Clamp down on political meetings, not dancehall
Dear Editor,
There has been an interesting account of the “tribalism” in dancehall: Gaza vs Gully, in recent months.The article, “Will Mavado get the go?”, in the December 5 Observer, tells the story of the performer’s struggle to get a permit to hold his “birthday bash” at the alternative venue.This is after the police prevented the dance from taking place at the Temple Hall site. More interesting is the picture that accompanied the article – a placard bearer with the sign, “Stop bad mine Mavado”. Over the past week we observed the police preventing a “splash” in the ghetto with lead artiste Kartel and members of his “Portmore Empire”. According to the police, the motive behind these two unprecedented actions has to do with pre-empting violence.
I read somewhere that if there is no “Gaza-Gully peace” then both performers will not be able to perform at Sting. These are serious times, I agree, but I am not sure that these actions are right. Music, like ideas, is a product of time and place, a reflection of the dominant themes of our society. We are not talking about right and wrong here. We are looking at the fact that we are unwilling to look in the mirror — to look at our time and place. These performers, whether you think they are “throwing words” like tenement-yard women, what they “see” is what you get. They have their own “prisms” through which they reflect on their observations and thinking. Of course, we are not talking about quality of artistry here!
The performers, Mavado “the Gully god” and Kartel the “Czar of the Portmore Empire”, are very much victims of those who conduct violence in their names. Before them there was and still is political tribalism. This scourge laid the foundation that evolved in a most dangerous link between violence and crime. Many of the students who participate in “high school tribalism” live in areas with high levels of political tribalism. If we can have a reasonable agreement on this matter, then it is not the dancehall artistes the police should clamp down on, but on the political parties and their meetings, etc. We have this history of blaming the victims and punishing the messengers. What or who is next? If it is the dancehall performers in the morning, who will it be in the evening? Is the Gaza and Gully “tribal interlude” a greater threat than the violence associated with political tribalism?
I am not in support of the poverty of thinking and lack of creative artistry that dominates popular culture in a world in which the mass culture reigns. I am not in support of the violence associated with dancehall music. My problem is how we respond to the matter.
thearchives01@yahoo.com
