After Dudus, what?

Keith Noel, Contributor

Some months ago, I wrote an article in which I tried to hint at the historical roots of the 'don'. I identified his antecedents in warriors who defended the village from incursions by others, in those who led slave revolts and in those who led the free villages that sprang up after emancipation and in the bad old days of colonial rule.

Then, when at independence we lost the opportunity to recreate ourselves in our own image and simply replaced the white rulers with black ones, we started in motion a process that has led us to where we are today. The people's attitudes to political leadership never changed. We still believed that those for whom we voted should repay us by giving us handouts and 'seeing bout' us. And, as the slice of the economic pie that was available to the working classes shrank in relation to its numbers, the system evolved where the supporters of whichever political party was in power would 'eat food' while the others suffered.

Then came government high-rise housing, where the supporters of whichever political party was in power when they were built, would be given sole proprietorship of the houses/apartments. Tivoli Gardens was the first and set the standard. The occupants paid little or no rent and sometimes enjoyed public utilities free as well. This increased the importance of 'your' party winning the elections. Hence the political 'garrison'. Now, if Tivoli is the 'mother of all garrisons', she has spawned many sons and daughters.

Put together the historical development of 'area leaders', the growth of garrisons and the burgeoning acceptance of corrupt or at least extra-legal ways of running our society and one sees how natural the evolution of the 'don' was. When election time approached, the 'area leader' was crucial to the political campaign. After the election was won, he became a 'contractor' and had a say in all government work that was given out in his area.

Fatal day

Then came the fatal day when, to facilitate his work, the politician provided him with guns. Fatal because, after the election work was done, he used these guns to finance the growing needs of his gang - extortion of businessmen, the control of taxi stands, the drug trade, etc. The don soon became a financial power outside of the political sphere. This grew until the biggest dons could each help to finance his chosen political party.

There was another important historical element. The police force, which in colonial times was used to keep the masses in line, was never 'reinvented' after independence. Many an old-time Rastaman could tell you of the abuse the police were encouraged to wreak on this symbol of Black self-affirmation. So, to the garrison or ghetto dweller, they never became 'our police', but remain a symbol of an external authority. So when the police attempt to wrest control from a don, some community members almost see this as an attack on the natural order. This is exacerbated by the fact that when the police did arrest such don, the politician stepped in and ensured his release.

So it is, therefore, no surprise that the people of a community have set up barricades and prepare themselves to battle with the police force in defence of their don.

No surprise, but untenable. So what can we now do?

We can do nothing to 'solve' the immediate problem. I sympathise with many of the people who live behind the barricades, but the security forces will have to find a way to have those barriers removed, by force if necessary. We must also insist that the police stay within the law when they act. I hope that the recent trauma suffered by the leadership of Jamaicans for Justice does not lessen their vigilance here. And we must decide what message we want to send to those politicians who would wish to come out and vilify the security forces.

But to ultimately solve the problem, we must look again at what we teach our children in and out of school: Christian values; pride in race and country; respect for themselves, for others, for our culture, our language, our ancestral life. Teachers, pastors, playwrights, DJs, singers, radio and TV stations, all, we must work together to recreate our nation!

Keith Noel is an educator. Feedback may be sent to columns@gleanerjm.com