https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcIb82q_yUE&list=UUdPmbLflqNtiAzOd-Cxtffg

“I just pray that people will open themselves to learning, talking and living in community with one another.”

This quote is from the Reverend Howard Williams, who lives in the U.S. now but is from the Caribbean.

Isn’t that a nice way of putting it? In other words, while we do not immediately have to agree with one another, could we at least try to listen to one another’s points of view? Could we try to circle around, jump, as best we can, into someone else’s mind, and adopt our neighbour’s perspective?

That would be a starting point, a fertile place to grow a common ground, where people can come to respect one another.

This is perhaps part of the aim of J-Flag’s We are Jamaicans campaign. Last night, J-Flag launched its latest round of Youtube videos. The advocacy group is expected to release dozens of videos over the next few weeks. It is timely, as the nation’s Emancipation Day is looming. While a great deal has been achieved in terms of human rights, in a relatively short time (Jamaica will be 51 years old this year), there is still much work to be done.

Sadly, a young Jamaican named Dwayne Jones was killed last week because people objected to the choices he made about how he lived his life. Let this campaign lead the way to abolishing murders of promising young men like Dwayne Jones.