Amina Blackwood Meeks, Contributor
LIKKLE MS. Jing Bang has come to another of her very important conclusions. In a world of injustice and unspeakable crimes of human beings against human beings, anyting yu fine sey yu can do fe help, dweet. Yu know what, she sey every little bit helps.
So if people standing up inna de park a bawl out gainst human trafficking is going to stop couple Americans from come down to Jamaica and promise some more people from Treasure Beach, dung town and parade fe come up to New Hampshire into America, an when dem reach dem put dem into one wooden room widout heating, an when dem sey dem cole gi dem blanket what dem dawg outgrow, confiscate dem passport, wuk dem an doan pay dem an when dem escape an teck dem go court dem have big lawyer a sey a greedy de Jamaicans dem greedy fe get American visa and dem de American dem ongly pay less than US$10,000 and get wan likkle suspended sentence, meck dem gwaan bawl out yah sah.
HELPING OUR OWN
Dat deh story bout de Jamaicans dem from St. Elizabeth who meet dat deh fate is nat pan de internet of confessions of de trafficked. Dat wan outstanding wan what we can verify, is nat paraded anywhere. De net full up wit how much Africans dem ketch a capture nedda Africans and tun dem into guntoting machines, an nuff of de usual tings about how black people terrible to black people. Jing Bang conclude upon de fack dat injustice and unfarity teck every form dese days. An nat everybaddy care bout all de forms. So if who care bout racism fight dat and who care bout incitement to violence wrestle dat to de grung, an who care bout likkle baby girls a dance pan dem head top at bigshot occasion bun fire pan dat and who care bout trafficking block road pan it in time, den in time everyting will be very capasetic.
For it wudda too bad if nobaddi never care bout nutten. She sey she see wan lady nearly get a conniption bout how Katrina galang bad up into farin and she a sey we fe do someting fe help dem. JB ask ef she do enyting fe help de people dem outa Portland Cottage.
She never even hear bout dem. But maybe like how she hear bout Bayou an Biloxi and send even likkle pryers, for dem doan want anyting else fram we, when dem fortunes change dem wudda sen couple barrels fe we. See? Like dat it wudda work out. Doagh she nuh know how dem work out sey 180,000 people what ded into de tsunami not as bad as de millions in damage dat cause to fe dem infrastructure and such. Is dem tings dere lead to trafficking, devaluing of human beings in favour of tings dat can build back no matter how long it teck. Underpaying of people in favour of profits. Disemployment of people in favour of balancing de books. De very ting dat big talking people admit lead to de feminisation of poverty dat meck women and children de most vulnerable to de worse forms of abuse of which human trafficking is but a symptom. De ting to attack and mount big public education campaign bout is de disease, de sickness of how we treat wan anedda as people. De ting fe occupy we is how to marshall all available resources fe treat people like people wherever dem is an stap classify some tings as 'third world', like sey dat meck it right an acceptable sey a so it fe go. A person trying to describe the conditions post-Katrina did use dat phrase up into America, 'third world' an nuff of dem would want to believe dat trafficking in humans is a third world ting too,
WHAT IS TRAFFICKING?
So what is to become of the victims of Katrina now? After dem get rescued and evacuated and have to go to where there are economic and social opportunities? And what will the present refugees become? Trafficked persons? De lumping is problematic. Jing Bang sey suppose she jus get fed up of her economic conditions and lack of financial status an decide fe go seek greener pastures in faraway lands, but choo how she love chat nobaddi naw gi har nuh visa an she get a false passport an pap de system an gaan, who is to be held responsible for dat? Is dat trafficking in herself? She sey all de talk she hear dem a talk she nuh get no good understanding of what dis human trafficking really is? If America get up again an start badda-badda Fidel fe leggo some Cubans to de land of Milk and Honey and Fidel call dem bluff an de Cubans dem uppa Miami kean fine work, jus a batta-batta bout, would dat count as trafficking in humans an who wudda guilty?
And when we advertise fe somebody come work in HIV/AIDS education programme but de person must have competency and experience in attending exotic clubs, but we are told that the clubs are a gateway to trafficking, de International Office of Migration cudda sanction we? Seeing as how dem establish sey "trafficking in persons had been made possible by, among other things, disparities in economic development but compounded by the "better life syndrome" in the minds of people seeking jobs abroad, dem cudden jus gi we some money fe en de disparities or dem prefer fe spend it pan public education alone? Ascarding to JB trying to figure out de ins and outs of dis story is a very thorny thing.
But if it cause we fe examine who we are an what we is about, bring it awn. If it cause we fe decide fe kip likkle girls outa de hands of people who stand up at de gateway to trafficking, kip dem inna school, give dem tings to aspire to dat bigger dan jus being de face of summer or walk an bruk up dem summer body inna half naked clothes pan run way, come we clean out every nook and cranny a which part de traffick jam.
We haffe have de courage fe face de range of tings dat degrade human beings and force dem into even more degrading tings in an attempt to redeem dem humanity. Odderwise de anti-trafficking ting is gwine to look like a hidden agenda what ongly de smaddy who meck de agenda can undastand, and de balance a we jus a go a de meeting in case likkle food serve an we get fe smell it. A so trafficking start.
