Hunt dem down till …more

Ah sad incident dah took place at Fitz Hughes last Friday when de Black Squad raided Silma Thomas’s home. De Report is dat she collapsed during de Raid, was rushed to de Milton Cato Hospital way she died hours after. Lie-Za say she read way Silma’s sister, Roseanne told ah Reporter, dat one ah de last thing dat Silma told her, was dat dey were harassing her.{{more}} Is ah lot ah ‘he say’ dat ‘she say’ dat ‘she say’! Of course dey would be at least three sides to de story, Silma’s family side, Black Squad side, and de side of truth. However one fact remains and dat is, ah woman, Silma is dead and ah would bet, dat no way on her Death Certificate would de word “harassment” be stated as de cause of her death.

These days ah Policeman’s wuk is dangerous, gone are de days when even Auxiliary Police uses to command great respect from de public. Traffic Officers uses to have offenders humble-in and beg-in foh ah break, now dey got big entertainment clip pon U-tube way ah driver punching ah young Traffic Officer, and onlookers enjoying de blow-by-blow action. Dat never uses to happen, people uses to run to assist de Police in conducting dey duties,

Ah would not want to be ah Black Squad, it is ah most dangerous job. Dey do ah good job, but somehow de good is overshadowed by de numerous negative stories reaching de Press, mainly allegations of excessive use of force, unwarranted harassment and inflicting physical blows on our youngsters, Rastas in particular. But our Law makers do send out strong signals in dey statements, is not de Black Squad who boasted dat he will “hunt dem (de Marie Warn-her Farmers) down until dey exist no more.” Is interesting dat de Commissioner, and don’t under-rate him eh, he’s smart. During his press conference on de Silma Thomas incident, in a carefully worded statement told de Press, dat a substance looking like Marie Warn-her was found. Sadly though, while de Black Squad hunting down Marie Warn-her farmers, our men in Par-liar-mint is now advocating foh de de-criminal-lies-say-shun of Marie Warn-her. Oh what ah tangle-up web we weave in dis deceiving country. My personal plea to de Police and de Black Squad in particular, is while conducting dey duties of “hunting dem down,” be diligent but be equally humane to suspects, dis “hunting dem down until dey exist no more” is not de answer. We continue to confuse de youths wid our pool-ah-tricks of upper-tune-is-him. De Youth yuh ruff up ah today, could tomorrow be yuh doctor or Prime Minister.

DE MAN WHO SHOULD AH BIN PM

Ah want to congratulate Lawyer, Stanley Star-Key John on being awarded de very prestigious status of Queen’s Counsel, QC. Star-Key whether as Lawyer, Senator Politician or plain citizen has always stood foh de-sense-see and prince-apple. He should ah been Prime Minister today but ole people say “thing dey foh talk but time (space) nah dey!” Lie-Za reminds me how his own party, did set up Star-Key, at one ah de Pull-it-tek-all meeting. Dey showed ah VDO of him in de UK, at ah private conference wid ah group ah In-festors, Star-key unknowingly, was taped while answering questions. Questions rigged to drag him into corruption and destroy his pull-it-tek-all career. But Star-Key cents dey trap and came thru wid flying colours , thereby protecting his dignity. Ah well deserved Award

DE TRIPLE “M” SHOW

Dey’s ah sweet spirit lurking around just waiting to occupy dis land again. Ah felt it yes-today in de Met-dis Church, at de opening of dey triple “M” Lenten Program, dat’s Met-dis Mid-dey Meditations (MMM). Ah one hour period of reflections, music, poetry, meditations etc. It is ah 21 st Century thing, de brain child of no one else but de late-great Pat Prescod, and of course started during de tenure of de very progressive, Rev Edwards. Around 2001 Pat decided to go to de Met-dis Church every Wednesday at noon, and render his beautiful talent on de Organ, playing music fitting de Lentern Season. Now when yuh have selfless Christian people like Jill John and Brenton Bailey giving support, de program just grow and grow and today, during Lent, Met-dis Church on ah Wednesday at noon, is de place to be, especially those of us who are weary and burdened, who need to have our souls restored. Wid Pat Prescod having set de bench mark, den certainly de caliber of musical presentation has always been extremely high. Yesterday we heard from Kendal Bacchus; and Alicia Lyttle, ah hope ah have her name correct. Kendal is an accomplish pianist, ah phenomenal player, ah think he is de conductor of de famous 7th Day Adventist Choir. And Ms Lyttle, wow! she sings from her soul. De name of de performers foh next week was announced, Kioka Cruickshank and ah youngster, dey’s no way ah could ever miss dis young man’s performance. Attendance Free but pay ah lickle something when yuh leaving, it’s all for de Flood Victims Appeal.

And wid dat is gone ah gone again.

One Love Bassy

Bassy Alexander is a land surveyor, folklorist and social commentator.