RUEL LOWE'S EDITORIAL

RULA BROWN WORKING THE PALAS TRAIN TO HELP NEEDY STUDENTS IN JAMAICA & THE CARIBBEAN REGION

by Ruel E. Lowe - August 21, 2015

I would ask all the member of Rula Brown Network family, to join me in giving the good brother a great big round of applause, for the yeoman's job he has done/is doing in providing a great service to the youth, in the form of 95 academic scholarships! He has spent many sleepless night in spear-heading this project!

When the rest of us are busy complaining about the wayward youth, he has rolled up his sleeves, and put his hands in his pockets to get the task accomplished! 
I plan to start a modest saving plan to provide a scholarship for a student or two, who might not have great academic skills, but is a very hard dedicated worker, who has raised their GPA from a 1.0 to a 3.2, these are the students, who I think need help the most! Those are the ones who will fall through the cracks if they are not assisted. It is very easy for the great academic students with GPA of 4.0 and above to get help!
Again, let's give the good Brother Rula a great big hand. Please make a donation online at www.PALAS1.org
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NOTE: TO ALL READERS OF RUEL LOWE's EDITORIAL: Please add a comment below....To leave your comment you MUST Scroll all the way to the bottom of the page....Much appreciated. One Love.

       Ruel E. Lowe

Has Pan-Africanism gone the way of the Dinosaurs?
Dec 4, 2014
Ruel Lowe

That’s a question we need to ask ourselves, and try to come up with a logical answer. Before we venture down the path of self-awareness and self-enlightenment, let’s pause to take a good look at ourselves today, and perform a comparison/contrast survey.

Under segregation and Jim Crow there was infinity more black owned businesses, black institutions of higher learning were at their zenith, producing professionals in industry, the health field and commerce. Around that time the major sports team were becoming integrated, and the entertainment field was flooded with black entertainers! However there was one constant thread running through black society. You got it: Social responsibility! Today that animal (social responsibility), seem to have passed away and have been buried in a casket of indifference. In that bygone era personalities such as Joe Lewis, Louis Armstrong, Jackie Robinson and many other high profile black entertainer and others contributed to black social causes! In that era Pan-Africanism was on the upsurge led by stalwarts such as Marcus Garvey, Elijah Muhamad, Malcolm X and many others, at that time black consciousness was the order of the day, brothers and sister expressed their African identity in their form of attire and appearance e.g. natural hair styles and dashikis and other forms of dress. Something we can never forget the fight for civil and human rights.

Now let us take a close look at where we are today! Major black business is almost nonexistent, Black Colleges are closing at an alarming rate, and our sports/movie/entertainers and other professional, will tell us in a heartbeat, they owe neither obligation nor responsibility to the black community, and Pan-Africanism have become a dirty word! At a time when we have more wealthy blacks than ever before, what do we see happening? Our women are spending a fortune on false hair and cosmetics they don’t actually need, trying to look like women of other ethnics groups. 

There are members of the society who are doing well financially who consider themselves ‘honorary whites’, and mistakenly believe they are isolated and insulated from the treatment meted out to the black community by the “in-justice” system! Many of the well to do blacks are recruited to repudiate black leadership’s efforts to bring issues of (injustice and lack of redress meted out to the black community) to the attention to the nation.
Pan-Africanism will surely die unless, we awake from our slumber and realize the knowing our and learning from history is our only solution to the problem facing us!
To be continued…..
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Have we become zombies?
Ruel E. Lowe
November 24, 2014

The late night horror movies, that scared us as kids, where we saw mindless beings wondering around aimlessly, bent on creating mayhem and terror, might not be as far-fetched and a figment of the imagination as it might appear!
Let us take a careful look at ourselves, we have all the sense organs, but we no longer use them properly, we have eyes that look but don’t see, since we no longer observe. We have ears that hear, but we don’t listen. We smell, but we don’t recognize what we smell. We taste, but we no longer know what we taste. This goes on like a recurring decimal.
At a time when there is so much technological advancement, where infinite sources of information go unused/untapped, we have allowed our brain to be lulled into a deep sleep of inactivity! Why did we stop thinking? That is the billion dollar question. 

A great majority of us have allow the great Satan, {the corporate media}, to influence/deceive/condition/co-opt us into a false sense of security and confusion, where up has become down, right become wrong, good become evil, where we have been made/thought to hate the messenger and reject his life saving message! {We have allowed the media to set our agenda that was not designed for us, or by us, or for our benefit}. We have been thought and influenced that to use our brains/common-sense/logic is sinful and evil; hence we accept the most illogical theories and pronouncement as facts! We no long research history and apply logic to arrive at truth or a semblance of truth. 

We attend and also send our children to institutions of higher learning, just to graduate and become a functioning part of the of the system, where they can accumulate/procure a large salary, and live a life of comfort and luxury, (not saying there is anything wrong, with improving one’s living condition). We however graduate from these institutions not knowing anything thing about ourselves or kind, and therein lies the big problem, we have lost our souls!
The humble writer would suggest that the reader carefully read, or re-read for that matter, these few words, and ponder the message! Hopefully it will awake a few of us from the comatose state we find ourselves in at the present time!

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Ruel E. Lowe
October 28, 2014


Have we been failed by our parents? Are we failing our children, by preventing them from thinking freely?

Those are the big questions we need to address immediately, because the answers will determine whether we continue to be mired in the slavery mentality engrain in us by our captors in the past, or move on to enlightenment and progress.

A person, who is a free thinker, is a threat to the ruling class’ orderly society and the status quo! The ruler looks upon such a person as a mal-content and a rebel, which must be subdued, before his ideas awake the subjected/ruled and create a problem for him.

How many of us have sat down and asked ourselves the questions, why am I here and what am I doing? If we did, we would see a picture that’s not pleasing! So many of us forget that our ancestors were kidnapped/captured and brought here (the western world) for a purpose! That purpose was and is to serve the captors!!

Here are a few questions we should ask ourselves: 1. Why do we think the way we do? Since our forefathers came here not knowing the language, and everything they know was thought to them by their captor/oppressors. Logic would dictate that the oppressor would teach them only the things that would allow to them maintain control. 2. Is Christianity a natural religion for African peoples? Isn’t curious that the religion we have embraced, it discourages thinking/questioning anything in the book, logic and reasoning are frowned up and condemned. 3. How can the slave and his master pray to the same god? Whose prayers are not being answered? 4. How come the book they gave us as the book to live by, they don’t do what it says and they don’t believe in themselves?

These are just a few questions any logical thinking person, with and enquiring mind would/should ask themselves.

Isn’t it strange how we never examine the ones and institutions we hold dear, e.g. the Queen of England, the Pope, Henry Morgan, Cecil Rhodes (Rhodes Scholarship). Why do we research the history on these people and institutions? We send our children to tertiary institutions, unprepared to think freely, critically and freely, no wonder they graduate not knowing anything thing about self or kind, with no obligation to help those unfortunate ones left behind! We forget they we were educated to server the master!
End of part one: 10/28/14

What can we do, to solve the problems, in Jamaica and The Caribbean?

Let us take some time out to do some very deep thinking and soul searching. As we are well aware dealing with constant negativity is a sure way of destroying one’s health! The problems in Jamaica and the Caribbean are well chronicled, crime, opportunistic, avaricious politicians, inefficient, ineffective governance and greatest of all short coming a lack of vision and the list go on and on………

 Now for the billion dollar question: What can/will we do about it? Constant complaining/criticizing/condemning and pointing out the myriad problems, is not the solution! I refuse to spend my time in futile pursuit of the utterances of evil politicians who are in government only to get elected or reelected and increase their wealth. That is certainly an exercise in futility and a complete waste of time!Now let us deal with some positive solutions.Since the present system has proven to an abject failure in excess of fifty years, then it must be radically changed! 

This can be achieved by instituting term limits on elected officials, and anyone presently in government must be barred from participating, in any future government, and must have no affiliation with any political party! Both parties must be dissolved and new parties formed!I would work diligently to achieve this end! Since the present and past governments have lacked the necessary progressive ideas, and have no plans in place, to absorb the high school and university graduates, it will be up to the folks who love the country(s) to come up with these ideas.

 Example we should challenge our graduates to use their newly acquired knowledge to help solve problems, like creating devices/equipment that will generate inexpensive electricity to folks in the rural areas, (who have no electric power at present), using renewable forms of energy, also using waste organic products including human and animal to create an organic fertilizer industry! This could be accomplished by having a contest where the top four contestants receive large monetary prize, the prize money could be obtained from a lottery!

 The same thing could be done for a water purification system. An environmental/beautification campaign funded by the private sector/government initiative could be put in place. There are many things that could be accomplished without the expenditure of large amount of capital! Each citizen should be encouraged to grow vegetables, farming should be put on the front burner, we must eat what we grow, and grow what we eat. Unnecessary imports are the cause of most of our financial problems.Part I.
Part II to follow!  6/8/14

A word of warning Protect your possessions and treasures, or others will steal them. One of my pet peeves is: we have adopted many negative qualities of the USA, we have become too absorbed with ‘the here and now’, and only accept what is projected by the media. Our music is slowly being taken from us and we are contributing to it willingly. We don’t care about or show any interest in our musical history, as a result we have no foundation, hence we can easily be deceived and lead astray. Marley made it big on the world scene, and is one of Jamaica’s greatest musician/balladeer/music messengers, but he is not the only great entertainer Jamaica produced, but if one listens to the media, that, is the impression one would get Many great artists/entertainers/song writers/performers/producers of the past have been forgotten/ignored or not known about. Great foundation artist as Owen Gray, Wilfred Edwards, Bob Andy, Theophilus Beckford, Alton Ellis, Monty Morris, Ken Boothe, and many, many others are placed on the trash heap of the unappreciated. Our music is hemorrhaging internally, due an erosion of overall music quality. Back in the days of Ska; Rocksteady; and early Reggae we had great singers with great voices, great groups who could harmonize, who produced music that never grew old, the background music was performed by Jamaica’s greatest musicians, that is not the case today, where talking has replaced singing, and the lyrics are base and leave a lot to be desired. Today Reggae awards are being awarded to non-Jamaicans, we ignore this trend at our great peril, many artist from other genre (e.g. Eddie Murphy; Brittany Spears; Snoop Dogg and many others) are now making mega-Reggae hits, that is generating substantial revenues, that present Jamaican Reggae artists are not sharing, the artists are not realizing that there is a large market for high quality Reggae, that they are not providing, hence they are allowing others are fulfilling that need. Case in point: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152826662255220 If the music producers in Jamaica don’t start promoting good quality artists and music that is palatable to the rest of the world, I can fore-see others taking over the industry and Jamaican Reggae will become a foot note , in music history! Part I.

A possible bright future for Jamaica, if?
Ruel  E. Lowe
Dec 9, 2014
That island nation roughly ninety miles due south of Cuba, that goes by the name Jamaica, is almost unique. For a nation whose size is roughly one hundred and fifty miles measured from east to west and fifty miles from north to south. It is hard to believe and accept the fact that Jamaica has been a world leader in many fields, e.g. the sport of ‘Track and Field’, music in the form of Reggae Music, academics, arts and the sciences. However this small country that, many of us call home is plagued by many of the issues and problems of small developing nations,(national debt, crime, corruption and poor governance) are but a few of the major issues the island faces. 

These issues and short comings are well documented and are obvious. Solutions must therefore be presented and proposed in the form of visionary ideas to resolve many of these problems, so that many Jamaicans with skills that would benefit the country, who are presently living abroad, will be motivated to return to the island. 

On the surface crime would appear to be the greatest obstacle to progress, but I would beg to differ. In my humble opinion the thinking of the people is the major problem that must change, no matter how much funds that may be infused into the economy, no change will take place until there is a fundamental reversal in the thinking of the common citizen. Until there is a resurrection of the Jamaican work esthetics of past generations and a rejection of the freeness mentality, and begging, and there is also a rejection of the premise of “if it cum from foreign it better than local”, no progress can be achieved. 

Until there is a ‘buy what you eat locally’, and a ‘eat what you grow and grow what you eat’, become the watch words of the day, there is little hope! What is needed is inspiring leadership to arouse the populace to take pride in their county, where cleanliness and appearance of the surroundings take pride of place, and inspire the young graduating students to help solve many of the local problems such as electrical power, water conservation and water purity, the preservation of the environment and other basic things, no amount of money will solve the problem. Many of my suggestions will not require massive government spending; it will only require great ideas, vision and proper leadership! 

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Will Jamaica be a viable option?

Dec 27, 2013 by Ruel. E. Lowe

That is the big question! Will there be a Jamaica for those of us who are presently abroad, to return to? With the high crime rate, over-taxation, graft, corruption, governmental red-tape, the unfriendliness to business, lack of opportunity for the young, and most of all, a sure home invasion for returning residents. One must take a very long hard look at the present conditions on the island, and make a life and death decision as to the viability of returning. 
It was not that long ago, that Jamaica was a great place to live; you could travel anywhere anytime without fear; as a matter of fact it was during my short life time. I can remember a time when the police didn't carry firearms during the day; it was only a night that the police would carry a pistol. When I was a teenager, I can remember the Saturday evening ritual of going to Carib Theater 4:30 Matinee on a Saturday afternoon, after the movie was over, the guys would gather round to get the addresses of where the various parties were to be held later that evening. After crashing one or more of these parties, we would walk miles home (buses stop running at midnight) with no fear what so ever, we would leave the party at anywhere between 12:30 am to 1:00 AM, many times we wouldn't get home until 3:30 AM to 4:00 AM. If you were to relate that story to anyone in Jamaica today, they would call you a liar, because it would seem so far-fetched in today’s climate!
The major problems facing Jamaica are: crime, deportees, the proliferation of guns, a poorly trained police force, poor leadership/governance and the so-called human rights groups! Crime is so rampant that no foreign investment is likely, since no investor will risk their capital in a crime infested country. If one took a careful look we will see that once deportation from the US, Canada, and the U.K. became the order of the day the crime rate sky-rocketed, because no plan was set in place by the government to deal with the deportee problem, hence they were free to travel all over the island and educate the local criminals, as a result crime became organized and sophisticated. Then there is the scourge of the proliferation of fire arms, where the criminals possess more sophisticated arms than law-enforcement, it won’t be long before there is a total breakdown of law and order (anarchy)! With the moral fiber of the country eroding, the quality of the pool of individuals that police must make their selection from, will produce an inferior product, hence we have a police force that disrespect the average citizen, and display very poor behavior and lack courtesy. Our political leaders have no interest in serving the people they are just in office to enrich themselves. The most insidious and dangerous group of people are the so-called human rights organization, who are silent when criminals/terrorist commit the most heinous crimes, but when the law enforcement officials liquidate these perpetrators, they are up in arms, shouting from the top of the voices “human rights”!
We are at a cross roads, we must decide what we want, do we want our country back or are we going into the criminal cuddling business! We need to take immediate action because time is running out!!!!
I for one would like to see SS Renato Adams back on the force! The human rights organization played a large role in removing him for the force to the detriment of the country.
http://www.cvmtv.com/story.php?id=3971&type=newswatch
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Were we (Jamaica) better off under Colonialism?
by Ruel E. Lowe
November 20, 2013

This was a question posed by a very charming intelligent, articulate, patriotic sister, who was disgusted, with what she saw, taking place in her beloved country Jamaica!
She questioned whether any progress has been made under/since Independence, by Jamaica, and concluded that Jamaica was better off as a British colony?
I went along with most of her factual views, until she stated that Jamaica was better under colonialism, that is where we parted company!
If we only analyze the action/behavior/results from the surface, without finding the cause, we will end up blaming the victim, and coming up with the wrong conclusions, if we use a false premise!
Now let us take a keen careful look at the facts:
1. Under colonialism we were always thought of and treated as subjects of the colonial master (servants/second class citizens, not as equals). To many who might not be aware, there was a time under colonialism, where no dark-skinned person, regardless of academic qualification, would be seen working in any government office or a bank!
2. Whenever a colonial power granted independence to a former colony, true independence is never granted, meaning, independence was just a front, or a way to disguise the fact that they would no longer, shoulder the financial burden required to keep the colony functioning!
3. The colonial powers always reserve the right to return and repossess the country if they think the country is not doing there dictates and biddings!
4. The government is never turned over to patriots, but to chosen leaders they appoint and find palatable!
5. The big bombshell! These former colonies were never prepared for self-governance, before independence is granted, hence, they were set up for failure.
6. The education system was never designed to fulfill the needs of the former colony, but to produce workers for the colonial system.

Jamaica as a model former colony adopted many negative qualities of their colonial masters, e.g. the social stratification, where, the privileged, looked down their noses on those beneath them, hence the educated look with disdain on the ones who didn’t get the opportunity to advance academically, instead of try to raise them up to the benefit of the entire society, the educated seek accolades, self-gratification and recognition,.
Advancement will only be achieved if the leaders institute policies elevating the working class and the unfortunate.
Is there any wonder, why, we are in the present deplorable state of affairs and conditions?
We don’t seem to have nation builders in leadership, wether it because of incompetence, greed, selfishness, arrogance, re-election desires or a combination of all of the above, the country needs, knowledgeable, patriotic leaders who put Jamaica first!

Independence is not the problem, it is the implementation! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Is Jamaica running low on patriots?

by Ruel Lowe
Oct 29, 2013

Patriotism is defined as:

Love of country; devotion to the welfare of one's compatriots; the virtues and actions of a patriot; the passion which inspires one to serve one's country.

I sometime wonder! Where have all the patriots gone? Abroad?

I would say many have migrated. I have seen many Jamaican professionals in the medical field who are living abroad, go to Jamaica every year, to provide free service to the poor in both rural and inner city ghetto areas. I have seen Jamaican abroad provide scholarships for secondary and tertiary level students - e.g. PALAS, who is doing yeoman service for those they left behind in their beloved home land.

When we look at Jamaica today, the patriots seem to be few and far between! Those in positions of leadership seem to be more interested in self than country, examples are politicians, heads of organization, and those in authority.

Those in or entering politics, enter not to serve and make the lives of the people better, protect the environment, provide a business friendly atmosphere, provide jobs, or provide a stable financial foundation. They are only interested in enriching them selves at the expense of the public! Many in politics have foreign visas, just in case the state fails, they had a ‘Get out of Jail free’ card.

Others in leadership positions in associations, e.g. Track & Field, that make Jamaicans around the world feel proud and united, seem to be more interested in self promotion and attention seeking, than helping the program, that have been producing championship caliber, quality athletes for over a hundred years.

Successive government have been selling off the natural resources and national treasures of the country, they have not been protecting the environment, and the money has lost value to a point where, if you had JA$1000.00 in the bank back in 1969 when it was worth US $1200.00 US, today that $1000.00 value is less than US $10.00, yet these politicians and the others in the upper class is living like kings and sultans!

What is needed are leaders who put Jamaica first!

To be continued.....
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Why is it so difficult for some of us to deal with success?
by Ruel Lowe

July 28, 2013

Boy’s champs as we knew it then finally bore fruit, in the form of victory in the Men's 4 x 400 meters relay at the Games of the XV Olympiad, in the World Record time of 3:04.04.

I presented all these historical facts, to illustrate/inform the readers, that, we have come from a very long way!

Last Sunday 7/21/13 I was in such a happy/jolly/gleeful mood, enjoying the success of our youth athletes, at the World youth Championship, held in the Ukraine. Then out of the clear blue came the shocking/distressing news that the USA top athlete Tyson Gay tested positive for substances, on the banned list, that was followed by the news that two of Jamaica’s top sprinter also tested positive for substances, on the banned list. From that point every things went south, starting with an interruption in the broadcast of the last event, at the WYC, which Jamaica won in record time, that I was not able to witness, you can imagine how I felt, but that was only the beginning of my grief and sorrow! Starting the very next day, people who one expected better from started making outlandish and irresponsible statements!

Let me digress for a moment: The old saying goes like this; “A little learning is a dangerous thing”. This proved true, when two individuals in positions of leadership and power, I call them; { “attention seeking ‘Empty Suits’”}, by their actions, have done irreparable damage to the ‘Track and Field’ program of Jamaica. One with arrogance, by not allowing the only qualified Discus Thrower, (the only one with the “A” standard, BTW he is ranked # 11 in the world) from competing! His reason, he was not satisfied with the reasons he was given by “Dadz Morgan”, for not taking part in the National Trials! My question is what about the Jamaican people? I am willing to bet any money I have, that, if the Jamaican people had a say in the matter Brother Morgan would be on his way to the World Championships. The other clown, have been making asinine statements all week about testing 12 Y.O. children, and other stupid statements!

What is wrong with so many of the ‘book learned’ individuals, {they are not educated, educated people know how to apply their book learning, and don’t need to seek attention}, Jamaica seems to produce a surplus of these type of people, who put themselves/ego before the good of the country.


I am getting very emotional; I will continue this post later in the week!

Part two:

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Why is it so difficult for some of us deal with success?

by Ruel Lowe
July 28, 2013

Jamaica has developed a tradition in Track & Field for one hundred and three years, starting with Boys Champs, on June 29th, 1910.

History: The Championships began as a standardized sports day for six of Jamaica’s oldest high schools, Potsdam (now Munro College), St. George’s College, Jamaica College, the Wolmer’s School, New College and Mandeville Middle Grade School. Originally known as the Inter-Secondary School Championship Sports, rules and staging of the event were managed by an Organizing Committee comprising the headmasters of the six boys’ schools and was first chaired by William Cowper, headmaster of Wolmer’s. A cadre of volunteers consisting of coaches, sports masters and others served as timekeepers, starters, referees and other meet officials.

The first Boys’ Champs began just after noon at test cricket ground Sabina Park on June 29, 1910 in Kingston, Jamaica. Loosely modeled after the school athletic sports at British public schools such as Eton and Harrow, the event quickly gained popularity among Jamaica’s sport-loving public. Over six previous years, fans had attended a boys’ track meet in which athletes were given handicaps according to age, reputation and overall appearance – as in a horse race – but this format was discontinued in 1910 when new rules and a new trophy were introduced.

There is evidence of a Girls’ Athletics Championships as early as 1914 in Kingston, but after reemerging under different organizations in the 1940s, 1957, then 1961, the girls’ event had an unbroken run since being managed by the Games Mistresses Association (founded 1963), a national organization of physical education teachers.

Only sixteen schools have ever won a boys’ or girls’ championship, with Kingston College (1962–1975) boasting the longest boys’ winning streak and Vere Technical winning the girls division the most times in a row (1979–1993). In a hundred years, only Excelsior High and St. Jago High have ever won both boys’ and girls’ divisions at Champs. The feat has never been accomplished in the same year.

The Merger:

In 1999, after years of deliberation between the ISSA and GMA, and precipitated by shrinking revenues particularly at Girls’ Champs, the GMA ceded control of the girls’ event to ISSA. The two meets are now staged together over four days, beginning with field events and ending with all relays.
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Skin bleaching! Where are we going?
by Ruel E. Lowe
Part one: July 12, 2013
I sometimes wonder if this is the same country, Jamaica that was the land of birth of that stalwart, Marcus M. Garvey the father of Pan-Africanism!
I was almost reduced to tears when I viewed the skin "Bleaching" video! Seeing my poor uninformed/unfortunate brothers and sisters behaving in an outlandish and dangerous manner, displaying self-hate and a lack of love for self and kind!

Where did this self-loathing/self-hate come from? Just think! Yes you got it! Four hundred years plus, of brain washing and constant reinforcement through the media and other institutionalized methods of persuasion and entreaty! That has been responsible for many of us doing things that are not to the benefit of us and kind!

I am issuing words of warning and caution, to those of us brothers and sisters, who are more self-aware, to be very careful in our criticism/mocking/ridiculing/humoring of the “Bleachers”. Always remember we are often judged by the behavior of the least of those in our society! What we need to do is, take strong action, by educating and informing the poor unfortunate ones who practice this dangerous act of folly, of the poisonous and carcinogenic substances in this cream, and their evil properties. 
A very dear friend of mine constantly uses this phrase: “Never look down on someone, unless you are extending your hand to help them up”!
Well said and practiced!
Walk good.....

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When did Jamaica get poor?
by Ruel E. Lowe
July 8, 2013

In a time when more children/young adults are attending secondary and tertiary institutions, instead of the country/society ascending, it is declining socially and financially! That is rather puzzling, actually that defies logic! 

Digressing for a moment, I have always believed the all we need to know is revealed to us and around us, but, many of us lack the ability to discern/observe/comprehend/accept. Should we take time out to take a close look at the society today, it will become apparent that there has been gradual erosion of the moral fabric/foundation, a loss of the work ethics past generations were famous for have been replaced by scams, trickery, begging, violence and crime. I could give examples of each, but we are well aware of our shortcomings and issues. 

Our music which has always been our thermometer and barometer, is the ideal story teller of the society, it will give us an indication/insight of the direction the society is moving into. A generation ago the music had a soothing/calming/melodious flavor to it. You would be able to listen to artists/groups such as Alton Ellis, Lord Creator, Keith and Enid, the Gaylads, the Paragons and numerous others, their music would have such a calming, soothing positive effect on you! The music was more universal, in that it could, be enjoyed and appreciated by many all around the world. Today’s music has a more combative, and seems to be designed for local consumption only!

A generation or more ago we might have been financially challenged and lacking in opportunity, but we were rich with self-confidence, class, vision, and dignity. Today while the society has many more graduates, and professionals, we tend to be lacking the entrepreneurial spirit, and there is no tradition of giving-back in order to raise the lower strata of the society. Those who have achieved academic accomplishment, seem to be more interested in receiving accolades and praise, rather that providing opportunities for advancement to the less fortunate and tend to use their education as a whip, to chastise the poor.
That is when in my humble opinion is, when we started down the slippery slope of poverty.
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