard blatant self-hatred being perpetrated in patois such as “anything too black nuh good” meaning if your skin is too dark you are not good enough to succeed at anything. The words ‘Mi preffa brownin’, was used to indicate a preference for black women who were of lighter complexion. Political correctness went through the window when a middle class member of the family snobbishly remarked ‘den unnoh deh ah Inglan so long, how unoh nuh ketch likkle colour? This seemed to suggest ridiculously that because we were born in the UK they were expecting our complexion to be of a lighter hue. I observed while moving around that those Jamaicans who dressed in nice expensive clothes were treated more favourably. We got into trouble at our rich aunties house when we invited her domestic helper at the table to have a meal with us. She felt that the helper was not good enough to eat with us as she was of a low status”

Burke and Harrison (2000) define racism as: A multidimensional and complex system of power and powerlessness. It is a process through which powerful groups, using deterministic belief systems and structures in society, are able to dominate. It operates at micro and macro levels. It is perpetuated through policies and procedures of social institutions. Slaves in Jamaica experienced personal and institutional racism and were socially excluded from accessing services in health care, education and housing. They were not paid for their labour and were ill-treated by their handlers and their human rights as citizens were ignored.

There is a longstanding debate in social science about the definition of class. Roberts, (2001) rightly observed that there are two sets of ideas about defining the subject. Marxist scholars define class in relation to the ownership or control of the means of production in a society. The other set of ideas are promoted by Max Webber’s scholars- they relate class to buying power- in contrast to the Marxist notion of the production ownership hypothesis. Neither of those descriptions can aptly describe the class relationship in Jamaica as it is a more complex arrangement. As Jamaicans, class relationship occurs in a saga of relationship exchanges that are both implicit and explicit. Like racism class is institutionalised and sadly acted out in our relationship exchanges of snobbery and  through episodes of social exclusion, oral narratives and either negative or positive body languages.

There is an abundance of evidence that class prejudice is the main bug bearer that prevents social, economic and cultural progress in Jamaica. This class prejudice has its genesis in slavery with the plantation class foisting a misleading ideology that because of their wealth, land ownership and biology they were better off than the slaves. Along with these ideas social arrangements were forged in a hierarchical manner. For example, there were the plantation owners in England, The overseer in Jamaica that ran the plantation, there were supervisory staff on the plantation some of which were mulatos and slaves who was divided in working gangs on the plantation. There were slaves who worked as domestic help on the Great Houses where the owners and overseers lived. These slaves were exposed to more privileges than the slaves who worked in the fields.

The governors were sent from England and the local government system implemented used oppressive and coercive laws that were reinforced by locally appointed legislative councils across the Island. Discrimination was perpetuated at various levels and these levels reinforced each other. The slaves were at the bottom of the power relationship ladder that bore the brunt of dehumanising conditions, and verbal insult and beatings that affected their self-esteem and blurred their self-concept. An ideology of divide and rule was inflicted upon them and the social, economic and environmental setting that they lived. This created the structural template for an oppressive class system that was institutional. This class categorisation not only created differences, it implied and entrenched notions of superiority and inferiority reinforced by the rule of oppressive laws.

On a personal level, slaves were denied a formal education the philosophy behind it was intended to prevent them from rationalising and making sense of their oppression which would ignite a social upheaval that would affect the security and economic interest of the white status quo. Through language, false ideologies were forced upon slaves such as being black was ugly, and white was beautiful. This implied a biological social division that was used as a justification for discrimination and entrenched inequality. It was this psychologically enforced misnomer that saw majority of the slaves over time believing, internalising and perpetuating self-hatred. Those who protested by running away from the system faced several beatings, amputation of limbs or in some cases public hanging.

A more subtle form of protest took place culturally through dancing and singing during the major slave festivals at Christmas time. Altkink (2000) a PHD student at Hull University gave insights into how this subtle protest was communicated by slave women through dance and song. She opined that: slave dances were both functional and recreational. It provided an outlet valve for stress, community cohesion and communicated ideas about sexuality and gender roles. These dances were sanctioned by the slave masters who endorsed the activity in contrast with education that they saw as a threat to their interest.

The slaves performed the Johnkanoo dance brought from West Africa. Dressed in harlequins accompanied by two masked male dancers outflanked by women they would lead their dancing procession from their estate of origin to several neighbouring estates. It is well documented by several writers that the masked men teased and heckled their slave masters behind the mask without them knowing. The unsuspecting planters showed their delight and approval of this perceived adulation by giving presents and money to the dancers at their gate.

Sharon Bryant, (2006) an African American historian from North Carolina on her blog opined that Johnkanoo was very much alive in North America and drew parallels with Altkings writing. Her account is summarised as follows: “They gathered in the afternoon with musical instruments, gave thanks for a good harvest and made fun of the plantation owners. The ‘ragman’, (the leader) wore a colourful rag costume, considered to be the spirits of the plantation owners’ family. He was followed by the fancy man dressed in a dapper suit with a tall black hat. He collected money in a tin cup. The parade travelled through the plantation and continued to the slaves’ quarters until the participants were tired”. It was by her account an exercise to vent stress, make fun of the master and acted as a buffer to prevent slave revolts.

The spelling of Johnkonoo varied and its origin and meaning widely contested. However it was widely practiced in the Caribbean and North America during and after slavery. These descriptions were documented by white writers during the period of slavery.

Historian Edward Long and Clinton V. Black have recorded epic descriptions of a vibrant dance hall movement during slavery and a dance hall queen was described. It was written that she had to conform to the expectation of providing a graceful performance when presented to her master. By their account, dance was very important in slaves’ lives similar to the dance hall influence in today’s society. Slave women’s hip wriggling during the slave rituals clearly simulated love making. The male domination in the slave dances conveyed courtship and male supremacy. It generated ideas about sexuality and reproduction. According to J.P. Moreton (year) a Bookkeeper: “The best slave dancers on the plantation raise their status in the slave community. One of them was a female slave called Psyche she earned this accolade because she was good at wriggling her hips. When Planter Monk Lewis requested a performance from the slave community it was no surprise that Psyche was put forward by general acclamation. Not wanting to draw the irate of her master with her hip wriggling skills it was recorded that she gave a performance that was light, graceful and easy spirited. Psyche received a handful of silver from monk for her performance”.

Edward long commented in his writings that it was plain to see that the slave women were born with the gift of dancing by the skills that they displayed. However, he was less impressed by the fact that children started to wriggle their hips at an early stage so much that he felt that it affected their walking making them as he described it, “Walk with a swagger”. Moreton stated that: it was amazing to observe the agility with which they moved and twisted their joints. Mary Ann Reid a slave woman from Unity Hall held a dance. The guests had to pay a small entrance fee to dance all night. Entertainment was provided by fiddlers and the slave guests were served with pork, yam, and plantain. There was a combination of admiration and debasement of how women dance during slavery.

Women’s contribution to the development of the popular culture of Jamaica has been undermined and has not received the attention and respect that it deserves. The popular cultures in past and present times have been bedevilled by hegemonic masculinity. Like race, women’s sexuality has always seen a biological matter that hinders their progress in every sphere of life. The sex difference of women has always been used to screen out or unjustly perpetuate injustice against their rights in pre and post independent Jamaica. In the early recordings of the emergence of our popular culture they had to take a back seat role. The Jonkanoo dances were led by two masked men. Today the reggae industry is male dominated and the success of women in this genre of music often depends on them forging sexual liaisons with influential producers in order to get the exposure that they so rightly deserve. The emergence of reggae music and its focus on consciousness through writers give the misleading impression that it owes its success solely to the emergence of Rasta music of the nineteen sixties and seventies and again women have been omitted.

 The great icon the Honourable Robert Nesta Marley (Bob Marley) became famous internationally in part due to an emotionally moving rendition of “No Woman nuh Cry” this sang drew attention to the difficulty of women’s conditions in Trench Town Jamaica an urban blight community battered by poverty and social exclusion. But how can the female singers, songwriters and dancers of past and present wipe their tears when their contributions have been excluded by the producers, writers and consumers of this beautiful art form? During slavery, slave songs were customarily the domain of slave women. Slave men only took the lead in work and funeral songs. The playing of instruments was male dominated and the lyrics of the song composed portrayed a sense of community spirit. Slave women expressed through their songs features of history that affected them most such as the beatings they experienced, enforced separation and forced liaisons with their masters. They clearly described in their songs how male slaves on the instruction of their masters held them down, stripped and flogged them in a way that was below a dehumanising standard.

So the Jamaican culture is subtly represented along class lines the culture has straddled a number of social relations with a strong masculine overtone that continues to discount female contribution and degrade any other sexual identity or their contribution to national life. In fact it is illegal to be gay and socially dangerous to act out any semblance of males not being masculine enough. There is a pervading feeling among the masses that the colonial master has represented himself through the old boy net work that constantly perpetuate a class war trough wilful act or omissions in order to keep themselves in power. Garrison constituencies is one of such political arrangement that I will revisit from time to time during this discourse.

Much has been achieved despite the drawback mentioned Jamaica is often described as the cultural Perl of the southern hemisphere our music, sports and food speaks volumes to our achievement. A web of deceit in the form of classism is spun around the countries people and has impaired their social interaction and prevents social cohesion at a cultural level. It has created social tensions resentment and divisions among people. It ails for legislation in the form of an anti-discriminatory legislative framework to tackle these problems.

Donavon Reynolds is a London based Social Worker/Human Rights campaigner and Independent Writer. He is the Author of “Poor & Boasy”: which takes a humanistic view of Jamaica’s culture. The foregoing is an excerpt of chapter 3 of that book. Please feel free to send your critique or comments to dannygerm63@hotmail.co.uk. You may also post your comments on face book, Twitter or at the section reserved for feedback on this blog.