A Letter To Mrs Johnson

 

Contents Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 3 A lette letterr to Mrs. S. JJohnson ohnson .................................. ................. ................................... ................................... ................................... ................................... ................................ ............... 5 Elder Ras Euhanis Sits Waiting ................. .................................. ................................... ................................... ................................... ................................... .......................... ......... 6 Why Was Brother Anglin Defrocked ......................................................................................................... 8 He Did Not Rob Her ................................................................................................................................... 9 Group Chairman Yohannes Haile Selassie Adjourns Meeting .................. ........................... .................. .................. .................. .................. ........... 11 The Dilemma of Ras Berg ........................................................................................................................ 13 Evangelist Scott Buys Scissors ................................................................................................................. 16 The Mexican Delegation ......................................................................................................................... 17 He Is Afraid .............................................................................................................................................. 19 Comrade David Obongo .......................................................................................................................... 21 A Letter Le tter from the Oromo Elders to the Governor General of Jamaica .............. ....................... ................... ................... .................. ......... 22 Cinderella Among Wolves And She-Wolves................... She-Wolves............................ .................. .................. .................. ................... ................... .................. .................. ......... 25 Elder Ras Euhanis Writes To Dr. Black .................................................................................................... 27 Cynthia Kong Puts Cousin Shalla Under Control .................. ........................... .................. .................. .................. .................. ................... ................... ............ ... 30 How Patrick Got Into Gardening and Landscaping? ................ ......................... ................... ................... .................. .................. .................. ................. ........ 33 Igbo Women Reprimands Ras Amadiume .............................................................................................. 34 Why Mrs. Mr s. Mansingh Chased Her Husband With A Mop Stick ....................... ................................ .................. .................. .................. .............. ..... 36 Charles The Gardener and Roots Supplier .............................................................................................. 38 Cardboard Soled Shoes ........................................................................................................................... 39 Tomgay Flower and Peter Bigbutterfly Argues .................. ........................... ................... ................... .................. .................. .................. .................. .............. ..... 41 Sister Wisdom Confronts Missionary Scott ............................................................................................ 42 How Did Ras Mobotu Start His Tyre Repair Shop? .............. ....................... .................. .................. .................. .................. ................... ................... ............ ... 44 Miss Maria de la Villa Flores Forms A Team ......................... .................................. ................... ................... .................. .................. .................. .................. ........... .. 45 Security Guard Miss Gabrielle Blake Get Her B.Sc. in Business Administration ......... .................. .................. ................... .......... 47 David Obongo Corrected ........................................................................................................................ 50 Samira Abdulwahab Writes To The Jamaica LLibrary ibrary Service ................. .......................... .................. .................. .................. .................. ............. .... 52 Daniel Lemaire Asks Elizabeth Mansingh Not To Register For The New Semester ..................... .............................. ........... .. 54 A Case of Jealousy- Let The Flowers Bloom ...... ................ ................... .................. .................. .................. .................. ................... ................... .................. ............ ... 55

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A Letter of Concern To Mrs. S. Johnson .................................................................................................. 57 The Mamma Man .................................................................................................................................... 60 The Result of War ................................................................................................................................... 62 Saved by Allah ......................................................................................................................................... 63 Elder Ras Euhanis Addresses Brethren of Indian Descent .......... .................... ................... .................. .................. .................. .................. .............. ..... 65

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Introduction The objective of this collection of snap shots into the lives of some very ordinary persons, letters, commentaries and tales, firstly to assist the average person to better cope with the

challenges of life, to facilitate more humane and sensitive interaction between individuals, to assist individuals to accept themselves and secondly to encourage and motivate us all to give a helping hand in the lifting up of those who have fallen by the wayside and those who are the victims of abuse of various kinds.

It is not the intention of the author of this document, to convert anyone to the Rastafarian Rastafari an faith, but rather hope that the words of Elder Ras Euhanis will facilitate f acilitate the coming to a deeper and more holistic understanding of life and its processes. It is also hope that the words of Elder Ras Euhanis will assist us in accepting our neighbors for what they are :humans, created in the image and likeness of God, regardless of their race, religion, political affiliation and or sexual orientation.

It is also the deliberate intention of the author of this document, to seek to assist Black males and females in overcoming, the cultural obstacles as they are related to womanhood and feminity, which have undermined their abilities to function and contribute to their full potential to their own self development and to the society as a whole. It is i s in this context, the Silk Panties Awards in most cases are given.

Finally this document is a call to action, for the Indian and Pakistani communities of the New World to overcome in their own lives, the historic legacies of ca cast st and abuse of  religion, which have held their fore parents in bondage and poverty and to root out these 3

 

plagues from amongst their midst in the New World. To the Jamaican Indian community, it is a call for its members to claim their heritage and to be proud of themselves as individual human beings.

From the perspective of developmental economics and cultural anthropology, the author of  this document holds firmly to the view, that a society is only as strong as the individuals, families and communities which come together to constitute that society and that real growth and development must start if it is to be lasting and sustainable, from ground up.

The author would like to dedicate this work to the following persons who have been a source of inspiration and drive even when they were not necessarily physically presentpresent Ellen Manaker Cohen, my daughter Jodi-Ann Jodi -Ann Fletcher, her mother Sandra Stephenson and Simone Johnson. It is hope that this work will play at least a small part in the creation of the type of societies that they would find pleasure and joy living in. Miss Manaker, I am keeping my promise.

Basil D. Fletcher

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 A letter to Mrs. S. Johnson

Dear Mrs. S. Johnson;

As a father of a daughter I have no experience in the growing of a son nor can I claim to have any firsthand knowledge of the concerns, experiences and aspirations of parents of sons. Hence to you and other parents of sons is this letter addressed.

Today on a number 46 bus a young lady of o f the Muslim faith entered and sat on a seat directly across from me. Having never encountered an uneducated or working class Muslim woman , I assumed that she was a university graduate graduate of middle class origi origin. n. And as with all Muslim women who I have have met, I assumed that her legs were bolted close with Yale locks.

On disembarking I took a number 900 bus. On this bus a female student of about23 years o off age sat directly behind me. In conversing with her friend over the cell phone about her visit to the go-go club the previous night, she used words which would have made the t he most seasoned plumbers and cesspool cleaners blush. Here I assumed that this t his young lady was either a person trying to sound radical or a lesbian trying to sound tough.

As a parent of a son, would you inculcate and encourage in him the view that one of those young ladies is of less value and worth than the other? ot her? Would it be correct to assume that the presence of  “loose”, free talking young ladies in a go-go club is an indication that they are on a “man or woman hunt” and thus they are available to one and all? Should one receive greater protect protection ion from the

state and the other less protection from the state?

If a young man is grown up with the view that some women are less valuable than others and that some women based on their mode of dress, patterns of speech and their presence in places of adult 5

 

entertainment make them “available to one and all”; then the doors of “parent sanctified” abuse

and violence against women have been opened and “the right to rape the whore” given. And 

To the extent that the vast majority of the members of the are police force are men, who grew u up p

with the strong influence of their mothers mother s and grandmothers, the distribution of state protection of  the rights of women, would have been predetermined by the very same concepts of “more and less” valuable women, the “right to rape the whore” and “justifiable rape”. 

While not excusing nor apologizing for the discriminatory views held by men in a male led society, it is my view that with the dominant matrifocal character of this society, many of the views held by men about women are carbon copies of the views held by women about women.

Yours truly, Ronald De Cardova

Elder Ras Euhanis Sits Waiting

Nobody knew when Ras Euhanis started to grow his locks, some say he was born with it, for others he started to grow his locks from birth. Today Ras Euhanis locks extend down to his hips, forcing him to sit on high chairs and stools, when he is not wearing his crown (tam). At eighty six years of age , his once red curly now grey locks, rough wrinkled light brown face, tells all not only about his white mother but of a man who toiled all his life under the constant watch of the hot tropical sun.

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Ras Euhanis sat on the stone retaining wall at the back of his yard, shaded by the massive East Indian mango tree, waiting for Ras Aleyemahu. Ale yemahu. Ras Aleyemahu is a father of four teenage tee nage daughters, whose ages ranged from thirteen to nineteen years of age.

The eldest Ruth, had only won herself a scholarship to a brand name university as a result of her SAT scores and her essay about her life as a Rasta Princess; the youngest, Ester, was the Scotia Bank’s

Student of The Year, for two t wo consecutive years. Ras Aleyemahu was Blessed. Rastafari! Jah!

All blessings however, come with their own set se t of problems and challenges. Ras Aleyemahu now had a problem with some of the brethren bre thren who refused to share challis with him, re refused fused to enter his house and refused to sit with him. Their argument was that, any man who lived with five wome women n in a three bedroom house, with one bathroom and one kitchen, must be unclean at all times, because at any given time, one of the women must be having her period. It had reached a stage, where fist flew and stones took to the air, forcing the intervention of Ras Euhanis.

Ras Euhanis asked the brethren if a good draw of weed gave off smoke from the challis; before they could answer, he asked if a good kitchen sink does not let out dirty water. To cut a long story short, it is enough to say that Ras Reds, Ras Emanuel and Ras Kumsa were tr trimmed immed bald that day for carrying out the works of the Devil and for not attending to their own business.

Elder Ras Euhanis sat patiently on the stone retaining wall, enjoying e njoying the shade of the massive East Indian mango tree, waiting for Ras Aleyemahu; smiling at the challis and bag of weed which swayed with the cool mountain breeze from a branch in the tree.

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Why Was Brother Anglin Defrocked

The debate raged for months, questions were fired from all directions and in all sizes. The Rastas in Three Miles, Kingston, lit fires and chanted down Babylon. Children asked their parents, why was Brother Anglin wearing a frock and if he was gay. The Leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition

threatened to boycott Parliament if the Prime Minister could not provide the House and the country with answers. Why was the beloved Brother Anglin defrocked? The army was put on a state of alert and all leave cancelled. Riot and rebellion were in the air.

Brother Anglin was a dedicated priest who served the inner city communities from one end of the city to the other. He was loved by women and children of all ages and sizes; many husbands complained bitterly of been served burnt food when Brother Anglin was in their communities. Teenagers in the police lockups and detention centers, waited with great expectations for visiting hour to arrive, should Brother Anglin fail to show up, it would be a day of hell for the warders and hospital staff. Why was Brother Anglin defrocked?

For at least twenty long years, the Embassy of the Vatican was flooded with letters of  commendation and praise for work done by the Beloved Brother AnglinBrother Anglin was invited by no less than fifty Heads of Governments around the world to address their Parliaments, Congresses, Houses of Assemble etc. and he was the recipient of no less than thirty Honorary Doctorial Degrees from leading universities across the globe. Why was Brother Anglin Defrocked? 8

 

A document with Latin inscriptions was leaked to the press. It alleged that Brother Anglin in an address to the House of Parliament claimed that Jesus could c ould not have existed without his mother

Mary; that the spirit of Mary was alive and well we ll in the women of today’s generation; that Jesus would have spoken to his mother about his problems and challenges; that a Franciscan nun was to be named to hear his confessions, that, that, that it was now high time for a Franciscan nun to become the Pope. It is alleged that the Beloved Brother Anglin was defrocked because he rejected Church Doctrine.

State of Emergency was called in countries from Alaska to the Antarctica. Brother Anglin is now the Chairman of the Peoples National Party Salvation Group on Red Road in Kingston.

He Did Not Rob Her

Billo stood against the peeling, crumbling wall, peering through the broken window at Martha, who was the old rusting stove preparing dinner. In one o ne pot she warmed a ttin in of mackerel and in another pot she was cooking rice. The smell of the mackerel, filled the air and blanketed nearly half of the block, and pulled Billo from the curve where he was sitting to her window. 9

 

It was 10.30 p.m., the night was still and the peace was broken only by the occasional barks of dogs quarrelling over rights to the contents of o f overturned garbage bins, the on and off buzzing sound , signaling shift changes between the few functioning street lights.

Martha had a long miserable day at work. For Fo r some unknown reason, the world decided to descend on the supermarket where she worked and to cash at her line. The tough wooden bench on which she sat, created rings on her backside and her ankles were swollen from standing up. Pure was the torture she endured that day, her belly still felt cramped from trying to push back the pee which engaged her in an all day, all-out war. Yet she had to smile like an angel in a Japanese garden. A full twenty five dollars was short at the end of check off.

Billo had only weeks ago completed time for possession of a stolen vehicle, and returned home to his three children, all boys, his wife six months pregnant with a child of which he knew nothing. The house was bare, the refrigerator refr igerator empty , the pots filled with w water, ater, sheets, curtains and clothes dirty, the floor filled with garbage, the toilet and bathroom crying desperately for help; it was a zone of endless conflicts.

Billo’s life was one carved out of a rock called “misfortune”. He went to pr prison ison three times, as a

result of trying to get to the straight and narrow path. His first sentence of four years came as a result of taking a job to do home delivery of groceries, only to find out in court, that, for three long years, he was the best known and most reliable delivery boy of any drug that money could buy.His second term came as a result of installing cable boxes which in addition to distributing television channels, interrupted the client’s electronic security systems. systems. His last term was ffor or borrowing a friend’s car to drop off his mother at the hospital where she worked as a cleaner. He was paid in

prison terms not money.

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Billo’s belly growled as he looked through the window, for days he prowled the streets tr trying ying to find

something to do, anything that could earn him food. He came up empty. Hunger now ruled his head. Just then, Martha said in a loud but kind voice : “ Billo come inside, I cooked something for you!”. 

On hearing the story, the Secretary of the Democratic Party Block Committee, Mrs. Jean Kazak resigned in shame. The Block Committee had done nothing to t o help Billo Bielski to find his way. Rumors have it that, the Christian Democrats in Prague, recently did a search of o f Zizkov and Nove’ Mesto to find out if Billo Bielsko had any cousins there.

Martha Broadbelt was named the “Silk Panties Awardee Aw ardee of The Year” 

Group Chairman Yohannes Haile Selassie Adjourns Meeting

Group Chairman Yohannes Haile Selassie, lead member of the Seventh Day Adventist Action League in Addis and Chairman of the Mercato Branch of The Democratic Front, sat by his stall in the large dusty market, meeting with his brethren of the Redemption Group of the Coptic Church. The pungent smell of spices caused the donkeys tied outside to develop fits of sneezing. The meeting was now entering its fourth hour and there was no end in sight.

A delegation of Rastafarians from the Papine Market Group Gro up of the Peoples National Party and another from the Blue Bar Committee of the Democratic Party of The Bronx, wanted guidance on the issue of the sewing shut of little girls’ vaginas. The issue was dividing the Rasta Mansion and the

changing of some comrades into Labourites and Republicans.

The delegation wanted to know if Jesus would be born had Mother Mary’s vagina was sewn shut

and if Mother Mary was a whore or shermutta because her vagina was not sewn up or her clitoris removed. 11

 

Ras Selassie and two brethren started the Bible from the Book o off Genesis, while Priest Yusuf started at the Book of Revelations reading in, with the hope of finding answers to the questions 1) Would Jesus be born if Mother Mary’s vagina was sewn shut? And (2) did the non-sewing up of Mother Mary’s vagina and the failure to remove her clitoris made her a whore or shermutta. They were now

going through the sixteenth pot of coffee and were still not any closer to an answer.

While in Jamaica, the Bubbo Hill Group of the Peoples Peo ples National Party, called twenty one day of  Fasting and Prayer for Divine Intervention to rid the country of the demons which were wer e dividing Rasta Mansion with questions from the Devil. Bubbo Shanti priests and elders manned the intersections of the roadways in their flowing gowns and long brooms, intent on sweeping away the demons and their questions out of the city.

Back in Ethiopia, Priest Yusuf felt that the t he answer must be that “God can do all things”, while Group Chairman Selassie felt the brethren need to find a better and more thought out answer. In the end, they all voted that the questions should be redirected to both the Peoples National Party of Jamaica and the Democratic Party of the USA to provide answers. They were now out of coffee and hyenas were taking over the city.

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The Dilemma of Ras Berg

Ras Otto Berg lived mainly alone with his nine years old daughter in the upscale community of Royal Circle, the home of a large American expatriate community and a stronghold of the ruling Peoples National Party. His wife Olga Berg, the secretary of the Royal Circle Peoples National Party Group was away lecturing on dentistry and facial surgery in the United States, where she had tenure as a lecturer in a leading university.

The family had a good life, they had a six bedroom house which was built in Late Victorian sstyle tyle and furnished with 18th. Century Russian antique furniture, even the drapes and carpets were from that

era. No one, not even the ever watchful KGB, knew how other priceless antiques from the Court of  Peter The Great, found their way into a Jamaican home. It is said that, Dr. Olga Berg got them as a sign of gratitude for restoring the face of a Russian billionaire who was mauled by a bear.

Both Blacks and Whites found it strange, that, t hat, the Bergs who were coal black in complexion, were ardent fans of classical music, Slavic folk songs, the opera and collected abstract paintings. Some even called them “Jamaican Roast Breadfruits”, black on the outside and white in the inside. The

Bergs had sixteen hours long work days and a lot to attend to, they the y did not have time to entertain e ntertain “the argueents of the idle”. Everybody loved their 200m long, 20m wide swimming pool, their wood

heated sauna and refrigerated dip pool. The spaniels, Luna and Mars were friendly to all. Their five car garage, with slide in-slide out parking ramps was a sight to behold.

The Bergs’ household had a five member staff, a gardener, a cook, a helper and two drivers. The

helper Jarka was tasked with dealing with the laundry, the making of the rooms, dusting and ge general neral butler duties. Jarka was from the parish of Westmoreland and attended the Seventh Day Adventist

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Church. Her life style fitted in perfectly with that of the Bergs, who were of the Rastafarian faith, she was a hard worker and was very willing to learn.

Jarka, however, outright, refused to touch any piece of clothing or bed linen, which was soiled by menstrual blood, except her own. It was against everything that she was taught and against her religious beliefs, views shared by the Bergs. This however caused problems when Group Secretary Dr. Olga Berg (DM) was away lecturing, which was for the major part of the year. Their nine year old daughter, Ivana, was too young to wash for herself and the washing machine did not remove overnight bloodstains.

What was Otto Berg to do? Jarka was not of any help and he as an upstanding Rasta man could not be seen washing his daughter’s bloodstained panties. Ras Otto Berg was a man of great learning, a

an of culture, a man who had seen see n the world, a man viewed by many as being wise, a man to whom many came for advice, and, yet with all his learning, with all his exposure, w with ith all his wisdom, he was confounded by two bloodstained panties and a spotted sheet.

Elder Ras Euhanis from the hills, in a debate they had about Michael Jackson, had told him, that, it was not possible to love God and hate man, and that any man who claim to love God and hate man is a liar. Elder Ras Euhanis left school at the age of fifteen, did not know what tthe he inside of an airplane looked like-yet it were his words which came to haunt Ras Otto. Can he claim to love God and hate his daughter?

Ras Otto Berg got out o ut a block of washing soap and headed to the wash room singing-“Rasta man vibration, yeh, positive...”He left the washroom door open, so that Jarka could see him.

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Evangelist Scott Buys Scissors

It got on Evangelist Scott’s nerves; something had to be done about it. The entire

community was at a boiling point, filled with anger. At the last meeting of the Morning Side Peoples National Party Group Meeting, it took heaven and high water to vote out a proposal that called for the bounding of Ras Tony to an East Indian mango tree and whip him with a fan belt.

Comrade Ras Issa pointed out that such a course of action was primitive, inhumane, barbaric and illegal. It was then that Evangelist Scott and Missionary Evetta Wisdom of the Holiness Apostolic Church decided to buy a pair of tailor’s scissors, the biggest one.  

Can you imagine it? And he calls himself Rasta? Ras Tony, all he ever did and does every day , is either bracing the fences f ences with his back so that they do not fall or keeping the walls warm by sitting on them. That is his life! No, just a small part of it.

The other part of his life li fe was spent fighting his baby mother Sonia for sex, and arguing with her about food or money to buy weed. Sonia worked thirteen hours a day as a security guard, and was expected to come home and cook; otherwise there would be a war. Not even his clothes, Ras Tony wanted to wash for himself.

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Ras Tony, at twenty four years of age, a father of two children, had neither skill nor trade and refused to seek training or employment. He is firmly f irmly against Babylon and its oppression of Black people, and will not be doing anything to keep up that system. He will not be

slaving under any pharaoh, king, queen or slave master. Where ever he was, one was sure to hear Peter Tosh’s song “Babylon “Babylon System Is A Vampire”. The Morning Side Group some some

months ago had sought the advice of Elder Ras Euhanis, who recommended that someone should buy Ras Tony a mirror; an act to which Ras Tony responded with a fit of anger and broke into small pieces all the mirrors that he could get his hands on.

Last night Ras Tony fled the Vae Town community in the back of a white pick-up truck, on seeing Evangelist Scott and Missionary Wisdom exiting Mr. Wong’s shop with a pair of giant scissors. Maybe you will see him on a wall near you or somewhere trying to prevent a light post from falling with his bare back. He has identical cousins in London and New York.

For their valiant efforts at ridding their community of a social parasite, both Evangelist Scott and Missionary Wisdom were nominated for the Silk Panties Award.

The Mexican Delegation

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A delegation of Native Peoples from the Mayan and Aztecs communities in Mexico, arrived yesterday, demanding audience with Comrade Deacon Ronald Thwaites, the Minister of Education of Jamaica.

They wanted to know why the Federal F ederal Government of Mexico had sent to its embassies, large coffee table books, which claimed that Mexico was 200 years old. They wanted to know, where over 3000 years of Mexican history had disappeared to and were demanding dem anding answers.

Had the women blended them in with their tortilla mix?

Did the Virgin Mary used over 3,000 years of Mexican history as swaddling clothing for Baby Jesus? Je sus?

Did the cruel goddesses consume them with fire?

Were they ploughed into the corn cor n fields?

Did the Mexican women cut them up into small pieces and used them as sanitary napkins?

Comrade Deacon Ronald Thwaites, Minister of Education of Jamaica, left on a midnight flight to the Republic of Slovakia in search of answers.

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He Is Afraid

Captain General has very long locks, down to the center of his back, his beard reaching the V of his neck and his eyes blood red from years of smoking weed.

Captain General was afraid of nothing, not of lions, crocodiles, serpents, gun men, robbers, and not even of Missionary West, four times recipient of the Silk Panties of The Year Award for excellent work and demonstrated courage. But he was afraid, not that Jah will strike him with lightning and thunder. No! But he was afraid.

Cynthia his wife could not understand his approach to Marsha, his only child. Before, Marsha was everything, his entire life, his world, his universe—but now, he does everything to push her away.

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Marsha was even more confused, the ore she tried to get close to her father, the harder he pushed her away.

Captain General’s Baby girl Marsha was now sixteen years of age. She had full breasts, wide w ide hips and her mother’s smile. To say that Captain General Gener al did not love his daughter would be a lie. Captain

General was afraid of the new, beautiful woman that he saw.

When the news got to Elder Ras Euhanis, he came in person to the house with a three feet by six feet mirror and told Captain General, his wife Cynthia and Marsha to stand in front of the mirror m irror with Marsha in the middle. He, Elder Ras Euhanis stood directly behind Marsha with his long flowing grey locks hanging over his shoulders. Captain General was cured of his problems and new family photos were taken and mounted. Marsha keeps boasting about the magic powers of her grandpa Elder Ras Euhanis.

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Comrade David Obongo

Comrade David Obongo was married three times, divorced twice and has no children. Comrade Obongo has a Master’s degree in the Social Sciences and a first degree in law. He holds firmly to his

faith, ate no unclean things and kept to Sabbath Holy. He is a lay minister in the Open Campus Seventh Day Adventist Church.

Comrade David Obongo has a big problem with women. He will not touch female under garments, not even those which are still in the t he pack, newly bought. His hands will not go anywhere near sanitary napkins and he stays very far from those shelves in the supermarket. In fact, he hates the very idea that women have periods. He does not even want to see the hole in which he inserts his penis.

When told that vaginal yeasts can cause itching, he retorted:-“Too much information, I do not want to know what grows down there.” 

Comrade David Obongo has a big problem with women. The Peoples National Party’s Women

Movement has recommended that he attends six months of Gender Education Classes.

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 A Letter from the Oromo Elders to the Governor General of Jamaica

The Oromo Elders Association,

Mercatto District,

Addis Ababa,

Ethiopia,

The Governor General,

Kings House, 22

 

Old Hope Road,

Kingston,

Jamaica W.I.

Your Excellency;

Our coffee has grown cold, the milk has curdled, the butter runs like oil, w we e have eaten of the plates of injara which were set before us, the hyenas have taken to the streets, with their laughter, mocking our plight, and we are yet to get answers to our earlier letters.

We hasten to add, that the Kanuri delegation has ran out of fufu and chicken soup and has warned w arned us, that, they will return to Bornu to organize mass protest if you fail to respond to this letter.

The delegations from Prague, Berlin and Budapest are in agreement with the Kanuri delegation. The

Comrade Leader of the Peoples National Party (Jamaica) and the Chairman of the Democratic Party (USA) have been warned that the ilmurrans and their sisters in the intoyie group have been doing non-stop war games for three weeks now.

Your Excellency, we repeat the questions below:-

Is it not true that t hat under Jamaican Law, a person will be arrested and charged with the offence of  Cruelty To An Animal, should he or she attempts to cut off the clitoris or tries to sew up the vagina of a cow, donkey, goat, horse, cat, dog or any other animal? 23

 

Is it not true, that, there are no Commandments in the Torah, Bible or Koran, which calls for the cutting out of women clitorises clitorises and the sewing up of their vaginas? And

If the above are true, why have you failed as Head of State of Jamaica and the world’s first Seventh Day Adventist Head of State to make your voice heard and your position known to one and all?

We await your reply,

Yours truly,

Tedras (r.)

President,

Oromo Elders Association

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Cinderella Among Wolves And She-Wolves

A Page From The Life Of A Browning

Cynthia Kong, half Chinese-half Black, is a graduate of o f a well-known university in Kingston, Jamaica, from which she earned a Bachelor’s Bachelor’ s Degree in accounting. She worked as an accounting clerk in a

branch of a multi-national bank, located in New Kingston. Her husband Ryan Kong, is an auto mechanic and operates his garage at the family home in East Kingston.

Life as an accounting clerk was hell for Cynthia, thanks to the attitudes of her co-workers. She had to be most careful how she dressed. If she wore a bracelet or a chain, it was considered that she was

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boasting. If she wore a pair of new shoes, it was a problem to all. If she came to work early, it was said, that, she was “put out by her man and had nowhere to sleep”. 

If she spoke proper English, it was w as seen as an act of boasting. Because she did not date anyone at the work place, she was called a lesbian and considered abnormal. The fact that her husband was a mechanic meant that she had no ambition.

Having been informed about the problems of Mrs. Cynthia Kong, a lifelong member of the Jamaica Labour Party, the Peoples National Party has called for the setting up of a bi-partisan committee to find effective solutions and measures to put a stop to this type of racial harassment. The proposed committee is to be called the Kong’s Committee Against Racial Harassment And Unfair Competition.

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Elder Ras Euhanis Writes To Dr. Black 

Dr. A Black,

Benin District,

St. Ann,

Jamaica W.I.

Dear Doc;

Firstly let me extend greetings gr eetings and salutations in the name of His Majesty. May Jah’s Blessings be with you and your family. My soul is full of gratitude for the numerous moments we shared, the many conversations we had.

Doc, today, I would like to focus a bit on you and ask you, a man of great learning, but a few questions. I ask these questions against the background of the pride you have in your village and its ties with the Benin State in Nigeria, the pride you have in your Nigerian fore parents, your sense of  Blackness and the relations which you have built with your many visits to Ghana. G hana.

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For many years as a student in the Slovak Republic, you shared bread, shared your bed, shared your love with a White Slovakian woman, who was prepared in her own way, to take on o n the popular culture of racism and xenophobia, in order to be with you.

On her visit to you here, in your own country, a country whose motto is “Out Of Many One People”, a country built by the hands of your mother, who you love dearly, a country built by your Nigerian fore- parents, a country of which they t hey are proud to have labored and built, you their son and grandson, refused to show to show it to your White woman, refused to e entertain ntertain her and returned her to the airport as fast as it was humanly possible.

Doc, my first question to you is:-Were you as a Black man, a student o off Black history, an individual

who is rightly proud of his African roots, ashamed to have loved a White woman? Afraid that the public knowledge of you having loved a White woma woman n would make you you less Black? Black?

Having been to Ghana, having met the market m arket women of Accra, do you believe that they would be proud of a son, who is afraid to be human, a man who uses his colour to hide from the fact that he is but a man, capable of loving people of all races and religions?

Had your mother or sister boxed you for not showing your then Slovakian woman this ccountry ountry which they built for you, could you blame them? Do you think that the old women in Benin state, the homeland of your fore-parents would be proud of a grandson who seeks to hide under their skirts, rather than acc accepting epting himself and express pride in the gift that they gave to the world?

Doc, the Jamaican woman and even more so the African woman, have very long memories. You owe them a lot.

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In ending, I would recommend , that, you read His Majesty’s speech on race relations. r elations. “Until the colour of a man’s skin is of ….” Jah Blessings be with you and your family. 

P.S.

Your Slovakian girlfriend was recently awarded by both the Jamaican and Ghanaian women with the Silk Panties Award of the Year for Mentoring.

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Cynthia Kong Puts Cousin Shalla Under Control

Cousin Shalla is actually the birth cousin of Ryan Kong, the husband of Cynthia Kong, but as with most close knitted families, marriages lead to a uniting of both sides into one unit, the Kongs and the Chins are no different. Cousin Shalla is twenty five years of age, and seemed determined to pull everybody, most of all her elder cousins Ryan on her voyages to explore ex plore the world. At age twe twenty nty she wanted to study Law, and pestered Cousin Ryan into paying her college fees for two years. At age twenty three, she had a problem with Law, Lawyers and Law School; she now wanted to do a de degree gree in the Fine Art Arts. s. This time she pestered both Cousin Cynthia and Cousin Ryan into coming up with w ith the money to cover the costs of entering that well known College C ollege of the Fine Arts. She complained that nobody wanted to help her and everybody was against anything that she wanted to do, she even wanted to know if  they wanted her to be dead.

As it was with Law School Sc hool so it was with the College of The Fine Arts, after two years Cousin Shalla wanted nothing to do with the arts, instead, she now wanted to study business. Once again she wanted Cousin Cynthia and Cousin Ryan to pay for it, and pay they must for she would stop at nothing to get it. Cousin Ryan has his garage and bag juice factory and Cousin Cynthia is now a

30

 

supervisor in the accounting department of a bank, therefore, there fore, as far as Cousin Shalla is concerned, concer ned, they had money and can pay; they were w ere simply against everything that she wanted to do.

On hearing of her new venture, Cousin Ryan simply made himself small, took himself away and had nothing to do with her. As far as he was concerned, Cousin Shalla’s only mission and purpose in life

was that of sending the entire family first to a mental institution and then to Poor House. Cousin Cynthia, a lifelong member of the Jamaica Labour Party, is not short on words and can ex express press herself clearly and with fluidity in five languages, which included Cantonese which is not the most romantic of languages and rich in adjectives, in addition she had a very sharp tongue.

She took Cousin Shalla outside into the garden gar den by the hand and asked:-

Who is taking care of your mother, paying her medical bills, paying to have someone to look after her, paying for her food and clothing?

Who is taking care of your younger brothers and sisters?

Who is taking care of her, he r, Shalla?

Should she Cynthia Kong not be able to afford to t o have and take care of her he r own children?

That Sunday, for the first time in ten te n years Cousin Shalla got dressed and we went nt to Church. She is now teaching and paying her own way through Law School.

The East Kingston Branch of the Jamaica Labour Party P arty nominated Mrs. Cynthia Kong , for the Silk Panties of The Year Award for mentoring. me ntoring.

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How Patrick Got Into Gardening and Landscaping?

Patrick is the son of a bus driver, his mother, do not ask him about his father, not even his mother, the bus driver, can remember that man’s name. The last anyone heard about him, was ten years ago, when he was serving time for armed robbery. Patrick has never seen his father, nobody knows if his father has seen him.

Patrick is now thirty one years of o f age, a father of two children. He lives with his wife and his mother in a small detached house in a not too bad neighborhood; it meets their needs and is affordable. The family does not own a car; however, Patrick has a small pickup which he uses to carry his tools, and to carry building materials on Saturdays for customers at a small hardware in the city. Life was never easy for Patrick, he was never very good in school, m missed issed prison by luck and kept his life by knowing when to move and where to walk. Then came July, all he wanted was a touch but ended up with a son and many touches.

When his other heard that July was pregnant, she did not make a war, she did not curse Patrick. No! She took July with her to the bank and then to the hardware, where they bought a garden fork, a

33

 

pair of shears, a whipper and an old push-pull lawn mower, which was on sale. What coul could d Patrick do? What could Patrick say?

That was thirteen years ago in another section of the city. Patrick jjust ust cannot keep his things to himself, he and July, keep touching. Now they touch with care. Patrick’s mother got the Silk Panties of The Year Award.

Igbo Women Reprimands Ras Amadiume

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The Awka Women Association firmly condemns the intentions of Ras Amadiume and Yard Posse to participate in the upcoming “Music Fest” in Lagos. The Awka Women Association in conjunction

with our sisters in Lendak, Slovakia, through the good offices of the Jamaica Labour Party and the Peoples National Party Women Movement, have spared no efforts in getting information to Ras Amadiume and the Yard Posse that the promoters and organizers of the “Music Fest” in Lagos are known supporters and defenders of the genital mutilation of women.

The Awka Women Association and the Lendak Christian Women Movement have been forced to take the view that Ras Amadiume and the Yard Posse are wolves in sheep clothing and modern day Judases, who are willing to sell out their mothers, sisters and daughter for thirty pieces of silver.

Signed:The Awka Women Movement

Lendak Christian Women Movement

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Why Mrs. Mansingh Chased Her Husband With A Mop Stick 

Nobody could find fault or blemish in Mrs. Mansingh, at work, all her fellow doctors praised her- the fact that she spoke with a strong accent full of “Vs” disappeared in tthe he attention she paid to details

and love and care she showed her patients, young and old, Black and White. At home, she was a model wife, her husband’s needs were her own, she cooked, she washed, she picked up the

children, and she dusts, wiped and shined and was always willing without murmur. Her in-laws in India, could always look out for their monthly upkeep. Nobody could find fault or blemish in Mrs. Mansingh, not at home, not at work and perhaps not even in heaven.

It was during the cricket cr icket match, India against Australia. India was leading, placing sixes here and fours there, when her husband filled with the moment, hit the jug of orange juice on the coffee table to the boundary for a clear six runs. With what he hit the six and how, it is still unclear. The sound of shattering glass could be heard all over the apartment, it was truly a big whopping six runs. Over work, tiredness, frustration, anger and perhaps even hatred flowed in large rivers from the 36

 

loving, caring heart of Mrs. Mansingh into her small hands and to the t he mop stick which she was struggling to get on a new mop.

Nobody knows why Mrs. Mansingh chased her he r husband with a mop stick. Today Mr. Mansingh helps to clean the floor; he now washes dishes, takes out the garbage and picks up the children. Touching has a new vigor, vim, vitality and a brand new life. Neighbors, however, still ask-Why did Mrs. Mansingh chased her husband with a mop stick?

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Charles The Gardener and Roots Supplier

Charles is like a bird; he appears with predictability in the last week of every month and then disappears back to his village vi llage behind the mountains. Charles is roughly around forty two years of age, the father of four sons, and lives with his wife who is roughly about thirty four years of age and like li ke most women in the village she is unemployed. Charles is not really employed; he does not have a boss or place of work, nor is he a farmer-he owns no land. But like an ant Charles, works from dawn to dusk. His wife understands why he is either too tired or sleepy to perform his homework; a little touching now and then is ok with her. She has a trying and hardworking man. th

Charles works as a gardener in the well to do communities of Kingston. Between the 17 . and the th

30 . Of each month, Charles stays in a little backroom of his aunt’s home in the city and is out o ut by 5.30 a.m. cutting lawns and trimming edges until 6.30 or 7.00 p.m. depending on the season. Charles loves the rain, the more the rain the more the work, the more the pay per lawn, the heavier the rain the taller the grass, the more the weeds and the more he can charge.

At other times, Charles scouts the t he bushes and the hills searching for wild herbs and roots, which he sells to the makers of tonic, traditional t raditional herbal medicine and wine. He does not have hands to sell, se ll, and regardless of how early he starts out or how long he works, he has orders which he is unable to fill. Charles ceased trying to get a proper job a long time ago, he has given up the long walks through the city, pleading and begging for jobs. Charles C harles is not really employed, he has no boss or place of  work, but he works like hell, he pays his bills, takes care of his wife w ife and children and sometimes he has the energy for a little, you know, touching.

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Cardboard Soled Shoes

George Daley had fallen on very-very very -very tough times, only his wife Maria was working. There was just enough to buy food, the little that George was able to hustle off the roads was just enough to buy flour and corn meal. To add to their troubles, they had three children, Mark of ten years old, Tony who was thirteen years of age and Marie-Ann of seven years of age. Tony was attending a prominent high school, while both Mark and Marie-Ann were attending primary school. There was trouble paying the electric bill and light li ght in their three 39

 

bedroom house was restricted to the living room, the television was turned on for only two hours daily. There was trouble paying the water bill, hence all bathing was done with buckets and the water saved to flush the t he toilet. To save on cooking gas, Mr. G George eorge Daley woke at 4.00 a.m. each

morning and cooked one meal, which would be served for fo r the day. No one was ever hungry, there was always a pot of porridge on the stove; Maria was never late for work, her clothing were ironed and laid out for her, her shoes shined and her cell phone charged.

At school Tony faced a lot of teasing, his clothes were a bit worn, darned here and there, if he lifed up his right foot for any given reason, re ason, a piece of cardboard could be seen shining through the bottom of his shoe. Each week a new piece of cardboard was cut to cover the hole. Mr. Daley ensured that he stopped by Tony’s school at least twice per month. All the teachers and the

principal knew him by sight, Tony was never late with an assignment and never got below seventy percent in an examination.

Today, Tony drives a four wheel drive pick-up and is doing doing an M.Sc. in Agricultural Sciences at the University of The West Indies. No one laughs at his shoes today and his mother Maria has to be fighting off the girls who always have some reason to stop by the house. In fact only last year were it not for his mother, he would have become a Joseph the father of Baby Jesus.

With Tony’s help and attention, the family has been able to send Mark to College, where he is doing

a B.Sc. in Civil Engineering. Marie-Ann was not for some reason r eason as gifted in the sciences as was her elder brothers, but she was gifted gifte d in the arts, and had a business mind. At ag age e fifteen, she was assisting her aunt in her beauty salon after school and on the weekends, today at eightee eighteen n years of  age, she is in college doing her degree in Arts Education. She part funds her education in college by doing hair; she now has her own clients.

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Cardboard bottom shoes can carry a person a far way, if the person has the support needed. Mr. George Daley refused the Silk Panties Award in preference for a year ‘supply of cold beer at his favorite club, Mrs. Maria Daley accepted the Silk Panties P anties of The Year Award.

Tomgay Flower and Peter Bigbutterfly Argues

Peter Bigbutterfly could not understand Tomgay Flower’s interest in female genital mutilation. It

was becoming a sore point in their relationship. r elationship. It was one thing to argue about who le left ft the fridge door open or who peed on the toilet seat, it was another thing to be arguing about women and their pussies. “Who cares?” Bigbutterfly asked himself. It was getting out of hand. 

At times Peter Bigbutterfly wondered if Tom wanted out of the relationship or worse if he was thinking about changing sides. Maybe if it was something happening in Jamaica, Canada or in the United States he would understand, but in Ethiopia, Nigeria, Sudan S udan and those out of the world places. Those are very-very far away. True it was cruel and even perhaps wicked to sew up little girls’ vaginas or to cut out their clitorises. “Yes it was cruel, but why pick up other people’s problems, when you have so much of your own?” Peter Pete r Bigbutterfly asked himself. 

To told him, that, if they were above advocating for the rights of others, then no one will advocate for their rights. If it is ok to sew up little girls’ vaginas in one place, then, perhaps it will be ok to cut

off gays’ penises in another place. 

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The idea of losing his joy stick had Peter Pete r Bigbutterfly worried, so worried that he took three valium tablets and drank five bottle of beers to cal his nerves, with the hope of sleeping. “W “What hat a disturbing thought!” “My joystick?” “Never!” 

“Down With Female Genital Mutilation!” 

Sister Wisdom Confronts Missionary Scott 

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For days Sister Wisdom was deeply troubled t roubled and disturbed by what she had seen twice on tthe he number 20 bus from Down Town Kingston to Portmore. No less than two times had she with her own eyes, seen, Missionary Scott and her fifteen years old grandson, sitting, while pregnant women stood next to them, flung to and fro, like canoe, on rough seas. Yes, she Sister Wisdom stood at tthe he back of the bus, boiling with rage as she saw the whole thing, not once, but twice.

Perhaps if Missionary Scott did not have children, she would understand, but she was the mother of  four girls and two boys, and now the grandmother of at least twelve children. She knew what it is like to be pregnant and what it is like to carry a belly, to fight pee, to have football being played inside ones belly and the living fear of losing one’s child. 

She knew what it is like to be pregnant and there she was, looking at her grandson playing gaes on his cell phone, without even giving a second glance g lance at the pregnant woman who stood swaying to and fro over and against her grandson’s shoulder. 

Missionary Scott has it coming; Sister Wisdom has a couple of bones to pick with her.

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How Did Ras Mobotu Start His Tyre Repair Shop?

Ras Mobotu has not much in terms of formal education, in class he loved the back seats, spent a lot of time, either talking about girls, music, sex or football. One small notebook could last Mobotu an entire school year, he rarely rare ly took notes and never did homework. The love of his life was cars, be they the Old VW Bugs, Austin Cambridge, Morris Oxford or the latest Jeep, BMW or Audi, he was into cars. He dreamt of cars, visited the malls to look at cars, stood at the fences of auto lots peering at cars, and visited the pounds to see the cars taken off the roads by the police. He knew and loved cars.

On leaving school Mobotu, knew that he wanted to work with cars, however his poor reading skills prevented him from getting a job jo b at any of the auto lots, stores or parts shops, in addition the fact that he had no training meant that he could not find work in any garage. Mobotu had to work w ork with

44

 

cars, someway, somehow, he had to. Mobotu thought of starting with a car wash, then he thought of starting a tyre repair re pair and alignment shop, both of which he could operate, but he had no money.

It is said that ideas either come in bed or on the streets. Ras Mobotu got his idea of preparing pre paring peppered shrimps and distributing the to the school canteens for sale. Rastafarians, like the Jews of  old, do not eat shellfish and the shrimp is a type of shellfish. Ras Mobotu however had no problems preparing shellfish for those who ate shellfish. Elder Ras Euhanis, had always pointed out that, the Mission of Rasta was not to save the world, wo rld, but to preach Jah love to those who are willing and prepared to listen and follow his words. Within a year, Ras Mobotu was distributing shrimp and occasionally crabs to at least twenty-five schools.

By eating only when he had to, by buying second hand clothing and by staying at his parents home, Ras Mobotu was able to buy most of the t he equipment he needed for the tyre repair shop, today there is a big picture of a shrimp painted on the wall of his office. Ras Mobotu, although still only a young man, loves to recount his journey to becoming the owner of his own business, and always end by saying:-“Jah provides help to everyman who wants and ask for help, to t o me he sent shrimps and crabs”. 

Miss Maria de la Villa Flores Forms A Team

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Miss Maria Flores works as a cleaner in a large beach front hotel. Along w with ith Maria, the hotel employed some eighty other workers, ranging from accountants to waiters and barmen. The job was good, and the guests were we re in the main fun of the ``workers, with some even leaving tips under the pillows or under a used dish purposefully left on the coffee c offee tables. The hotel had a strict, no tipping policy, yo prevent the undue harassment of the guests. g uests. Repeat visitors who got to know the cleaning staff, found novel and creative ways of getting around aro und the rules without endangering the  jobs of the cleaners.

The job was a good job and Maria Flores, looked forward to going to work each morning. There was however a problem, which she could not find a way to correct without her ideas been thrown out by the hotel manager, Mr. Simon S imon Klaus. Maria had noticed that, many of the older visitors were not very interested in visiting caves, waterfalls, old building or craft shops, they had many of those in their own countries and these here were swarmed with tourists, they complained that had they wanted to be in crowds with their t heir countrymen, they would have stayed home.

Maria proposed that the guests be allowed to visit the local schools, meat and speak with tthe he students and teachers and tour the schools. sc hools. Mr. Klaus shot down the idea and would hear nothing of it. Maria proposed that the visitors be allowed to visit the native Churches and take part in Church Services if they wanted to, Mr. Klaus shot down the idea. Miss Maria de la V Villa illa Flores, proposed that the visitors be allowed to visit the produce market on market day. Mr. Klaus would have nothing of it. All of Maria’s proposal went that way.  

Maria complained to her boyfriend Carlos about the refusal of Mr. Klaus to even listen to any of her ideas. Carlos Martinez is fisherman and he knew people, perhaps even better than he knew fish. Carlos explained that, it is not that her ideas were bad, but they wer were e coming from the wrong person. People like Mr. Klaus was not accustomed to getting ge tting advice, suggestions or anything that

46

 

required thinking from cleaning women. Mr. Klaus did not believe that his cleaning crew was made up of thinking people; it does not take much thinking to use a mop, spread a bed, and clean a bathroom or other such tasks. Secondly, she Maria de la Villa Flores is from the wrong race as far as ideas are concerned.

It was then that Maria came c ame up with the idea of forming a little team of co-workers, who wo would uld work through the ideas and present them to Mrs. Conrad, the Human Resource Manager who is White and has blue eyes and blonde hair. So as not to rehash the entire episode, it is enough to say that Miss Maria Flores, the cleaning woman’s ideas were implemented. Mr. Klaus thinks that Mrs.

Conrad is an extremely brilliant and innovative person in finding new and cost effective ways of  reducing visitors’ boredom. Repeat visits have gone up and so have the tips left under the pillows. 

Security Guard Miss Gabrielle Blake Get Her B.Sc. in Business  Administration

Dear Mom;

I have finally finished up y studies; I got an Upper Second Class Honors in the B.Sc. programme. Your big girl, finally has her degree. Thank God!

Mom, it was hell, sometimes, I thought that I would give up, but when I remember that Tom was not working and each time that he placed the car on the road to use as a taxi, the police took it away 47

 

and that cost money to pay the ticket and the pound fee, then little Kerry-Ann and Paul must eat food; I stuck it out.

Then the booth at the gate is hot, it is as if you yo u are going to melt every time you put a foot inside, that is where I did most of my reading. It is a good thing that the principal of the Community College wrote to the company and spoke with w ith them about giving me some time-off in the evenings to attend classes and make up the time from work on Sundays.

My supervisor, from the first tie he saw me with a book had problems. First he asked what I a thirty six years old woman, with a man and two children wanted with books, after that it was problems with him every day- as far as he was concerned, the com company pany did not hire anyone to read books on the job; then came, it was because I wanted a rich man-why I was studying. If the supervisor was bad, my co-workers, especially Claudette and Susie were worse. In their minds, Tom was not romancing me enough and I had nothing to do at home, why I had time for foolishness, at other times as soon as I touched a book, one of them would see some man, somewhere to point out to me, telling e that such a an would keep me up at nights. Studying was not easy.

The good thing was that as a guard on the campus, the community college said that I did not have to pay to do the programme and that I could invite two other guards to join me .The women guards claimed that they had a lot of work to do at home and that their en loved night work, which g gets ets them too tired to do anything but sleep. The two male guards, Joseph and Daniel said right out, that t hat they had no time to study and that I should tell them how to make some more money. In the end, I alone went to the classes.

Do you remember how it started? starte d? I told you. I cannot forget tthe he day, it was a Thursday afternoon and the rain was pouring. The principal, with her fat self was trying to run with a pile of books, out of 

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the rain, when two fell from her. I ran out in the t he rain, picked up the books and invited her to sit with me in the guard booth.

She got into my life, she wanted to know my name, where I lived, how many children I had, my salary and everything. Of course in return, I asked her the same questions. She has two daughters, divorced and lived very close to the campus. c ampus. The very next day, the Friday, a lecturer, the short fat one, came to tell me that the principal wanted to see me immediately.

I went as fast as I could, thinking that I did or said something wrong. When I pulled pulled the door and saw four other older lecturers sitting with the principal around a long table, I almost fainted. I left the office with a set of application forms for mature students who did not do sthe school leaving examinations and a letter to the guard g uard company. Of course Tom made a joke of everything, first he wanted to know if I found a new man, then he was asking how would I find the time to give him, his regular you know what. Touching. He lived on m my y back like a tick for the entire weekend, pressuring me to fill out the forms. Of course I was afraid, I left school a long time ago and I was w as not the “bright and brilliant” type in school, now that principal

and four lecturers wanted to put me in classes with seventeen and e eighteen ighteen years old boys and girls to embarrass myself. Tom dropped off the letter at the guard company’s office on the Monday and on the very same Monday, he was on o n campus, pulling me into the principal’s office. Never before, I felt so embarrassed, it was as if I was someone’s little girl. 

That was five years ago, last week wee k the company learnt about my grades even before I did, the type of degree I was getting and the next thing I knew, the principal and my supervisor , gave me the keys to an office AC , table top computer and fancy office furniture. The supervisor now reports to me. I am waiting to find out how much more I will be paid. And Tom! He is walking around boasting as if it

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was he who graduated with a degree, deg ree, as if it is he got an office with AC and desk top computer. His new bed song, is about how much he loves touching the manager. God have mercy on him!

Mo, you know that once I start to write, I can’t stop. I will be coming to visit you next month end, I

want to test out the new company car. Tom is not permitted to drive it, but as you know, once the car is in the country I will have to give him the steering wheel.

Love

Gabrielle

Miss Gabrielle Blake was the recipient rec ipient of the Silk Panties Award For Exc Excellence ellence

David Obongo Corrected

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At a recent seminar held for young leaders of the Open Campus Seventh Day D ay Adventist Church, David Obongo claimed that as a person of African descent and as a Black man, he stood firmly against homosexuality .He further claimed that homosexuality is alien to Africa and that homosexuality was forced on to Black people by the t he White slave masters. He then invited Elder Ras Euhanis to address the gathering.

As was his habit, Elder Ras Euhanis started out by giving thanks and praise to His Majesty Haile Selassie! Kings of Kings! Lords of Lords! The Conquering Lion of the tribe of Judah! Jah Rastafari ! and to his prophet Marcus Garvey and extended exte nded Rasta love to one and all.

He continued by pointing out that Rastafari, Kings and Queens, did not come to condemn man but to preach love to one and all. The way of His Majesty, is not war but peace and love to all mankind, none less or none more.

Elder Ras Euhanis said to the gathering, that t hat Black people and Africans are not angels, but people like everyone else. Anything that man does in India, China or Russia, the Blackman does the same thing in Africa.

Elder Ras Euhanis asked the gathering, that anyone present prese nt who is more African than the Azande warriors of Sudan, the Igboo market women of Nigeria or the Lovedu women of South Africa, should raise their hands. No one in the gathering gat hering could. He then asked that the person in tthe he gathering who is Blacker than the Etoro of Papua P apua New Guinea, to stand up and be recognized. re cognized. Once again, no one could. Elder Ras Euhanis then pointed out , that, all those Black people had a culture which supported either homosexuality and or lesbianism.

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The duty of Rastafari, said Elder Ras Euhanis, is not to light fire on any people or race, but to spread the words and love of His Majesty to one and all. Without the teaching of His Majesty, without Jah’s

love, the people will go astray.

Even David Obongo sat in awe at the wisdom and humility of Elder Ras Euhanis. The Elder Ras walked the seven miles journey back to the hills humming “Three little birds came by my doorstep, singing…” I drove pass Elder Ras Euhanis on my way home, there were six persons in my car. 

Samira Abdulwahab Writes To The Jamaica Library Service

To the Director,

Jamaica Library Service,

Tom Redcam Avenue

Kingston 5,

Jamaica W.I.

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Dear Sir/Madam;

It is my view, that given the resources that are available to the Jamaica Library Service, the presence of internet facilities at each branch library and the fact that you have branches across the island, your organization is in an ideal position to take if it so desires, the next step ste p in raising the standard of education available to the population by offering degrees in World Literature Literat ure and Modern Literature at the Bachelors level.

It is my view, that by seeking the able assistance of the University Council of Jamaica and UNESCO, the curricula for the above mentioned me ntioned degree programs could be developed along with the t he supporting syllabi, with the Jamaica Library Service taking on the role of administration and the setting and grading of examinations in a manner similar to that carried out by the University of  Cambridge in respect to the GCE examinations. The usage of external examiners and markers w would ould greatly reduce the costs associated with the administration of these programs and increase both the validity and recognition of the examinations and the degrees offered. offere d.

Entrance to these programs could be made open to all adults of ages eighte eighteen en years and over, who have had at least five years of secondary education. I am sure that tthis his proposal if accepted, will prove to be a valuable addition to the education e ducation landscape.

Yours truly,

Samira Abdulwahab (Miss)

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Daniel Lemaire Asks Elizabeth Mansingh Not To Register For The New Semester

Daniel Lemaire, Assistant Director of the Institute of the Performing Arts, is w widely idely known for his skills and remarkable talents as an artist and he is equally well known for the high standard of work which he demands from his students. Mr. Lemaire bulldog’s attitude to bad, lazy or shoddy work, young Miss Elizabeth Mansingh got to know firsthand.

Elizabeth Mansingh is one of the most beautiful young women, that, one’s eyes could behold, in her the grace and fluidity of movement from her he r Indian father met and merged merg ed with the beauty, awareness and tall stature of her Black B lack mother. Elizabeth was worshipped by all, at home, at Church, in kindergarten, in primary school, at high school, on the streets, in the malls and perhaps now eve even n in College. With people, males and females, straights and gays, her requests, regardless how small were taken as commands from God himself. It is said, that, a worshipped idol gets stuck in time and learns very little; that as if by bad luck was the hand drawn by Elizabeth.

In the eyes of Daniel Lemaire, Elizabeth as a student, she was very talented, on stage-her movements were indeed those of a goddess. She floated where others stumbled, her movements were effortless; with books and written texts, text s, her memory was photographic and her analytical skills were above noral.

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Yet Elizabeth lacked a most important skill- the ability to take t ake up herself after a fall, brush off and continue, she had to have someone to lean on, someone to help her back tto o her feet. The Institute of the Performing Arts is not a day care facility for babies, she co could uld not stay. Daniel Lemaire with great sadness was forced to ask her not to register for the new semester.

Bloom m  A Case of Jealousy- Let The Flowers Bloo Dear Babo;

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The Imam from the mosque has asked me m e to take over the conducting of classes in mathematics for those high school students who are preparing for their examinations, the regular teacher had found a job with a high school in the country and will no longer be able to attend.

Babo, I was shocked out of the world. The idea of Pakistani teaching Black Jamaican children was one, then to be at a public library in the main seminar room, where everybody passes and look through the glass walls from 3.00 p.m. to 6.00 6 .00 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays with twelve teenage male and female students, was more than a mountain to climb. Suppose anyone from our village saw me? Suppose one of our country men me n saw me?

What got me going, Babo, was Pastor Glenroy East, that very same one, o ne, who keeps telling me about his Jesus and that I need to get baptized and saved. Who he thinks he is , I do not know, we always end up arguing. Well the very first evening I started the cclass, lass, he turned up at the library. When he found out that the children belonged to our o ur mosque and that I was not been paid to teach them, he became angry and stated that he will be restarting the evening classes at his Church and that he will not be allowing any Moslem children to do better than Christian children in school.

Babo, the cock fight has started, I do not care what any grey beards from our village might want to think, no Christian boy or girl is going to do better in mathematics than any of my st students. udents. Allah works in some very strange ways, he has given me a flag to carry and a cause to defend.

Must run, I have to teach teac h my students. Let the flowers bloom.

Your son,

Khalid

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 A Letter of Concern To Mrs. S. Johnson

Dear Mrs. Johnson;

I have noticed with alarm, the trend among a small but significant percentage of women of Indian descent to start having children at an early age, in most cases out of wedlock, and before obtaining the skills and training needed to earn a living for themselves and their children. While understanding the historic legacy of Hinduism and in particular the Laws of Manu, Manu, must have had on those individuals of the Brahman caste who came to the West Indies, in the early e arly years, a group of individuals without trade, who for reasons of religion were not willing to perform manual agricultural labour, not willing to consume nor cultivate root crops such as yams, peanuts, potatoes, onions, carrots, ginger and etc; one would expect that their great grandchildren who are no longer Hindus should be able to make use of the opportunities opportunities which are available to them in Jamaica, rather than seeking to make themselves into members of a new Untouchable Caste.

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Would it not be just if the t he women from the Musahar Caste in Bihar, IIndia, ndia, or women from the Bhangi Caste in Gujarat, or even the Roma women from the Czech Republic condemn these, their “new” Jamaican and West Indian counterparts in the sternest and harshest way possible? What

possible reason or excuse could these young ladies of Indian origin offer to justify their selfself condemnation and the condemnation of their children to lives of poverty and want in a country such as Jamaica, where they have countless opportunities for training , enterprise and upward upward mobility.

Mrs. Johnson, one also is forced to examine the role played by individuals such as yourself, the great grandchildren of those from the Vaisya and Sudras Castes in the creation of a new caste of  Untouchables. One gets a clear and distinct impression, that you the great grandchildren of the Vaisya and Sudras who have done well for yourselves in Jamaica and in the wider West Indies in general, do not care about the sad lot which has overtaken the lives of your brothers and sisters from Brahman Caste origin, so long as you yourself are doing good.

There are no signs or evidence of your taking any concrete action to motivate or encourage those who have fallen by the wayside back to their feet. Search as long as one wants, it is impossible to find a single organization of individuals of Indian origin , dedicated to serving the motivational needs of those who because of a lack of leadership and direction are unable to make use of the opportunities that surround them.

On a personal level, will you be training tr aining your child to wind up the car windows on passing his fallen brothers and sisters at the street stre et corners? Will you be training him to have nothing to do or to say to his sisters with their poverty stricken children? Or will you be encouraging him to play a useful and constructive role in the shaping of a great gr eat future for the Indian community in Jamaica in particular and in the West Indies in general?

Mrs. Johnson as you know, with beauty there should also be a sense of responsibility and purpose. 58

 

Yours truly,

Amrutbhal Sarasiya (Mr.)

An Untouchable

Ahmadabad,

Gujarat State

India

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The Mamma Man

It is nearly impossible to find in modern English an equivalent to the Jamaican word “Mamma Man”. The American equivalent “Mama’s boy” is much more limited in it meaning that its Jamaican

counterpart. Essentially a Mamma Man is a man who helps to clean the t he house, helps his wife with the cooking and or washing. The term is generally used by those females who believe that the running of the house, the purchasing of goods at the supermarket and the taking care of children are areas in which women exercise exe rcise a monopoly and are areas for which they the y alone have a responsibility.

The Mamma Man, is a creature, a left over, from the days when women were not active participants in the labour market and hence had the responsibility of taking care of the affairs of the house and the children. With women joining the labour force and with the growing number of e educated, ducated,

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middle class, middle income women with long working days, the Mamma Man has been driven to the frindges of society and has been replaced with a new type of man, who is expected by all, to play an active role in the house and in the co-parenting of children.

It is against this background, the appearance of a young couple and their two children in a middle class neighborhood just outside Kingston has to be taken into context. Not only did the young wife refused to seek employment, but felt and expressed the view that she was living in a community of  Mamma Men.

Not only did her husband not moved from the inner city c ity to live an inner city life style in a middle class neighborhood, but also the men of the community did not take lightly to the label “Mamma Men”. Within the space of a year she was been passed around like cards around a table and very soon after she had no husband. Where ever she is today, the words “Mamma Man” will not pass her lips and perhaps she now dreams of having her own “Mamma Man”. 

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The Result of War

On a main road in Kingston, stands a large ugly windowless, doorless ruin, the last reminder of a very successful retail business that once stood there. The late owner of the business was of Indian I ndian descent and like many of his community; he was firmly against the t he writing of wills. The view is held , that, by writing a will one is taking the risks of being killed by one’s own children. He did not want to

be killed by his children, so he did not write wr ite a will.

When he died; the “War of The Children” started and never ended. Even for the ownership of the t he

ruins, the war is still being waged. None of the four sons could agree between themselves on who should get what. If two came to an agreement, the other two refused to agree; if three came to an agreement, one did not agree. Of course the two sisters, w who ho were sidelined also wanted their share. Many lawyers were made fat while the business bled.

In the end, the doors of the once popular business were closed. Indians are a very stubborn breed, once they start fighting among themselves, nothing can stop them. t hem. The division of the property was placed in the hands of the government and as we all know, even snails out sprint the swiftest branches of government. The business was looted, scrapped and taken apart by those who owned nothing to fight over.

The late owner of the business was of Indian descent and like many of his community; he was firmly against the writing of a will. When he died, the business died also.

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Saved by Allah

Paul Mansingh, better known as “Must Win” at the race track tr ack where he spent most of his youth, today is a well-known and established distributor of a type of Indian bread called “roti”, and a happily married man and a father of two teenage children. But his life was not always llike ike this. The long scar on the left side of o f his face and the even longer scars on his right hand tell stories of a more colorful past.

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As a young man and in fact even eve n as a teenager “Must Win” lived his days at the. race track. He was

known by the grooms, stable hands, trainers, jockeys joc keys and owners alike. Horse racing was his life, it was his dream and perhaps his only passion. He earned the name “Must Win” W in” as a result of his view

that any horse he picked or placed a bet on , must win the race. When he was not at the track, he was with his friends who lived along the dirt road behind the track. Must Win only visited the well to do communities , at the front of o f the track, with flush toilets and telephones, during the mango season. The police knew Must Win, they saved him from sure death no less than three times. Once a pair of dogs forced him to spend two days in a mango tree, the owner saw his plight but rather than rescuing him, fed the dogs under the tree.

Paul Mansingh “Must Win” is as Indian as an Indian could be. It was in his fine nasal voice, in the

shape of his face, in his complexion, in his hair, in his eyes, he is an Indian. However, even to mention the word “Indian” was enough to put him in a fit of rage. In his mind, he was an African, he

spoke of Africa as if it was his homeland, of his desire to be repatriated re patriated to Ethiopia and admired with a sense of pride the great gr eat historic kingdoms of the Ashanti. No one despised and looked down on Indian women more than Paul Mansingh “Must Win”; to him they were all whores and nasty people , in his mind his father and mother were we re “Black people”, Africans. 

When Paul was around twenty four years of o f age, a Moslem family, the Khans, moved into a community at the front of the track, the Khans had three children, Fahima , aged twenty was the eldest . They were Indians and clearly so, however in Paul’s eyes they were Moslems, not Indians.

They did not eat pork, they did not drink, they did not smoke, they did not defecate in the bushes, and were not in endless quarrels at home.

The truth is the truth, and the simple truth was that Fahima burnt a hole through the chest of Paul Mansingh “Must Win’s” chest and lit a fire in his heart. he art. Everything in his world, the horses, the

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grooms, the jockeys, trainers, and everything disappeared, di sappeared, leaving Fahima, the beautiful Fahima, the kind and loving Fahima alone standing.

The Imam says that Allah sent an angel to save Paul Mansingh from self destruction and self hate. “Must Win” says that Allah saved his life. Who is correct it is impossible to say, however, what is

known to be true is that he has not been seen at the track for some twenty years and the police does not remember saving anyone called “Must Win”. Perhaps the Imam was right:-“Allah sent an angel to save Paul Mansingh “Must Win” . 

Elder Ras Euhanis Addresses Brethren of Indian Descent 

A group of Rastafarian Brethren of Indian descent asked Elder Ras Euhanis to meet with them at their camp to give the guidance on the Paul Mansingh question. They wanted to know if one could remain loyal to his or her Indian roots and follow the teachings of His Majesty. How could they accept the teachings of His Majesty and not reject the gods and the teachings of their parents and grandparents.

Elder Ras Euhanis understood their plight, he himself had to come to terms with himself and his White mother. It was that journey to himself, that led him to tthe he knowledge, that His Majesty demands that all men respect and honor their t heir mothers and fathers, that His Majesty rrejects ejects all forms of self-hatred, self-hatred is a hatred hatre d of God himself in whose image all mankind was created.

In speaking with the brethren, he pointed out that any man who hates himself, hates God; he who hates that, the image he sees in the mirror, hates the image of God. He continues by pointing out, that, one must first learn to love himself before he can love His Majesty. It is the evil in man, which distorts the image in the mirror. Only when one truly loves oneself, he is able to love and see the

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image of God in another, regardless regar dless of race, nationality, gender or sexuality. Even as His Majesty Maje sty loves all men equally, not one more than the other, even so those who pray in His name, love all men equally starting with oneself.

When we love ourselves we are able to love our parents and give them thanks for the gift of life. It is our duty to love and accept our parents as they are, the moment that we seek to change them to suit ourselves , not only do we disrespect them but we are also saying that something is wrong with them that we their children should correct. In other words, we have become creators of our own parents –turning the words of his Majesty on its head. Which man can create Adam and Eve? It is from Adam and Eve we all came, not Adam and Eve coming from us. Should we hate Eve for eating the apple? We would have preferred if she did not, but we love her just the same as our mother. That is the way of His Majesty. We love our parents regardless of the gods they worship or the food they eat.

The Indian brethren, promised to start a period of self-search and introspection to purge themselves of all forms of self-hatred and evil.

The words of Bob Marley’s song “Coming From The Cold” filled the air, sparks from the challis

darted like stars through the night’s air, as the Spirit of His Majesty comforted and reassured each

and every one of his children of his unceasing love. Rasta River Come Down! Jah Live!

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