SHUT 'EM UP! - 'Too much freedom in the name of creative expression'
DECLARING THAT Jamaica's music has died, producer Mikey Barnett says the Government needs to restrict freedom of expression if the society is to survive. "The Government has failed in its role to protect the society from itself - meaning artistes of today. There is too much freedom in the name of creative expression," Barnett told a recent Gleaner Editors' Forum. Barnett argued that the Govern-ment had allowed a small societal sore to turn into gangrene before trying to fix it. He said the decline in Jamaica's music is going to be impossible to address because the State allows everyone to freely express what he or she wants through areas such as music. However, the director of public prosecutions has said freedom of expression is not the problem.
Paula Llewellyn told The Sunday Gleaner that it is inertia and lethargy on the part of many citizens which is the root cause of the problem. "Everybody is guaranteed - under our Constitution and by virtue of being a human being in a civilised society where principles of democracy hold - freedom of expression," Llewellyn said. "Too many of us are afraid to rock the boat, in that we do not wish to be singled out as pointing out that the content of a song like Informer Fi Dead can undermine the moral fibre of the society and help to inculcate fear in respect of doing your duty if you have witnessed wrongdoing or a breach of criminal law," Llewellyn told The Sunday Gleaner. Last week, Barnett told a Gleaner Editors' Forum that he did not support dancehall music because of what it stood for. He charged that the music bred violence and spewed profanity throughout the society and should be controlled through legislation.
"It is a lack of political will that has caused this, because whenever they (legislators) attempt to put in laws, people say you are stifling their creative expression, and so they back off," Barnett said. In defence of his stance, the music producer said persons should not "defend creative expression at the risk of destroying the society". "We have to make up our minds whether we want freedom of expression for everybody, or a controlled situation to protect our children," Barnett said. However, Llewellyn argued that people should be more cognisant of lyrics and be willing to speak up against transgressions. She said Jamaicans should respect each other's right to freedom of expression but "be prepared to indicate that the particular lyrical content of a song is not appreciated". Llewellyn's position has the backing of Senator Warren Newby, parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports.
No role to play
He argued that the State should not infringe on a person's freedom. "If an adult decides that slackness is his or her form of entertainment, I don't think the State should get involved to say 'You can't listen to that'. If he pays to go into a venue that is sanitised from the general public and wants to listen to slackness in that venue, then the Government has no role to play in that matter," Newby said. He added: "What needs to be emphasised in today's Jamaica is the role of parenting. People must take personal and social responsibility. "We must empower communities and the parents to take greater care of the socialisation of the children so in the event that they hear music that is not wholesome, they know not to gravitate towards it," Newby said.
GT Taylor gives back to community
Now celebrating its 10th year and recently having inked a title sponsorship deal with new power drink from Wray and Nephew tonic wine line, Jagra, the GT Taylor Christmas Extravaganza has seen marked progress and has been used to facilitate social and health issues.
Last year, an unprecedented number of patrons took advantage of HIV/Aids tests made available at the event on the invitation of GT Taylor. Each year, GT Taylor Christmas Extravaganza uses its staging to carry a message. Last year's 'Peace and Love' theme enjoyed another incident- free staging. This year, the theme for the event is 'Caring and Sharing Through Music,' and as usual, GT Taylor is leading by example.
Care Committee
Over the years, the event has in some way benefited one group or another in some form, be it a donation of computers to the Black River Primary School and youth clubs, sports gear for a community football team, or the event's most recent beneficiary, the St Elizabeth Care Committee. The parish's care group, Angels, is responsible for feeding, bathing and sheltering more than 20 homeless persons. "We use the show to bring awareness to people about the homeless. I got involved with the Care Committee year before last after talking with the Mayor of Black River, Mrs Holmes. Through the initiative of people like Mrs Joyce Francis, every Tuesday, the homeless of the parish are treated to the kind of care they need - food, shelter, bath, and such. We hope that other parishes will also make their contribution to the homeless situation," Taylor said.
No link between dancehall and violence among youth - UWI study shows link statistically insignificant
A study on violence and dancehall, led by Dr Donna Hope-Marquis, has found that there is no correlation between the two. Funded by the Office of the Principal at the University of the West Indies (UWI), through the Special Initiatives Research Fund, the research was conducted among 300 15-24 year-olds in Kingston, St Andrew, St Catherine and Clarendon between June and August this year. Hope-Marquis is a lecturer in Reggae Studies at the UWI. For there to be a statistically significant link, there would have had to be a correlation of over 0.05 per cent between dancehall and violence. "The results were so insignificant that they could not be used as a guiding principle," Hope-Marquis told The Sunday Gleaner. Control and case grouping were used in the study and the persons participating were asked to respond to questionnaires which established, among other factors, their social background, music consumption and perception of music. In both cases, dancehall music was the favourite music, followed by R&B. When asked if they believed dancehall music promoted violence, 55 per cent of the control group said yes, compared to 42 per cent of the case group. However, it is a case of the music being violent but not making them feel violent personally.
Forty-two per cent of the control group said that family members were influenced by dancehall music, and 37 per cent said friends, with the remaining percentage saying themselves. For the case group, it was 20.7 per cent family, 36.7 per cent friends, and themselves the remaining percentage. Among the influences individual respondents identified were a desire to dress and dance like the artiste, with many respondents speaking to smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol. There was also the encouragement not to give up, to take up the gun, language and hairstyle, to become an artiste, having lots of sex, to get a good education, and fighting. One respondent said that it "opened my eyes to see how others live", while another spoke about the influence "to become a gallis". Hope-Marquis says the study is leading in a direction of not just looking at the cultural aspects of music and documenting it for posterity, "but also to try and understand from a scientific perspective how the music impacts on the society".
Curious
She pointed out that Jamaica has had a music industry for 50 years and we need a clear understanding of how it is woven into the lives of the people and what use they make of it. While Hope-Marquis has been on various panels and been involved in discussions, they have largely been about opinions. "I am curious, after being in the eye of the storm for about 10 years," she said. So now, someone is in a position to say definitively, "Based on the study done in 2009, there is no statistical correlation between youth consumption of dancehall music and violence." "This study says that to me. Full stop," Hope-Marquis said.
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