Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer
THERE WERE contrasting takes on the state of Jamaica at this month's edition of 'Reasoning with Seasoning', held on the grounds of the EMG studio on Grafton Road in Vineyard Town , St. Andrew.
The January edition of the monthly community-based discussion series examined 'How To Choose A Leader', Donna Scott-Motley and Joan Simpson being the guests.
The reasoning in a place where song is normally the order of business was an open air intimate affair, a circle of benches, a settee set and a double row of chairs setting the stage for a level discussion. And after Motley had spoken at length, covering from the change in PNP and JLP leadership to the women's 4x100m victory at the last Olympics, it was from the section of the circle closest to her left that a totally different viewpoint came.
TWO DIFFERENT WORLDS
"Me an' you come from same planet, two different world," a young man said. "We have become the number one murder capital in the world. Everything them sey we is, dese guys who sey dem a lead me is jus' as bad or worse. Mi see tree people a run fi presidency inna de PNP party. Me see Bruce over dereso an' right now it no mek no difference. One of the worst things to happen to Jamaica is independence. We are not independent anyway," he said.
"We get up every day and live this big lie, that the next person will help us. The real criminals are in the House of Parliament," he said.
"We are challenged," Scott-Motley said. "But why does the change have to start up there? Can't we be the ones who lead? Leaders don't have to be up there. Leaders don't have to be wealthy. Marcus Garvey was not a wealthy man.We have to understand that we can change things," she said.
And another young man expressed his shock at the negative views of the first. "We are not doomed. It has a lot to do with the way we are socialised, and I think we are very negative in Jamaica. It does not matter how hard it looks, we can find a way out. There are a lot of excellent leaders in this country. The bad ones get the highlight. It takes radical leadership to change Jamaica. Until we have radical leadership in Jamaica , it will not change," he said.
It was at this point that the 'seasoning', cups of fish soup, were offered to all present, the gathering growing as the night progressed.
In the earlier going, Scott-Motley stated her intention of being a leader in Jamaica. "I want to be a leader with a difference," she said, adding that people hear that all the time. "I want to be a spiritual leader," she said.
She noted how small technology has made the world, and said that for Jamaica, "we are not just choosing a leader for us here and now, but for the small world we inhabit. There is no time between us. There is no space between us".
IDENTIFYING A LEADER
Scott-Motley spoke about how a group automatically identifies a leader by turning to that person in a discussion. "Whether knowingly or unknowingly, that is the person on whom they confer the authority to be a leader," she said.
One person said a leader is "someone who is first honest with themselves". Another said a leader has to show tolerance, a third said "the greatest thing is to see that God is on that man's side", while a fourth identified courage as being essential.
Joan Simpson interjected that "I am thinking we are responsible for the leaders we have. Doesn't that leader have to have the qualities based on us? ... At this stage we can conclude we are responsible for creating the leaders we have."
Scott-Motley made the crucial distinction between power and leadership.
However, Mikey Bennett, who organises the reasoning, raised a crucial, unanswered question. "How do you challenge the leader who is out of your social reach, who may be miles away? Most of us don't have a clue as to who is our MP, yet we are called on from time to time to provide an MP. Where does the process start?" Bennett asked.
