did busta mash up jamaica?

[mountaingal]

l


well dem hug up sista P ...but maybe is a different time

well, times have changed indeed - santa cruz as far as i know was a diehard jlp town, but dem embrace miss price in the last election. my cousin, tho, daughter to my gran-aunty, maintains her jlp allegiance fiercely and at times irrationally.

i confess i don't know enough of busta's contemporary actions and influence beyond the usual mocking stories about his illiteracy, and the story that he asked for a bit of the british flag to be kept in the new jamaica flag (hence the diagonal cross). it seems as if he really cared about jamaica and the poorer, disenfranchised jamaicans, and maybe he did relate to them in a way that others didnt. i've read rachel manley's books on her family, i should seek out an equal history of busta.

[mountaingal]

Yet Busta lost an election to Norman.....Was Busta whiter than Norman ? it may have been vocalised and I have seen an heard it, but pale candidates lost to blacker candidates at the ballot box at numerous elections. (Tavares Finson did not make it as a major force in Jamaican poltics) .. i really dont know....Norman Manley was seen more sophisticated and cultured..

odd then Busta wife was darker and Norman wife was paler... So Lady Busta would be a ******* play ting and Norman Manley would be a sell out on the Jamaicans.com

I actually beleive that Busta contribution has been devalued more and more as years have gone by... because he was of a different environment and colour was not the sole factor of his popularity.... Also he was not a ideologist... He did have in his leadership alot of exceptional individuals.. Sangster, Lightbourne are two that spring to mind...

Compare our Prime Ministers and Cheif Ministes administration for their contribution and i think that Busta was one of our top 3... Norman, Busta, Shearer

am willing to admit that my attempt at colour correlations may be too simplistic when talking about busta and his role and impact in jamaica and with black jamaicans. i did meet his wife during the 80s at a few functions. she seemed a nice and uncomplicated woman, and if recall correctly, heard from her or from her people the romantic story of her being busta's secretary and the two of them falling in love.

did i ever tell you that i saw a video in which an elderly policeman cried as he talked about how he nearly arrested busta, and how in hindsight, he realized he almost arrested a national hero? that made me really angry and for a long time i couldnt understand my reaction until i realized that the man shouldnt feel bad about what he "almost" did because he would just have been doing his job, and had it been anybody else, dem wouldan gone a jail no discussion. i also realized that growing up in canada as a minority made me jump first to race and colour as a filter for understanding things, which is a very limited viewpoint for sure.

[mountaingal]

Have u ever heard her go off script.. compare her to Busta who could deflect and seemed tio have a beeter command of facts than sister P.....(i still say her acceptance speech as prime minister was the worst ever speech i heard!)

i liked her acceptance speech, enuh. it felt very motherly, and fit my viewpoint that jamaica is overdue for parenting. but alas, sister p seems to have run out of prime ministerial promise.

[Wahalla]

well, times have changed indeed - santa cruz as far as i know was a diehard jlp town, but dem embrace miss price in the last election. my cousin, tho, daughter to my gran-aunty, maintains her jlp allegiance fiercely and at times irrationally.

i confess i don't know enough of busta's contemporary actions and influence beyond the usual mocking stories about his illiteracy, and the story that he asked for a bit of the british flag to be kept in the new jamaica flag (hence the diagonal cross). it seems as if he really cared about jamaica and the poorer, disenfranchised jamaicans, and maybe he did relate to them in a way that others didnt. i've read rachel manley's books on her family, i should seek out an equal history of busta.

I beleive there was about 4 options for the flag... all with the same colours...Note it is a Saltaire not a cross of St George or St David... i like to tell the scots we have a better more colourful saltaire and they copied us! usually they are stumped at that and

Can i confess that i too feel i should learn more of busta and Norman. I think i know the basics of what we were taught on heros day, their profiles on the radio... My father was not a fan of his and told me stories.... and bits and peices i have read over the years.... i know more about Stalin and Hitler than them!...... Does Norman grandaughters book look at his World War i experience or how he won the military medal ??????

MG i dont discount your veiw on race poltics in Jamaica.....notice i never argued with you.. i simply pointed out another aspect, i feel there is some validity to the comment,.....Anita Waters wrote a very good book on it.... But it has always been a fluid notion in Jamaica

[jah_yout]

Funny because Comrades claim Jamaica not mash up. But to make a false impression stick suddenly Jamaica mash up?
Explain how dropping out of the Federation mash up Jamaica when Jamaica went to even greater economic success post-federation?

the federation was never given a chance mainly because of jamaica...

i can't imagine that the "west-indies" nor jamaica could be worse off today in a federation system...

[Tropicana]

the federation was never given a chance mainly because of jamaica...

i can't imagine that the "west-indies" nor jamaica could be worse off today in a federation system...

I agree and comparing the performance of Barbados which has no natural resources with Jamaica that has natural resources is a good indicator of that.

[Tropicana]

it in the gleaner so it must be true ..even though they qualify it as being "apocryphal"

If I heard the story from one of the older people who was around at this time and a bonafide journalistic source is telling the identical story. Chance are is true.

It's called independent confirmation.

I want to hear how he spoke though.

[RichD]

If I heard the story from one of the older people who was around at this time and a bonafide journalistic source is telling the identical story. Chance are is true.

It's called independent confirmation

did you actually read the article you posted?

I see a trend and it explains a lot?

[Tropicana]

I would like to see independent confirmation about the story about I. Barrant I think his name was.....the politician who used to be a side man on a truck who kept drinking the water in the finger bowl at a gala. "Bwoy dem going kill a man wid _____ watah."

I heard that despite his humble beginnings and difficulties with the English language and social graces, he did an EXCELLENT job representing his constituency. People were vey sad to see him go when he passed away. Not sure if he was JLP or PNP. My guess is JLP based on the party demographics at the time.

[Tropicana]

Found this. Looks interesting and it is relevant to the topic at hand. This woman blames Busta.
The Evolution of Political Violence in Jamaica 1940-1980



Kareen Felicia Williams

By the 1960s violence became institutionalized in modern Jamaican politics. This endemic violence fostered an unstable political environment that developed out of a symbiotic
relationship between Jamaican labor organizations and political violence. Consequently, the
political process was destabilized by the corrosive influence of partisan politics, whereby party
loyalists dependent on political patronage were encouraged by the parties to defend local
constituencies and participate in political conflict. Within this system the Jamaican general
election process became ominous and violent, exemplifying how limited political patronage was
dispersed among loyal party supporters.


This dissertation examines the role of the political parties and how they mobilized
grassroots supporters through inspirational speeches, partisan ideology, complex political
patronage networks, and historic party platform issues from 1940 through 1980.

The dissertation argues that the development of Jamaican trade unionism and its corresponding
leadership created the political framework out of which Jamaica’s two major political parties,
the Jamaica Labor Party (JLP) and People’s National Party (PNP) emerged.

Within the evolution of their support base Jamaican politicians such as Alexander Bustamante utilized their influence
over local constituencies to create a garrison form of mobilization that relied heavily upon
violence.

First me hearing dat.

By investigating the social and political connection between local politicians and
violence, this dissertation examines how events such as the Henry Rebellion in 1960, the 1978
Green Bay Massacre, and the public murder of the PNP candidate Roy McGann in 1980

Reading it now:

PDF FILE Kareen Williams Download:

https://academiccommons.columbia.edu/download/fedora_content/download/ac:157026/CONTENT/Williams_columbia_0054D_10107.pdf

[Tropicana]

Okay he is pointing to Busta's role in the strikes and riots and then comes to this point:

Upon his release from jail, Bustamante accused other labor leaders of “acting to destroy his union through socialism, unholy combination of certain persons with political ambition
whose objective is that of destroying me and then to assume control of the union as a political
machine to serve their own big friends.”


Manley responded to Bustamante’s accusations by arguing that Bustamante had made a secret agreement with Governor Richards and his actions since his release was evidence of that arrangement. Manley’s accusation was justified because
the Public Record Office in London released documents in 1993, which proved that Bustamante
had an agreement with the British government to break his affiliation with the PNP in return for
his release.

Manley also charged Bustamante with ingratitude for all that was done on his
behalf. Manley formulated a plan that would sever PNP association with the BITU “because I
knew that people were saying that Bustamante was detained because he was associated with the PNP, and the government did not like the PNP. I asked him if it was true and this is what he
said: the government had taken him out of detention camp before a high officer and asked him
to sign a document promising to denounce the PNP as a condition of his getting out.”

The tension and conflict between Bustamante and Manley became the catalyst for the polarization
of party politics and the rapid deterioration of the political process that would later be reflected
in the institutionalization of political violence, which was evident in the inter-party conflict.

That was further supported by Manley’s assertion that once again, the colonial government was seeking to divide the union movement and the PNP in an effort to gain control over the progressive forces behind political, economic, and social reconstruction.

Bustamante denied these claims and began purging the union leadership of anyone who
opposed his authority.

Wow!

[Tropicana]

Another incident: Page 81

With the advent of the 1955 general elections, violence intensified as Bustamante’s and
Manley’s electioneering campaign strategies encouraged the active participation of loyal party
supporters, which resulted in clashes between rival opponents in order to protect not only
political patronage but also the privileges extended to the party that won. Pre-election tension
erupted in the PNP-affiliated Gordon Town area, and The Daily Gleaner reported that a farmer,
Benjamin Taylor, was stabbed to death while many others were injured. The conflict began
when Alexander Bustamante pushed councilor Wills Isaacs, a member of the opposition, and
was in turn struck in the face by a stone.199 According to witnesses, the problem began at 3
o’clock in the afternoon when a truckload of PNP laborers singing anti-JLP songs were attacked
by JLP supporters armed with stones; the men in the truck disembarked and retaliated against
those throwing stones. The JLP workers fled the scene down a local gully. Benjamin Taylor, a JLP
supporter, was caught, beaten, and eventually stabbed.200 It was further reported that once the
rioting began, Manley arrived to address the crowd in an attempt to prevent further
violence.



Upon his return, Bustamante was heckled and chastised by the crowd; and when he attempted to leave the area, stones were thrown at his car. In his haste to leave the scene, the
back door of Bustamante’s car was left open and three police constables were injured as the
car sped away. Bustamante retreated to the courthouse where Norman Manley was holding a
rally, and he verbally confronted Manley.202
The Daily Gleaner reported the exchange between
the two men: “Mr. Bustamante had gone up to the courthouse steps where Mr. Manley stood.
Harsh words passed between them. Mr. Bustamante turned to Superintendent Donald G.
Neish, who was nearby and said, gas them and gas Manley too.”203 In his haste to depart,
Bustamante engaged in a scuffle with Wills Isaacs, who was restrained by local police
constables to prevent further violence. Upon fleeing to his car, Bustamante was struck in the
face with a rock by someone in the crowd. Due to the police’s use of tear gas to disperse the
crowd, Bustamante was protected from further harm as the crowd scattered.
In the days following the riot, the local government investigated the contributing factors
behind the violence. The inquest raised more questions than it provided answers to.204 Local
police asserted that members of the PNP were responsible because they had a larger number
of supporters at the rally. Moreover, PNP supporters were more aggressive and disrespectful to
the opposition leader.205 However, Police Superintendent Donald G. Neish contradicted that
argument when he testified that when news of Bustamante’s assault in Gordon Town was reported, busloads of JLP supporters descended on the area, although they were denied access due to police blockades; and controlling physical confrontation proved difficult.206 On the other
hand, Wills Isaacs accused JLP officer Hugh Shearer of firing a gun at police officers and
demanded his arrest. Isaacs displayed his arrogance when he said that “a broken skull did not
matter in the growth of a nation,” in an effort to explain away the use of political violence.207

Other witnesses testified that Bustamante was partially to blame because weapons such as
sticks, lead pipes, and stones were concealed in the trunk of his car; and JLP supporters took
weapons from Bustamante’s car during the conflict with PNP supporters. At the conclusion of
the inquest, the courts ruled that the various acts of violence were the fault of the PNP,
specifically Wills Isaacs, because he provided access for non-voting members of the PNP into
the area with the purpose of disrupting the election process.

This verdict served to increase local agitation because Norman Manley refused to accept
full responsibility for the violence. Manley insisted that the JLP was equally to blame because
the JLP sought to intimidate PNP voters in the Gordon Town area.209 As a result of the Hearn
Report findings, Wills Isaacs resigned as a PNP official for dishonoring and tarnishing the
reputation of the party. “Isaacs admitted that he had been most indiscreet in his testimony
before the commission,” The Daily Gleaner reported and added that “he regretted most of all, any inflammatory statements made, especially as they do not represent PNP policy.”210 In a
final attack, Isaacs cited incidents of violence perpetrated by the JLP prior to the Gordon Town
incident, which received little public attention or warranted no official inquest that was
designed to destroy the party at the grassroots level.211 In spite of the Hearn Report’s verdict,
the 1955 Gordon Town incident reflected not only a willingness by the leaders of political
parties to use violence but it also witnessed the use of grassroots supporters to instigate acts of
political violence.

Despite the scandal attached to the Gordon Town incident, the JLP continued to attack
and undermine the PNP’s socialist’s political platform. In his campaign for re-election,
Bustamante vilified the tenets of socialism by effectively making socialism the equivalent of
slavery, whereby members of the elite dominated the system and the poor were
subordinated.212 By insinuating that the PNP represented a party which served the interests of
the middle-class and that under their regime, the ordinary working man would never reap the
rewards of his own labor and would rather be a slave to the system, Bustamante destroyed the
PNP politically.

Ah that's where the perceptioncomesfrom...from Bustamante himself.

213 Bustamante exploited the existing Cold War paranoia that local communists
were attempting to undermine Jamaica’s democracy by corrupting politics and oppressing the
people. Other critics of the PNP’s “communist” platform attacked socialism in defense of
capitalism and argued about the benefits of private ownership.

So basically Bustamante sold out his own cousin and was in cahoots with the British.

[Tropicana]

did you actually read the article you posted?

I see a trend and it explains a lot?

Of course I read it. What's the problem. I read every article I post. If you are referring to this:

That story's credibility is questionable, although it never ceases to amuse. The following, however, is true, and highlights Busta's visionary leadership which a formal education might well have reduced to below zero.

The writer is stating his opinion. I am seeing this as independent confirmation as the story is coming from completely different sources, an older person who reported this based on what they had heard (need to confirm whether they were there when it happened...not sure) and someone totally different decades later who is coming with the same incident almost verbatim.

[Tuff Gong]

the federation was never given a chance mainly because of jamaica...

Why should it be given a chance? It was a unnatural union.
It was given it's fair due. The people of Jamaica voted no and we went on to greater things.

i can't imagine that the "west-indies" nor jamaica could be worse off today in a federation system...

See CARICOM!

[Tuff Gong]

am willing to admit that my attempt at colour correlations may be too simplistic.

Idiotic more like it you have not presented one shred of evidence. Just state something, accept it as fact then continue to expound on it?