News

Mrs Beverley Anderson Manley Political Scientist and Gender Specialist encourages NYS Graduates to conduct a self examination and to motivate themselves to achieve their full potential despite their circumstances

I want to begin my contribution to this celebration by reminding ourselves of who we are- spiritually and physically. Spirtually many of us know and believe that at some level we are as the Bible teaches us – CHILDREN OF GOD. And if this is what we believe, then we can create miracles when we put God first. Then – who are we human beings. In Jamaica , the majority of our people have descended from our African Ancestors who were forcibly brought to this new World as SLAVES. It is important to know and have insights into our history – not to DWELL in what happened centuries ago but, most importantly to so understand that history that we can use the struggles of our ancestors to make our present lives more fulfilling. History – therefore can be used as a tool for personal and societal development.

In acknowledging who we are through the process that gave birth to us – we recognise too – that we have come from somewhere – some place. It was an ancient Indian Leader who once said that as a people we no longer drink from the waters of the rivers of life. Our cups have been broken but when we know who we are – we can heal and refashion those cups so that once again, we command those waters of the rivers of our lives.

So we begin by focussing on the lives and history of our ancestors – those women and men who struggled and made it possible for us to gather in this way today – at one of Jamaica 's finest hotels. We focus too on their sense of Being – who they had to become to survive – the work they did – as women, as men, as children. How they came in the first place – the slave route – the slave ships – the prisons they stayed in before boarding the ships – the sacrifices they made, including that of the lives of their children – those who ran away – those who were caught and beaten -those who got away – those who were manumitted – those women who were raped and raped and raped again and again and most of all what they did to our minds – the enslavement of our minds so we could believe and continue to believe that we are inferior.

We focus too on the relationships they forged - in spite slavery – the children they reared in spite of slavery – the skills they learned, in spite of slavery – the strength and courage they developed in spite of slavery - their willingness to see freedom as a possibility, in spite of slavery! Their ongoing faith in spite of slavery!

Our ancestors had to cut through their circumstances and the harsh conditions around them in order to survive. Join me in acknowledging them; in giving them the respect they deserve. Join me in saying that your generation commits to taking this struggle even one step further on the path to freedom and justice no matter the circumstances.

Therefore, look back is critical to being in the present and making choices for an extraordinary future. That mental re-crossing of the middle passage where so much was lost as our ancestors were packed like sardines to make that sometimes fatal journey across hazardous and frightening seas. And so Marcus Garvey told us of the necessity to emancipate ourselves from mental slavery because none but ourselves can free our minds. Many young people know of this injunction through the music of Bob Marley and others.

A famous person once reminded us that as human beings, we often blame our circumstances for who we are – who we feel we have to become in order to deal with those circumstances. By circumstances, we mean things like, being in poverty; living in a single-headed household; living in violence prone communities – whatever these circumstances might be. The Writers then continue to note that he does not allow circumstances to run his life and here is the most critical point –

THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE IT IN THIS WORLD ARE THE PEOPLE WHO GET UP AND LOOK FOR THE CIRCUMSTANCES THAT MAKE SENSE TO THEM AND IF THEY DON'T FIND THEM - THEY CREATE THEM.

But how do we create circumstances that make sense to us – the kind of circumstances that allow us to live fulfilling lives, not matter what the conditions look like – and we know that often the conditions look bleak, look sad. We begin by doing what we did this evening. We begin with a knowing of who our ancestors are and therefore who we are. We have come from a proud tradition of struggle and non-acceptance of the status quo.

But what is required of us now. That was then. This is now.

Next we check on what is in our ancestral memory –what is in our minds. In recent times, experts who deal with the MIND recognising more and more as we think, so we are. As we think, so we are. So we need to track what we think on a daily basis. What are the dominant thoughts or the dominant thought process within our minds. What is the baggage we carry in our minds. What was our early socialization like that leaves us believing some things and discarding others and how - what is in our minds determine or even dictate our actions and the results we get.

Let us spend a few moments looking within our minds to see some of the things that have been placed there because of our History so that by the end of this evening – we are invest in creating something different in our mind space – something that is empowering for every woman and man in this audience. Something that can take us to the next step.

In his book “Success Runs in Our Race” – George C. Fraser reminds of the extent of the mental slavery that took place. In this section of his book titled The Enemy Within he says that while we understand the racial and societal forces at work on us from the outside, a significant portion of our problem lies within. He then quotes from a speech by Willie Lynch, a British slave owner in the West Indies , probably of Jamaican heritage , who used mind-control techniques on his black slaves and then advocated the use of those manipulative techniques to other slave owners.

He was invited to the colony of Virginia in 1712 – just under three hundred years ago - to teach his methods to slave owners there, and his words are now history. Just to mention some of them – and as you listen – begin to feel the power of words – the power of the mind and how you can turn this around for your own empowerment. Listen as if the quality of your life depends on it – because it does:

He said: I have a fool proof method for controlling black slaves. I guarantee everyone of you that if installed correctly, it will control the slaves for at least 300 years . My methods are simple, and members of your family and any Overseer can use it. EVEN IN WILLIE LYNCH'S MIND THIS METHOD HAD A TIME LIMIT OF 300O YEARS – JUST ABOUT WHERE WE ARE NOW – SO PERHAPS THE TIME HAS COME FOR US TO SHIFT THIS PERCEPTION OF OURSELVES.

He continued: I have outlined a number of difference(s) among the slaves; and I take these differences and make them bigger. I use FEAR, DISTRUST, and ENVY for control purposes. These methods have worked on any modest plantation in the West Indies and they will work throughout the South. (Here, he discusses the differences across age, colour/shade, intelligence, size, sex, size of plantation, status of plantation, attitude of owner, whether the slaves live in the valley, on a hill, East, West, North, or South, have a fine or coarse hair, or is tall or short)

Now that you have a list of differences, I shall give you an outline of action but before that, I shall assure you that DISTRUST is stronger then TRUST and ENVY is stronger than ADULATION, RESPECT AND ADMIRATION.

Don't forget you must pitch the old black versus the young black and the young black male against the old black male, You must use the dark skin slave vs. the light skin slaves and the light skin slaves vs. the dark skin slaves. You must also have your white servants and overseers distrust all blacks, but it is necessary that you slaves trust and depend on us. They must love, respect and trust only us.

Gentlemen, these Kits are keys to control, use them. Have your wives and children use them, never miss an opportunity, my plan is guaranteed and the good thing about this plan is that if used intensely for one year the slaves themselves will remain perpetually distrustful.

There are so many things I could say about this quotation. The first question we have to consider is the extent to which this is history or the present and the future. And in reflecting on that, let us agree that a great deal of those divisions, that separateness in our society across gender, social class and race is very much present with us today – nearly three hundred years later. That fear, distrust, envy, those divisions still remain among the descendants of black slaves today. Our fear of doing things together as a group even when it makes us stronger. Our distrust of others. Our belief that somebody has our stuff and it is our right to get it from them, no matter what the method. The high levels of inter-personal conflict often leading to domestic violence – all those things that keep us in a state of poverty – including the worst poverty of all – the poverty in our minds. Pehaps the most urgent task we face in Jamaica today is the courage to change our mindset so that we can live in a peaceful, harmonious and wealthy society. If we don't do something drastic to stop this now, these circumstances we now have will continue into generations yet unborn. The good news is that inside this room tonight, we can commit to changing this mindset which has not worked in the best interest of our people and in particular in the lives of our young people.

Who wants to continue to live in a country where so many of young people, particularly our young men are dying violent deaths. The Herald Newspaper on Sunday reminded us of the following (STEPHANIE – PLEASE PLACE STATISTICS HERE).

I ask you to join me in being sick and tired of the way we treat our children; being sick and tired of our young men being victims and perpetrators of crime; being sick and tired of our women of all ages being raped; being sick and tired of tribal politics; being sick and tired of high levels of illiteracy – and I could go on and on – join me in being sick and tired of being sick and tired as the anti-Slave African American Woman Fannie Lou Hamer said so many years ago. And let us allow that fatigue – that tiredness – to open up a new vision for all of us – to create the circumstances that make sense for a peaceful, orderly, harmonious and wealthy Jamaica .

In terms of race, in Jamaica the divide is still very much between the shades of people (as outlined in the earlier quotation by Willie Lynch) and there is a high co-relation between race and class. The pyramid is well known – the black masses still at the bottom, the browns in the middle and the small group of whites and high browns at the top. I grew up knowing there are two Jamaicas . I wish it were that simple. What I do know is that the Independence motto “out of many, one people” is still very much an idea. This is so whether we apply the motto to social class, race or gender.

As the 1995 UN Human Development report notes – Moving towards gender equality is not a technocratic goal – it is a political process. It requires a new way of thinking – in which the stereotyping of women and men gives way to a new philosophy that regards all people, irrespective of gender as essential agents of change. This belief system could result in the kind of respect for each other – so that domestic violence withers away.

What we need is a new way of thinking about women and men and how they relate to each other – about young people and their parents and how they relate to each oter – about employers and employees and how they relate to each other – about uptown and downtown and how they relate to each other.

Carter G.Woodson, the father of Black History Month - observed every February in the United States - told us in the 1920' s over eighty (80) years ago that:

If you control a person's thinking, you do not have to worry about their action. When you determine what a person shall think you do not have to concern yourself about what they will do. If you make a person feel that he is inferior, you do not have to compel them to accept an inferior status, for they will seek it themself. If you make a person think that they are justly an outcast, you do not have to order them to the back door. They will go without being told; and if there is no back door, their very nature will demand one.

What we need, I repeat, is a new way of thinking about ourselves as descendants of slaves; a new way of thinking about ourselves as women and as men; a new way of seeing the world and our circumstances. – a new way of thinking about development; a new way of thinking about our organisations and our institutions. What we need is a new paradigm. We need a paradigm shift.

The World Bank itself reminds us in its analysis of The State In A Changing World (1997) that what is needed is a fundamental re-thinking of the roles of institutions and the interactions between citizens and government. We need to create a space so that our young people can participate in discussions to do with their own development and this development must be about enlarging peoples lives – as the Prime Minister puts it – balancing peoples lives.

All of this, ofcourse demands extraordinary leadership . And as we change our minds about how we see ourselves – so, too, will we get the leadership that this new mindset requires. Followers, to a large extent determine who the leaders are.

Robert K.Cooper, Chair of Advanced Excellence Systems, a leadership consulting firm and author of Executive Eq. Reminds us that:

Human greatness cannot be bought or controlled. It can only be INVITED. By example and through genuine inspiration and compelling influence, exceptional leaders help ordinary people accomplish extraordinary results….if we operate with old mindsets, assuming that the old “facts” about human motivation and work relationships are still correct, then we are wasting large amounts of energy, time and money – and falling far short of the results we could achieve”

The good news is that the capacity and resolve are both present, if latent. What is needed is extraordinary leadership at all levels. I mean leadership that is courageous. Leadership that will “cut to the chase”. Leadership that is willing to take people to places they have never been before – because they, themselves, are willing to submit to a type of transformation that makes this possible.

Mahatma Gandhi reminded us decades ago that if we want change, we must be willing to BE the change . Leadership by example. Leadership that understands the nature and importance of community; of keeping their word; leadership that has integrity; leadership that facilitates transparency and accountability – extra-ordinary leadership. Leadership intent on deepening democracy, genuine participation and increasing recognition of the critical role of civil society. Nothing less will do.

Leadership with vision:

Vision is the best manifestation of the creative imagination and the primary motivation of human action. It is the ability to see beyond our present reality, to create, to invent what does not yet exist, to become what we not yet are. It gives us the capacity to live out of our imagination instead of our memory.

These are just some of the fundamental elements of extraordinary leadership at all levels. Yes – it is true that in some areas our Jamaican landscape is muddy but it is equally true that there is a magic to Jamaica – not just the landscape but the people – resilient, strong with an extraordinary capacity to struggle and survive. Entrepreneurship is alive and well. Support from our relatives overseas (particularly in this country) continues to pour in. We are still Paradise , even if it appears that some of it is lost!

Final Page

In my closing remarks, I ask that you think of this vision not only in terms of those who are here now but for generations yet unborn.

Are you willing to BE THE CHANGE? Are you willing to clear the old cobwebs out of your mind? Are you willing to begin to change your mindset so that you can play your role as young people wherever you are – no matter what your circumstances.

Dream BIG – have HUGE VISIONS - FIND A ROLE MODEL – DEVELOP COMITMENT – KEEP YOUR WORD – DEAMND THE HIGHEST STANDARDS OF SERVICE FROM THOSE WHO SERVE US – BE RESPECTFUL TO THE ANCESTORS – AND IN ALL OF THIS – BEGIN TO CREATE THE CIRCUMSTANCES THAT TAKE US OUT OF POVERTY AND INTO WEALTH – OUT OF MISERY AND INTO HARMONY. COMMIT T A REWARDING AND FULFILLING LIFE – NO MATTER WHAT AND WATCH AS YOU CREATE MIRACLES IN YOUR OWN LIVES. WE ARE AFTER ALL – MADE IN THE IMAGE AND AFTER THE LIKENESS OF GOD – IF ONLY WE CAN BELIEVE IT!