So there we were over the past fortnight celebrating the greatness of trailblazer Joyce Archibald, master blender Joy Spence, and former poet laureate Mervyn Morris when we got our pride ripped to shreds by the violence visited upon our children. Again we ask, how do we knit the qualities of greatness into a safety net for our troubled children?

At the celebration of Archibald’s 90th birthday, I heard numerous stories of this corporate wonder, one of the first women senior executives in the insurance industry. Lesline Chisholm shared that her first job was with Life of Jamaica, where Joyce was her boss. Lesline lived out of town and had difficulty commuting to work. She said Archibald offered to have her stay at her home and treated her like a daughter. Another man remembered how she interviewed him for his first job and mentored him throughout his life.

The multitalented Archibald served as chair of her alma mater, Convent of Mercy Academy “Alpha”, for over two decades. She also chaired the boards of Cinematograph Authority, St Richard’s Primary School, and was secretary of the Our Lady of the Angels Preparatory School board. Her daughter, attorney-at-law Jo-Anne Archibald, shared that her mother was “an excellent dancer, singer, and actress. She won national drama awards and was Miss Ena in
Dulcimina”, that riveting radio drama series. She noted that Archibald was devoted to charitable works, serving Maxfield Park Children’s Home and the Stella Maris Prison Ministry for years.

Our International Women’s Forum (IWF) Jamaica toured the Joy Spence Appleton Estate experience last week. Yes, the experience is named after the world’s first female master blender, a former lecturer, who, after a stint at Tia Maria, decided she wanted to join J Wray and Nephew Limited. She audaciously sent them her resume, was first turned down and then called back, eventually bringing glory and untold wealth to the company. She is a legend, declared by
Fortune magazine to be the “most influential woman in food and drink”. Joy remains humble and engaging and credits her success to her coach master blender Owen Tulloch, who she succeeded.

My Mervyn Morris moment: there I was, a rookie writer at the
Jamaica Daily News, when my great professor from The University of the West Indies congratulated me on one of my poems and told me that he had read it in his selection of Jamaican poetry at a UK event. Professor Morris has mentored and affirmed countless aspirants.

No wonder there was standing room only when the National Library of Jamaica (NLJ) unveiled a bust of Professor Morris, created by Kay Sullivan, last Sunday. Velma Pollard gave thoughts on his latest collection,
Last Reel, followed by him reading his rich, relatable work.

Ian Randle, who had vowed that he would not publish poetry, said this was his 15th Mervyn Morris publication. It was an impeccable event, thanks to emcee Fae Ellington, NLJ Chair Joy Douglas and national librarian Beverley Lashley, who recognised the significant initiatives of her predecessor Winsome Hudson, and Special Programmes Director Royane Green.

So much greatness yet so much grief. Dr Lucien Jones, unfailing advocate for road safety, shared mixed emotions in his weekly blog as he reflected on Alicia Keys’ song
Fallin: “A song which, as it got into my head, reflects my, perhaps our, relationship with my beloved country, Jamaica, land we love. That we keep ‘fallin’ in love, best place on earth, nowhere no better than yard, only to be heartbroken. Again! For, what beast, what rage in the heart of a young man could cause him to stab another youth. Kill him, and now end up in jail charged for murder! What beast, what rage in the heart of a man born of a woman, and made in the image and likeness of God, propels, once again, (people fraid a dem) a gunman on a bike, to train his deadly weapon on two schoolchildren, kill one and injure the other?”

Jason McKay wrote about the ‘gang family’ in which unattached youth are controlled by so-called dons. How do we get to them before the gangs encircle them? When our children sing, “I am a promise, I am a possibility,” they are looking to us to nurture their dreams so that one day they can be celebrated like Archibald, Spence, and Morris.

Think Like a Hacker

An ‘ethical hacker’ can save the very existence of a company, and so we listened with interest to Rory Ebanks, keynote speaker at the fourth Rickert Allen Lecture sponsored by National Commercial Bank (NCB) and held at the University of the Commonwealth Caribbean (UCC) last week. In his lecture titled ‘Think Like a Hacker’, Ebanks, director of cybersecurity at Symptai Consulting, opened our eyes to the risks we face in the digital space.

“Every 39 seconds there is a successful attack… that means for every single day, that’s over 2,000 successful attacks. Ninety-two per cent of that malware has been delivered through e-mail. Malware is malicious software,” he explained. He warns that we should not click on attachments or suspicious links if we do not recognise the sender.

He said that the average ransom demanded by hackers is US$4 million, so hundreds of companies which have been hacked have had to go out of business. Hackers can be terrorists or thrill seekers, and members of your own staff who already have access to your system. “Even your neighbour could be a hacker — maybe they don’t want to pay for Wi-Fi and they try to break in and get free Wi-Fi.”

He warned about hotel and airport Wi-Fi as well. “Open Wi-Fi is a very prime example of how hackers can target everyone.” Cloud-based attacks are also on the increase. Here is how Ebanks says we can mitigate risks: use strong passwords (Jamaican language is hard to crack); use two-factor authentication; conduct security awareness training; perform backups, encrypt and test them, update devices and applications; practise e-mail hygiene.

We also received sound advice from Dane Nicholson, NCB; Otis Osbourne, UCC; and Superintendent Warren Williams, Jamaica Constabulary Force.

It was an excellent event, thanks to UCC President Professor Colin Gyles; Keneia Mattis, director of NCB Foundation; and Belinda Williams, NCB Corporate Affairs head. Congratulations to Octasha Sterling, this year’s Rickert Allen scholar and an outreach star in her own right.

Bankers meet with CCRP

At last year’s CCRP annual general meeting a resolution was passed that the organisation, which advocates for seniors, should meet with Jamaica Bankers Association (JBA) to air its members’ grievances. These include non-functioning automated teller machines (ATM); long waits, even at times set aside for seniors; scamming/bank fraud; excessive fees; inefficiency; and new measures.

CIBC, NCB, and Sagicor have hosted several events to assist our members in understanding digital banking, but there are seniors who are unable to manage digital transactions due to connectivity and other factors. We thank the JBA representatives for meeting with us online and suggesting a face-to-face discussion which should assist in the resolution of these issues.

Jean Lowrie-Chin is the author of Souldance and founder of CCRP. Send comments to lowriechin@aim.com.