Women are the agents of social change!

From the Book " Children of the Jamaican Working Class" 

Copyright © Crystal Evans 

I was watching a local television report where an elderly lady living in a zinc house. When I say zinc, I mean the entire structure is made out of zinc.  The middle age lady claimed that she and her daughter lives in the house with several children. She has seven children and her daughter has two. She went on to show the news crew her father's house which was made out of Zinc and Tarpaulin. I shook my head. Several generations of poverty and no one is making an attempt to improve the situation. I kept wondering what happened to the daughter's baby daddies.  They are suppose to provide shelter for their children. 

I don't know about any woman but I refuse to allow some man to " cock me up" anywhere and impregnate me. I mean if you don't have any where to put the head on your neck, you should not be in a rush to shove the one between your legs into an orifice. 

I stand firm by my belief that having too many children is the main culprit for the social maladies we experience including criminality and poverty.  This is something I observed from childhood. 

Mother has five children for five different man. Every man comes and promises to enrich her life and take care of the children. He leaves as soon as she gets pregnant for fear of committing to the financial burden of providing for her and her offsprings. 

Her sons grow up with feelings of inadequacy because they cannot buy " clarkes" to wear go school and not one teenage girl would glance their way cause they are not wearing Hollister and Polo. By the time they are fifteen, they become embarrass of living in the small house with mother and the smaller siblings. As the new man in the house. The son develops a growing sense of responsibility to his mother and kinship. He attempts to alleviate his mother's financial problems by turning to crime. He might die leaving children fathered by him for his already poor mother to take care of. The cycle continues... 

Daughters sometimes make the same mistake as the mother. She is often blackmailed or forced into relationship with older men who knowing the financial plight of the family offers to help finance her education in exchange for sex. Mother may or may not be aware of the arrangement as well as she might be complicit with it. The girl gets pregnant and the man abandons the union because he did not want a child or any form of commitment.  The daughter brings one more mouth to feed in the already crammed dwelling. If she does not wise up then very soon some other man will promise her financial security the way they did her mother. She will end up having children, she too cannot take care of. The cycle will no doubt continue. This is a transgenerational cycle of poverty and it will not stop until someone puts a condom on. 

Women are the agents of social change. Control how many babies we have and we could change the world. We cannot deny the connection between having too many children and poverty.  We know that poverty leads to more crime. Contraception literally saves lives.

I respect the artiste but not a criminal

 I don't know if Kartel is going to be acquitted. But one thing I know is he is a talented artiste. As smart as I am I won't hesitate to admit that I AM a  huge Vybz Kartel the Artiste Fan and would very much like to see him free. I interviewed him at sumfest 2010 along with Movado and they were the most humble dudes to me. I've got male families and I know how tough these streets can be so I respect the hustle of every male who use their 

 Game or talent to get out there. Kartel may have corrupt the youths but they supported him because his songs were what they wanted to hear all along. Music celebrating freedom of lifestyle, choice and sexuality.  Kartel is not the music. The music is the society and the society is in the music. 

I won't vouch for whether or not he is a murderer because honestly I don't know the man like that. I speak for Vybz Kartel the Artiste not Adidjah Palmer the man. If he is found guilty of the crime by the verdict of his peers then he should do the time....

None of us is above the law. The law cannot be prejudicial to wealthy people or celebrities. Once the law is broken and we are found guilty then we must serve our sentences. 

Sometimes I think back and wonder why Vybz Kartel was so foolish to begin with to put himself in such a compromising position. It may seem like a conspiracy but  he allowed it to be believable by perpetrating acts that rendered it true. Understanding his fragile position in society and how many ethical pundits blame him for the moral decay of this society, he should have opted to walk a very straight line. 

His incarceration will have a grae impact on Dancehall but the music will live on as the likes of Alkaline , Koshens and I octane will continue to light the torches. I hope Vybz Kartel's parody is a lesson to other celebrities who might feel that they are above the law that Jamaica is working hard to build a level of integrity in its crime fighting struggle. We are living in an era where as we slip  we fall... It pays to live you life on a straight line not filled with doubts and compromising fall outs.