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| Letter of the Day
July 8, 1999
Dennis Brown will be missed THE EDITOR, Madam: I SAW Dennis Brown for the first time on stage in 1973. At 16 years of age he was kind enough to perform at a concert organised by the students of Holy Trinity Secondary School. He gave a classic performance and in the process gained about four encores. For weeks thereafter he was the topic of literally every discussion which took place among the students of nearby schools, Kingston College, Alpha Academy and St. George's College. Many of the students who were present at that concert instantaneously became fans of Dennis Brown and for those of us who have followed his career over the years he got better with time. Literally everywhere he has performed, he was able to whip his audience into a frenzy and each song irrespective of when it was first done, sounded as if it was being sung for the first time. Such was his charisma. He was a man of the people and to the people wherever he appeared and performed he was their man. His litany of songs are just too numerous to mention, over 60 albums. What a monumental feat. Songs such as No man is an island his first release, West Bound Train, Money in My Pockets, Silhouettes, Stop your Fighting, Poison are sufficient to demonstrate the outstanding contribution Dennis Brown has made to the reggae lexicon. There continues to be persistent rumours of the many challenges which Dennis Brown faced in his personal life. That might be so, but let no man or woman say that he or she has not faltered at sometime or another. Let us focus on the positive contribution of a man who for the better part of his life has brought at home and abroad, this country and our people, immeasurable recognition. He died young, age 42. Gone too soon, some will say. Physically yes, but spiritually, emotionally and most importantly musically, Dennis Brown will be around for generations to come. As we mourn his death, let us keep his music alive. I am, etc., DELANO FRANKLYN |
| Students group deplores slaying
of school children
THE EDITOR, Madam: DURING THE academic year which has just ended, the country experienced the loss of several secondary school students at the cruel hands of death. The National Secondary Students' Council (NSSC) is saddened by the death of the young girl from Ferncourt High who was killed while on her way to her examination. Her death awakens us to the stark reality that there are persons in our society who will thoughtlessly destroy our future. NSSC calls on the police to help us rid our country of these miscreants. Also, the council is extremely disheartened by the fact that the student from Pembroke Hall Comprehensive was killed by another student. This act not only exposes a restless young generation, but a society which has failed to accomplish its task. The incident plainly demonstrates the inability of the family unit to execute its functions of transmitting proper morals and values. NSSC believes that if parents become highly involved in their children's school life we will be able to reduce the level of violence in our secondary schools. Parents must know what their children are taking to school. We call on principals to organise more searches in the next school year and to treat the possession of weapons by students as a serious offence (because it is). NSSC wishes to remind all secondary school students that education is a struggle - not a struggle which employs knives, stones and guns but one which demands mental prowess. As we have learnt from the death of these students; violence doesn't solve our problems - in fact, it creates more. Let us protect our brothers and sisters. Life is precious and those who take innocent lives must be made to pay. I know that we have now taken leave of our classrooms but we are all students in a bigger classroom without walls. So remember, 'responsible students make the difference'. I am, etc., JOSEPH FARQUHARSON
Arthur, Castro deserve praise THE EDITOR, Madam: THE STATEMENT made by the Barbadian Prime Minister in response to charges by the Jamaica Exporters Association that Jamaica's soft drink manufacturers were unable to access the Barbadian market should be engraved on the walls of the offices of both the Prime Minister of Jamaica and the Minister of Foreign Trade of this country, to be used as a constant reminder of the obligation they have to their people. Owen Authur said and I quote, "Before his Government removes the licences, it had to put the local soft drink manufacturers in a position where they were competitive." Doesn't this pronouncement subscribe to the highest level of patriotism, as regards trade between countries that a leader of a country could display? Isn't this the quality of husbandry that the business community of this country has been beseeching of successive governments? Can you imagine the amount of factories that would have kept their doors open and the thousands of jobs that would have been saved if the leadership of this country had taken a similar stand? Thank you Prime Minister Owen Arthur for exposing the leadership of Jamaica to the finesse of the dynamics of international trade. You have earned my admiration and I am sure that of many people the world over. Madam Editor, equally impressive and educational was the stand taken this week by that great Cuban leader, President Fidel Castro, of not giving the United States coast guards permission to pursue suspected drugs smugglers in its waters, - (detailed in the article: 'Cuba reject drugs hot pursuit chases in its waters' in The Gleaner of 26.6.96). Again our leaders should take notes on the importance a nation puts on its sovereignty. I am, etc., DAL A. HENRY J'can diplomats have served well THE EDITOR, Madam: I HONESTLY believe it is my duty to write to you in support of your editorial entitled 'Respected diplomacy' (The Gleaner, Saturday, July 3, 1999). I began my diplomatic career at the United Nations and later on I served as a Deputy Permanent Representative of Mexico, first to the International Organisations in Geneva and then to the Organisation of American States in Washington. I am talking about 25 years observing the performance of outstanding Jamaican diplomats and working with them. In supporting the last sentence of your editorial "Arguably, Jamaica's diplomatic service has more than done itself proud", I want to put on record, taking the risk of forgetting some personalities, the names of the following Jamaican Ambassadors whose work and example contributed to my formation as a diplomat; they are: Egerton Richardson, Keith Johnson and Herbert Walker. I still hold fresh in my memory the positive impact made by the delegation representing Jamaica in the initial negotiations of the Treaty for the Proscription of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean. That was one of the first encounters between Latin American and Jamaican diplomats, soon after Jamaica's Independence, and since then, as your editorial states, a 'respected diplomacy' was evident. Mexico supported the candidacy of Jamaica to the United Nations Security Council even before Jamaica obtained the unanimous support of the Latin American and Caribbean Group at the United Nations. I want to believe that I played a role in that decision. According to the UN Charter the Member States "...confer on the Security Council primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, and agree that in carrying out its duties under this responsibility the Security Council acts on their behalf." In supporting the candidacy of Jamaica to the Security Council, Mexico and the Latin American and Caribbean Group, based on the 'respected diplomacy' mentioned in The Gleaner's Editorial, accepted that Jamaica acts on their behalf. No doubt Jamaica obtained that support because, according to the UN Charter, in electing the non-Permanent Members of the Council, due regard should be specially paid, in the first instance, "...to the contribution of Members of the United Nations to the maintenance of international peace and security and to the other purposes of the Organisation...". Peace and security depends mainly on the behaviour of big powers and of leaders facing regional conflicts, but let us not underestimate the valuable influence that a 'respected diplomacy' might have in the international fora. It was reassuring to hear the Honourable Seymour Mullings state during the Sectoral Debate in Parliament that "Jamaica intends to work with other members of the Council to promote multilateral approaches to questions of peace and security and thus reducing the incidence of unilateralism on issues affecting the interests of the broader international community." Incidentally, please do not refer to us as 'Latin nations', we are proudly Latin American nations. I am, etc., JOSE LUIS VALLARTA
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