Avelo adding flights to Cancún, Jamaica, from Bradley International Airport - MSN

... Cancún, Mexico, and Montego Bay, Jamaica, next week, according to an announcement Wednesday from the company. It's […]

source http://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/avelo-adding-flights-to-canc%C3%BAn-jamaica-from-bradley-international-airport/ar-AA1tDe8v?apiversion=v2&noservercache=1&domshim=1&renderwebcomponents=1&wcseo=1&batchservertelemetry=1&noservertelemetry=1

Caribbean Photo of the Week: Above the Palms in Montego Bay, Jamaica

The latest Caribbean Photo comes from Caribbean Journal reader Gregory Williams, who sent in this lovely shot in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

source https://www.caribjournal.com/2024/03/23/montego-bay-jamaica-caribbean-photo-palms/

Delta Is Relaunching Nonstop Flights From New York to Kingston, Jamaica

Frontier Airlines' New Nonstop Montego Bay Flights · all-inclusive jamaica. The American Midwest is increasingly becoming an important source market ...

source https://www.caribjournal.com/2024/01/11/jamaica-delta-nonstop-flights-new-york-kingston/

Colombia, Jamaica, Panama Unite Against Urban Plastic Pollution | Mirage News

The four-year project will bring Barranquilla and Cartagena in Colombia, Kingston and Montego Bay in Jamaica and Panam City and Coln in Panam, ...

source https://www.miragenews.com/colombia-jamaica-panama-unite-against-urban-1066041/

Get Fit with Britt-Nick Hosts 12th Annual Women's Trinity Retreat, “Glow Up” In Montego Bay, Jamaica

... hosted their 12th annual retreat, “Glow Up” in Montego Bay, Jamaica. ... the lush culture filling the streets of Jamaica including a visit to ...

source https://lasentinel.net/get-fit-with-britt-nick-hosts-12th-annual-womens-trinity-retreat-glow-up-in-montego-bay-jamaica.html

Moët Hennessy reveals first Cognac boutique in Americas travel retail at Sangster Airport, Jamaica

Hennessy's visibility at Montego Bay Airport is bolstered by Hennessy Pure White out-of-home advertising in arrivals, departures and outdoor ...

source https://www.moodiedavittreport.com/moet-hennessy-reveals-first-cognac-boutique-in-americas-travel-retail-at-sangster-airport-jamaica/

A Concise History of MoBay

SOE WHAT? Mitigating Jamaican Crime

 

“Police inevitably become corrupt... Police always observe that criminals prosper. It takes a pretty dull policeman to miss the fact that the position of authority is the most prosperous criminal position available.”
― Frank Herbert, God Emperor of Dune

The Jamaican Constabulary Force (#JCF) is the main law enforcement agency in Jamaica. They are responsible for the country-wide #crime investigation and management, they are creatures of statute and as the government's legal arm of violence, beholden to the Ministry of National Security which is presided over my M.P. Dr. Horace Chang. JCF is an agency of government that enforces the law of the land. They also furbish the government with revenues, amounting to millions of dollars every year through court fines and seizure of assets. Despite this, they are treated with scant regard and rewarded with inadequate remuneration for their service. Crime in Jamaica is a serious and complex issue. Massive amounts of money and manpower are spent on reducing and preventing crime on a daily basis. Yet the Jamaican police have been a less than successful institution in helping to reduce crime rates significantly over time. Why?

Well... if I am to surmise and summarize the current state of the nation, our government does not listen to stakeholders, the citizenry and even the police.

Is the State of Emergency a Crime Plan?

THE STATE OF EMERGENCY is not a CRIME PLAN. That is this humble writer's opinion and I am sure it is the opinion of an overworked police force. It is a political device that combines two philosophically different organizations into a haphazard patchwork  where they trip over each other and pose unforeseen hiccups in judicial and legal procedure. The military is a defense focused organization that though trained for combat, is not trained to combat civilians, not familiar with civil law or mechanics of criminal law and procedure. But most crucially, from a tactical perspective Jamaica Defense Force, is not geared towards active pursuit of criminals but are geared towards "holding the fort", defending and usually with less regard to civilian law. The JCF is an ever evolving creature whose tactics have to constantly adapt to the shifting and morphing nature of crime, while diligently tiptoeing around the law or doing acrobatics and contortions within the confines of legality.

If the SOE had worked last year our government wouldn't be griping about the opposition's opposition to the S.O.E. now. And most definitely the government wouldn’t need to be having one now. Three years ago February at the near beginning of our Emergency State, I stated that I believed that we need better policing and forensics as no long-term improvements were achieved by 3 years of SOEs, violent crime still plagues our nation. The #SOE is just a drastic short-term emergency response, not a sustainable strategy to reduce crime. There have been no measures accompanying the SOE geared at turning around Jamaica’s crime problem. Social intervention is handled like n a flash in the pan or a momentary public relations stunt rather than a sustained effort.

During recent salary negotiations the Government offered the JCF a four per cent increase on their measly salary and expects them to function at full throttle for another SOE. This situation is unreasonable and untenable, and the Government needs to rethink its strategy or risk losing members, which they can least afford at this time. When speaking to a police friend of mine, he complained bitterly that this has been a sticking point from the day when Bruce Golding said he wouldn’t give them one red cent more! The problems pestering the police force, such as poor working conditions, remuneration, among others, did not happen overnight. Successive governments from either of the two political parties have had to deal with these issues and none have adequately addressed the concerns of the members.

SOE What Now?

When the first SOE was declared in January 2018, murder tallies would reach 1,287 that year. It increased to 1,339 in 2019 and then slightly decreased in 2020 to 1,323. So even Stevie Wonder and Bredda Bull can see that SOE is not the answer as criminals continue to impact the economy and productive segment of society. And now... people have to sit in miserable conditions in hospitals and through curfews and COVID restriction, only to have their rights further stripped away. 

What we are getting wrong, is that we have tried it all... already. What is said of someone who does the same thing expecting different results? They are mad. Are our heads of state collectively mad? Furthermore what seems dim witted in these desperate plans we keep repeating is that it pretends crime in Jamaica is simply a problem of a limited number of criminals holding us all for ransom. So if we lock away or execute enough of the criminals the crime will stop or at least be reduced. Such analysis never considers the larger truth that the number of criminals is not finite at all, and that there are structures in Jamaica that produce and encourage criminality. As Sir P of PolitricksWatch likes to put it, Jamaica has a conveyor belt the spits out criminals. And worse, what if these criminals do not fear death or dying? What if they’ve always accepted that as an inevitability? What would have been your point in trying to drive ‘fear’ into their hearts then? Are we adopting the concepts of comic book characters like Batman and Daredevil, who operate on an ethic rooted in fear?

The other day I was reasoning with a breddrin, fellow Cornwallian from Granville. Bobo… and he gave me some profound insight. He had been reasoning with a juvenile from Granville who had been detained during the state of emergency, and he recalled the youth who had been innocent to the inner workings of crime, was now telling him how being locked up had let him meet a whole lot of real criminals in jail and had become “linkees” or “chargees” and “parries”as it were. SO not only did the state of emergency not work and failed to address the root causes of crime… it afforded crime some rest time to foment and ferment, crime got to network to think! Worst of all, by grouping members of the same demographic ages 14 to around 28 from diverse walks of life, allowing them to meet and greet with crime, up close and personal. The monstrous octopus now has tentacles outside and inside the cell, spawning splint cells, who are now possibly some sort of agent of crime. For after the rights of the youth have been trampled long enough, they are eventually let out of jail due to no real evidence there to hold them; they then return to their communities demoralized, disenchanted, disrespected and disenfranchised.

Labourites and those happy for the SOE... applaud the locking away of innocent young men from “those places” in despicable conditions for long periods as a necessary evil. Of course that’s fine, after all, REMEMBER... it’s not OUR sons, brothers or friends. And if that act makes the youths mistrust the Police and later become criminals, then it’s no one’s fault; they would have become that way anyway.

Our history of bad-man policing goes all the way back to Batman & Robin, to Joe Williams, to Laing, to Bigga Fords, to Trinity, to Adams; and our history of strong handed policing has included Echo Squad (1976), Ranger Squad (1980), Eradication Squad (1980), Area Four Task Force (1986), Operation Ardent (1992), ACID (1993), Operation Justice (1995), Operation Dovetail (1997), Operation Intrepid (1999), Operation Kingfish (2004). With all these bad men police and all these heavy handed operations, our crime rate has never fallen significantly, or never stayed fallen.

In recent times, more municipalities across the world have been choosing to place greater emphasis on police-community partnerships and the co-production of safety, which necessitates a strong focus on equity, transparency, accountability, shared information, and changes in how police are trained, evaluated and promoted. Local policing however, is rarely regulated in the same way or under any real scrutiny. Local police have wide discretion to implement various policing tactics without seeking written permissions or public input or following officially-adopted protocol. Essentially, the local police in Jamaica are entrusted to maintain public safety by enforcing laws broadly and by statute at their discretion, but there is no imperative or incentive to employ community policing individually as a tactic or broadly as institution wide mandate.

A local police Superintendent or the Commissioner, for example, may institute a zero-tolerance “tough on crime” approach to policing, or, conversely, a community-oriented “boots on the ground, feet on the beat” strategy to leverage the power of residents to fight crime. How the police operate is mostly at he behest of the heads of the institution or at their own discretion. The ‘zero tolerance’ and ‘tough on crime’ measures are in my eyes and I suspect much of the public, is a total failures. “They’ve created a symbolic criminal law system, a criminal law system that tricks citizens into thinking that with strong penalties we
solve the problem or even deter criminals.

The law enforcement officers, "Babylon" as they are known in the street... have been the face of oppression for far too many years, and now that link is embedded in the minds of fellow citizens. In the past, the laws adopted by our society have required police officers to perform many unpalatable tasks, such as ensuring legalized discrimination and ‘classism’ or even denying the basic human rights to many fellow Jamaicans as was the will of our governments. The government need to give the police force a listening ear or court a situation where the entire nation and the police force is opposed to the government of the day, which could precipitate social upheaval or even coups. If indeed the Government had the JCF as a priority, it should not be the case that force's members have to purchase their own uniforms and work under poor conditions for long hours without reasonable remuneration.

As a citizen, journalist and communicator I see the mistrust between many communities and the police and then the growing gap between the government and the police. On speaking with an officer, I realized there is so much about the logistics of policing and its daily operations that aren’t optimized, streamlined or efficient, that it is clear a real operational appraisal needs to take place in the force, then the government needs to come to that table and be forcefully updated.

There are gaps to bridge and connect within many segments of our communities and society. The first step to bridging the gap is for the police to acknowledge and apologize for the actions of the past and the role that their institution has played in our society’s historical mistreatment of poorer communities. After that is the ironing out internal procedures, modus operandi and ethos. Enforcement is part of the core of true policing, however harm reduction, sustaining healthy communities and working with youth lie at the heart of the true task of policing. We, both the public and police must seek to co-produce safety within the community and eventually the nation.

We fear speaking up against injustices and abrogation of powers, especially those that are unleashed by States of Emergency and now the Disaster Risk Management Act (#DRMA) even though these things are wrong. Instead we say "it will all work out”; as if by some magical means the right result will occur. We continue to believe change is “just around the corner” and so plan for a country with less crime. This vain plan is based on the strategy of hope, bereft of a detailed needs analysis and a solid plan of action. We “know” that the next leader from the other party (or maybe even from the same party) will be different and will be the one to “save us”. We continue to wait on the messiah, like waiting for Godot. Yet what type of leaders do we keep getting and our political parties keep producing.

Well... Jamaica's political parties have a well documented history of gang/individual gangster alignment & of patronage and enforcers giving rise to the earliest armed gangs. 

• Spanglers - PNP connection
• Shower Posse - JLP connection
• Clans - PNP connection
• One Order - JLP connection…
  

So from bad man policing to bad man linking with politicians, you realize the badness “tun up” in Jamaica. We fully bad as they say in the streets and this maybe at the crux of our problem a culture of badness and badmindedness.

A badness so pervasive that our political leaders are in wikileaked documents on corruption lists and have revoked visas etc. It is this tyrannical, bully mind and bad mind that cannot fathom real social intervention and will make no time for it and won’t have any gusto to give social intervention a thrust and some umph! However if there is no economic aid that truly benefits communities… crime will continue mutating in brooding and breeding ground of badness and badmind. The youth are seeking out new routes to financial power. Some have begun to become mini militias willing to do the Ocean’s 11 style money heists or act out a Jamaican Netflix series. 

So after all this legal violence and brute force… with little or no social intervention what comes next… what will fill the current socio-economic void? For the economy is tightening again and that is why we see more and more radical robberies and killings. Let us not pretend the issues aren't real… time to stop acting like Jamaica is a happy camp. The government needs to fix our access to the economy and fix the education system or the rebellions will occur and crime will continue to fester and one day the mob will be at Fort Holness with stakes and pitchforks. The maddening crowd, feverish and sickened by the festering badness that is Jamaica’s true epidemic.

What is necessary now is an "Agreement for the Democratic Security". My greatest concern is the decomposition of the political forces, the increase in institutional violence and desperate resorting to SOEs endlessly, the increase of bad police practices, corruption expressed through acts like collecting money, or freed zones or spaces politicians turn a blind eye to that allow the committing of crimes and many other expressions of crime. We must create a new social paradigm and ethos which is to have a more wide-open approach to solving security problems that is not focused solely on the criminal law functions of police, courts, penitentiaries, and law enforcement, which usually play an active role after the fact and event. We need instead to work on the origins, causes, and the whole aetiology of violence in our nation.

All of these activities unavoidably deal with human nature, with individual victims and their families and communities, with deeply-rooted power structures, with vested interests, with anger, frustration, mistrust, disappointment, and fear. Change will require new data, but also new levels of empathy. To bring all the stakeholders (local politicians, the citizenry and police) together and balance their interests in a process of democratic engagement will not be a simple task. The right questions have to be asked about the means and ends of policing. Are any means justifiable to reduce crime? What are the costs and benefits of
different policing tactics? With evidence-based answers, legislation can guide the design of policing processes and set the parameters for rules. Rules and protocol can then be established to guide the administration of police departments. Meaningful public involvement throughout the process can provide legitimacy for new and revised policies, laws, and actions. Furthermore, this may allow us to generate a model of community policing, which is a model of police organization that goes beyond the needs of a political regime. This model goes directly to fulfill the needs of citizens. I rest my case.

About the author: Yannick Nesta Pessoa B.A. is Jamaica’s first blogger, a Social Advocate, Community Activist and Legal Student.  Follow on Twitter & Instagram @yahnyk. Follow on Youtube @ and Reply to yannickpessoa@gmail.com

 

Mario Dean to Trayvon to Michael Brown... The Black Existential Condition Worsens!

The verdict in Ferguson is this week has been deeply disenchanting and saddening. There are just too many white-on-black police-on-civilian brutalities and violence to dismiss as being accidental. There is evidently an endemic problem of 'Shoot first, ask questions later,' and it cannot continue. There was a travesty of justice Monday night. It’s hurtful to think that someone can be murdered and their killer will walk away free. The recent murder of a 12-year-old black boy confirms there’s an epidemic of police violence in the black communities in the United States and worldwide where the police seem to function as judge, jury and executioner. Brian Becker, director of the Answer Coalition in the U.S. was quoted as saying "Every 28 hours the police kill a black person, usually a black male in the United States."

The Security Forces and Police must be held accountable as well. They are our public servants, civil servant and when they uphold the law and act nobly we will and should respect and just due. However, when they think they are above the law, or are the embodiment of it and act with impunity, they do not deserve our sympathy nor should they be allowed to continue with this mentality.

This latest verdict does not bode well for the civil safety of people anywhere in America. It is an even darker omen and trend worldwide for black folk and the African Diaspora!

Ferguson affects all of us as peoples of African descent. The fires will burn in Ferguson for the pain of injustice for many days to come.

Montego Bay - City of Tomorrow: Building a Sustainable City

Sun. Soil. Soul. Society.

The Schematics for a Sustainable City: The Montego Bay Ecopolis

We are losing connection with the soil. We need to understand the connection between soil, soul and society and drop ego in favour of eco!~Satish Kumar

"A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars, it's where the rich ride public transportation."~ Gustavo Petro (Mayor of Bogotá, Colombia)

The social big bang that was the start of the 21 century saw the acceleration of the pace of human life beyond anything people of previous centuries could have imagined. Today there is a crisis of haste and of a lack of hospitality in the world and its cities.

The tourist capital Montego Bay, is a typical 2nd city: vast, pulsating, noisy and full of smoke and exhaust fumes. But it is atypical in many many ways. A beautiful city couched and cocooned in a bay... city by the sea, tourist hub, cultural hub, growing, strategically located in the Caribbean, resting on an energy lay line, cultural axis, business crux of the west... in many ways too, Montego Bay is the apotheosis of urban and rural life: rustic yet metropolitan and cosmopolitan, "country-fy and farrin-ish!" "If yuh naah mean'

This is the setting in which new building concepts, IT solutions, the Freezone's continued expansion, the Indigenous Rastafari Village, Academia in the form of Utech West and UWI western Campus, lifestyle solutions, energy concepts, a new Caribbean ecological, local, indigenous way of life can emerge: a new and re-newed peoples, with new objectives, new domiciles and modus operandi. A mode of operation that can save energy as well as avert looming oil and energy crises (research Peak Oil), cut pollution, solve food security issues and make living in the city, this city, our city a more pleasant experience, culturally, aesthetically, intellectually, socially and otherwise.

After seeing several conferences and conventions on alternative energy being held in Montego Bay, we can realize sustainability and sustainable development are becoming a little more than just buzzwords, maybe they are actually manifesting... actualizing as it were, possibly as a response to poverty, inflation, awakening consciousnesses to the social crises ahead. But what is sustainability and sustainable development?

Wikipedia defines: Sustainable development as "an organizing principle for human life on a finite planet. It posits a desirable future state for human societies in which living conditions and resource-use meet human needs without undermining the sustainability of natural systems and the environment, so that future generations may also meet their needs."

Achieving sustainability is not that far-fetched as our neighbours, Cuba according to data presented to the United Nations, was the only nation in the world in 2006 that met the World Wide Fund for Nature's definition of sustainable development, with an ecological footprint of less than 1.8 hectares per capita, 1.5 hectares, and a Human Development Index of over 0.8, 0.855.

Investigating MoBay's space development cross the span of quarter century, one realizes the explanation behind this transformation. Walking down Church Street to see the St. James church history. Owing to the lack of to cheap and accessible housing solutions, residents, denizens and citizens "unofficially" settle and squat in and near the center of MoBay. They could live in better places out of town, but instead suffer a significant loss in revenue since the trip to downtown by taxi is very expensive compounded by the lack of a robust and diversified public transport system. In MoBay, both middle-class families residing in settlement or "scheme" houses in the suburbs, as well as those upper-class families whose homes are within gated communities travel to downtown by taxi or private vehicle. We can see that development of the city has been ad-hoc and in sporadic growth spurts, with no great over arching vision that spans decades or centuries, just the whim and will of whichever political directorate. So how do we dream a dream of betterment and better development.


GREEN DREAMS

The dream of a green Eden like future has been long in the minds of Rastafari elders and a part of the Rastafari ethos and cosmology since its inception. The green Eden seems also a part of the basic religious or spiritual memory of mankind. The promise of a green future brings forward the hope of halting and altering the weathered gray concrete of the streets and lanes and the crumbling down brown blocks of downtown into a lush and beautiful garden mixing steel towers and tree-filled parks teeming with life.

The Dream is of a Montegonian Ecopolis calling out to us from the future, where the Montego River will be a blue river filled with sail boats meets and greeting the rainbow of colors of humanity walking in the middle of farm stalls and kiosks,  whilst craft shops of citizens whose work reflect the rich variety of its population. A Montegonian Ecopolis with a vibrant populace, where the citizenry once again takes back the design of their city and model their neighborhoods, schools, businesses,  civic organizations, and communities of potential and creative imagination, of multi-cultural customs and traditions, and of love and tolerance.

Finding the resources to build a city beyond fear and intolerance, beyond mistrust and prejudice  The hope of a Montegonian Ecopolis shines like a beacon of hope to its neighboring cities in the island and cities across the Caribbean, casting a light to the state, the nation, the region and the world symbolizing the dawn of a new day in our relations with ourselves, with others and with our environment. In a space where men and women and children of all colors and ethnic traditions build that new city brick by brick and block by block, the promise of yesteryear's Montego Bay and the realities of the present meet the possibilities of the future.

In this new and grand ecological vision of Montego Bay, a baby can smile and a flower can grow uncompromised, where human potential and the human spirit thrives and blossoms. A habitable place free of molestation and frustration. There are solar generators quietly hum, producing power to run machines and to light homes. Where eco-farmers grow food and sustainable fishermen catch fish to feed its populations and to sell their surplus to a wider market. There will be the new professionals and specialists and workers of the new information and sharing economy who are educated in the requirements of the increasingly decentralized workplace of the new millennium. Where, the plenitude of cultural traditions of racial and ethnic sub-communities mutually enrich one another in a new ecology of diverse popular culture spanning street theater and alternative film and Internet entertainment and ever multiplying digital television stations produced locally and around the world. Where, local citizens meet and petition their representatives in person, on the Web, or in public squares, pressing their demands and dissatisfactions in every forum and thus restoring some the closeness and intimacy of old-style town democracy.

The Montego Bay Ecopolis is both far away and very near. It is a place we can call home, if we make it so, if we vision it so, if we dream it so.

CITIES AROUND THE WORLD

Local governments worldwide are working to protect the environment. The concept that is green cities aims to reduce energy usage and the various forms of pollution in new and creative ways. Such efforts by city governments not only help reverse the effects of climate change. They also help governments save large amounts of money on energy costs. And, cities that are leaders in this green movement set a good example to their citizens about the importance of environmental issues.

  A new approach to the planning of cities and calls for the various professions which play a part in the process of urban renewal – city planners, architects and regeneration consultants – to be bound by new institutions and a collective commitment to the better design of cities. to harness principles of liveability and diversity in the way urban space is designed and managed.

A few points on what needs to be engendered in the Eco-Mobay:

Quality architecture and urban design

• Emphasis on beauty, aesthetics, human comfort, and creating a sense of place; 
• Special placement of civic uses and sites within community. 
• Human scale architecture: beautiful surroundings nourish the human spirit

Smart transportation

• A network of high-quality roads connecting cities, towns, and neighborhoods together
• Pedestrian-friendly design that encourages a greater use of bicycles, rollerblades, scooters, and walking as daily transportation

Sustainability

• Minimal environmental impact of development and its operations
• Eco-friendly technologies, respect for ecology and value of natural systems
• Energy efficiency
• Less use of finite fuels
• More local production
• More walking, less driving

It time we emphasize Montego Bay as one community, an eco-community in the heart of future planning rather than short-term commercialism dictated by the quick take-up of leases. It is time to value the input of the community in participatory planning structures; this MUST be another core ideal of the modern-day city. Also we need to examine and to stress the "psychogeographic" significance of our surroundings. This analysis dictates that there is a direct correlation between the quality of the public realm and the actions of the individual, with its attendant ramifications for other aspects of social policy. 

This vision of an eco city, and eco-Mobay is aimed at those who wish to listen to the rhythm of their own lives,and possibly adjust it.”

Check Out this Amazing Video!

The Dream of The Montego Bay Ecopolis has already begun to spring to life: Check out this link! 

Highland House Farms and Founder of the One Love Learning Foundation

All Hail the Queen of the Republic of Montego Bay: Queen Ifrica

Now as Montego Bay's image and along with it Jamaica's image as well, is being torn apart by foreign press and media. It seems the identity of the city is in dispute and on debate. Which Queen represents Montego Bay is it Queen Ifrica or is it the Gully Queen alleged gay martyr!

As Cliff Hughes, J-Flag and international gay lobby groups will issue their sanctimonious denouncements from their farcical moral high ground. "In times likes these, when we are missing our heroes," men like Obama, not just the president, part of a rich black elite, would "stand up" for homosexuality and gay right, yet stand down on matters of the black community, while black unemployment is at its worst. When Jamaica is willing to highlight Scamming from Montego Bay yet ignore the undeniable root in and link to homosexuality, when Jamaica endorses Tommy Lee as the best of Montego Bay, some refuse to let go off Jah Cure's past conviction, and fail to endorse Queen Ifrica. When Carolyn Cooper is willing to highlight Vybz Kartel, promote him in the hallowed halls of academia. In an age where Poorsha promise to put away allegiance to the British crown. In an age where Rasta is appropriated by whomever to do whatever... Why is it the that a strong black Rasta woman from Montego Bay has to stand up as Queen... and I believe right now, not just for Montego Bay but Jamaica? Why is it that she is not getting the recognition she deserves.

I think JFLAG is out of line on this and need to hop of Montego Bay's Queen back... OK!

Ifrica a represent Mobay the realest way! She is carrying on in the theatre of the public's collective consciousness, the role of Nanny, Nanna, Goddess Inanna, in the tradition of Queens like Sheba, Nefertiti, Nefertari, Cleopatra, the Candaces. First she schooled Peter Bunting, "Don't Cry Mister Bunting," so till if even only symbolic or effectual or for the sake of PR had to call her in and get advice, She stood up on the issue of Beedies, she has shown she is not afraid to say the unpopular when she sang "Daddy don't touch me there" "And no boy cyah draw mi round no corner," and "Keep it to yourself." She blessed up this city by titling one of her albums after this city... this in an age where everyone does just a city song or a big up weh come from song. Now she makes a stand for another cause, now JFLAG and Cliff Hughes want to make her a big deal for all the wrong reasons... this is how I would love to see other artistes using their powers for good, in a socially active way, more activism, as part of peaceful protests, lobbies, rallies, ganja rallies, ecological fairs etc.

Right now I wish she would attack Minister Ferguson on GMO and car pollution, it would seem he is only concerned with smoking and the financial incentives it can accrue via penalties and taxes. As a matter of fact she should see all the rest of the ministries on matters of education, culture, ecology and the environment. Teach "Hoggish Greedly" aka minister of Agriculture bout organic and urban farming, eco-city, ecopolis, vertical farms etc... She fi kunk Paulwell and step up the urgency of alternative energy!
Ifrica Mobay Love You...

"Keep it to yourself" by Queen Ifrica

As horrific as Dwayne's death is, as mob justice is horrific and irrational, he is no martyr nor any Queen!
Look at the pic on the wall in the background, the carving, is a man with an enlarged penis, and on the other side a picture of another dubious looking character. 

Long Live the Queen! Ifrica vs JFLAG & Cliff Hughes

Once again... a prominent Montegonian makes her voice heard on the issue of Gay Rights, only to be lambasted by JFLAG and accosted by Cliff Hughes... I would have risen to her defense but this write does a suitable enough job... read his take on the matter!

In Defense of Queen Ifrica!

 

 VIA FACEBOOK: Winston Gilling: Posting @ Speak your Mind Jamaica 

DOES SOMETHING AFFECT REASON WHEN THE TOPIC OF HOMOSEXUALITY IS DISCUSSED?? 

It's as if one cannot put up some argument in support of homosexuality and/or homosexuals without sounding silly.

Heard parts of an interview with Cliff Hughes and Queen Ifrica about an incident at the Grand Gala where she asked all straight people to identify themselves (or something to the effect).

Now, Cliff Hughes argued that the "Jamaican Family" was gathered at the stadium, which included heterosexuals and homosexuals, and it was therefore in poor taste for her to single one group.

How silly can we get?

Could someone ask Mr. Hughes for me if, included in the "Jamaican family" at the stadium were men who support their children and men who don't.

Would it have been in poor taste if she gave a shout out to men who support their children? Would Cliff Hughes then tell her she was insensitive to men who don't support their children?

What if she asked all women who would never sell their bodies to raise their hands? Would Hughes have a problem with her being insensitive to prostitutes?

And since we are getting silly. What if she asked for an acknowledgement of all who would never take another man's life. Would Cliff Hughes say she was being sensitive to the murderers among the "Jamaican family" gathered at the stadium?

What is this passion that we feel and this need to come to the rescue of our very sensitive men who have sex with men, who are apparently in a crying mood whenever someone dares to suggest that something is wrong with homosexuality? Even if Cliff Hughes is comfortable with that, it is still WRONG. I'm sorry, Mr. Hughes, but you cannot sanitize it.

And let me just say this one last time - because Hughes went down that road too - no one was murdered in Western Jamaica recently, merely for being homosexual. He was murdered (AND I CONDEMN HIS MURDER) for apparently deceiving a straight man.

Queen Ifrica can understand that and pointed it out tho him. Apparently, Cliff Hughes cannot understand that point. Just to finish that point.

The cross dressers in this photo

- IN WESTERN JAMAICA - were not murdered - though in full sight of everyone. Apparently, they danced with their own, or did they?


FINALLY - Queen Ifrica sounded much more intelligent than Cliff Hughes when she asked him to define homophobia. Which public is it that FEARS homosexuals or homosexuality?? KMT

Read the link below for more insight into the Queen Ifrica JFLAG Saga!

The Montegonian: Queen Ifrica's Grand Gala performance disappoints JFLAG :: News

The Sly Hypocrisy of the Homosexual Agenda: Making Dwayne Jones into a Martyr

Now when the international press comes feasting for a story in Montego Bay and on Montegonians, I and I as The Montegonian have to chant. The story is that of the Gully Queen, whose real name is Dwayne Jones. He was a trans-gendered individual who died because of deception, yet his murder is being portrayed as a hate crime and is a stereotyping of Jamaica's attitude towards homosexuality. He is the new poster boy of all anti-Jamaica and gay lobby groups. However once again, the homosexual bias has "reared" its ugly head. With the recent KGN Squatter issue, they made it a gay issue.

You probably won't see this Blog or article being mentioned on the Huffingtonpost or Global Voices... owing to the fact that to be cool and savvy in today's Web 2.0, 3.0 world of social networks and personal brand identities, one has to stay politically correct to gain popularity, climb through the mystery of S.E.O. ranking schema, matrices and algorithms, one has to be espousing "progressive" neo-liberal, globalist, capitalist, "forward thinking views" and anything that may not be PRO-homosexuality is usually maligned as backward and antiquated. I have spoken to this homosexual hypocrisy already. If one is not saying yeah for gay... you will be shut up and shut off as homophobic.

Certain realities fail to be addressed by foreign media and local when examining the Dwayne Jones case... it can very well be contended, that the man's crime was not truly cross dressing. The most articles only look at a part of the issue. The young man was not murdered because he was gay or homosexual, his offense was not being a cross-dresser. He was killed because he violated the space and right of another man and other men by dancing (simulating a sex act, erotic dance: one drop) while pretending to be a woman. He made physical contact with heterosexual males, danced with them, it is alleged as one witness put it "even the selector tek a dagger offa him." I agree wholeheartedly that executing him was harsh and wrong. I never advocate for extra-judicial killings.

I will never agree to the murder of any human being for biases of sexuality, I have to wonder, has anyone given thought to the fact that persons have committed suicide after being tricked like this? That on some level that act like this are tantamount to sexual harassment? It causes arousal and stimulation by deception and physical violation.

But this small bit of truth will no doubt be shoveled and buried by the media, the spin doctors, liars and lobbyist. Huffingtonpost and Global Voices for all their citizen journalism, all the moral high ground, all the insightful commentary, they never examined once the tyranny of terror that was Bebe and Jasper and how they were the origins of scamming in Montego Bay... a pair of maniacal cross dressing gun wielding homosexual scammers, parading with "straps" and thongs from Fairview's Texaco to KFC downtown to Baywest to Pier 1. How they rooted themselves in Granville is fairly common knowledge in the city. But the darker sides of scamming money and murders, poverty and gay pedophilia in Jamaica are swept under the rug for this untruthful campaign against Jamaica and what is perceived as its attitude to homosexuality. NO ONE investigated the serious link with homosexuality and scamming.

You won't hear this from Minority Insight or Active Voice but I live in Montego Bay and I know gay women living in communities now, flouting their life and lifestyle on the corners and on Facebook now in Montego Bay from Norwood, Flankers, Salem, Canterbury, to Ironshore, Westgate Hills, Spring Farm and Bogue, chilling on corners without harm. Yet I see no interview with them, no expose asking them how they navigate their existence so peacefully. Or what are the rigors of the Homosexual condition in Jamaica, outside of the iconic misrepresentation from the likes of Stacy Chinn.

Forward to the issue of what Dwayne Jones really did again. Let us make it clear... He aroused males by dancing with them and not letting them know he was a male. A woman spotted him out. Now I have even heard media calls for her to be spotted out, what vile hypocrisy now to try and punish a woman for revealing the truth. Not even blinking to content that Dwayne may have been naive to even think cross dressing was cool in Jamaica, but it think it fun to violate peoples belief on the notion and practise of homosexuality by letting them unknowingly participate in a homosexual ritual.

To some males and individuals, being "played" like and played with like in such a manner is equivalent to death- socially and physical. It is my sincere belief that this young 17-year-old would still be in the land of the living had he not taken away, by deception, the right of other males to decide if he wanted to be involved in a homosexual activity and by this I mean: dancing with another man.

Gay people go about their business in Jamaica every day without being provoked. Dwayne should have kept his antics to just YouTube. This is what happens when one provokes and deceives a crowd... the metamorphosis into maddened mob.

Our Online Edition!

The Online Newspaper Edition of THE MONTEGONIAN

Reggae Sumfest 2013

Reggae Sumfest...

This year, the 21st year of Reggae Sumfest will take place July 21 to 27, 2013. Dubbed The Greatest Reggae Show on Earth, the Festival is expected to again attract thousands of patrons from Jamaica and the rest of the world to Montego Bay. Music lovers from all over are invited to come to the Festival and celebrate this milestone in Jamaica's musical heritage!

Montegonian's Take on Tappa Issue!

The Montegonians Take on the Tappa Issue!

Burrel must go..., that Old Big Belly Barrel must roll, not Tappa's head. Like Jack Warner... and di whole a di FIFA old boy's fraternity, JFF is a dinosaur... proned to chronic and systemic problems which hamper the Reggae Boys more than coaching inability.

Where was tuffy? Whose ideology is it to use bare foreign ballers? Why do local coaches still get paid less than foreign ones? Why are we still imitating Brazilian football, when Spain and the Germanic countirs are on top and playing a better calibre of ball?

Aye Captain stop chat BS before mi bun down di bakery... as Tappa neighbour/or just member of the same community... Paradise/Norwood a dat me a seh!

We nah seh Theodore perfect but come on man... stop look fi scapegoat... go tek JFF problems to Azazel.

Mobay have Tappa headback covered on this one...

Behind the music on a very popular Montegonian: Jimmy Cliff

Jimmy Cliff was born James Chambers on April's Fool's Day, 1948 in the Somerton District of St. James near Montego Bay, Jamaica. He reputedly chose the stage name Cliff to reflect the heights he intended to scale in the music business. And while he belatedly became a household name in the 1970s - in the UK thanks mainly to his appearance in The Harder They Come both as an actor and a singer - it became clear to those who followed his career that his name actually came to represent artistic, political and personal struggle, rather than easily attained commercial success. 

When he was 14 years old he moved to Kingston...

Read the full article!

My Daughter and I listen to this song every morn... she even sings it to herself... it's off his latest Grammy winning album! Another good hit is "Took the children's bread and give to the dogs!

Baphomet in Montego Bay

Look out for ruler and the compass...

Babylon can't take me fi nuh punk Ras...

Illuminati...

Cyah hold di Natty...

Are We Independent? Montegonian Exclusive

AFTER 50 years, we have not really released our vestiges of the Crown in England. Granted, Mrs Simpson Miller has made the gesture towards a break with the Crown, but I cannot help but feel it is just political talk, pandering to the public. We still have a representative of the Queen as an influential part of the state, the governor general. We still have British ceremonials in Parliament, we still have appeals to the British courts. We are a part of their Commonwealth, we still have the remnants of their laws. Are we really independent of England?

After our recent return to the International Monetary Fund and our leaders begging on a world tour, are we financially independent? Our money is printed in mints in England and is backed by debt and United States dollars, which is losing its footing as world currency. How can one really say we are independent? What are we celebrating this 50th anniversary?

How are we independent when we are slaves to the foreign media, especially the 'mighty' Uncle Sam? We are dependent on imports from the USA; we depend on their food, their clothes, even their entertainment.

How are we independent when we subscribe to the neoliberalist policies of globalisation that insist on lessening the powers and sovereignty of the state, and the continuous breakdown of international barriers? How are we independent when foreigners own our electrical supplies, our airports, our mining plants? What are we independent of?

Bound by handcuffs

Are we not bound by so many handcuffs of ever-growing poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, crime, men-women inequality, limited technology and, worst of all, which result in other bounding forces too - corruption?

In the word of Kahlil Gibran ... "Pity the nation that wears a cloth it does not weave, eats a bread it does not harvest, and drinks a wine that flows not from its own wine press. Pity the nation that acclaims the bully as hero, and that deems the glittering conqueror bountiful. Pity the nation that raises not its voice save when it walks in a funeral, boasts not except among its ruins, and will rebel not save when its neck is laid between the sword and the block. Pity the nation whose statesman is a fox, whose philosopher is a juggler, and whose art is the art of patching and mimicking. Pity the nation that welcomes its new ruler with trumpeting, and farewells him with hooting, only to welcome another with trumpeting again. Pity the nation divided into fragments, each fragment deeming itself a nation."

Yannick Pessoa
YannickPessoa@yahoo.com

Jamaica Gleaner News - Queen Ifrica plays, explains 'Montego Bay'

Queen Ifrica plays, explains 'Montego Bay
'Published: Thursday | July 16, 2009
Mel Cooke, Gleaner Writer

Montego Bay is Queen Ifrica's first album with VP Records.As she presented Montego Bay, her second full-length set, at her first album launch on Tuesday evening, Queen Ifrica's face and posture reflected the mood of the songs.And there was ample time and reason for the changes, Ifrica explaining the background to almost all the songs on the 13-track set in an extended stint at the podium during which she got noticeably more comfortable as time went on, engaging the large audience at Kabana, Hope Road, St Andrew.The trip through an outstanding album actually started with her voice alone, not the actual recording, as after a herald of horns, Ifrica delivered the album's title track a cappella, smiling, the audience cheering at the start and again when she hit the chorus.After the recording was played, Ifrica explained, "Montego Bay is special to me. That's where my whole Rastafari development took place." Still, she noted, the inner-city communities do not see the benefit of the 'lush' from the tourism industry.She was sombre for Streets Are Bloody, dedicating it to 20-year-old Ejaun, "a very close individual to Flames. He was gunned down by a soldier at a club". Ifrica described Ejaun's kindness, respectfulness and computer wizardry, commenting that in the society "the people who do good are the people who die like this". The song has the line "none is immune, Ejaun gone to soon".In My DreamsIfrica smiled as she asked, "Any lovers? Any husband, any wife, any matie?", before In My Dreams was played, rocking away with eyes closed and clasping her left shoulder with her right hand.And when she said "we ago step up the vibe" with Yad To The East, commenting "dis a di man whe dem sey inna Ifrica", Ifrica grinned gloriously as the rhythm hit and the crowd exploded at the opening line, "Selassie I never lose a fight yet".And so it continued, Ifrica often merging her voice with the tail end of the recordings, playfully prodding the audience to more enthusiastic applause and dropping advice on hard work, focus, purpose and the importance of teamwork to younger artistes.She has stuck to a team, as before she sang along to the recorded songs on Tuesday night, Ifrica sang the praises of Tony Rebel, giving the background to starting to work with his Flames Productions in 1998, after performing at a Garnet Silk tribute concert. And among the other persons Ifrica said thanks to was Penthouse's Donovan Germaine who "say I am a granddaughter of Penthouse, because Tony Rebel is a son".Guest speaker Kay Osbourne, general manager of TVJ, heaped praises on Queen Ifrica and Montego Bay, which she described as an awesome collection that showcases the inner workings of Ifrica's mind and soul."It is clear that this unique woman of truth has something to say," Osbourne said, taking a closer look at many of the songs. "She expresses the personal universally," Osbourne said later in her address.However, Osbourne is not impressed with much of Jamaican music being produced currently, pointing out the narcissism, exhibitionism, image manipulation and "the mere ability to attract attention is rewarded".Tony Rebel, who welcomed all to the album launch, spoke about Queen Ifrica's development, from not being able to do a song properly in the studio and having to be told 10 times what to do, that being reduced to thrice, then twice and "now you don't have to say anything".There was a time when she had to be asking producers to go on rhythms; now she is being requested. Long gone are the days when she was trying to get on shows; now there are so many offers she has to decline some."When you have someone like a Queen Ifrica standing up and not taking off her clothes I have to salute her," Rebel said.Extensive exposureIn presenting Montego Bay, Ifrica noted the struggle that her song about incest, Daddy (which appears in English and Spanish), has been going through in terms of getting extensive exposure on the airwaves, although it has connected in the streets and at live performances.When she was asked which track was her favourite Queen Ifrica did not name one, but said that the opening chant, TTPNC, is special, as "it is my whole Rastafarian belief ... That is who I am. I am a Niyabinghi woman".The recordings ended with Far Away, Lady Saw, Assassin, I-Wayne, Capleton and Tarrus Riley embracing Queen Ifrica onstage. It wasn't all over, though, as there was one more a cappella song for her to deliver, the crowd whooping for Keep It To Yourself.

Jamaica Gleaner News - Queen Ifrica plays, explains 'Montego Bay' - Entertainment - Thursday | July 16, 2009