Bennett Land is a community that is very similar to Majestic Gardens, which we showed photos of in a previous article. They are both located in the constituency of the former Prime Minister and current leader of the opposition People’s National Party, Hon. Portia Simpson-Miller.

In 2006 I made an impromptu visit to the community along with my assistant. It was a very shocking and horrific experience as I did not yet fully understand the extent of the poverty that some Jamaicans lived in. I met a woman who became our tour guide–residents, the majority of whom were women, claimed  that she was mentally ill.

This “mentally ill” woman had no fear in showing us exactly what life was like for her–Hunger, Nakedness, and Shame. We were told that she had about 8 CXC subjects and that she was studying Nursing when she became ill, and since then it has been a downhill road. Our tour guide affirmed this story, while taking us via car throughout the community in the middle of a gun battle in September 2006, while the local NGOs S-Corner Community Development Centre and Clinic were closed. Though the environment was cold, and the streets were creeping with official and unofficial armed men, we were given the opportunity of seeing first hand what life was like for an inner-city resident while their community was in war.

Though our tour guide was the only one bearing the label of ‘insanity’, her living standard reflected accurately the extremity of poverty that was visible in all the yards that we visited. The story was, as I said before, similar to Majestic Gardens–public toilets in dilapidated conditions, houses constructed of used metal and pieces of board, lack of potable water, unemployment, inability to send children to school, and crime and violence.

Visit our Jamaican Videos page for a closer look at life and crime in Bennett Land.

Its just amazing how we spend so much time, resources, and lives flushing out a few criminals, but we invest nothing into the sustainable development of the poor who are trapped in crime riddled communities, which are already casualties of economic and social injustice.

This video addresses a very sensitive and controversial issue in Jamaica, Tivoli Gardens and Crime.

It is real difficult for me not to throw personal experiences into this picture, especially because I am still a youth, which is quite the contrary to what my birth country, Jamaica, will recognize, as our youth age ends at 24 years. The National Youth Services (NYS), National Centre for Youth Development (NCYD), and other state agencies and ministries do not recognize me as youth, although I am at the regional level. This means that young people in the 25- 30 age cohort in Jamaica have been left out on a limb. We are not morally accepted as adults, and we are not legally recognized as youth. What a conundrum?

In Jamaica the overwhelming majority of those who are unemployed are youth, with employment trending upwards as you move from the youngest, 14 years, to the oldest youth age, 30 years. I must say that in my almost 11 years as a working youth I have not seen or experienced much changes.

Youth work often times limits and predisposes employees to: entry level positions and assistants posts; low remuneration compared to the actual responsibilities of youth and what they generally qualify for; reluctance of agency and organizational leaders to hire youth in leadership positions that they are qualified and experienced for; use of stigmatizing terms to refer to youth in employment, e.g. young Tom come and carry out the coffee; unequal pay and benefits compared to an adult in the same position with the same responsibilities and qualification; disproportional representation of youth in all levels of work and national leadership; and exploitation of youth time in promise for sustainability.

I attended the Commonwealth Youth Lecture (Jamaica) 2008 at the Courtleigh Auditorium on Thursday, October 9. The theme for the event was: “Youth Mainstreaming: The Key to National Development.” It was at this lecture that I encountered the term youth work in Dr. Fatiha Serour’s presentation. Its usage immediately struck a chord in my brain, and it was like giving voice to something that was once mute. On hearing the term, I reached to my friend next to me and said, “Youth work, I never knew that youth do a different kinda work from adults? ” It really woke me up!

Dr. Fatiha Serour

I immediately turned my eyes to the agenda in hand and the presenters who were sitting immediately before me–the most significant role was being played by an adult. While I respect Dr. Serour and found several valuable lessons from her lecture, I believe that she too has contributed to the marginalization of the youth–a key issue which she articulates in her presentation. Looking at the agenda from a youth work perspective, all roles, except that of the Lecture, were entry level and assistants posts–they were all played by youth: welcome, prayer, greetings, cultural item, introduction of speaker, and the vote of thanks. The young man who introduced Dr. Serour even introduced her as a youth–what a calamity?

When will young people wake up and see that they are marginalized in work because the adults refuse to make employment standardized and equally accessible and available despite age, creed, race, religion, etc. Can you imagine that in this day and age, Jamaica a western country, roughly 200 miles outside of the United States of America, does not have an equal employment opportunity Act? Further more, there is absolutely no nondiscriminatory clause to address issues of youth and religion in the Equal Work for Equal Pay Act. What an archaic state of affairs?

We, the youth, need to envision the day when we will be delivering the Commonwealth Youth Lecture, when we have eliminated the concept of youth work, and are able to stand in equality with adults in employment. If we fail to do this, we will fail to exist, as Dr. Serour said in her presentation, the face of poverty was once a woman’s, now it is the face of a Youth. Young people, get up and stand up for your rights!

Greetings, Minister of State

Cultural Item, Commonwealth Youth Lecture, Jamaica, 2008

Introduction of Speaker, Youth Ambassador

Vote of Thanks, Youth Ambassador

I know that skin lightening is not a new phenomenon in a world such as ours, which is driven by beauty. As a Jamaican female I was always exposed to skin lightening products–as a matter of fact a large number of Jamaicans can recall the Nadinola jars on our moms’ dresser tops or in the bathrooms.

It was not too long ago when I was a child–the 1980s has really flown by–when the Nadinola jar reigned supreme. Now is 2008–my daughter Taitu is 5 years–and it is evident that its gotta be more than Nadinola and Ponds. The ‘lighteners’ have turned ‘bleachers,’ this phenomenon, which was private and unnamed during my childhood is now very popular and public.

The bleachers are ‘white’ in color, they are no longer purely female–They are male and female: young people and full grown adults/ parents. The teacher was once a role model, now she too engages in skin lightening. None is exempt from the Skin Lightening Addiction, which is not recognized by any of the addiction response agencies.

The Chiney (Chinese) shops, located in every nook and cranny of the communities used by the poor, are said to be the main distributors of the forbidden products that are craved after by males and females in the Jamaican society. The products are so widely available, despite Government sanctions, that our in-school and out-of-school youth, especially of the inner-city, are characterized by pale faces, dark necks, and torsos.

I remember, in 2004, approaching a student of mine about the issue–stimulated by the strong urging of her class peers. She told me that her mother and aunt who lived with her lightened their skin, the products were readily available at home (just like the Nadinola was in the 1980s), and that her mother approved of her doing it. The young lady could not see any ills in skin lightening, only benefits, such as being more popular, and being seen as more attractive. This experience was eye opener for me, which propelled me to address the issue through video advocacy. Though my film is far from completion, I believe this one is a good precursor.

I believe, and it is my experience that skin lightening products are sought after for the following reasons:

1. Beauty- Jamaicans perceive a beautiful person to be a light skinned person. If you should listen to songs emanating out of our Dancehall, you will find the praise of the ‘browning’ (the woman of lighter hue)
2. Success- there is also a strong belief in Jamaican society that success, progress, and growth is associated with light color, and hence an infamous Jamaican saying, “nutten black nuh good,”
   
3. Fad- the American market is very influential in Jamaica. We watch their TV stations and suck in all sorts of things from their culture, which in turn influences our taste. If African Americans can lighten theirs, why can’t we? Hence the super strong skin lightening cream called the Michael Jackson is also available
4. Cool- some people think it kinda looks cool, especially if it is not overdone, thus enhancing their beauty or color in much the same way as make-up does
5. Skin Conditions- others argue that it cleans off spots, blotches, and bumps
6. Inferiority Complex- historians and social scientists identify it as remnant of our colonial past, where blacks were made to feel inferior and their features, including color were ridiculed
7. Denial of Opportunities- More than 90 percent of Jamaicans are of African decent, and they are the ones who are disproportionately affected by the denial of economic and social rights and justice
8. Confidence- there is a certain confidence that a light skinned Jamaican comes with–owing to experiences of privileging at different levels in the private and public spheres of society
9. Societal Acceptance- marginalized groups like the Jamaican poor and youth crave attention and acceptance from their peers, which they get when they lighten their skin.

This is the first Jamaican video that I got my hands on since expressing an interest in the issue in Summer 2007, when I was trained at the Video Advocacy Institute, Concordia University. I have since that time made attempts to commence my research in order to produce a 15 minutes video for public education amongst in-school students. I commenced the proposal but have not completed it. I completed the secondary research, but did not follow-up with a report. I found significant useful resources, I created useful resources, such as: a Questionnaire and Informed Consent Policy, which I am sure by now, you will realise need to be updated and made consistent to reflect changes in the situation and new information gained.

In managing the HIV Prevention Project since August 2008, I have done a whole lot of planning and research in order to ensure that success was achievable. The success of the Stakeholders Meeting was largely due to my high level of motivation, but I will not dare underestimate the hours that I spent preparing the following documents which also guaranteed my success with the HIV Prevention Advocacy Project–at least from the scientific point of view: Advocacy Plan, Advocacy Monitoring & Evaluation Report, Press Release, Media Advisory, Advocacy Introductory Letter, Stakeholders Meeting Invitation Letter, Advocacy Presentation, Stakeholders Database , Advocacy Meetings via telephone and face-to-face, and Stakeholder Meeting Invitation Cards.

I shared my presentation space with Shellie Ann Anderson a wonderful young woman who I met through the social networking site Facebook, who emerged as Top Recruiter of our Facebook Cause and Group. My Advocacy Presentation focussed on the need to complement HIV Prevention programming with the Internet, specifically Web 2.0 technologies, so as to increase interactivity, inclusiveness, and reaching out to youth through avenues that they are already participating in.

A number of issues were raised by meeting participants, which included the need for the revision of the Jamaica Report Card to reflect changes in the national environment since its publication; the need for it to be sensitive to the culture of Jamaica in terms of the use of terminologies such as: rape, buggery, and cult; and the need for the inclusion of minorities, such as Rastafarians and Musicians in HIV Prevention Programming for Youth.

By the end of the meeting, participants came to consensus that there was need for the following next steps:

1. Update of the Jamaica Report Card (2006),
2. Revise the Draft Youth Declaration to reflect the concerns, recommendations, and gaps articulated by the Stakeholders Meeting participants,
3. Facilitate follow-up meeting with stakeholders, in mid January 2009, who signed the Commitment Form to support the National Working Group (NWG) on HIV Prevention for Youth, and
4. Circulate the revised Youth Declaration to participants who committed to supporting the NWG for their feedback within two weeks subsequent to hosting the Stakeholders Meeting.

Some stakeholders expressed concern about the formation of the NWG, because of their belief that it might represent a duplication of work being done by other working groups and boards, which were formed to oversee HIV/AIDS programming in Jamaica. They reiterated the need for collaboration and partnership as an alternative approach to the formation of an independent NWG.