Orville Taylor

I would have begun this column with a further discourse regarding the prospects of Barack Obama becoming president. However, the contest on Tuesday will not distribute enough delegates to break the stalemate between Hillary Clinton and him. Nevertheless, it would be such a wonderful thing if he were to blacken the White House because we have been consistently let down by the role models that we have elected and selected.

Obama gives me a good feeling, but some of our local entertainers are giving off such a bad Vybz, that Aidonia what is going to become of our youth. Just over a week ago, two of our popular artistes made the news, when a photograph appeared in THE STAR and then in another newspaper. In this picture, there were the two, brandishing what looked like high-powered rifles.

In their defence, their attorney argued that THE STAR did not do due diligence in determining whether the weapons were authentic. Furthermore, it was suggested that the photograph might not have been taken in Jamaica. Fine! But so what? There is a piece of furniture in the background that looks very much like some of the dressers or other types of fake mahogany, with the regular 'bad-coloured' pigment, that is hastily put on by semi-skilled carpenters, who are making a buck they did not learn their trade properly.

It is difficult to imagine that a Jamaican living in foreign would choose such an item when the 'great farrin' offers so many choices in household equipment.

purpose of the photos

Nonetheless, let us accept that it could be in another country and the firearms were props. What would have been the purpose of the photos, and why would they even want to stand before a camera? After all, one of them is not the most photogenic and the other has a court matter, so he should be avoiding taking additional mug shots. In the 'case' of Aidonia, he is on bail and should be fretting even more than Kern Spencer, as he is facing a long paragraph on a gun-related murder charge. It is an act of sheer stupidity to be even seen at the stadium where the starter is firing a pistol.

In the month designated as 'Black History Month', and now being forced upon us as 'Reggae Month', and when reggae legend, Bob Marley was born, all Rastafari should be deeply offended that one of the firearms was decorated in the colours of his majesty and it is not a situation where they are in a war against Babylon. Despite the facial evidence, Jamaica is not in the middle of a 'guerilla' war.

There is nothing that glorified Rastafari when weapons were found in August Town on property associated with a dreadlocked entertainer, who has post-secondary education. Similarly, the idea of a barely talented deejay/singjay calling himself a 'gangster Ras' is an oxy-'moron.' It perhaps makes a little more sense if it were turned backwards.

There is a school of thought, carried by even some of my overexuberant colleagues, that says that these youngsters are merely 'mirroring' the reality that they live. This is the excuse the entertainers themselves often use to justify gun lyrics. If this is true, why then are they so obsessed with homosexuality? What are they reflecting? While it is a sociological truth that the hardship of ghetto 'livity' feeds the music, it is equally true that music can influence and shape social reality. Musicians and other distributors of lyrics, including university lecturers and politicians, have an immense amount of power.

a sense of well-being

We get a sense of well-being when we listen to a Whitney Houston record, even if it is full of 'cracks'. When Luther Vandross, Teddy Pendergrass, or our own Beres Hammond and Richie Stephens croon in our bedrooms, don't we want to roll over our partners? Then why is it so incredible that gun lyrics can indeed 'infulence' the youth?

Nevertheless, apart from Vybz Kartel, Cham and Assassin, only a few others have bona fide traditional high school graduation credentials. Oh, sorry! I left out Wayne Marshall, who has a good head on his body. It is perhaps unfair, therefore, to expect young men, who might not have had the benefit of exemplary role models themselves and who are incomplete products of a flawed education system, to be social mentors.

That role should have fallen squarely to successful businessmen, doctors, lawyers, academics and politicians. Unfortunately, as a group, they have been so caught up in feeling good about themselves that they have failed to engage the youth, who are hungry for positive leadership. Professors have so distanced themselves from the average youth, that their lifestyles are seen as alien and not worth emulating.

Furthermore, the skills of numeracy have been delegated to the socially maladjusted nerd, the stereotypical 'Steve Urkel', and verbal and oral competence relegated to the background, with gay men being the main purveyors. All of this, because good black men have refused to step forward.

Add to the list the sexually deviant hypocritical pastors and dishonest politicians, and we have a serious crisis. One might think that it is a peccadillo that the finance minister captured a piece of land, given that the 'Senti' youth is suspected of having bandooloed a large number of free bulbs. Audley Shaw might be able to 'bounce back' from the revelations of former minister Dean Peart, as he checks his records. However, despite his speech impediment, Peart took too long to say this in the public fore. But after all, they are 'colleagues,' true birds of a feather.

In Marley's month I quote Peter Tosh, "You can't blame di youth".

Dr. Orville Taylor is senior lecturer in the Department of Sociology, Psychology and Social Work at UWI, Mona.