I just can’t take the chance of greeting you in this letter with the usual salutation, ‘dear’. Crazy readers of our correspondence would immediately conclude that you’re my bosom buddy. Just take a look at what Bawypy spewed out on The Gleaner’s website last week in response to the publication of your letter to me:

“Ms Cooper you are not Kartels mother, you seem more to be his woman, ur obviously in love with him and you were wrong to bring him inna the university to chat crap and now you are trying to fool Jamaican people again, stop it! Neither you or Kartel is an intellect.”

Apparently, Bawypy had to be reined in. There’s a note beneath the post: “Edited by a moderator.” This is the very first comment that comes up when you go to last week’s column. There are at least 97 others. Most of them are probably just as sensational. I don’t need to know for sure.

But even readers who are presumably much more sophisticated than Bawypy could be misled by my use of the conventional greeting, ‘dear’. Take, for instance, Mr Damion Mitchell, news editor of The Gleaner/Power 106 News Centre. He really ought to know better. In an article published on Monday, March 5, Mr Mitchell rehashes my column and proceeds to make unfounded assumptions.

This is what the news editor wrote: “In a letter to his friend, university professor Carolyn Cooper, Kartel said … .” Now, Mr Palmer, you and I both know that we are not friends in any normal sense of the word. At best, we are acquaintances. And, even so, not to ‘dat’. The first time we met was last March when you came to speak at the University of the West Indies, Mona. Since then, I’ve not laid eyes on you.

Kartel in Jamaica Journal

It is true that we’ve emailed and spoken in the course of my academic work as an analyst of Jamaican popular culture. But these interactions cannot reasonably be regarded as signs of friendship. In fact, I’m sure you will recall that your very first email to me was rather unfriendly. After your appearance at the university, we did have more pleasant exchanges on two matters.

The first was about the business of publishing your lecture, ‘Pretty Like a Colouring Book: My Life and My Art’. You’ll be pleased to hear that it came out last week in the latest issue of Jamaica Journal. Vybz Kartel’s picture on the cover of the high-quality, undersubscribed journal is likely to attract many new readers. The Institute of Jamaica must be congratulated for understanding the broad appeal of dancehall culture. If the French newspaper, Le Monde, can capitalise on your notoriety, why not Jamaica Journal?

The second issue we discussed was your endowment of the Adidja Palmer Prize to be awarded each year to the student with the best grade in the Reggae Poetry course I teach at UWI. You readily agreed to fund the prize. Given your present circumstances, the matter has been suspended. The grave charges that have been levelled against you would taint the prize, and so, must be taken into account.

I do not know if you are innocent or guilty. I trust that you will receive a fair trial and the truth will be revealed. If you are guilty, you must suffer the full consequences of your actions. If you are innocent, you will be vindicated. Justice must prevail.

Yours sincerely,

Carolyn Cooper

(P.S. I know that like ‘dear’, the closing salutation, ‘yours sincerely’, may also be misinterpreted by careless readers like Bawypy and Mr Mitchell,The Gleaner’s news editor).

Conclusion of Adidja Palmer’s letter

“Ms Cooper, please publish this letter so that the Jamaican people can see my point of view on this serious matter as my life depends on the outcome of this case.

“In closing I would like to let the people know that i am an innocent man and i have faith in my lawyers and know that i will be acquitted. Thank you. Sincerely yours Adidja Palmer.

P.S. I have enclosed a poem i wrote. feel free to publish it as well. Thanks Ms C.”

(A poem) Guilty before trial?

by A. Palmer

The police have found me guilty and i

haven’t gone to trial yet,

but they spread propoganda on T.V. & internet

Dem a beat it in the people’s mind

that i’m guilty and deserve death,

but the public knows how the police

operate, so mi nah fret.

So many people in court for allegedly

taking 4, 5, 6 pickney life,

So how they don’t discuss that on

‘CVM at sunrise’?

Allegations of extrajudicial killings

by security forces have already been issue,

but i’ve never seen them on t.v. so

much, talking about that, did you?

Me never kill nobody yet

but they say my music breeds crime,

that’s why they’re on my case they

want me imprisoned long time.

I am an artiste so i know things

will make the news,

but don’t crusade this ungodly way to

distort peoples views.

Mi swear my innocence before all

mankind and God,

why would i risk going to jail Leaving

behind 7 children, after mi nuh mad.

I am not the first man

The romans soldiers have sacrificed,

like me, that man was not guilty

That man was Jesus Christ.

At a recent launch, Dr. Clinton Hutton, co-editor of the special double issue of the Jamaica Journal on popular Jamaican music, stated that the Journal needs to be marketed to young people in Jamaica so that they can see a reflection of themselves and their cultural, creative, and aesthetic traditions, not only in the realms of dance and painting and music, but in the sciences as well. He added that “when all is said and done, as Marley puts it, ‘all I ever had is redemption song’. Our culture is our redemption song. That is what our forbearers used… the general cultural ethos is what they developed to cope with their enslavement… and that legacy needs to be developed.” He stressed that the type of education that our children need, is one in which they are firmly rooted in their cultural ethos, so that they are able to see the world in this way.

Hutton explained, “I started reading the Jamaica Journal as a little boy. And it’s one of the publications that shaped who I am today. It was different from all the other things I used to read. And I suspect that it will affect some young people in the same way. And we need to consciously market the journal in schools to students who are doing CXC.”

In this the second full music issue of the journal, the flagship publication of the Institute of Jamaica (IOJ) articles are of their usual expository nature, featuring educational and innovative research and covering issues on life and history, the arts, science and technology and literature. It features, among other articles, “Bob Marley, the Power of Philosophy in His Music;” “The Pioneering Role of Reggae Sunsplash in Local Entertainment;” “The Evolution of the Jamaican Dub Plate;” and “Chris Blackwell and the Internationalization of Reggae.” This issue also features tributes to Professor Rex Nettleford, Sonny Bradshaw, and Pam O’Gorman.

“We are going to be 50 next year as a country,” Dr. Hutton noted, “and the identity of a country is shaped by its people and in particular by its creative expressions, by its artistes, by its intellectual community. And sometimes there is probably some gap between the intellectuals and culture, but for me there is no gap. But we really need to take the intellectual culture of this space, the Caribbean space, very seriously. That’s our signature. That is really our marker, and if we do that well, we don’t have to worry about something called cultural imperialism.”

For full article, see http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/entertainment/Jamaica-Journal-launches-second-music-issue_8474205

The digitized version of the Jamaica Journal Historical Collection online was launched on Sunday (Nov. 15) at the Green Library of the Florida International University (FIU), Miami. The journal, one of the Caribbean’s leading cultural publications, is now celebrating its 40 year anniversary with 32 volumes. The Journal, which began publication in 1967, has covered a broad range of topics including history, literature, science and environment, and the arts. “Making the entire collection available online, will increase the awareness of the Journal’s historical and continued importance in documenting Jamaican heritage, culture and environment” according to Brooke Wooldridge of the Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC) of the University, one of the collaborating agencies.
Professor Barry Chevannes, Chairman of the Institute of Jamaica (IOJ) speaking at Reception to celebrate the historical launch said that the “digitization of the Jamaica Journal will mean a de-locking of the document from its imprisonment in time and space and releasing it to a readership and research community that has the potential to be as wide as cyberspace is wide.” Describing the Journal as one of Jamaica’s most cherished products, Professor Chevannes said that the publication was a “window into the life of the Jamaican people.” It was founded in 1967 by former Prime Minister Edward Seaga who at the time was doing anthropological fieldwork among the rural and urban folk. He added that Mr. Seaga’s fascination with the beauty and cosmological sophistication of the Revival religion, led him to compose a poem titled “River Mumma” which he entered into the Festival competition under an assumed name, earning a gold medal.
As there was no outlet to publish the poem at the time, Mr. Seaga suggested that the Institute start a publication to showcase the works of writers and scholars on Jamaican and Caribbean culture. “River Mumma” was printed in the third volume in 1969. Since then, the issues continue to carry articles on the practices of the daily life of the Jamaican people, “providing snapshots of a people in a rapidly changing cultural life” according to Professor Chevannes.
Professor Chevannes spoke of the challenges of sustaining the Journal – the struggle to be relevant and cost-effective at the same time. He commended the expertise of the editor, Dr. Kim Robinson, a literary critic and writer. The more widely known the Journal is in cyberspace, the more interest it will create in ownership of copies while producing new subscribers he said. As he encouraged support from the Jamaican Diaspora, Professor Chevannes felt that the exhibited pages would evoke reminiscences of an ancestral homeland as nationals identified with the sights captured.
Jamaica’s Consul General Sandra Grant Griffiths also echoed sentiments on the historical launch of the Jamaica Journal noting that the publication has helped shaped our nation and would continue to impact through the march of history preserving and increasing access to Jamaican material on the socio-cultural and political importance.
For the complete report go to http://sflcn.com/story.php?id=7458