Five Lessons Learned from Two Covid Years

For the umpteenth time I will start one of these lamenting how long I haven’t done this but alas its clearly a key element of the “Reasoning” brand. Also, quite cliché is the fact that it is the truing of the calendar to a new 365 that has provided the impetus to end the writing slumber. This slumber has been different from ones before it, however. Rather than the usual nonchalance and indifference, this has felt like a stupor and a stupor it has been, induced by the two years or two “non-years” we have just endured and survived. Nonetheless, even with all the negativity, there is still room for gratitude and giving thanks for all the positives that have coexisted with this peculiar Original and Sequel that 2020 and 2021 has presented us. It is in this ambivalent existence that Reasoning with the Cunning One presents… “A Thing Called Five Lessons Learned from Two Covid Years.” However, fret not, I too am tired of some of the hardcore and divisive debates that have surrounded our covid existence and as such if I even touch on any of those it will be only in passing (hopefully).

Lesson One – Family is very important.

I can forgive you if you say “duh” as this seems like the most obvious thing ever. But still the past two years have driven the point home quite exponentially. A sub lesson is the importance of social interaction. Put most bluntly, we were not built to live the kind of lockdown existence that this pandemic foisted upon us. Never mind that more and more, and whether consciously or subconsciously, we are flouting the “distancing” portion of the pandemic, we nuh really buil’ fi live like that. Stay by yourself, avoid visiting grandma, no friend link ups, stay away from scrimmage football etc. At first it may have seemed doable. I mean all those things we may have taken for granted and at points we have made the choice to stop doing them. But it’s a hell of a thing when the choice is taken away from you. Add to that the inability to tell when it all will be over with. It’s rough.

But what does this have to do with family being important. From my experience for the past two years, what has taken me through some of the rough patches and unfortunately what some other persons have not had, is the ability to have a vibrant, reachable extended family “bubble” so life’s moments have not just been confined to my individual four walls. I am absolutely clear without this, these past two years would have been further hell. I, definitely, will be forever grateful for this and I’m sure the gravity of its impact will be even clearer whenever we get the chance to see covid, or at least covid as a plague, in the rear-view mirror

Lesson Two – Ying/Yang is real.

Whatever philosophical perspective you ascribe to I am sure there exists a component that is in line with the ying and yang reality. That is to say, life is full of counterforces. Some we deem positive whilst others are negative, but they together coexist to make up this thing called life. The past two covid years are no different, in fact one could look at them as the epitome of that reality. On a personal level some of the deepest losses, inclusive of close extended family members has occurred in lock step with some very big personal achievements. November 2020, I attended a funeral that was really hard to attend. However, December 2020 I moved into my own home. For the past two years the child has had to tackle school from behind a tablet screen and that has been rough. However, in that time she has grown so much and so has her feisty vocabulary and understanding of the world around her. Not to mention some new extracurricular activities. The past two years have been perhaps equally some of the best and worst of my life, but such is life, the duality of ying and yang.

Lesson Three – Bad time to be ill/die.

I am aware it might be insensitive and/or offensive to suggest there is a good versus bad time to die or be sick, but this lesson is perhaps the one that has hit me the hardest and heaviest in the past two years. Again, this lesson is predicated on things we would otherwise take for granted. Under normal circumstances you get sick and hospitalized, your family could easily come and check on you during visiting hours. With covid? Not so. Now persons are forced to endure the great unknown all by them self. All the terror, all the anxiety with way less outlets to deal with it. That is indeed a very scary reality that far too many have had to endure over the past two years. This sorrow is only matched and perhaps surpassed by those who pass away or have lost loved ones in this abnormal time. No-one loves bereavement, but at least in “normal times” someone at death’s door would be able to see family members for the last time, perhaps have their last rites and prayers or similar rituals. And having passed, families would be able to have appropriately fulsome “sending off” ceremonies. In this era of “limit the spread” and “maintaining physical distance” it is like a huge chunk of the humanity involved in transcending this earthly plane has been stripped from us. I deeply regret and commiserate with anyone that has had to undergo the earth-shattering experience of losing someone close to them in this time where we are not fully able to express the humanity of such situations.

Lesson Four – In Capitalist Societies: Profit conquers all.

It is said that in capitalism, the bottom line is all that matters. One may have thought that whilst feeling the pangs of global contagion that the world could be driven by imperatives other than, and perhaps more noble than the pursuit of profit and narrowly defined economic growth but alas this has not been the case. In the midst of global spread of this virus it seems that equal to, or exceeding the desire to eliminate said virus has been the need for governments and companies to keep the capitalist wheels turning. Never mind cruise ships serving as floating petri dishes for an ever-evolving virus – lets get back to normal ‘cause arrivals, arrivals, arrivals, spend, spend, spend. Never mind most cases of the original and new variants entering many or most countries by way of international travellers – lets keep the wheels turning. Never mind sports leagues and teams having player after player after player go down with the virus – lets get that TV revenue… and so it goes with many other examples of this same mindset. But perhaps the most recent and most crude example of this mindset, in my view, must be the new guidance provided by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with respect to isolation after testing positive for COVID-19. As at 27 December 2021 the recommendation is that persons who have tested positive for covid should instead of isolating for 10 days, should now do so for five. In the discourse it has emerged that whilst this recommendation is purportedly rooted in the science of the current omicron variant of the virus, it has also been an open secret that a big push factor for this was the desire for big business to reduce the dislocation of missing, sick employees. For many, myself included, this decision had very little to do with the well-being of people, and a lot to do with the pursuit of the almighty dollar at the expense of people’s well-being.

Lesson Five – Too many people have no idea how “Rights” work.

Like it or not, perhaps the biggest source of discourse and discord over the past two years has been the science and non-science of the covid-19 vaccinations and the socio-political furore that has accompanied the development and dissemination of these vaccines. As stated up front,  I would rather not delve heavily into the rudiments of these controversies, save an except to say I firmly believe in the importance of the global vaccination programme in the elimination of the disease. Instead of leaning into the rightness or wrongness of vaccination, I am far more concerned with the conventional wisdom or at least widely held view of “rights” both locally in Jamaica and even more so in the US inspired western world. Even pre-covid a lot of the discourse on “rights” i.e. political and civil liberties or “human rights” is shrouded in a touch of ignorance. So in this vaccine debate as well as in other aspects of life there seems to be this very “western” focus on individual freedom to essentially do whatever I want or not be mandated to do anything, irrespective of the effect of the action or inaction on wider society. The error here is that rights are actually creatures of law/human agreements and most, if not all, rights are crafted in a dual consideration of that individual freedom but simultaneously protecting the common good. As such, all the rights that people are up in arms about saying they are being violated are all crafted so that they serve to protect individuals form the over-reach of the state, but at the same time embedded with exceptions for exceptional circumstances for the furtherance of the common good. It seems that the latter basic principle has escaped far too many people. So before we join the mob of persons who may glibly speak about violation of rights (and sometimes rightly so still) let us actually take a prips at our Constitution, particularly the Charter of Rights in the Jamaican context or any corresponding legislation in any other context, and ensure that when we speak about rights being abrogated, we are indeed sure what we are talking about.

Honourable Mention Lessons

The previous five lessons really represent the things that were at the forefront of my mind but this is clearly a non-exhaustive list and I would love to hear from persons what are some other indelible lessons you have learnt from these past two covid years.  As a parting shot, here are a couple more lessons that didn’t make the “I feel like delving into these” list but definitely have been learned and logged.

• Way too many people are grossly selfish and individualstic
• More people need to do General Science or Integrated Science for longer in school.
• Polticians gonna politick.

Selah.

Strange Fruit: From Mike Brown to George Floyd

A lot has been said and the annals of history will be colourful when the subject of the year Two-Thousand and Twenty Anno Domini is discussed. Personally, up until late May and early June the most jarring aspects of 2020 were the untimely deaths of Gianna Bryant and her father Kobe as well as the still unfolding (despite everybody seeming to forget) COVID-19 global pandemic. Silly me thought that the latter might represent the crescendo of the craziness or maybe a storm or two in the hurricane season might turn the madness up further. However, and if we are honest not so surprisingly, what has our attention now is one of our world’s original and eternal sins…the plight and fight of Black people. Old people say certain things come in threes and three incidents “started” the current downward spiral. The murders of three unarmed Black Americans – Ahmaud Arberry in Glynn County, Georgia; Breonna Taylor in Lousiville, Kentucky; and most recently the straw that broke the camel’s back George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Mr. Floyd suffered the the gross indignity of 3 police officers kneeling on him, one fatally on his neck for nearly 9 minutes with a sadistic smile on his demonic face, all while knowing that they were being recorded. A big 6 footer of a man was reduced to urinating on himself and crying out for his mother, his deceased mother. Each of these stories added another layer to the harrowing story of unarmed black people being killed at the hands of the law enforcement in that country and like the proverbial spark that gets the fire going an essentially global movement against the injustices faced by black people has re-emerged and re-emerged in force. These events have sparked several conversations ranging from why these types of incidents can’t stop happening, to what is the appropriate response for the persons who are hurt and the victims of this systemic oppression that foster these murderous events. In the spirit of “Reasoning” I had this plan for this wonderful article where I was going to neatly weave previous  quotes with respect to racism from the civil rights era and before from the likes of Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., HIM Haile Selassie I. After these older quotes I was going to juxtapose them with quotes from the later 20th and 21st centuries and highlight how prescient the elder’s words were and at the same time how disappointingly relevant they still remain. But that is what I WAS going to do. The emotional toll of story after story after story highlighting the ills of white supremacy globally, the news cycle interspersing the various protests and riots with the responses of racist persons as a counterpoint and the various social media debates have killed the vibe for a perfectly crafted piece and just has me currently feeling, for want of a better word, down. We see all the while clichés about protecting your energy and watch what you consume as what you let in affects what comes out. This has never been realer to me than this week but especially today. Firstly, the story of a man named Noel Chambers has become big news in Jamaica land we love. The cliff notes version is that this man died in prison after spending 40 years without charge because he was not found mentally fit to plead. 40 years 40 years 40 years. I am 32.  This story was a punch to the gut. Emotions were already running high and that story may very well need a blog for itself cause of how horrendous it was. Then I really did it to myself! Scrolling through the TV guide I see a show entitled “Strange Fruit” and hear the familiar lyrics being crooned “…blood on the leaves…” Further investigation uncovered it was a documentary about the August 9, 2019 murder of an (surprise surprise) unarmed teenager named Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Boy was this a hard watch, especially in the current climate as summarized before. If ever there was a metaphor for scratching a scab and ending up with a worst cut than the original, then apply it to watching this documentary. What is especially sad is that all these stories could be replaced for each other and you would think it is the same story, and as all these types of documentaries do, it presents a recap of all the similar cases. So if I didn’t remember the names Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Walter Scott, Sandra Bland, Philando Castile those memories all came flooding back. The thought of injustices black people face and have faced all over the world being placed squarely back in view by way of America and then mixing that in a cocktail with all the atrocities locally, not least the story of Mr. Chambers and others like him, has me stewing in a seriously fowl mood. As I said earlier I had thoughts of putting forward some profound treatise of the black condition and presenting some coherent thoughts on the way forward, however much to my disappointment I am just here in a sack of raw emotions. I’m sure this feeling will pass but outside of personal grief this is among the worse feelings I’ve ever felt. Eventually the focus will get back to the resistance, the planning and the building of our race and our nation but right ya now mi jus tired. Still think some of those planned quotes can be useful and hopefully they stir myself and others into action eventually, but the reality is that not everyday people will feel like a revolutionary. Some days the emotion of it all will get to you and I think that is ok. In fact, I have been repeatedly recommending “Note to Self (Okay)” by Jah 9 ft. Chronixx as musical therapy in these craziest of moments.   SELAH. PS: #JusticeForNoelChambers “…until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned; that until there are no longer first class and second class citizens of any nation; that until the colour of a man’s skin is of no more significance than the colour of his eyes; that until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without regard to race; that until that day, the dream of lasting peace and world citizenship and the rule of international morality will remain but a fleeting illusion, to be pursued but never attained…until bigotry and prejudice and malicious and inhuman self-interest have been replaced by understanding and tolerance and good-will; until all Africans stand and speak as free beings, equal in the eyes of all men, as they are in the eyes of Heaven; until that day, the [world] will not know peace. We Africans will fight, if necessary, and we know that we shall win, as we are confident in the victory of good over evil…” – H.I.M Halie Selassie I Address to the United Nations (1963) “But at the same time, it is as necessary for me to be as vigorous in condemning the conditions which cause persons to feel that they must engage in riotous activities as it is for me to condemn riots. I think America must see that riots do not develop out of thin air. Certain conditions continue to exist in our society which must be condemned as vigorously as we condemn riots. But in the final analysis, a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it that America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the plight of the Negro poor has worsened over the last few years. It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquillity and the status quo than about justice, equality, and humanity. And so in a real sense our nation’s summers of riots are caused by our nation’s winters of delay. And as long as America postpones justice, we stand in the position of having these recurrences of violence and riots over and over again. Social justice and progress are the absolute guarantors of riot prevention…” The Other America – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (1967) “The problem is that white people see racism as conscious hate, when racism is bigger than that. Racism is a complex system of social and political levers and pulleys set up generations ago to continue working on the behalf of whites at other people’s expense, whether whites know/like it or not. Racism is an insidious cultural disease. It is so insidious that it doesn’t care if you are a white person who likes black people; it’s still going to find a way to infect how you deal with people who don’t look like you. Yes, racism looks like hate, but hate is just one manifestation. Privilege is another. Access is another. Ignorance is another. Apathy is another. And so on. So while I agree with people who say no one is born racist, it remains a powerful system that we’re immediately born into. It’s like being born into air: you take it in as soon as you breathe. It’s not a cold that you can get over. There is no anti-racist certification class. It’s a set of socioeconomic traps and cultural values that are fired up every time we interact with the world. It is a thing you have to keep scooping out of the boat of your life to keep from drowning in it. I know it’s hard work, but it’s the price you pay for owning everything.” – Scott Woods (2014) “…To my white brothers, I love you. Every race here, I love you. But it comes to a point now, where if you love me and you not standing on the side of me, then your love don’t mean shit…” – Stephen Jackson (May 29, 2020) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVkNMecQ8ow – Marc Lamont Hill (May 28, 2020)

COVID-19 Lexicon

Haven’t reasoned on here for a long while. I really need to write a post on how the rigours of a 9-5 in “babylon” saps any desire to write or even look at a computer screen after the end of the workday. Anyway, just going to dip my toe into the blogging waters only so slightly today. The Pulitzer winning, earth shattering masterpiece is still being held up the sleeve. Stay Tuned. Today we are going to create a non-exhaustive list of words, concepts phrases that we either never heard of or have been immortalized by this global pandemic (dis)affectionately known as “The Rona.”

1.  SOCIAL DISTANCING – easily the winner of the Corona lexicon Olympics is “social distancing.” Before February of this year I can honestly say I had never heard this term in my life. Now? it is a mantra to be followed and observed almost like a religion…except for the people who still want hitch under your arm in the line at the supermarket, but leave them to God. Across the world we have seen many interesting takes on this social distancing.  Videos range from operatic tenors serenading Italian neighbours from the distance of their balconies, tennis played whilst hanging out adjacent windows, aerobics being taught from a roof to persons watching from their apartments, online parties via various social media. Global creativity knows no bounds. For the people who are not taking social distancing seriously however…TAN A UNU YAAD please. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/27/style/thank-you-for-coming-italy-video-coronavirus.html
2. FLATTEN THE CURVE – related to social distancing is the notion of “flattening the curve.” My layman understanding of the concept is that people need fi stay a dem yaad to ensure that the spread of the virus (which is inevitable) is kept to a level that hospital resources can manage. Another decent non-technical explanation I saw and appreciated was from Will Smith. Since he survived I Am Legend I suppose it’s only right he is an expert eh? View his expert explanation here: https://www.facebook.com/92304305160/videos/what-flattening-the-curve-means/505531506801009/
3. PANDEMIC VS EPIDEMIC – many persons, myself included were wondering after with the World Health Organisation took so long to declare this COVID-19 crisis a “pandemic.” but what does this actually mean? how is it different from an “epidemic?”, which is the word that I think my generation grew up hearing and fearing pestilence. Don’t take my word for it though, the Merriam Webster Dictionary has a useful discussion of this you can read below. Note however the WHO and other more technical sources may have more technical distinctions between the two terms: https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/epidemic-vs-pandemic-difference
4. WORK FROM HOME – clearly in a technological age this is by no means a new concept. What the advent of seemingly one of the most easily spread infections ever has led the world to do is really and truly look at how we operate and determine which aspects of work legitimately require droves of persons acting counter to social distancing. and the results may be as alarming as they should have been obvious. The millennial and post-millennial cliché quip that “that meeting could have been an email” has come to life and been proven right, right before our very eyes. With the waving of a pen and a few press conferences, persons who would have spent hours trudging to a fro for work have been relegated (or some more positive version of this idea) to their homes. Teleconferencing platforms have now become golden and persons can now make world changing decisions in their pajamas provided the web cam is disabled or well positioned. All humour aside, the future of our existence in global capitalism will be interesting to see as the pros and cons of widespread “working from home” unfold in parallel to this health crisis. https://thefunnybeaver.com/30-funny-memes-anyone-work-home-remote-worker/
5. CORONAVIRUS – Like many people I have been subjected to hundreds of WhatsApp and Facebook conspiracy theories about this disease that is now shaping every aspect of our lives. One that apparently shocked many persons, was one of these social media investigators “discovering” that Lysol actually states on the can that one of the “germs” it kills is coronavirus. “But how can this be if this is a new disease…the government can’t trick me…a dem set up this etc.” Encountering this conspiracy forced us to learn that the term “coronavirus” is not so new at all. In fact we are told that the common cold and the fairly renowned SARS and MERS outbreaks are all examples of “coronaviruses” i.e. it is more a catch all term for a type of infection. This COVID-19 changed names as often as Sean Combs as it went from Coronavirus to Novel Coronavirus to SARS-Cov 2 to the now vogue COVID 19. When the smoke clears, we will be better able to explain exactly what this COVID 19 is, how it managed to cripple the world and placed the global economy on the edge of the precipice. But what is certain, like this year 2020 AD, the annals of history will speak of it with great emphasis FOREVER. https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus#tab=tab_1

 

Those were the top 5 I could think of off the top of my head. Honourable mention goes out to:

• Herd Immunity
• Quarantine vs Isolation
• Imported Cases vs Local Transmission vs Community Spread
• Contact Tracing.

 

Share with us any other concepts this outbreak has added to our lexicon forever…

 

#StaySafe #TanAYuhYaad #QuedeEnCasa #WashYuhDuttyHan

 

PEACE.

 

Whither The Legacy of Barack Obama: The Four Obamas.

The date is December 10, 2014, I am up late watching the Late Night Show with David Letterman, up to the stage comes, my now favourite rapper, J. Cole and he is performing an improvised verse as an introduction to one of his songs on the now critically acclaimed 2014 Forest Hills Drive Album. The entire verse was a hard hitting social commentary on the state of affairs in America, particularly amidst the uproar following the controversial police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. It was powerful, but the part that stood out for me was his assessment of the Presidency of one Barack Hussein Obama aka number 44. His Obama report card read as follows:

“I’m so elated, we celebrated like Obama / waited until his last day in office / to tell the nation, brothers is getting their reparations, hey! / A man can dream, can he? / No disrespect, in terms of change / I haven’t seen any / Maybe he had good intentions / But was stifled by the system / and was sad to learn that he actually couldn’t bring any/ That’s what I get for thinking this world is fair, they let  a brother steer the ship and never told him that the ship was sinking…”

The sentiments in that performance echoed one of the many thoughts I too had about the impact of the Presidency of Barack Obama, which at its inception seemed (at least to some) to beckon a new day in America and perhaps the world, yet at the end or nearing it one can’t help feeling disappointment. Ever since that day and that performance I have been writing this blog post on the legacy of Obama on and off in my mind. A lot has happened since then and the nature of the mental essay has shifted back and forth many times, but seeing snippets of President Obama’s farewell speech and watching a video of him spending one of his last days in office serving a meal to his White House Staff alongside his family has reinforced how all over the place my feelings regarding his legacy are.

The mental essay on this day has stopped at a point where my mind sees many Obamas, in fact what I initially thought were three Obamas has now manifested as four in my mind:

• Candidate Obama
• Symbol Obama
• President Obama
• Barry O the person(a)

What will follow are my incoherent and summarized attempts at explaining what I mean by these Obamas and what each means for his legacy.

Candidate Obama

A politician is a politician is a politician and generally we don’t speak positively about politicians. In Jamaican vernacular – “dem a wicked” or so most people would like to believe. But something about this well-spoken young Senator representing Chicago seemed different not the least because when had what many considered a funny sounding name. Candidate Obama just seemed to resonate with everything that is positive and what one would want from a new breed of leadership. He was young and naïve enough to think differently from established norms even to a fault. He embraced young people and embraced them where they were through seemingly unprecedented use of social media. He created a message of hope for the future and the possibility of positive change all while sounding like the most engaging spokesman or dare I say preacher in the process. Put even simpler, Candidate Obama was a joy to see at work and to listen to. Also key to the appeal of Candidate Obama was the potential of him becoming a powerful symbol – the First Black President of the United States of America.

Symbol Obama

Election night November 4, 2008 is here, the ballots have been counted and the formerly unthinkable has indeed happened. Independent since 1776, the land of chattel slavery and Jim Crow elected a black man, a black man named Barack Hussein Obama to its highest office. A black family was to take residence in that big White House that was actually built by slaves. No wonder, that from Washington, to Kingston to the Motherland, black people all over the world were overcome with emotions. Along with the lifting of the US Embargo on Cuba or the granting of reparations as a result of the transatlantic slave trade, America having a black President is one of those things that “they” said would never happen in my lifetime. I am typing, but my words by no means can capture the genuine feeling of accomplishment, euphoria and pride many persons felt with the breaking of this impossible barrier.

But the pride and the symbolism did not end just with the victory for the past eight years, and especially in the wake of the nasty under belly of the 2016 election campaign, the luster of this lovely family residing in the White House, showcasing for the world to see that the impossible can be possible and all persons no matter who they are can aspire to be what they want to be. All while exuding class and elegance.

President Obama

Honeymoons don’t last forever though, and the luxury of being a hopeful candidate that is a monumental symbol had to give way to governance. Back to the J. Cole song. Many persons, particularly the African American community almost bestowed a messianic hope on the shoulders of Mr. Obama. Undoubtedly persons with such lofty expectations were bound to be disappointed as a man is just a man and even more a politician. Even more than that I have come to the conclusion that the Institution of the President of the United States is bigger than any one of its holders and like J. Cole I honestly feel Mr. Obama may have been constrained from being any revolutionary change agent by this reality.

So in his farewell speech he listed his achievements and they are clear, the ship was sinking in many respects not least the economy. Whatever measure may choose without getting into graphs and charts, under his watch the US emerged in a good position on the other side of the worst economic recession since the 1920s. In terms of domestic safety and security, the statistics suggest America is safer than it has ever been. “Obamacare” was passed and depending on who you ask that has been positive as well. For others “marriage equality” is also seen as a positive.

But serious shortcomings are there as well especially on the international front. The exponential use of unmanned drones as a war tool and the deaths of many innocents and non-innocents, the devastation of Syria and Libya are things that can be laid squarely at the feet of this administration. On the home front, whether his fault or not , it seems the killing or brutal treatment of persons of colour by members of law enforcement with almost impunity has skyrocketed, with many detractors feeling as though the president has lent his voice to other issues far more than the plight of primarily the black community.

On balance, as a non-citizen of the US that has to live in a world where the US is the major super power, I cannot in good conscience say I believe the Presidency of Barack Obama has significantly affected us in the developing world in  a positive manner. Many persons may see this as too kind an assessment as by many measures the world could be worse off.

Barry O the Person(a)

Unequivocally, I am not a fan of President Obama. Perhaps that is why, I have developed this Multiple Personality Disorder for him because I cannot shake the guilt of wishing I could hang out with him though. Barack Obama the person or at least the persona that we see publicly is so cool, so smooth on so many levels. He is seemingly down to earth, he is au fait with the latest Music, he is able to have meaningful conversation about the latest sporting event, he uses local slang when he travels and even more admirable he appears to not lord over the “small people” that he is “The Leader of the Free World.”

What is perhaps the cherry on top is the public relationship he has with his wife and children. The man never ever misses an opportunity to “big up” the love of his life and their children. He appears to be a serious family man that puts his family before even the stresses of Presidency.

As I said before, as a basketball fan and knowing his love for basketball as well, despite all my misgivings about Barack Obama I can’t shake the feeling that it would be an honour to play a game to 21 against Barry O and talk about life.

Legacy

A lot has been said above without being able to say all that was meant but ultimately in 8 days the White House will again revert to its more natural hue, though with a tinge of orange. Feels like the “Change We Can Believe In” days were just yesterday but alas time waits for no man and Mr. Obama’s fate is with the history writers now. I’m sure like Fidel Castro it is his hope that history will judge him fairly and positively. He has marks on both sides of the score card probably more on the failure side if I am totally honest. But his other manifestations, particularly Symbol Obama and Barry O the person(a) have left an indelible mark and I have no doubt in my mind that under the current political circumstances, even his harshest critics, myself guiltily included, will miss him and miss him sooner than we think… like within a week we will miss him BIGLY.

The part of this song quoted above can be seen at around the 2:35 mark. (No copyright infringement was intended and “Reasoning With The Cunning One” does not own or take responsibility for the content  of external links. – ALWAYS WANTED TO SAY THAT LOL)

2017 Kickoff: Bounty Killa 1 – Police and Jamaica 0

 

Happy New Year to one and all.

Normally at the beginning of the year I would be at pains to compile a year in review blog. The closest I will come to saying “New Year, New Me” is to deviate from that annual rite. I am starting the 2017 “reasoning” with the views of someone else. Not a 100% sure how the etiquette goes but this is the first guest blog featured on “Reasoning With The Cunning One.”

What follows are the Guinness Stout inspired words of one of my greatest friends Mr. Ricardo Perkins who explores, in brief, the tensions between the society at large and the police with dancehall music and the dancehall space. As the cliché would have it…the views expressed do not NECESSARILY represent the views of the management of “Reasoning.”

 

“I have always been a great fan of Bounty Killa; by no means does this translate to him being the perfect role model. However, one must acknowledge, the awesome talent he is and the many times that he has stood up for what is right: and by doing so have made most of us proud! There is no doubt that he loves dancehall music, and there’s absolutely no doubt that dancehall is important to the PEOPLE OF JAMAICA.

If you are from what we call a ‘garrison’, you know that ‘corna dances’ mean that peace is upon us. Persons can move more freely with a reduced fear of being caught in the right place at the wrong time. Maybe, this perspective has biased me and has forced me to think about the (maybe little good) in something that was laden with negatives. What am I talking about- one of the best performances I have ever seen! And it was FREE! On December 29 (3am) Bounty ignited the crowd at the weekly PepperSeed. After about a 20 mins wait to apparently call some police for the show to continue, the permission came and the Killa flourished- with some of what I think are his greatest music, those from the 90’s. The crowd was moving, the performer having fun, no worries as we all enjoyed ourselves. I am sure- Beenie man fans (in fact, I think he was in attendance), Kartel fans, Movado fans were present, but this night we were all attuned to the Killa. Then midway the flourishing, the bad news came- police are back and they want the music stop! Terrible idea. I mean really terrible idea.

Let me first be clear- I despise the noise abatement act and its particular quest to put a dent in dancehall, maybe, because it is too ghetto. But, I won’t get much into that because that is another debate. Back to the Killa- and the moment I applaud. He refused to stop performing…and yea, yea, he should respect the law, the police, blah blah blah… All this is true, but we should be willing to accept what he was saying, shouting angrily, crossly, miserably had many truths. Picking out a few; “offica a chrismuss, mek we hav some fun”; “offica, we nah do nutten wrong”, “offica, a tings like this why people nuh coordinate with unu”. All of this while continuing to perform as patron relish at the graceful distaste shown to not just the police that were present, but POLICE. In the midst of this ‘angry’ outburst aimed at the police qua killer of peaceful vibes lie some truths. The need for police to actually be attentive to situations, and be willing to adjust where the gain would be much more that the lost and missed opportunity.

I can only imagine the ‘forwards and pull-ups’ the gentle police officer would have gotten if he had come on stage and said something like “people listen up- the time pass and unu haffi leave, but guess what- a chrismuss and we affi be kind to one anotha. Turn to u bredrin and sistren beside u a sey merry christmuss and mek we work together to change the new year. We all in this thing together. So u see tru a christmuss, unu hol da 25 mins ya- Killa u see you, the poor people governa, dem ppl ya listen to you. So me waa u tell dem fi stop wid the bag a foolishness and stop kill the ppl dem. U know waa me know unu a video- tek the supe numba- don’t start type enu, we know unu nuh waa ppl think unu a informa, so just record the video and when nuh baddy nah look ( but show u pikney dem) write it down and call me when unu know anything- see it ya, Bounty a me witness, me nah go call nuh name when unu shout me. Gwaun tru Bounty and mash up the place. But memba 25 mins. We agree to that?

Can you imagine what would have been the reaction of the crowd and the possible gains in the right direction for the police if it had gone this way instead of Bounty force performing, resenting the police, while speaking out against the many bad things going on, including the recent rise (or at least reported) crime against females? Imagine that video going viral, many getting the number of this Superintendent- it might not be a lot, but it would be a step in the right direction. Of course, there would have been icing on the cake if the police buss two lyrics.

This incident should call us to reflect on what we can do moving forward, it is clear that we need innovative ways fighting crime. And if we are serious, we must be willing to give people more opportunities to have the feeling that we are in this together. Maybe allowing a peaceful dance attended by ‘big people’ is a step in that direction. The fact is, we are really in this together. But I guess- the question is, of how much more importance is stopping a little noise in areas where little-to-no-persons are gravely affected match up to an actual desire to fight crime.

Big up the Killa, the people that stuck it out, the police for doing what is their current job, the soup man, the jerk man, the man dem whey a park, all hustlers.  Peaceful New Year! ”

 

 

Ricardo Perkins is a Graduate of Kingston College and the University of the West Indies. He is also a Jesuit and is currently studying Philosophy and Applied Ethics at Loyola University. He also states his claim to fame as dominating “The Cunning One” on the basketball court.

Election 2016 in the USA: Real Life Stranger Than Fiction

2016 will go down in the annals of history as one of the most interesting and eventful years in world history. Apart from Brexit, in terms of world politics no event has been more popcorn inspiring than the quest for the Presidency of the United States of America. A lot can be said and my mind is all over the place on this. Below is a collection of some of my main thoughts on this election cycle thus far. They are not in any particular order and in fact might even be incoherent. Consider them my random morning ramblings today as the constant social media debates about the pros and cons of this election have sufficiently provoked/annoyed me that I needed to exhale in a literary way.

TRUMP  TRUMP TRUMP – words fail me beyond saying real life has become stranger than fiction. It is the understatement of all time to say I truly am mind boggled that he has reached this point. I will also waste little time making the anti-trump argument as his very existence and state of being makes the argument. The epitome of the greater of two evils (or is he?).

MAYBE TRUMP ISN’T SO SURPRISING – the more I watch this election and listen to commentary on parallels in the world, trump isn’t so surprising. Well the Donald himself yes, but the idea that a total outsider from the political status quo could rise to prominence with seemingly silly, unworkable views is not new and despots of both the left and right variety have risen to prominence on the back of a political and economic system that is almost fully set on satisfying the desire of the absolutely rich and absolutely powerful to the detriment of the masses. What America may need to fear is that next election cycle a more skillful politician that is more disciplined, and dare I say more sensible, than the Donald is able to better ride this wave of discontent. Or maybe they shouldn’t fear, they could get an even better version of Bernie Sanders.

TRUMP ISN’T SURPRISING PART 2 – also why the rise of Trump isn’t surprising is that it has been trending this way for years with the Tea Party pulling the entire US political space to the Right. And this “Rightness” is rooted in white racist nationalism that is still very much rooted in America despite those who would have us believe that 8 years of a black president has magically cured the world of all racism.

DANGER OF PERSONALITY POLITICS – The level of discourse in this election campaign for the supposed greatest nation in the world is saddening at worst and laughable at best. Who grabbing what, whose hidden emails have been found on the computer of a political perv, the great Hollywood script writers couldn’t make this up. The discussions have been largely devoid of any substance, rather we are being sold two personal brands, powerful billionaire vs powerful woman – bigoted man vs flawed but qualified woman. Issues and policy have been sacrificed at the altar of who we like more and that may be a dangerous way to select our leaders anywhere in the world. But for a set of people who like to look at the rest of us and throw out phrases like “Third World Banana Republics” on a regular, this election cycle should be downright embarrassing.

“FALSE EQUIVALENCE” IS SICKENING – if you watch CNN in particular and listen to the so called “balance” it has by having two to three Trump apologists on every panel and listen to them ignore reality and logic and make the worst analogies and comparisons ever you would know exactly what I am talking about.

HILLARY HYPOCRISY – for me this is the notion of somehow because of several things, the most used card is gender, that Hillary Clinton is getting a raw deal (in the largely left leaning media no less) and no matter what she does she is treated as “guiltier” that trump. Rubbish, if this is so why is she being predicted in most corners to win by a landslide? We get a steady diet of “the emails are nothing so why is this hurting her…because she is a woman.” I find that disingenuous, it is hurting her because of a confluence of history and herself and her husband never ever being too far from controversy and shadiness. Think Clinton Foundation, think conflict of interest. These are not nothing issues and even if they can be explained or nuanced, being asked about them is fair game and not some media attack because she is specially disliked for being a she in my book. It is dangerous and a disservice to those who do suffer gender based discrimination to use this particular point to make her the poster child. A lot of other issues with her better fit that bill but not legitimate questions about (perceived) shadiness and impropriety.

Also the election has been tilted into the gutter not only by the moronic Trump, but by the Hillary campaign wanting it to stay there as their surest way to victory. If character assassination (or assisted suicide) is your number one tactic, how can you cry if a couple shots are volleyed your way and if you bring us in the gutter and occasionally the sewage spills on you, is it really fair to complain and be the victim?

THE NEED FOR PEOPLE TO TAKE THIRD PARTIES SERIOUSLY – this cycle rankles one of my many political pet peeves. We as people all over the world cry and complain over the status quo especially in political systems that have come to be dominated, if not defined, by two opposing political parties. Yet no matter how disillusioned we become with these two parties we are caught in the trap of “vote vote vote” and its evil cousin “you have to vote for one of the main parties because third parties can’t win.” Well what is the chicken and what is the egg? I put it to you that third parties have the potential to breathe new life into US politics and politics worldwide by changing the narrative, even if they don’t win. And either way they will never be able to win until people start taking them seriously. Regarding changing the narrative, the US right now gives a perfect example. Both the major political parties have by and large coalesced around the centre-right portion of politics. Neoliberalism and Neorealism are essentially one and the same and in an oversimplified way all they focus on is free trade and war. Can any real Progressive say that the Democratic Party is a party now acting upon Progressive views beyond tokenism with race, gender and sexual orientation? The party is largely Republican and the Republicans have shifted even further right. A different set of people with different perspectives that are backed by enough people would force traditional parties to actually focus on the things that matter to the masses. A lot more can be said but I feel if I were American I would be voting for the Green Party.

2016, Brexit has just taken an interesting turn this week and we are 4 days away from the Grabber vs Email election– Oh what a time to be alive.

PS – the videos below explore the issues of “false equvalence” and “third parties” respectively.

 

Of Law and Church: The Saga of the Reverend Transporter

On September 15, 2016 one of Jamaica’s most well-known clergymen Rev. Merrick “Al” Miller was sentenced to a fine of J$1,000,000.00 or a term of 12 months in prison following his conviction for “Perverting the course of justice.” This conviction has come about due to his now infamous role in the drama that ended in the ultimate arrest of Jamaica’s most wanted fugitive Mr. Christopher “dudus” Coke following the events of great upheaval in May 2010.

I have very strong feelings about this case in terms of the ethics of what Rev. Miller was doing on the day in question and the larger society is torn on this matter. There are some saying “no-one is above the law” and wished to see a greater punishment. Conversely, there are those who see Rev. Miller as a sacrificial lamb, who was giving a heroic and helping hand to the State in a perilous time who has been thrown to the wolves by those he indeed sought to assist. Ultimately, the final arbiter of legal right or wrong in the land has found the pastor guilty of an offence.

Rather than further delving into the merits of this conviction or the “rightness” of Rev. Miller’s actions, I actually want to tread on what might be more controversial territory and that is the interplay between ones moral/religious beliefs of right or wrong and the law. My conclusion is that the reaction of Rev. Miller to his fate, though seemingly begrudgingly on his part, is instructive in how I think this relationship between religion, in this case Christianity, and the law should be treated.

Rev. Miller has said and implied several things that I do not agree with but where we are at one is his explanation for why he will not appeal the decision of the Courts in this matter. He essentially stated that though he does not agree with the decision, as a Christian principle , doing what we feel is “right” can run counter to the law and/or have grave negative consequences. If we feel our action to be right then we are to do right no matter what the consequences are. Therefore rather than wishing for the legal consequences to be eased because of our Christianity, we should face them head on accepting that it is honourable to suffer for doing right if we truly feel we are right.

To be abundantly clear, I am on no way endorsing the choices of Rev. Miller in his episode with Mr. Coke, in fact based on the information I have encountered about the incident, his actions at best leave me uncomfortable. I am however saying that for persons who ascribe to the Christian faith or any moral compass really, doing what we feel is right can come with harsh repercussions. Too often especially Christians want everything in the world to operate based on their/our principles and all structures in the world should bend to the views of the Church.

I struggle to see a biblical basis for this self-entitlement syndrome but I stand to be corrected. The Bible, from my understanding, intimates that the Christian standard and the “world” or legal standard can and often will be at odds. If ascribing to the former leads to trouble with the latter sometimes we might just have to “hug it up.”

Don’t confuse me to be saying unjust laws should not be challenged. My larger point is that the role of the Christian is not to try and legislate morals and feel so special that the law will always be in alignment with one particular moral code. When we start to think that way we become lazy and want the law to do our job for us.

National servant or egregious wrongdoer? That is in the eye of the beholder. But for certain no-one is above the law. Though probably half halfheartedly, I am impressed by the Good Reverend’s “submission” to the law of the land. His alleged choice of “chariot” to leave his sentencing hearing…not so much.

Selah!

Burkinis in the land of Liberté, égalité, fraternité

“…the burkini ban is intended to liberate women from Islamist ideas.”

“Beachwear which ostentatiously displays religious affiliation, when France and places of worship are currently the target of terrorist attacks, is liable to create risks of disrupting public order…”

The two quotes above make me really really angry. They represent what can only be described as the hypocrisy and underlying racial/ethnic and religious bigotry that has come up Trumps over the past couple years, particularly since the so called war on terror and which has intensified with the rise of the so called Islamic State. And although we attribute a lot of this hateful aura globally on the New York billionaire, ironically, the land of Liberté, égalité, fraternité (liberty, equality, fraternity) has become (or for some continues to be) almost the headquarters for subtle and not so subtle discrimination

But let us pick them apart one by one.

I honestly think the first quote moves beyond the realm of irony and comes down to just plain stupidity. But not really stupidity at all but an underlying “us versus them” “we are good anything else is less.” Think about what it is really saying. We believe that every woman wearing this article of clothing (full body swimsuit and tunic) has been forced to wear it by an evil and wicked ideology that has committed the cardinal sin – taking away their right to choice. So what do we do to fix that problem…TAKE AWAY THEIR CHOICE!!! So either the anti burkini squad are clearly stupid and can’t reason logically or their minds and decision making are clouded by hidden or not so hidden bigotry and discrimination.

Then comes the second. It has a thin veil of believability. This current climate of Islamist attacks in France really makes it plausible that religious symbols might stir up trouble. The problem though is that the application of this principle is quite direct, obvious and skewed. Put simply, I’m sure a nun wearing a full Habit on the beach on the French Riviera would not attract the attention of the police. Also I’m sure no crosses, rosaries or yarmulkes are going to be confiscated and their wearers pressured. So again I ask is this legitimate security concern or is it plain bold face discrimination.

 

Liberté, égalité, fraternité – Fact or Fiction?

 

See articles below for more on this topic:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/24/french-police-make-woman-remove-burkini-on-nice-beach

The Winner in France’s Burkini Ban? Its Inventor.

 

 

Black Lives Matter Movement is racist? Give me a break.

 

Unless you’ve been living under a rock you know that the United States of America has been thrust back into the spotlight with two very high profiled police shootings of Black men – Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Philando Castile in St. Paul, Minnesota. These acts have personally hurt me greatly but I have been trying very hard to not make any grand comment on this new wave of outrage. Today that came to an abrupt end as one letter to the editor in today’s edition of the Jamaica Observer “draw mi out” in the Jamaican vernacular.

The letter went down the increasingly popular road that the now popular Black Lives Matter movement is not only racist but akin to the Ku Klux Klan. that is where my restraint ended. Below is a version of a letter to the editor I immediately drafted in response.

I must confess a lot more could be said and I know I could have structured the response much better but as the words of the original letter (link below) really upset me I cannot say that my mind was operating at full capacity.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/letters/Black-Lives-Matter-movement-is-racist-_66851

Here goes…

Dear Editor,

I usually read the letters in your publication and nod in agreement or shake my head in disagreement and move on but today is not that day. One regular letter writer, like many tend to do, has transgressed by way of distorting facts and oversimplification. Put simply the letter of July 12, 2016 entitled “Black Lives Matter is Racist!” was just short of a joke. To say that the Black Lives Matter Movement (BLM) is racist is clearly a misunderstanding of history as well as the reasons it emerged and how the group operates.

If I recall correctly the group emerged formally out of a twitter hashtag campaign which engendered so much support after a series of high profile and dare I say unjustified killings of young black men none more so glaring than the snuffing out of the lives of Trayvon Martin in Florida and Mike Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. These were the latest in a long history of state excess against Black Americans in the great ‘Merica which continues almost unabated. As a response to these atrocities mainly young black people took the stance that enough is enough.

Now the letter writer has decided that this group is racist on two main accounts:

1)      It is not up in arms about the recent killing of five police officers in Dallas Texas and

2)      It should be using “All Lives Matter.”

Honestly not even sure which of the two claims is more ridiculous. Firstly, let’s take an analogy – would you gatecrash a funeral and tell those grieving that “I too have felt loss.” Or if there is a breast cancer rally going one would you interrupt it under the banner of “but people have AIDS too”? No you wouldn’t. There are multiple issues that exist simultaneously and the fact that persons are seeking to speak out on matters that are of existential importance to them does not make them racist. Never mind that all official BLM operatives I am aware of have cried foul on the murder of the Dallas police officers, that is a fact that is inconvenient to simplistic arguments. The kind of simplistic arguments that do not countenance that we can both denounce the senseless killing of these officers and demand justice and critique law enforcement when they stray into the realm of excess.

This is the thing, in the history of the world only black people are asked to tone down or apologise for not accepting atrocities meted out to them. All lives matter as a mantra spits in the face of the fact that the history of the USA in particular shows that the lives of Black people have mattered very little. And a news flash for the “All Lives Matter” crowd no-one saying Black Lives Matter has ever said ONLY Black lives matter or white lives should matter less, it is a simple cry for Black lives to matter equally recognizing that until they do then it is impossible to say ALL Lives Matter.

The objective facts are there, hundreds of people of colour, particularly black people have died at the hands of the state with impunity. At the same time several very dangerous white offenders have been in standoffs with the police that have been skillfully de-escalated so that they can rightly be arrested and ALIVE. All lives matter? As an ideal that is like saying the sky is blue, but it is unfortunately not the reality at this time.

Any person who cannot see this is willfully ignorant of history and facts.

Even worse the writer goes on to compare the KKK and BLM saying black groups “promoting the interests of black people” are no different from those “promoting the interests of white people.” Anyone who wishes to explicitly or implicitly define the KKK as a group “promoting the interests of white people” and at the same time equating Black Lives Matter, and by subtle implication, the long list of past Black Civil Rights organizations cannot and should not be taken seriously on this matter.  Like honestly, lynching people and burning crosses on their front lawns were all a part of protecting the “interests of white people.” Gimme a break.

I am tired of seeing black people forced to apologise for asking, and when fed up, demanding to be treated as human beings. If that is the new definition for racist sign me up and ship me my Black Lives Matter T-shirt.

Selah.

Of Shootings and Flags

The horrendous acts that transpired in a principally Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender (LGBT) Night Club in Orlando Florida and the raising of the Rainbow Flag at the US Embassy in Kingston plus the “interesting” response of Jamaica’s Attorney General have all combined to reignite the never ending “debate” on the morality, acceptability and rights afforded to the LGBT community in Jamaica.

Rather than some expansive prose, below is a list of my  main sentiments on the LGBT discourse in Jamaica in general and the above-mentioned incidents in particular.

1. I am a Christian. My views on the morality of homosexuality are largely influenced by that. So if I am honest with myself I am not 100% comfortable with it.
2. Christianity or no, the notions of Universal Human Rights are also a part of my personal morals.
3. The right to life, the right to freedom of conscience (which enables free speech/free expression freedom of and from religion), and the right to freedom from discrimination based on being the member of some target group are all things that I value.
4. With the above in mind especially freedom of conscience, privacy and non-discrimination I do not believe it is my place to impose my chosen way of life and perspective on another free adult.
5. No matter how queasy certain things make me feel personally, what consenting adults do in their life, that is not significantly affecting me or the rights of others is their business.
6. Tolerance is the standard that both sides of this divide should be striving towards. But tolerance can have a negative connotation so probably we can shift the standard to “mutual respect for difference.”
7. Persons with strong moral objections to homosexuality and those who are far more liberal perhaps will never ever truly agree.
8. However, those who object, should accept that moral objection does not have to be twinned with hate and discrimination and those who are more liberal should accept that not every moral objection is one of hate or means that the homophobia label must be attached.
9. However, objectors especially self-professed Christians/religious people definitely need to realise, that the nature of their objection, particularly the inconsistency in the amount of effort spent on this sin versus others, helps to sow the seeds of hate and intolerance in a space where constructive conversation from a position of respectful disagreement may be more useful. It is this hate and aggression that when unchecked or continuously stoked that can lead to heinous hate crimes
10. With respect to the night club in particular, if in any way you rejoiced in what has happened then you may need to look into your humanity. No matter what you feel about a man, that man has blood running through his veins. A life is a life and we should mourn any loss of life. Suggesting that this was somehow God inspired retribution would logically imply t hat the poor little children who died in Sandy Hook a couple years back were also somehow being punished. Careful with that line of thinking.
11. I understand the persons who say but why is international outrage always more, when the lives lost are from “The West” I really do and I agree wholeheartedly. Evil acts occur daily but popular sentiment is skewed towards the west and/or groups with a strong international voice. But still a life is a life. So don’t position this as an either/or choice. And what irks me is that the same crowd that is quick to say “so what about what happened in X” often have nothing to say on these issues until something else happens and they bring it up as the reason they are not going to participate in the newer outcry. Let us, mourn and where possible do what we can to prevent tragedies no matter where they are. Also understanding the biases of the global media, don’t assume everybody knows of every tragedy that you do. Spread the word, help others understand issues that you understand better or know of before them. People who are willingly ignorant on the other hand…light them up for sure.
12. With respect to the flag at the embassy, again, personally not my favourite thing, but my personal view shouldn’t and legally cannot stop others from utilizing their fundamental right of free expression, also as pseudo sovereign space of the US Government the larger message I feel was support for one set of citizens that were collectively mourning. I can’t see the big fuss with that in and of itself.
13. I do however also think that a subtle or even not so subtle chess move/power play was also opportunistically taken by the embassy to remind us of their advocacy for a shift in popular opinion on the matter at hand. This utilization of soft hegemonic aka gently flexing that “world boss” power in this case is more offensive and noteworthy to me than what the flag itself represents.
14. Late night tweets are not always the wisest decisions.
15. Finally, pretty sure that the fire and brimstone and liberal coalitions will both take issue with aspects of this, but on this day I feel comfortable in where I stand. Just hope if you disagree we can do so respectfully and have a reasoned discussion if not…Oh well!

 

Peace/Salaam/Shalom