A view from Strawberry Hill of a valley. I always wonder how and why people decide to build their houses in such a seemingly precarious position.

Man Booker Prize winner and Jamaican Marlon James made this video on racism the other day. Check it out here.

Beautiful Strawberry Hill

Yesterday I opened up the Jamaica Observer to find a two-page spread, on page two and three, no less, extolling a new campaign for Sandals. The Observer owner, Butch Stewart, also owns Sandals resorts, which are spread across the Caribbean, including on the North coast of Jamaica.

If you own your own newspaper, you have the pleasure of advertising your own products and services in its pages in the form of news stories. Sometimes editorial interference by the newspapers owner is justified, sometimes it is cringeworthy. In this case, however, I think this is newsworthy, but for critical reasons obviously not explored in the story.

Jamaica has always been associated with Bob Marley. The link is inextricable. A friend of mine who has traveled the world recently told me that Bob Marley merchandise is everywhere. The markets of Marrakesh, Ukraine, a small town in Norway. The man and his music are branded forever, as is his native land.

Now a multi-national corporation is furthering that brand, selling a sanitized version of Jamaica that only tourists see. I wonder how the Marley family feels about it. Indeed, one of the offspring (Skip Marley, a grandson) has lent his talents to the venture. Three Little Birds is the song used in the campaign, which apparently airs somewhere on earth every five seconds.

I presented at an academic conference last year on branding Jamaica and one of the things that kept surfacing was that the nation needs to get away from branding itself as the land of sun and sea. In other words, there is much more to this beautiful country than the resorts. Well, this Sandals campaign won’t do much to help this case. The commercials are beautifully done, but could have been shot in any Caribbean country. I wonder how both the Marleys and the Tourist Board feels about this.

I will leave you with some words from an executive associated with the Tuff Gong label:

…Executive label manager of Tuff Gong International Myshjua Archibald explained that the Marley group is also thrilled by the union.

“This is exciting for us at Tuff Gong and the rest of the Bob Marley Group of Companies. And, you know, this commercial campaign is perfect evidence of not only the musical impact, but the cultural and social impact that Bob Marley has had worldwide for what’s coming up three generations now,” Archibald said.

“So the ‘No Worry’ ad campaign is historic; of course, not only because of the joining of Marley and Sandals, but even more than that, what it has done is, it has incorporated the energy of a young Marley, like Skip Marley, and they have taken what’s a perennial for Jamaica, and they have actually made it firmly a part of modern pop culture. So this is something that we are really excited to be a part of.

“We are all very happy to be a part of what has now happened with the icon, the legend, and now the legacy together in one moment to create the ‘No Worry’ campaign.”

Apparently this 11 foot crocodile was found in Albion, St. Thomas, which is on the way out to where we stay in the country. The National Environment and Planning Agency arrived to rescue it and it was unharmed.

Rumor has it that the swamps nearby are full of crocodiles, thus where dons dump dead bodies.

It struck me afterwards that it is insensitive to celebrate the accomplishment when the topic is so disturbing. Apologies. Here is the story- my first for the Associated Press. 

It is about the homicide rate in Jamaica for 2015- it is the highest it has been in five years. Authorities attribute this to the lottery scam. An anthropologist says it was simply a matter of time- after a decrease in crime and murders, the nation becomes like a pressure-cooker and violence spikes again, criminals re-adapt to a new way of operating. The anthropologist- Dr. Herbert Gayle, says there was a decrease in crime and violence after the Tivoli incursion (in which Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke was captured after the United States requested that he be extradited. Seventy people were killed).

The media obtained the figures for 2015 sometime last week. The Jamaica Constabulary Force was supposed to have a media briefing with the Police Commissioner this Wednesday at 10:00 am, but it was promptly cancelled. They also promised to provide me with an interview on the matter, but after repeated calls and messages, they disappeared. Hmmmmm.

West Indies cricketer Chris Gayle has been fined $10,000 for inappropriate remarks he made to a journalist on-air. Here is what he said:

“To see your eyes for the first time is nice. Hopefully we can have a drink afterwards. Don’t blush baby,” he said.

Inappropriate? Absolutely. People are also stating it is sexist. I’m not sure, I would have to put some more thought into it. It is definitely symptomatic of a sexist environment. All I know is that as a journalist, especially starting out for me, comments like this were not abnormal. I was a business journalist, however, so comments weren’t so overt.

In any case, I do know that it is humiliating: you are trying to be professional, do your job and with a simple comment, someone washes all that away in an instant. All you can do is ignore it and proceed. To acknowledge would be to engage, which would be to sink yourself to that level.

Gayle has since apologized, saying that he never meant to be disrespectful. Right.

It’s official. The merger of RJR Communications Group and the Gleaner Company has been approved by shareholders. Check out the story here. And check out a post I did on the subject awhile back, when I had two hands to type and an abundance of time to think about these things.

“The purpose of this deal is to preserve the Jamaicaness of the two media houses and provide financial sustainability,” The Gleaner’s managing director Christopher Barnes told shareholders gathered at The Wolmer’s High School for Girls.

The merger creates a $3 billion company, with no single shareholder owning more than 10 %.

Yesterday we took a walk on the grounds of the Pegasus Hotel. I go there often to run or sometimes just enjoy a quiet oasis. I have never seen it like this, however. A million butterflies, frolicking. It was magical. Happy New Year!