Yesterday, Portia Simpson-Miller was sworn in as the first-ever female Prime Minister of Jamaica. This is a significant achievement not simply because she is only the second female political leader in the English-speaking Caribbean (the late Dame Eugenia Charles of Dominica has the honour of being the first), but because in Jamaica, testosterone levels seem to run a little higher. That this island nation is now governed by a woman is a BIG deal.
In her inaugural speech as PM, Simpson-Miller marveled that “a GIRL from Wood Hall in rural St. Catherine” had become Prime Minister of Jamaica. This proved, she surmised, that “any child, regardless of circumstances, can rise to the top.”
As she said those words, my thoughts turned to Sean Luke, the murdered six-year old, who had dreams of one day being an engineer that worked on planes and spaceships. Today is a day of protest in Trinidad – we have been asked to wear black and drive with our headlights on in a show of solidarity with Sean’s family. I am disappointed to report that only about 25% of drivers took heed of this request and lack of courtesy on the road was as commonplace as ever.
On the other hand, those of us that did have on our lights were Trinis of all ages, races and income brackets. I also noticed that a lot of male drivers remembered to turn their headlights on – fathers, grandfathers, sons, brothers – and thought this spoke volumes in a nation where men are sometimes not as present as they should be in the lives of their children.
Those charged with Sean’s murder are reportedly minors. I personally feel they should be tried as adults, but a trial without identifying the cause of the crime would be an injustice not only to Sean, but to every other child that may suffer (or is suffering) at the hands of disturbed people that our society is creating. Qualified psychiatrists and child psychologists should be brought in to identify the specific push factors that made these kids so malevolent, so that measures (social, legal) can be put in place to stop such a vicious crime from ever happening again.
As psychologist Anna Maria Mora said in a TV interview this morning, there are two things that separate us from animals – the power to think and the power to choose. Those of us that have those powers need to ensure that those who don’t are given the tools they need to be able to rise above their rage rather than succumb to it.
[...] Citizens of other Caribbean islands had their say on the Jamaican bloggers’ comments threads, and Trinidadian Francomenz devoted part of today’s post to Simpson-Miller. “This is a significant achievement not simply because she is only the second female political leader in the English-speaking Caribbean . . .,” wrote Francomenz, “but because in Jamaica, testerone levels seem to run a little higher. That this island nation is now governed by a woman is a BIG deal.” [...]
There’s not much I could add to this, or even comment on… what I do know is that many levels, the entire situation with Sean Luke is a small part of what has happened to this country, and that small part reflects the entire country.
Yes – a disturbing symptom of a much bigger problem.