“Nationhood is
the only means by which modern civilization can completely protect itself.
Independence of nationality, independence of government, is the means of
protecting not only the individual, but the group. Nationhood is the highest
ideal of all peoples”
The Philosophy
and Opinions of Marcus Garvey, Or, Africa for Africans. Compiled by Amy Jacques Garvey.
Dover: Majority Press, 1986.
These
words of Marcus Mosiah Garvey are still true, and it is no wonder that Garvey
is Jamaica’s first national hero. Marcus Mosiah Garvey was a man of
determination, and he believed in the principle of success. As Garvey said
in a speech in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1937, “At my age I have learnt no
better lesson than that which I am going to impart to you to make man what he
ought to be—a success in life. There are two classes on men in the world, those
who succeed and those who do not succeed” (Marcus Garvey: Life and
Lessons, xxv). So, on this day of the celebration of
our nationhood, what does Garvey’s life mean to Jamaica in the face of beheadings,political corruption,
and a seeming loss of faith that
we may be heading toward being defined as a“failed state”?
No doubt,
many Jamaicans will be going to church tomorrow and they will listen to various
speeches about this and that, platitudes that balm a cancer. Commentators will
have answers to every question under our beautiful sun. But the real questions
that we should be asking ourselves are ones that I pose to the characters in my
fictions: Who are you? What do you want? How will you get what you want?
I never
begin a first draft until these questions are answered, Then, I make a rough
outline of the plot with an inciting incident, lock-in, first culmination,
main culmination, and what I think will be the third act twist, where the hero
makes a discovery–which surprises the audience and the hero–or
something/someone reminds the hero of who she really is. Whether she has the
courage to act on what she knows, means that that I will be writing (in the
broadest sense of the terms) a tragedy (she fails to achieve her goal) or a
comedy (she achieves her goal). Once I know these elements, I begin
writing. I never begin writing before I know how the story will end.
As far as
the short [her]story of Jamaica goes, we’ve been through the inciting incidents
of resistance, lock-in of Independence, first culmination in the exodus of the
70s, and main culmination in the recognition of the Diaspora. I don’t know what
the third act twist will be. If our story will be a tragedy.
But we do
have the wisdom from our heroes and a wealth of courage in our people But how
will we answer the question: Who are you?
When the
“right time comes,”–which is always now– I hope as Brother Bob says, “when the
preaching and talking is done, ” we will “live up/ Cause the Father’s time has
come” (“Survival’).
Surprise
me, Jamaica
Garvey, Amy
Jacques. The Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey, Or, Africa for
Africans. Dover: Majority Press, 1986.
