16
BLACK BLACK - BRIGHT BRIGHT C C h h a a n n g g i i n n g g P P e e r r c c e e p p t t i i o o n n s s Issue 15 D D o o Y Y o o u u H H a a v v e e S S o o m m e e o o n n e e t t o o L L o o o o k k U U p p T T o o ? ? D D o o c c u u m m e e n n t t i i n n g g t t h h e e L L e e a a r r n n e e r r s s J J o o u u r r n n e e y y H H o o w w E E f f f f e e c c t t i i v v e e I I s s I I t t ? ? Jamaica Celebrates Her Independence 1962 - 2009 Blackbright_August_2009.qxp 11/08/2009 17:26 Page 1

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Do you have someone to look up to? The learner's journey - is it worth documenting; Jamaica's independence.

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EEDD

IITTOO

RRIIAA

LL bbyy

MMyyrr

nnaa LL

ooyy

HHooww

EEffffee

ccttiivv

ee iiss

RReeff

lleecctt

iinngg

oonn tt

hhee LL

eeaarrnn

eerr JJ

oouurrnn

eeyy??

“Lea

rnin

g jo

urna

ls

prov

ide

a fr

amew

ork

to

supp

ort

the

proc

ess

of re

flect

ive

lear

ning

in in

divi

dual

cou

rses

and

in th

epo

rtfo

lio p

roce

ss a

s a

who

le. T

heir

use

not o

nly

docu

men

tsth

e de

velo

pmen

tal p

roce

ss o

f the

por

tfolio

s -

mak

ing

it m

ore

than

just

a p

rese

ntat

ion

of s

elec

ted

wor

k -

but

supp

orts

the

self-

asse

ssm

ent

of p

roce

sses

and

the

ir do

cum

enta

tion.

It

‘kee

ps r

ecor

ds’,

enco

urag

es m

etac

ogni

tion,

ow

ners

hip

and

cont

rol,

and

prov

ides

gui

danc

e” [

Uni

vers

ity o

f O

lden

burg

and

UM

UC

]

I re

cent

ly

beca

me

PT

LLS

qu

alifi

ed.

P

TLL

S

stan

ds

for

Pre

parin

g to

Tea

ch i

n th

e Li

felo

ng L

earn

ing

Sec

tor

whi

chqu

alifi

es m

e to

tea

ch a

dult

num

erac

y an

d lit

erac

y, a

nd i

spr

onou

nced

‘pet

als’

. H

owev

er,

I in

tend

to

amal

gam

ate

my

coun

selli

ng s

kills

to

men

tor

youn

g pe

ople

dia

gnos

ed w

ithem

otio

nal,

soci

al a

nd b

ehav

iour

al d

isor

ders

(E

SB

D).

Why

inco

rpor

ate

coun

selli

ng in

the

lear

ning

pro

cess

?

Bec

ause

coun

selli

ng s

kills

dev

elop

not

onl

y lis

teni

ng s

kills

, but

em

pa-

thet

ic,

cogn

itive

, be

havi

oura

l an

d so

cial

dev

elop

men

t sk

ills

as w

ell.

In p

ursu

ing

my

PT

LLS

Aw

ard

and

BT

EC

in

Cou

nsel

ling,

Ino

ticed

tha

t w

ritin

g le

arni

ng/r

efle

ctiv

e jo

urna

ls s

eem

s to

be

a m

anda

tory

pa

rt

of

the

port

folio

de

velo

pmen

t pr

oces

sra

ther

than

a r

ecom

men

ded

tool

of s

uppo

rt.

Bot

h T

each

ers

and

Lear

ners

are

req

uire

d to

pro

duce

lear

ning

or

refle

ctiv

ejo

urna

ls to

evi

denc

e th

eir

wor

k an

d do

cum

entin

g th

e im

pact

of th

e w

ay th

ey le

arn/

teac

h. I

t see

ms

to m

e, th

at th

e cu

rren

tsc

hool

of

thou

ght

is t

hat

docu

men

ting

thou

ght

proc

esse

sw

hile

lear

ning

(i.e

. th

inki

ng a

bout

the

way

the

y le

arn

and/

orte

ach,

and

writ

ing

it do

wn)

will

im

prov

e th

e le

arni

ng a

ndte

achi

ng e

xper

ienc

e.

Acc

ordi

ng

to

the

Uni

vers

ity

of

Wor

cest

er’s

S

tudy

S

kills

Adv

ice

She

et:

“a

lear

ning

jour

nal h

elps

you

to b

e re

flect

ive

abou

t yo

ur l

earn

ing,

thi

s m

eans

tha

t yo

ur l

earn

ing

jour

nal

shou

ld n

ot b

e a

pure

ly d

escr

iptiv

e ac

coun

t of

wha

t yo

u di

d,bu

t an

opp

ortu

nity

to

com

mun

icat

e yo

ur t

hink

ing

proc

ess:

how

and

why

you

did

wha

t you

did

, and

wha

t you

now

thin

kab

out w

hat y

ou d

id”.

I am

not

sur

e ab

out

othe

r le

arne

rs,

but

I fo

und

that

thi

nkin

gab

out

how

I w

as l

earn

ing,

and

try

ing

to t

rack

, re

call

and

reco

rd t

hat

proc

ess

by w

ritin

g it

dow

n, v

ery

inhi

bitin

g.

Ifo

und

that

thi

nkin

g ab

out

the

way

I w

as le

arni

ng p

reve

nted

me

from

abs

orbi

ng n

ew in

form

atio

n be

ing

give

n bo

th v

erba

l-ly

and

vis

ually

. T

his

is m

ainl

y be

caus

e an

othe

r fa

cet

of t

here

flect

ive

proc

ess

is

to o

bser

ve w

hat

is h

appe

ning

in

the

clas

sroo

m w

hile

I am

lear

ning

, how

I re

act t

o co

lleag

ues

and

Foun

der

&M

anag

ing

Edi

tor:

Myr

na L

oyP

hoto

on

fron

t co

ver

:tak

en b

y M

yrna

Loy

Bac

k Co

ver

Des

ign:

Lak

shm

i Nar

ayan

Gup

taB

ack

cove

r &

‘Gir

ls’P

hoto

on

Pag

e 12

tak

en b

y G

arfie

ldFe

atur

es: J

amai

can

Inde

pend

ence

BL

ACK

BR

IGH

T L

TD

Stud

io 5

7 S

ayw

ell

Roa

d L

U2

0QG

(U

K)

Tel:

0158

2 72

1 60

5w

ww

.bla

ckbr

ight

mag

azin

e.co

m

or w

ww

.mys

pace

.com

/bla

ckbr

ight

new

s(e

lect

roni

c ve

rsio

n on

ly)

ISSN

No.

1751

-190

91

thei

r qu

estio

ns/in

terr

uptio

ns -

wha

t w

as c

ondu

cive

to

my

lear

ning

exp

erie

nce;

wha

t ele

men

ts d

id I

find

bene

ficia

l and

whi

ch o

bstr

uctiv

e, e

tc.,

incl

udin

g m

y th

ough

ts o

n th

e le

arn-

ing

styl

e of

the

tut

or.

Can

you

imag

ine

tryi

ng t

o th

ink

abou

tw

hat t

o w

rite

in y

our

jour

nal w

hile

tryi

ng to

abs

orb

new

info

r-m

atio

n?

Ma

ny

tea

che

rs

ha

ve

com

pla

ine

d

ab

ou

t th

e

jou

rna

ling

proc

ess

and

I can

’t sa

y I b

lam

e th

em!

The

y ar

e sa

ying

that

they

can

not c

once

ntra

te o

n th

eir

less

on p

lans

bec

ause

thei

rbr

ain

is t

hink

ing

abou

t ho

w t

hey

are

perf

orm

ing,

lea

rnin

gan

d te

achi

ng t

hus

hind

erin

g th

eir

teac

hing

ob

ject

ives

.

Acc

ordi

ng t

o La

uren

ce E

Mor

ehou

se,

Aut

hor

of ‘

Max

imum

Per

form

ance

’, he

sta

tes

that

“W

hen

you

star

t thi

nkin

g ab

out

wha

t yo

u ar

e do

ing,

you

try

to

reor

gani

se a

nd/o

r ad

d ex

tra

mot

ions

.

You

r m

otio

ns

beco

me

unco

ordi

nate

d,

and

beca

use

you

are

trac

king

alm

ost c

ount

ing

your

mov

emen

ts,

you

inev

itabl

y sl

ow t

hem

dow

n.”

He

furt

her

goes

on

to s

ayth

at: “

If w

e w

ere

to tr

y to

rea

d or

writ

e or

thin

k w

ord

by w

ord,

the

min

d si

mpl

y co

uldn

’t ca

rry

all

thos

e de

tails

. S

o th

ew

ords

hav

e to

be

sim

plifi

ed in

to a

sin

gle

thou

ght.

We

focu

son

a c

entr

al t

hem

e....

“....

The

obj

ect

in a

per

form

ance

isto

shu

t off

your

thin

king

whi

ch y

ou d

o by

shi

fting

you

r fo

cus

from

the

deta

ils o

f the

act

ion

to th

e go

al o

f the

act

ion.

..”

“...

Eve

n in

tha

t in

stan

t du

ring

a sh

arp

exch

ange

of

volle

ysat

the

net

you

hav

e pr

edet

erm

ined

whe

re y

ou a

re g

oing

to

hit

the

ball.

T

wo

thin

gs a

re a

ccom

plis

hed

in t

he p

roce

ss.

Firs

t, yo

u ha

ve e

stab

lishe

d a

stra

tegy

. S

econ

d, b

y co

mm

it-tin

g yo

ur th

ough

t to

your

obj

ectiv

e, y

ou h

ave

pre-

empt

ed th

etim

e; y

ou a

re o

nly

thin

king

abo

ut g

ettin

g th

ere,

not

how

you

are

to g

et th

ere.

The

firs

t is

impo

rtan

t, bu

t the

sec

ond

is c

ru-

cial

.”

Alth

ough

Mor

ehou

se i

s re

ferr

ing

perf

orm

ance

in

spor

ts,

itap

plie

s to

any

wor

k th

e br

ain

need

s to

do.

W

hat

thes

eex

trac

ts te

ll m

e is

that

jour

nalin

g is

inhi

bitin

g te

achi

ng e

ffec-

tiven

ess

and

perf

orm

ance

. I

t is

not

nat

ural

for

the

bra

in t

oan

alys

e ev

ery

proc

ess

it ta

kes

to l

earn

som

ethi

ng!

We

all

know

tha

t if

we

star

t co

ncen

trat

ing

on h

ow w

e ar

e do

ing

som

ethi

ng –

even

som

ethi

ng a

s si

mpl

e as

wal

king

, our

ste

psbe

com

e aw

kwar

d an

d un

natu

ral.

Jour

nalli

ng m

ay h

ave

bene

fits

in t

hera

peut

ic o

r em

otio

nal

situ

atio

ns w

here

the

clie

nt i

s st

ress

ed o

r ha

s be

en a

buse

dan

d ne

eds

to r

evis

it th

e ca

uses

, bu

t in

a l

earn

ing

envi

ron-

men

t, I

am n

ot c

onvi

nced

tha

t re

flect

ive

jour

nalli

ng i

s an

effe

ctiv

e or

effi

cien

t w

ay t

o im

prov

e th

e te

achi

ng a

nd le

arn-

ing

expe

rienc

e.

Myr

na L

oyoo

ookkk

ee yy

Blackbright_August_2009.qxp 11/08/2009 17:26 Page 2

2

ARE

YOU

IN L

OVE?

IF

SO, W

HAT

KIND

?SE

CURI

TYLO

VETh

is lov

e is t

he lo

ve th

at ev

eryb

ody n

eeds

to su

rvive

(acc

ord-

ing to

Maz

low).

It is

that f

eelin

g of

being

car

ed fo

r and

nur

-tur

ed. S

ome

peop

le wo

uld d

escri

be th

is as

the

type

of lov

epa

rents

hav

e for

their

child

ren.

This

is so

impo

rtant:

high

on

Maslo

w’s H

ierar

chy o

f Nee

ds; a

nd st

udies

have

even

prov

entha

t peo

ple h

ave

died

of a

“bro

ken

hear

t” (th

ere

have

bee

nno

exp

lanati

ons f

or th

eir d

eaths

othe

r tha

n tha

t).

FRIE

NDSH

IPLO

VETh

is is

a lov

e be

twee

n yo

urse

lf an

d so

meon

e tha

t is

totall

yho

nest,

open

and c

omfor

table.

You r

eally

only

have

this

kind

of bo

nd w

ith a

few

peop

le. Y

ou m

ight k

now

a lot

of p

eople

and

be “f

riend

ly” w

ith th

em in

a g

roup

situa

tion

but t

hey a

reno

t the

bes

t frie

nds I

am

talkin

g ab

out h

ere

I hav

e a

theor

y tha

t you

can

not t

ruely

be

best

friend

s with

ame

mber

of t

he o

ppos

ite s

ex. D

own

the li

ne ro

manc

e wi

llalw

ays c

ome

up fr

om e

ither

par

ty an

d fee

lings

will

be m

isin-

terpr

eted

and

mista

ken.

Whe

n thi

s ha

ppen

s, the

frien

dship

will c

hang

e an

d po

ssibl

y nev

er b

e the

same

aga

in.

ROMA

NTIC

LOV

E(T

he m

uch

antic

ipated

love

!) Mo

st pe

ople

expe

rienc

e thi

styp

e of

love

many

times

in th

eir lif

e. It

is wh

en yo

u se

e tha

tpe

rson

for th

e firs

t tim

e an

d he

/she

make

s yo

ur k

nees

go

weak

or g

ives

you

butte

rflies

in y

our s

tomac

h.i.e.

“Lov

e at

first s

ight”.

Mos

t peo

ple do

n’t ev

en lo

ve th

e per

son t

hey t

hink

they a

re in

love

with

…the

y fall

in lo

ve w

ith th

e ide

a if b

eing i

nlov

e. Th

is is

more

of a

lustf

ul kin

d of

love,

it wea

rs off

afte

r awh

ile a

nd h

opefu

lly le

ads t

o...

UNCO

NDIT

IONA

LLO

VETh

is is

the si

ncer

e lov

e, the

love

that

lasts

forev

er. T

his ki

ndof

love c

omes

whe

n you

have

foun

d the

perso

n you

are d

es-

tined

to be

with

. Noth

ing ca

n des

troy u

ncon

dition

al lov

e. It i

slik

e wh

en y

ou h

ave

an a

rgum

ent o

r disa

gree

abo

ut so

me-

thing

with

that

perso

n an

d yo

u re

alize

that

it do

esn’t

both

eryo

u bec

ause

the l

ove y

ou ha

ve fo

r him

/her o

verco

mes e

very-

thing

.

SPIR

ITUA

LLO

VE?

This

is the

love

that

has a

God

ly qu

ality

to it a

nd it

is so

me-

thing

you

feel

but c

anno

t exp

lain.

It is

omnip

rese

nt an

dne

eds

nothi

ng to

fuel

it oth

er th

an th

e mu

tual r

espe

ct an

dad

mira

tion o

f the o

ther p

erso

n.Th

is lov

e cro

sses

mile

s and

exist

s ev

en w

hen

you

have

not

seen

, tou

ched

or f

elt th

ene

arne

ss o

f tha

t per

son.

EROS

Eros

is

prob

ably

what

mos

t pe

ople

mean

whe

n th

eyan

noun

ce w

ith a

smile

, “I’m

in lo

ve.”

This

type o

f love

cove

rsev

eryth

ing fr

om q

ueas

y sto

mach

s an

d wa

rm fu

zzy

feelin

gsto

stron

g se

nsua

l pas

sion.

Ther

e ar

e a

coup

le of

very

inter

estin

g ch

arac

terist

ics a

bout

eros

. Firs

t, in

orde

r to

exist

ero

s is d

epen

dent

upon

the

situ-

ation

and

circ

umsta

nces

. As

long

as a

cou

ple is

enjo

ying

aro

manti

c sit

uatio

n, er

os c

an th

rive.

But,

as s

oon

as h

urtfu

lwo

rds o

r acti

ons a

ppea

r, er

os si

mply

evap

orate

s.

Seco

nd, e

ros

is als

o he

ld ca

ptive

to e

ach

perso

n’s p

erce

p-tio

n. Fo

r exa

mple,

if s

omeo

ne p

erce

ives

a pa

rticula

r quie

tev

ening

dinn

er w

ith ca

ndles

to b

e ro

manti

c, er

os w

ill thr

ive.

Howe

ver, p

assio

n bec

omes

squa

shed

for s

omeo

ne w

hene

v-er

he or

she i

nterp

rets

the cu

rrent

situa

tion t

o be u

ndes

irable

.Er

os th

us g

rows

stro

ng a

nd th

en w

astes

awa

y ba

sed

upon

our p

erce

ption

s.

Altho

ugh

eros

at t

imes

migh

t mak

e us

feel

like

we a

re o

nclo

ud n

ine, i

t can

not

prov

ide a

relia

ble b

asis

for b

uildin

g a

deep

and

mea

ningfu

l rela

tions

hip s

ince

it is

so fi

ckle

and

depe

nden

t upo

n pe

rcepti

on a

nd ci

rcums

tance

s. Be

caus

e of

such

thing

s as a

ccide

nts, d

iseas

es, a

nd th

e fac

t tha

t som

e-on

e ca

n ch

oose

to d

oubt

or d

espis

e yo

u re

gard

less o

f you

rac

tions

, it is

clea

r tha

t we

can

not d

eterm

ine h

ow o

thers

will

perce

ive u

s no

r are

we

maste

rs of

our o

wn c

ircum

stanc

es.

Altho

ugh

eros

is e

xhila

ratin

g, thi

s is

not t

he B

iblica

l wor

dus

ed fo

r lov

e.

PHIL

IA

We

reco

gnize

Phil

ia an

d its

mea

ning

from

the

name

Phila

delph

ia, th

at is,

the c

ity of

broth

erly

love.

This

is the

love

of frie

ndsh

ip, b

est f

riend

s, an

d the

fello

wship

of b

eing

with

those

peo

ple yo

u en

joy.

Altho

ugh

philia

is w

onde

rful,

it too

is n

ot re

liable

sinc

e it

isals

o he

ld ca

ptive

by t

he si

fting

sand

s of s

ituati

on a

s well

as

by

ours

an

d ot

her’s

pe

rcep

tions

an

d ex

pecta

tions

.Un

fortun

ately,

we

prob

ably

all k

now

of a

friend

ship

which

wane

d or

was

sev

ered

bec

ause

of t

ime,

distan

ce, h

arsh

word

s, ho

w so

meon

e int

erpr

eted

anoth

er’s

actio

ns,

etc.

Whe

n the

New

Testa

ment

comm

ends

love

, phil

ia is

the n

otthe

wor

d wh

ich is

use

d.

Barry

New

ton,

Cop

yrig

ht ©

2002

Blackbright_August_2009.qxp 11/08/2009 17:26 Page 3

CCCCOOOONNNN

TTTTEEEENNNN

TTTTSSSS

FE

D U

P O

F L

EA

RN

ING

?

1.E

dito

rial

- T

he L

earn

er J

ourn

ey

2.W

hat

kind

of

love

are

you

in?

4.Ja

mai

can

Inde

pend

ence

6.Po

etry

9.D

o yo

u ha

ve s

omeo

ne

to lo

ok u

p to

?

10.

Win

ston

Hus

sey

2K9

Win

ner

11.

Let

ters

to

the

Edi

tor

12.

A D

ay in

Ang

ola

3

AD

VE

RTIS

E H

ER

EFO

R J

UST

£25

(CIR

CU

LAT

ION

IS

NO

W O

VE

R 5

,000

)

ISSN

No.

1751

- 1

909

E-m

agaz

ine

Whe

n I l

ooke

d up

love

, I c

ouldn

't be

lieve

all

the

defin

itions

, lev

els a

ndfo

rms o

f love

. I t

houg

ht lo

ve w

as a

sim

ple p

roce

ss, b

ut a

ccor

ding

to w

rit-

ers,

it has

stag

es.

Wha

t lov

e sta

ge ar

e you

at o

r in?

Find

out b

elow

and d

eter

mine

whe

ther

or no

t you

wan

t to ta

ke it

to th

e nex

t

level.

(Th

e Ed

itor)

Othe

r Typ

es o

f Lov

e

Agap

e- th

e ter

m wa

s use

d by

the

early

Chr

istian

s to

refer

to th

e sp

ecial

love

for G

od a

nd G

od’s

love

for h

uman

ity

Cour

tly lo

ve- a

late

medie

val c

onve

ntion

alize

d co

de p

resc

ribing

certa

inco

nduc

t and

emo

tions

for l

adies

and

their

love

rs

Fam

ilial lo

ve- a

ffecti

on b

roke

red

throu

gh ki

nship

conn

ectio

ns, in

ter-

twine

d wi

th co

ncep

ts of

attac

hmen

t and

bon

ding

Free

love

- se

xual

relat

ions a

ccor

ding

to ch

oice

and

unre

strict

ed b

y mar

-ria

ge

Plat

onic

love

- a cl

ose r

elatio

nship

in w

hich s

exua

l des

ire is

non-

exist

ent

or h

as b

een

supp

ress

ed o

r sub

limate

d.

Pupp

y lo

ve- r

oman

tic a

ffecti

on th

at is

not m

ature

or n

ot tru

e. T

he te

rmis

often

use

d wi

th ne

gativ

e co

nnota

tions

, ins

inuati

ng th

at lov

e be

twee

nyo

ungs

ters i

s les

s gen

uine

or va

luable

.

Relig

ious

love

- dev

otion

to o

ne’s

deity

or t

heolo

gy

Rom

antic

love

- affe

ction

cha

racte

rized

by

a mi

x of

emoti

onal

intim

acy

and

sexu

al de

sire

True

love

- love

with

out c

ondit

ion, m

otive

or at

tachm

ent.

Lovin

g som

eone

just

beca

use

they a

re th

emse

lves,

not t

heir

actio

ns o

r beli

efs in

par

ticu-

lar. A

lso r

eferre

d to

as u

ncon

dition

al lov

e.

Unre

quite

d lo

ve- a

ffecti

on a

nd d

esire

not

recip

roca

ted o

r retu

rned

Lust

-love

- affe

ction

cha

racte

rized

by

lust,

carin

g ab

out t

he d

esire

d on

efor

a sh

ort a

moun

t of t

ime,

in oth

er w

ords

, sem

i-true

love

Love

at f

irst s

ight

- Lo

ve th

at oc

curs

the in

stant

that o

ne p

erso

n co

mes

in co

ntact

with

anoth

er a

nd fe

els a

dee

p co

nnec

tion

or a

ttrac

tion

to the

other

and

refer

red

to co

mmon

ly in

many

fairy

tales

and

folk

lore

and

liter-

ature

.

Sacr

ificia

l lov

e- t

he a

ct of

sacri

ficing

one

’s life

, or s

ometh

ing o

f gre

atim

porta

nce,

solel

y on

the b

asis

of lov

e.

The c

once

pt of

love i

s sub

ject to

deba

te. S

ome d

eny t

he ex

isten

ce of

love

while

othe

rs ma

intain

that

love

reall

y exis

ts an

d is

not a

n ab

strac

tion,

but

is “in

defin

able;

bein

g a

quan

tity w

hich

is sp

iritua

l, m

etap

hysic

al, o

r phil

o-so

phica

l in n

atur

e”.

Some

psy

cholo

gists

maint

ain th

at lov

e is

the a

ction

of len

ding

one’s

self e

steem

to a

nothe

r and

othe

rs att

empt

to de

fine

love

by a

pplyi

ng th

e de

finitio

n to

ever

yday

life.

Extra

cted a

nd ad

apted

from

vario

us w

ebsit

es, b

ut wh

ichev

er w

ay ph

iloso

-ph

ers w

ish to

defin

e lov

e, it i

s help

ful to

unde

rstan

d the

diffe

rent

conc

epts

of lov

e. In

a n

utshe

ll, lov

e is

simple

.. wh

ether

love

lasts

for a

mom

ent o

ra

life-tim

e, it

is a

proc

ess

of giv

ing a

nd re

ceivi

ng u

ncon

dition

ally

and

wesh

ould

all sa

vour

eac

h mo

ment

for a

s lon

g as

it las

ts– E

ditor.

Blackbright_August_2009.qxp 11/08/2009 17:26 Page 4

Cel

ebra

ting

Jam

aica

n In

depe

nden

ceTh

e fir

st in

habi

tant

s w

ere

the

Ara

wak

s w

how

ere

indi

ans

from

Sou

th A

mer

ica.

Exp

lore

r Chr

isto

pher

Col

umbu

s vi

site

d th

eis

land

in 1

494

and

this

beg

an S

pain

rul

e.Th

ey e

nsla

ved

the

Ara

wak

s to

farm

sug

aran

d to

bacc

o. T

hey

soon

die

d be

caus

e of

the

hars

h liv

ing

cond

ition

s th

ey

wer

efo

rced

to li

ve u

nder

. The

Ara

wak

s di

ed o

utab

out

100

year

s af

ter

Span

ish

rule

s an

dth

en A

frica

n sl

aves

wer

e im

porte

d.

Brit

ish

capt

ured

the

isl

and

in 1

655

and

they

con

tinue

d to

impo

rt sl

aves

. Ja

mai

cadu

ring

this

tim

e be

cam

e th

e la

rges

t sug

arpr

oduc

er in

the

wor

ld.

In

1692

an

E

arth

quak

e de

stro

ys

Por

tR

oyal

. R

unaw

ay

slav

es

calle

d th

eM

aroo

ns fo

ught

with

the

Brit

ish

in th

e hi

llsof

Jam

aica

and

wer

e gr

ante

d in

depe

nd-

ence

to

liv

e in

th

e hi

lls

in

1739

.E

man

cipa

tion

of s

lave

s in

183

8

Kin

gsto

n be

cam

e th

e ca

pita

l 187

2. B

efor

eth

at S

pani

sh to

wn

was

the

capi

tal.

Jam

aica

was

the

larg

est p

rodu

cer o

f sug

aran

d in

dent

ured

wor

kers

fro

m C

hina

and

Indi

a w

ere

brou

ght t

o Ja

mai

ca to

con

tinue

the

prod

uctio

n of

su

gar.

Mig

ratio

ns

ofin

dent

ured

w

orke

rs

has

cont

ribut

ed

toJa

mai

ca c

ultu

re.

4

DID

YO

U K

NO

W...

?

ww

w.ja

mro

ckra

dio.

com

clic

k on

‘rad

io’

‘Jam

rock

Sun

days

’w/L

ady

Loy

for t

he b

est i

n R

egga

e

20:0

0hr -

22:

00hr

EV

ER

YS

UN

DAY

Not

sur

e? c

heck

http

://lo

yonl

ife.p

odom

atic

.com

or w

ww

.mys

pace

.com

/jam

rock

sund

ays

DDJJ

LLaaddyy

LLooyy

ppllaa

yysstthh

ee

bbee

sstt

((nnoo

tt tthh

eeppoo

ppuullaa

rr))

iinn

rreegggg

aaeemm

uussiicc

ever

y w

eek

.. A

ir Ja

mai

ca O

ffers

Las

t Min

ute

Tick

etin

g

Trav

eler

s m

akin

g la

st-m

inut

e tra

vel a

rran

gem

ents

will

find

Air

Jam

aica

has

mad

e th

e pr

oces

s ev

en e

asie

r by

allo

win

gth

em to

pur

chas

e tic

kets

up

to tw

o ho

urs

befo

re th

e sc

hed-

uled

flig

ht d

epar

ture

tim

e at

ww

w.A

irJam

aica

.com

. “A

irJa

mai

ca i

s al

way

s lo

okin

g fo

r ne

w w

ays

to m

ake

trave

lm

ore

conv

enie

nt a

nd e

nhan

ce th

e ov

eral

l tra

vel e

xper

ienc

efo

r our

pas

seng

ers.

Thi

s ne

w fe

atur

e on

our

web

site

allo

ws

last

min

ute

trave

l pla

ns to

be

quic

kly

actio

ned

– w

ith re

ser-

vatio

ns, t

icke

ting,

che

ck-in

and

boa

rdin

g pa

ss p

rintin

g ha

n-dl

ed fr

om th

e co

mfo

rt of

thei

r ho

me,

” sa

id R

ob S

hand

, Air

Jam

aica

’s D

irect

or e

-Com

mer

ce.

Tick

ets

purc

hase

d at

ww

w.A

irJam

aica

.com

also

offe

r th

eco

nven

ienc

e of

no

addi

tiona

l tic

ketin

g fe

es,

plus

pay

men

tca

n be

mad

e w

ith m

ost m

ajor

cre

dit c

ards

, or w

ith c

ash

atan

y W

este

rn U

nion

loc

atio

n th

roug

hout

the

U.S

. an

d th

eC

arib

bean

.For

tic

kets

pur

chas

ed o

nlin

e w

ithin

24

hour

sbe

fore

the

sche

dule

d de

partu

re fl

ight

, bot

h th

e cr

edit

card

used

and

the

card

hold

er m

ust b

e ve

rifie

d by

an

auth

oriz

edA

ir Ja

mai

ca re

pres

enta

tive

at th

e ai

rpor

t prio

r to

depa

rture

.

Pub

lishe

d 28

Jul

y 20

09 o

n w

ww

.jam

aica

ns.c

om

Blackbright_August_2009.qxp 11/08/2009 17:26 Page 5

Jam

aica

gai

ned

inde

pend

ence

fro

m t

heB

ritis

h A

ugus

t 6, 1

962.

Ale

xand

er B

usta

man

te b

ecam

e Ja

mai

cafir

st e

lect

ed p

rime

min

iste

r.

PJ

Pat

ters

on w

as t

he f

irst

‘neg

ro’P

rime

Min

iste

r.

Por

tia

Sim

pson

-Mill

er

elec

ted

in

Mar

ch20

06, w

as th

e fir

st n

egro

and

fem

ale

Prim

eM

inis

ter.

She

was

in o

ffice

for 6

mon

ths.

The

curr

ent

Prim

e M

inis

ter

is

(Ore

tte)

Bru

ce G

oldi

ng w

as s

wor

n in

7 S

epte

mbe

r20

07 (

8th

Prim

e M

inis

ter s

ince

inde

pend

-en

ce).

Oth

er P

rime

Min

iste

rs o

f Ja

mai

ca a

re S

irD

onal

d S

angs

ter,

Hug

h S

hear

er,

Mic

hael

Man

ley

and

Edw

ard

Sea

ga.

To w

in a

cop

y of

my

book

“The

Oth

er S

ide

of T

ouris

m”,

writ

e a

shor

t sto

ry fi

ctiti

ous

orre

al c

alle

d ‘In

depe

nden

ce’i

n in

no

mor

eth

an 1

000

wor

ds.

Sen

d yo

ur s

ubm

issi

on to

:

The

Chi

ef E

dito

r

blac

kbrig

htne

ws@

aol.c

om

Jam

aica

is m

ore

than

whi

te r

um, g

anja

and

bea

ches

...

ISB

N 0

9632

3 88

1-7

(£10

LIM

ITED

ED

ITIO

N)

5

Ja

ma

ica

n C

on

trib

uto

rs t

o h

er

Em

an

cip

ati

on

Norm

an M

anley

Geor

ge W

illiam

Gor

don

Nann

y of t

he M

aroo

nsPa

ul Bo

gle

Sir A

lexan

der B

ustam

ante

Samu

el Sh

arpe

Blackbright_August_2009.qxp 11/08/2009 17:26 Page 6

6

MMuull

aattttoo

NNiigg

ggeerr

Mul

atto

Nig

ger

– ha

lf-ca

ste

qual

ityJu

xtap

ositi

on o

f sh

ould

s an

d sh

ould

not

sA

pro

duct

of

rebe

llion

A c

lash

of

colo

urA

pro

duct

of

intr

igue

.

Rej

ecte

d by

hal

f of

the

ir ow

nJu

st n

ot b

lack

eno

ugh,

yet

not

real

ly

whi

te e

noug

h ei

ther

whi

te,

Bla

ckB

lack

, w

hite

...

not

quite

good

eno

ugh

– to

ugh.

Do

you

know

how

yo

u w

ere

mad

e?S

houl

d he

hav

e st

ayed

? (D

id s

he g

et p

aid?

)P

erip

hera

l, pe

netr

atio

n of

par

tner

’s p

erdi

tion?

A d

ysfu

nctio

nal d

eliv

eran

ce

of d

iscr

epan

cy?

or t

he h

isto

rical

out

com

e of

abus

e?

Bes

t of

bot

h w

orld

s?

Fift

y-fif

ty c

hanc

eW

atch

my

stan

ceU

topi

aD

iasp

ora

Var

ious

sha

des

of L

ight

.

by M

iche

lle B

alac

h-A

li

The P

ieces

in B

etwe

enTh

e kn

owled

ge b

etwee

n the

que

stion

an

d the

ans

wer

The

rhyth

m be

twee

n the

mus

ic an

d the

dan

cer

The

distan

ce b

etwee

n tw

o fig

hters

befor

e the

yclo

se it

The

thoug

ht the

write

r con

jured

but

neve

r wro

te it

The

eye

conta

ct be

twee

n the

snipe

r an

d his

targ

etTh

e co

mmon

gro

und

betw

een

the fic

tion

and

the fa

ctTh

e so

und

befor

e the

stoc

k exc

hang

e op

ens t

he m

arke

tTh

e cla

rity b

efore

add

iction

take

you

back

.

The

mome

nt jus

t befo

re tw

o lov

ers s

ay

those

thre

e wo

rds

The

spac

es in

betw

een

perfo

rman

ce

and

appla

use

Whe

n the

cup

that I

thou

ght w

as h

alf-e

mpty

still q

uenc

hes m

y thir

stTh

e kn

owing

smile

s on

faces

I tho

ught

my w

ords

had

lost

The

lesso

ns I

learn

ed b

etwee

n ins

tinct

and

instru

ction

The

path

betw

een

the p

rofes

siona

l an

d the

beg

inner

The

virgin

s fina

l stop

befo

re co

rrupti

onTh

e ro

ad b

etwee

n the

goo

d ma

n an

d the

sinn

er.

Whe

n I a

ccep

t tha

t the

shoe

fits,

then

wear

it pr

oudly

Whe

n I’m

as g

race

ful in

my r

ise a

s in

my fa

llTh

e de

adly

sin th

at se

arch

ed b

ut ne

ver f

ound

me

The

dead

line

sin th

at ro

se e

ach

time

I cho

se to

call

The

gaps

that

fill th

e sp

aces

betw

een

emoti

ons

The

wave

that

frees

the

reali

ty of

the d

ream

The

magic

that

still w

orsk

with

out t

he p

otion

The

peac

e is

the p

ieces

in b

etwee

n.

Dike

Ome

je.20

thA

pril,

200

9

Blackbright_August_2009.qxp 11/08/2009 17:26 Page 7

BBllaacc

kk--BBrr

iigghhtt

-- IItt’’

ss aabb

oouutt

CChh

aallllee

nnggiinn

gg PPee

rrcceepp

ttiioonnss

Rea

ders

sa

y th

ey

have

fo

und

Bla

ck-B

righ

t “r

elev

ant,

usef

ul

and

info

rmat

ive”

BLA

CK

-BR

IGH

TSt

imul

ates

by:

enco

urag

ing

our

read

ers

to fu

rthe

r de

velo

p t

heir

tal

-en

ts,v

iew

s an

d po

sitiv

e id

eas;

activ

ely

invi

ting

part

ici-

patio

n fr

om

peop

le

who

ha

ve

cons

truc

tive

idea

s,en

thus

iasm

and

a p

assi

on f

or e

xpre

ssin

g is

sues

;pr

o-vi

ding

a m

ediu

m w

here

rea

ders

and

con

trib

utor

s ca

nex

pres

s th

emse

lves

to

a gl

obal

aud

ienc

e.

BLA

CK

-BR

IGH

T E

duca

tes

by:

subl

imin

ally

dev

elop

ing

read

ers

who

are

lim

ited

from

thei

r fu

ll po

tent

ial b

ecau

se o

f life

exp

erie

nces

;rem

ov-

ing

the

ceili

ng t

hat

limits

tha

t po

tent

ial t

hrou

gh a

war

e-ne

ss r

aisi

ng s

trat

egie

s;pr

ovid

ing

a ne

w p

arad

igm

of

thin

king

(h

ence

its

aw

ard-

win

ning

app

eal

and

glob

alre

ader

ship

);an

d ac

ting

as a

cro

ss-g

ener

atio

nal

and

cros

s-cu

ltura

l adv

ocat

e fo

r lif

e-lo

ng le

arni

ng.

BLA

CK

-BR

IGH

TM

otiv

ates

by :

Focu

ssin

g on

the

em

otio

nal

need

s an

d as

pira

tions

of

its r

eade

rs;

iden

tifyi

ng w

ays

to r

ejuv

enat

e,re

build

and

resh

ape

our

cultu

re;e

ncou

ragi

ng p

ositi

ve a

ttitu

des

and

real

istic

exp

ecta

tions

to

enab

le a

sen

se o

f wel

lbei

ng.

BLA

CK

-BR

IGH

TE

leva

tes

by:

Impl

emen

ting

ethi

cal,

mor

al a

nd s

piri

tual

cha

ract

erbu

ildin

g st

rate

gies

with

in a

rtic

les

and

stor

ies

for

the

uplif

tmen

t of

its

read

ers.

Bla

ckbr

ight

New

s w

as n

omin

ated

for

the

Nat

ionw

ide

Aw

ard

for

Volu

ntar

y E

ndea

vour

in

2007

.B

lack

brig

htN

ews

was

no

min

ated

fo

r an

d re

ceiv

ed:

the

Bla

ckB

usin

ess

Init

iati

ve A

war

d 20

06 f

or u

sing

soc

ial

entr

e-pr

enur

ials

hip

to

enlig

hten

th

e bl

ack

com

mun

ity;

the

May

or’s

Cit

izen

ship

Aw

ard

2007

for

its

outs

tand

ing

serv

-ic

e to

the

loc

al c

omm

unit

y an

d th

e A

fric

an-C

arib

bean

Ach

ieve

r’s

Aw

ard

2007

in

reco

gnit

ion

for

outs

tand

ing

acco

mpl

ishm

ents

in

Luto

n an

d no

min

ated

for

Lea

rnD

irec

t Aw

ard

in 2

008.

Blac

k-Br

ight

has

pro

vided

em

ploy

men

t op

port

uniti

es fo

r its

vol

unte

ers

and

the

Foun

der

is ob

tain

ing

the

requ

isite

qua

lifica

tions

to e

nabl

e he

rto

tea

ch in

the

Life

long

Lea

rnin

g Se

ctor

so

that

she

can

ass

ist a

dults

with

thei

r lite

racy

and

num

erac

y ne

eds.

The

Foun

der i

s cu

rren

tly a

ssist

-in

g KS

4 st

uden

ts w

ith th

eir

GCS

E En

glish

and

is a

lso a

ssist

ing

EEC

&As

ian

stud

ents

with

Eng

lish

Lite

racy

,pro

nunc

iatio

n an

d G

ram

mar

.Sh

eho

pes

that

by

help

ing

one

pers

on a

t a

time,

she

can

even

tual

lyen

able

the

Lut

on c

omm

unity

.

7

Blackbright_August_2009.qxp 11/08/2009 17:27 Page 8

8

DO Y

OU U

NDER

STAN

D ME

?

Do yo

u? D

o yo

u, re

ally u

nder

stand

ME?

Th

e so

und

I mak

e, the

thou

ght I

take

Or

from

the

heigh

ts, w

here

Mi

nds a

bove

look

dow

n On

the

thing

s bes

t love

d, W

hen

silen

ce sp

eaks

a w

ordle

ss so

ng.

Mind

s of m

en e

ngag

ed in

full a

ction

s. Th

e tho

ught

of ma

n wi

ll nev

er ce

ase

As m

ind o

f floo

ded

thoug

ht in

even

bea

st.

Do yo

u un

derst

and?

Mind

is p

ower,

wor

ld’s g

reate

st co

mpute

r, ‘A’

terrib

le wr

appe

r if c

arefu

lly n

urtur

ed.

‘A’sto

pper

to a

ny B

older

! ‘A’

puzz

le to

an a

nswe

r, ‘A’

swor

d, ’A’

shiel

d, ‘A’

prote

ctor

‘A’pr

ofess

or b

y natu

re,

The

thing

in m

e wi

ll, bu

ild m

e An

d br

eak m

e, ma

ybe

mind

ove

r matt

er!

Awe

ll-buil

t mind

is su

perio

r, Ca

n flic

ker w

ords

to fir

e! Ca

n bo

nd a

nati

on st

rong

by t

he th

ough

t of ju

st on

e, Fr

eedo

m is

lost f

rom

ever

yone

Do

you

unde

rstan

d?

Our w

orld

today

, cou

ld be

wha

t the

y say

, In

a wa

y. I

say p

ower

ful m

inds c

onfus

e Th

e wi

se a

nd va

le the

alre

ady b

linde

d ey

e W

ho?

Whe

n? a

nd W

hy?

Ask

that

guy,

not I

In

the m

iddle

of the

stor

m I c

ome

Befor

e it’s

don

e, I’ll

be

fastly

gon

e Mi

nd in

Won

ders,

Mira

cles t

o pe

rform

Do

you?

Do

you

reall

y und

ersta

nd?

Poem

Writ

ten

& Su

bmitt

ed b

y Mau

rice G

race

(Jama

ica)

“LOO

K W

HAT

I’M D

OING

!!!”

their

silen

t voi

ces c

ry o

ut;

but n

o-on

e hea

rs.. a

nd n

o-on

e see

s, un

til it

’s to

o lat

e.

IS B

ODY

LANG

UAGE

ENO

UGH?

The

grea

test f

ear t

hat c

hildr

en s

uffer

(and

man

y of

us a

s ad

ults)

is the

fear

of b

eing

misu

nder

stood

or

left a

lone.

From

a y

oung

age

, chil

dren

are

mou

lded

into

thesh

apes

, valu

es a

nd m

orals

of t

heir

pare

nts, c

arer

san

d oth

er in

fluen

cers

in the

ir life

. W

hen

they

lean

towar

ds in

depe

nden

ce (d

oin’t

heir

own

thing

) the

yar

e qu

ickly

curta

iled

to co

nform

.

Are

mora

ls an

d va

lues t

he sa

me in

all c

ultur

es?

Ofco

urse

not

– so

wha

t is

the c

ultur

al be

nchm

ark?

Whic

h cult

ure s

ets th

e stan

dard

? W

hen i

n Rom

e do

as th

e Rom

ans D

o? S

o whe

n the

re ar

e inc

onsis

ten-

cies

in be

havio

ur b

ecau

se o

f cult

ural

and

socia

lint

erna

l batt

les,

who

in ‘th

e sy

stem’

is go

ing to

reco

gnise

the

differ

ence

betw

een

warn

ing id

iosyn

-cra

sies o

r cult

ural

attrib

utes?

Prob

ing an

d/or o

bser

vatio

ns ca

n be i

ndica

tors –

but

can

an a

dult r

eally

und

ersta

nd w

hat a

child

is g

oing

throu

gh b

y loo

king

for o

ngoin

g sig

ns in

bod

y lan

-gu

age,

disint

eres

t, lac

k of

conc

entra

tion,

disru

ptive

beha

viour,

ner

vous

ness

? C

an a

gua

rdian

alw

ays

distin

guish

whe

ther a

‘trait

’is cu

ltura

l or e

motio

nally

char

ged?

Unde

rstan

ding

child

ren

is ab

out t

aking

the

time

tokn

ow t

hem.

Ho

w ma

ny a

dults

hav

e the

tim

e?W

ork,

other

dem

ands

on

their

time,

socia

l com

mit-

ments

– ‘

signs

’can

ina

dver

tently

go

unno

ticed

.W

hat a

bout

the ch

ild w

ho fe

ll off t

he b

ridge

rece

ntly

and d

rown

ed on

a sc

hool

outin

g? T

ake y

our e

ye of

fa

child

for a

mom

ent a

nd it

can

be a

tanta

moun

t to

man

slaug

hter

or

crim

inal

negli

genc

e an

d no

amou

ont

of ap

ologis

ing c

an c

ompe

nsate

for

the

emoti

onal

traum

a su

ffere

d by

the

victim

s pa

rents

.Ch

ildre

n ar

e cry

ing fo

r atte

ntion

bec

ause

man

y par

-en

ts ar

e ov

er-co

mmitte

d. “W

atch

me” “

Look

wha

t Iam

doin

g” th

eir s

ilent

voice

s cry

out…

but

no-o

nehe

ars..

and

no-

one

sees

.. un

til its

too

late.

(The

Edi

tor)

Blackbright_August_2009.qxp 11/08/2009 17:27 Page 9

FR

EE

onl

ine

futu

re e

diti

ons

ofB

BN

?em

ail:

blac

kbri

ghtn

ews@

aol.c

omF

OR

LIM

ITE

DE

DIT

ION

SO

FPA

STH

AR

D C

OP

IES?

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w.m

yspa

ce.c

om/b

lack

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the

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utto

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d yo

u w

ill r

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st £

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OR

AD

VE

RT

ISIN

G E

NQ

UIR

IES

plea

se e

mai

l bla

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om

for

mor

e in

fo:w

ww.

blac

kbri

ghtn

ews.

com

Tel:

0158

2 72

1 60

5

Back

Issu

es, A

rt Ca

rds a

nd M

yrna

Loy’s

Tra

velo

gue

“The

Oth

er S

ide

of To

urism

” (B

uy N

ow fo

r onl

y £5

)(It

’s th

e fu

nny

side

of b

eing

Brit

ish in

Jam

aica

!)9

Myrna Loy, says:

“My f

amily

of o

rigin

was h

eavil

y infl

uenc

ed b

y the

stric

tness

of t

heCa

ribbe

an a

nd t

he u

nforg

iving

attit

udes

of

Victo

rianis

m. I

was

raise

d in

by a

priv

ate fo

ster h

ome

durin

g my

prim

ary y

ears.

Muc

hof

my e

arly

expe

rienc

es w

ith fo

rmal

educ

ation

, emp

loyme

nt an

dre

lation

ships

lack

ed th

e emo

tiona

l sup

port

and g

uidan

ce ne

cess

ary

for o

ptima

l gro

wth.

Adult

s ru

led in

my

pre-

scho

ol wo

rld: “

child

ren

mus

t be

seen

and

not

hea

rd”;

durin

g my

pub

esce

nt ye

ars:

“.kee

pyo

ur m

outh

shu

t, do

as

you

are

told,

and

obe

y yo

ur e

lders

”. A

s are

sult,

by th

e age

of 15

year

s old,

I had

clos

ed up

emoti

onall

y, int

er-

nalis

ed m

y fea

rs an

d be

came

app

rehe

nsive

towa

rds

those

who

claim

ed th

ey lo

ved

me.

I dev

elope

d my

cap

acity

for r

esilie

nce

byme

ntally

reco

rding

my

feelin

gs a

nd w

riting

them

dow

n in

eithe

rpo

etry o

r pro

se.

In my

20s,

I star

ted to

paint

. The

proc

ess o

f tran

s-fer

ring t

he fr

ustra

tion o

n can

vas w

as th

erap

eutic

. Refl

ectin

g on t

heste

ps I t

ook t

o ove

rcome

the c

halle

nges

I fac

ed an

d the

subs

eque

ntse

lf-exa

mina

tion

has b

een

pivota

l to m

y wor

k.

Myrn

a has

been

calle

d a ‘c

auldr

on of

crea

tivity

’. Bo

rn in

Lond

on of

Jama

ican

pare

nts,

she

is a

Visu

al Ar

tist,

Publi

shed

Aut

hor,

Perfo

rman

ce P

oet,

Radio

DJ

and

Publi

sher

of B

lack-B

right

News

.My

rna

spen

t 11

year

s in

the U

nited

Stat

es w

orkin

g for

the

Unite

dNa

tions

as

a HR

Adm

inistr

ator,

1 ye

ar in

Ang

ola o

n a

peac

ekee

p-ing

miss

ion tr

ying

to mo

tivate

vuln

erab

le sta

ff wh

o ac

comp

anied

her o

n the

haz

ardo

us a

ssign

ment.

Myrn

a re

turne

d to

the U

K in

2000

to b

e clo

se to

her

fami

ly.

Myrn

a’s in

spira

tiona

l men

toring

wor

k is

drive

n by

her

inter

est i

nhe

lping

you

ng p

eople

relea

se e

nerg

y for

pro

gres

s. A

cons

isten

tthr

ead

is he

r beli

ef in

the n

eed

for b

enefi

cial r

elatio

nship

s w

here

partie

s exp

erien

ce th

emse

lves a

s res

pecte

d, tre

ated j

ustly

in a

safe

envir

onme

nt, an

d are

helpe

d to r

ealis

e the

ir pur

pose

and p

otenti

al.My

rna f

eels

that n

urtur

ing on

e’s cu

lture

and i

denti

ty, is

the c

entre

ofgr

owth,

stab

ility

and

whole

ness

. She

beli

eves

that

the e

ssen

tial

basis

for s

elf-im

prov

emen

t is a

“tru

e” re

lation

ship

with

ones

elf.

At so

me tim

e or

ano

ther,

ever

yone

gets

stuc

k in

patte

rns o

f thin

k-ing

, feeli

ng or

func

tionin

g tha

t cau

se di

scon

tent a

nd st

ress

and w

ithyo

ung

peop

le wi

th Em

otion

al, S

ocial

and

Beh

aviou

ral D

isord

ers

(ESB

D), th

ese p

atter

ns ar

e exa

cerb

ated.

Youn

g peo

ple w

ith E

SBD

can

get o

verw

helm

ed b

y con

flictin

g pr

ioritie

s and

their

reac

tions

tothi

ngs

that h

appe

n tha

t the

y do

n’t e

xpec

t and

don

’t wa

nt in

their

lives

, cau

ses

them

to los

e foc

us, w

aste

effor

t, mi

ss o

ppor

tunitie

san

d imp

ose o

n othe

rs. Yo

ung p

eople

with

ESB

D/co

nduc

t diso

rder

s,co

uld b

ecom

e the

ir ow

n wo

rst e

nemi

es th

roug

h se

lf-criti

cism,

self-

doub

t, an

d un

resp

onsiv

enes

s to

their

own

need

s.

The r

isk, w

hen t

hese

thing

s hap

pen,

is tha

t they

“tun

e out”

to av

oiddo

ing w

hat th

ey ha

ve to

do or

they

toler

ate an

unsa

tisfac

tory s

itua-

tion

until

they f

eel e

motio

nally

bur

ned

out,

get a

ngry,

bec

ome

seri-

ously

stre

ssed

, pan

ic or

suffe

r dep

ress

ion.

Inspir

ation

al Me

ntorin

g ca

n he

lp yo

ung

peop

le re

gain

persp

ectiv

ean

d foc

us.

email

: cult

uralg

arde

n@ao

l.com

for m

ore

infor

matio

n

DO

YO

U H

AV

E S

OM

EO

NE

TO

LO

OK

UP

TO

?M

yrn

a L

oy,

Insp

ira

tion

al

&P

oetr

y M

en

tor

ass

ists

you

ng

people

to a

chie

ve

their

pote

nti

al.

..

Blackbright_August_2009.qxp 11/08/2009 17:27 Page 10

10

DID

YO

U K

NO

W...

Win

ston

Hus

sey

won

the

2K9

Fest

ival

Son

g fo

r Ja

mai

ca?

It se

emed

that

Win

ston

Hus

sey

coul

dn’t

stop

dan

cing

at

the

Ran

ny W

illia

ms

Ente

rtai

nmen

t C

entr

e, H

ope

Roa

d,on

Sun

day

nigh

t. A

nd a

t poi

nts

it w

as n

ot d

anci

ng in

the

sens

e of

try

ing

to m

ake

crow

d-pl

easi

ng m

oves

, bu

tsi

mpl

y ex

uber

ant

body

exp

ress

ions

tha

t bo

rder

ed o

nth

e co

mic

.

Als

o, H

usse

y ap

pare

ntly

did

not

nee

d m

usic

in th

e ac

cept

-

ed s

ense

to to

ss h

is b

ody

back

and

forth

, to

chee

rs fr

om th

e

larg

e au

dien

ce,

sect

ions

of

whi

ch d

efin

itely

cam

e ou

t to

supp

ort a

par

ticul

ar fi

nalis

t in

the

Fest

ival

Son

g 2K

9 co

mpe

-

titio

n (T

inga

Ste

war

t’s c

ontin

gent

see

med

the

lar

gest

and

posi

tione

d m

ost p

rom

inen

tly n

ear t

he s

tage

). Fo

r he

danc

ed

his

way

off-

stag

e to

the

beat

of h

is e

vent

ually

win

ning

Tak

eB

ack

Jam

aica

dur

ing

the

segm

ent w

here

the

final

ists

san

g

thei

r ent

ries

and

skan

ked

with

out m

usic

as

he c

olle

cted

his

win

ner’s

$1

mill

ion

cheq

ue fr

om D

igic

el’s

Mar

k M

artin

.

Pote

ntia

l con

trov

ersy

In a

dditi

on,

Hus

sey

was

pre

sent

ed w

ith t

he S

tage

s tro

phy

by D

r St

Aub

yn B

artle

tt an

d al

so r

ecei

ved

a gi

ft fro

m

Coo

yah.

The

anno

unce

men

t was

han

dled

in a

way

that

hel

ped

stem

any

pote

ntia

l co

ntro

vers

y, a

s M

C J

erry

D a

nnou

nced

the

win

ning

pro

duce

r fir

st. A

fter

Lloy

d G

rant

col

lect

ed h

is p

rize

for

the

win

ning

son

g an

d H

usse

y’s

pock

et o

f su

ppor

ters

star

ted

chee

ring

wild

ly, J

erry

D s

aid,

“So

you

get i

t by

now

,

huh?

”.

Allo

win

g th

e m

embe

rs o

f the

aud

ienc

e to

com

e to

the

real

i-

satio

n of

the

win

ner

inst

ead

of ‘d

ashi

ng it

on

them

with

out

war

ning

’may

hav

e as

sist

ed in

the

acce

ptan

ce o

f the

resu

lt

by a

sev

erel

y se

gmen

ted

audi

ence

, afte

r Je

rry

D h

ad c

au-

tione

d al

l pre

viou

sly

abou

t acc

eptin

g th

e ju

dges

’dec

isio

n.

So

whi

le a

jub

ilant

Hus

sey

perfo

rmed

the

200

9 Fe

stiv

al

Son

g, T

ake

Bac

k Ja

mai

ca,

twic

e as

king

triu

mph

antly

“A

wha

dem

a g

o do

now

?”,

the

othe

r fin

alis

ts b

ehin

d hi

m

onst

age

and

his

core

of

supp

orte

rs c

heer

ing

him

on

from

just

in f

ront

of

the

stag

e, m

any

mem

bers

of

the

audi

ence

sim

ply

filed

out

sile

ntly.

Mos

t of t

hose

oth

er fi

nalis

ts d

id n

ot g

o ho

me

empt

y-ha

nded

,

as th

e C

HA

SE

Fun

d ga

ve $

100,

000

each

to th

e w

riter

s of

the

top

10,

all

but

two

of t

he s

inge

rs a

lso

doin

g w

ritin

g

dutie

s. O

ba S

imba

, who

se s

taff

was

as

muc

h fo

r sup

port

as

it w

as fo

r ef

fect

and

lim

ped

notic

eabl

y at

poi

nts

durin

g hi

s

Feel

The

Pre

ssur

e,

won

$4

0,00

0 fo

r be

ing

the

Mos

t

Dis

cipl

ined

Per

form

er.

Stac

ia, w

ho w

as n

otic

eabl

y ru

nnin

g ou

t of b

reat

h as

she

put

ener

gy a

nd a

glo

win

g sm

ile i

nto

Love

Jam

aica

, ea

rned

$40,

000

from

Cap

ital

and

Cre

dit

as t

he M

ost

Impr

oved

Fina

list.

Cal

vin

McF

arla

ne’s

che

erin

g sq

uad

holle

red

like

thei

r cha

m-

pion

had

cop

ped

the

title

whe

n th

eN

uff

Nic

enes

ssi

nger

was

ann

ounc

ed B

est

Per

form

er,

win

ning

$30

0,00

0 an

d a

troph

y fro

m T

aste

e, p

lus

priz

es fr

om D

igic

el a

nd C

ooya

h.

Alth

ough

the

2009

top

10 fe

stiv

al s

ongs

wer

e th

e hi

ghlig

ht

of t

he n

ight

, th

ey w

ere

not

the

only

one

s de

liver

ed a

t th

e

Ran

ny W

illia

ms

Ent

erta

inm

ent

Cen

tre o

n S

unda

y. E

ach

final

ist w

arm

ed u

p w

ith a

son

g of

thei

r cho

ice,

Tin

ga S

tew

art

havi

ng h

is b

est

mom

ent

with

a m

edle

y th

at in

clud

ed p

ast

fest

ival

son

gs a

s w

ell a

s a

snat

ch o

f a d

ance

hall

hit.

And

gu

est

perfo

rmer

s R

oy

Ray

on,

Bus

y S

igna

l an

d

Chr

isto

pher

Mar

tin (

who

m a

gag

gle

of a

dorin

g gi

rls in

fron

t

of th

e st

age

clus

tere

d be

fore

as

he a

ddre

ssed

var

ious

par

ts

of th

e au

dien

ce) w

ere

hits

with

the

audi

ence

.

If th

ere

was

a p

rize

for c

ostu

min

g, L

este

r Lew

is w

ould

hav

e

been

as

clos

e to

a ‘s

hoe-

in’a

s co

ncei

vabl

e, w

hat w

ith h

is

extra

long

sho

e (J

erry

D a

sked

him

to d

ispl

ay it

for t

he a

udi-

ence

and

dec

lare

d it

a go

od w

eapo

n if

a th

ief i

nvad

ed th

e

hom

e) a

nd a

but

ter y

ello

w, s

potli

ght b

right

tailc

oat s

uit.

Sour

ce: T

he J

amai

can

Gle

aner

Blackbright_August_2009.qxp 11/08/2009 17:27 Page 11

11

LLEETT

TTEE

RR TT

OO TT

HHEE

EEDD

IITTOO

RR

Res

pond

ing

to t

he o

ver

50s

Mar

ch e

ditio

n

Dea

r M

yrna

, W

e ar

e T

ina

& R

ober

t T

aylo

r,

Ans

wer

ing

your

pos

t, be

late

dly,

six

mon

ths

afte

r yo

upo

sted

it o

n th

e A

ge C

once

rn fo

rum

, pro

babl

y de

mon

-st

rate

s th

e fo

rget

fuln

ess

of a

dvan

cing

yea

rs.

You

sai

d in

you

r po

st:

“But

whe

ther

peo

ple

are

in th

eir 5

0s o

r 80s

, if w

e ha

veno

con

trol

ove

r ou

r liv

es a

nd a

llow

the

und

er 3

5s t

odi

ctat

e ou

r fu

ture

, we

will

be

plac

ed o

n th

e ba

ck b

urn-

er fo

r go

odne

ss k

now

s ho

w lo

ng.”

Per

haps

thi

s is

how

you

fee

l, bu

t I

cert

ainl

y do

n’t

see

it lik

e th

at.

The

gen

erat

ion

that

I b

elon

g to

, kn

own

asth

e B

aby

Boo

mer

s, w

ere

the

sam

e pe

ople

tha

t dr

a-m

atic

ally

ch

ange

d ou

r liv

es

from

th

e m

id

1960

’son

war

ds.

Tho

se

peop

le

are

still

ch

angi

ng

thin

gs,

alth

ough

I a

gree

tha

t pe

rcep

tion

can

be a

n up

hill

stru

ggle

.M

y w

ife a

ndI

still

enj

oy t

he s

ort

of s

ocia

l lif

e th

atte

ens

and

twen

ties

have

the

ene

rgy

for.

We

love

tren

dy b

ars,

dan

cing

, soc

ialis

ing,

eve

n bu

rlesq

ue, b

utju

st i

n ca

se w

e st

and

out

like

a co

uple

of

wrin

kled

prun

es a

mon

g th

e br

ight

fres

h pl

ums,

we

alw

ays

send

any

new

ven

ue th

at w

e ve

ntur

e in

to, a

n em

ail e

xpla

in-

ing

our

‘con

cern

s ab

out

the

gene

ratio

n di

ffere

nces

.’A

ddin

g, j

ocul

arly

, th

at w

e m

ight

nee

d so

mew

here

to

park

our

mob

ility

bug

gies

.W

e ha

ve n

ever

fel

t os

trac

ised

. In

a b

ar i

n Lo

ndon

,kn

own

as T

he C

ella

r D

oor,

we

met

a y

oung

cou

ple

out

on t

heir

first

dat

e, s

uch

an e

ngag

ing

coup

le,

we

chat

ted

for

hour

s, w

ithou

t th

e sl

ight

est

sens

e of

gen

-er

atio

n di

ffere

nce.

And

aga

in, a

cou

ple

of w

eeks

ago

,w

e w

ere

up i

n G

lasg

ow f

or a

dan

ce/b

urle

sque

eve

ntkn

own

as V

egas

/Hig

h T

ease

. W

e w

ere

on t

he d

ance

floor

with

out

any

sort

of

self

doub

t, an

d al

thou

gh w

ew

eren

’t th

e ol

dest

the

re,

we

wer

e ol

der

than

90%

of

the

audi

ence

. B

ut s

o m

any

cam

e up

to

us,

com

pli-

men

ting

our

danc

ing,

invi

ting

us t

o fu

ture

sho

ws,

and

thes

e ar

e pe

ople

for

ty y

ears

you

nger

. O

ne y

oung

man

eve

n po

sted

on

the

burle

sque

web

site

: “D

id y

ouse

e th

e ol

der

coup

le s

ettin

g th

e da

nce

floor

on

fire?

etc.

etc

.”M

y ow

n ta

ke o

n ag

ing

is c

onfid

ence

, I

just

don

’t se

eth

e th

e lin

es in

my

feat

ures

, it d

oesn

’t oc

cur

to m

e th

atI c

ould

be

old,

how

cou

ld I

be?

I’m to

you

ng to

be

old!

And

bes

ides

, my

late

Gra

ndm

othe

r on

ce to

ld m

y w

ifeth

at s

he d

idn’

t kn

ow t

he o

ld w

oman

who

liv

ed i

n he

rm

irror

, it

cert

ainl

y w

asn’

t he

r, m

y G

rann

y w

as,

fore

v-er

, eig

htee

n. S

o w

ith h

er g

enes

in m

e, h

ow c

ould

I no

tbe

the

sam

e?

With

reg

ards

,

Rob

ert,

one

half

of T

ina

& R

ober

t.

Lette

r fo

r th

e ed

itor,

cont

inue

d...

Dea

r Myr

na,

Than

k yo

u fo

r res

pond

ing,

and

so

quic

kly.

I do

see

wha

t you

mea

n ab

out t

he jo

b m

arke

t. Fo

r al

mos

tth

irty

year

s, I

wor

ked

in th

e lo

gist

ics

indu

stry

, in

all I

wor

ked

for t

hree

of t

he la

rges

t con

glom

erat

es in

the

field

.

And

thre

e tim

es I

was

on

the

losi

ng s

ide

in a

buy

out b

y a

com

petit

or.

The

last

tim

e, a

t the

age

of f

ifty

two,

I kn

ew, t

here

was

n’t

muc

h po

int t

ryin

g fo

r ano

ther

man

ager

ial p

ost,

as y

ou s

ay,

too

old,

pas

t it,

et

al.

Nev

er m

ind

the

thirt

y ye

ars

expe

ri-en

ce, f

it in

min

d an

d bo

dy, s

o I s

tarte

d up

on

my

own,

Ten

year

s la

ter,

I am

stil

l the

re, t

he b

usin

ess

is s

trong

, eve

n in

this

diff

icul

t clim

ate,

hav

e ju

st ta

ken

on tw

o ne

w s

taff,

one

in h

is e

arly

thirt

ies

the

othe

r on

the

brin

k of

six

ty. I

f the

y ar

ego

od, h

ave

the

right

atti

tude

and

wan

t to

wor

k, th

at’s

all

Ias

k.

Sor

ry a

bout

the

prev

ious

con

fusi

on a

nd th

ank

you

for T

heB

lack

brig

ht n

ews.

With

rega

rds.

Rob

ert.

(Sav

anna

h)Ve

rwoo

d, D

orse

t

INSP

IRAT

ION

ALW

ORDS

OF

COLI

N PO

WEL

L

The

less y

ou a

ssoc

iate

with

some

peo

ple, t

he m

ore

your

life

will

impr

ove..

Any

time

you

toler

ate m

edioc

rity in

othe

rs, it

incre

ases

your

med

iocrity

. An i

mpor

tant a

ttribu

te in

succ

ess-

ful pe

ople

is the

ir imp

atien

ce w

ith ne

gativ

e thin

king

and n

eg-

ative

acti

ng p

eople

. A

s yo

u gr

ow,

your

ass

ociat

es w

illch

ange

.. So

me o

f you

r frie

nds

will

not w

ant y

ou to

go

on.

They

will

want

you

to sta

y whe

re th

ey a

re.

Frien

ds th

at do

n’t h

elp yo

u cli

mb w

ill wa

nt yo

u to

crawl

. You

rfrie

nds w

ill str

etch

your

visio

n o

r cho

ke yo

ur d

ream

.. T

hose

that

don’t

inc

reas

e yo

u w

ill ev

entua

lly d

ecre

ase

you..

Cons

ider

this::

Ne

ver

rece

ive c

ouns

el fro

m un

prod

uctiv

epe

ople.

. Nev

er d

iscus

s yo

ur p

roble

ms w

ith s

omeo

ne in

ca-

pable

of c

ontrib

uting

to th

e so

lution

, bec

ause

thos

e wh

one

ver s

ucce

ed th

emse

lves

are

alway

s firs

t to

tell y

ou h

ow..

Not e

veryo

ne ha

s a rig

ht to

spea

k into

your

life..

You

are c

er-

tain t

o get

the w

orst

of the

barg

ain w

hen y

ou ex

chan

ge id

eas

with

the w

rong

per

son..

Don

’t foll

ow an

yone

who

’s no

t goin

gan

ywhe

re. W

ith so

me pe

ople

you s

pend

an ev

ening

: with

oth-

ers

you

inves

t it.

Be

care

ful w

here

you

stop

to in

quire

for

direc

tions

alon

g the

road

of li

fe.. W

ise is

the

perso

n wh

o for

-tifi

es h

is life

with

the

right

friend

ships

. If y

ou ru

n wi

th wo

lves,

you

will l

earn

how

to h

owl. B

ut, if

you

asso

ciate

with

eagle

s,yo

u wi

ll lea

rn h

ow to

soar

to g

reat

heigh

ts. A

mirro

r refl

ects

ama

n’s fa

ce, b

ut wh

at he

is re

ally l

ike is

show

n by

the

kind

offrie

nds

he c

hoos

es..”

Ex

celle

nce

is no

t an

exce

ption

it is

apr

evail

ing a

ttitud

e.”

Blackbright_August_2009.qxp 11/08/2009 17:27 Page 12

A Da

y in a

n Ang

ola(T

rue E

vents

) by

Myr

na Lo

y

Date

: 5 Oc

tobe

r 199

6

The

week just before my birthd

ay wa

san unsettling week for

me.

Th

eMedical

Unit

suspected

a ca

rdia

carrest. Can you imagine? I was

hos

-pitalised, placed on very high

dos

age

of blood

pressure tablets

to re

duce

my blood

pressure from 160

over

12

0to its

present

state

of 130

over

90

.My heart

was

beating

at 130

a mi

nute

instead of the normal 90 and

I was

in

a terrible state. Some say it

is th

ecumulative

effects

of

the

Lari

um(malaria preventative pills)

wh

ile

others seem

to think

it is

st

ress

related. Whatever, I have dec

ided

to

call it a

day

in December

. I

amleaving 18 December to spend an ov

er-

due Christmas in London, with my

fam

-ily

(it’s

been over 3

years)

an

d to

spend

the

New

Year in New

York

.

The

experience here was

a go

od on

e,although I am not sure how it af

fect

-ed me psychologically.

Subc

onsc

ious

ly,

the

restri

ctio

ns of

not

bein

g ab

le

to

go

anyw

here

unes

cort

ed, an

d th

e in

abil

ity to

shu

tyo

urse

lf of

f fo

r“q

uiet

ti

me”

plus

othe

r fa

ctor

s ad

ded

to

th

e st

ress

factor,

not

to

ment

ion

the

pres

-su

re of ex

trac

ting

myse

lf fro

m a si

tuat

ion th

at was

mak

-in

g me

fe

el un

comf

orta

ble.

I

feel

much

be

tter

no

w. I

am of

f th

eta

blet

s th

at we

re me

ant

to as

sist

with

my

br

eath

ing

(I wa

s ga

spin

g fo

rbr

eath

, bu

t no

t wh

eezi

ng).

Lo

okin

gba

ck on

a

part

icul

ar in

cide

nt th

atwa

s no

t fu

nny

at th

e ti

me,

I ca

nsm

ile

at it

on

re

flec

tion

. I

was

inth

e Sa

grad

a Es

pera

nza Ho

spit

al (wh

ich

is a loc

al Lev

el III

hos

pita

l) una

ble

to spe

ak a wor

d of

Por

tugu

ese.

I ha

dbe

en es

cort

ed th

ere

by Po

rtug

uese

spea

king

pa

rame

dics

an

d a

Peru

vian

Doct

or wh

o ex

plai

ned

the

symp

tons

I

was

expe

rien

cing

, an

d th

ey su

bse-

quen

tly

left

me

th

ere

beca

use

it wa

sar

ound

8.

30 in

th

e ev

ening.

A do

ctor

in

th

e ho

spit

al,

afte

rch

ecki

ng my

bl

ood

pres

sure

, im

medi

-at

ely

gave

me

tw

o ca

psul

es to

pu

tun

der

my to

ngue

to

re

duce

th

e bl

ood

pres

sure

. I

was

then

give

n an

EK

G.Af

ter

the

EKG,

be

caus

e we

co

uld

not

unde

rsta

nd ea

ch ot

her,

we

we

re us

ing

sign

la

ngua

ge..

I

need

ed so

meth

ing

for

my he

adac

he,

and

she

was

putt

ing

her ha

nds ac

ross

her

heart

and

poi

nt-

ing

the

whee

lcha

ir.

I

imme

diat

ely

tran

slat

ed he

r si

gn la

ngua

ge to

me

an“o

pen

hear

t su

rger

y” an

d wh

ispe

red

asi

lent

pr

ayer

. Of

f th

ey ca

rted

me

,ou

tsid

e th

e ho

spit

al pus

hed by

a man

,up

an

d do

wn so

me sl

opes

(n

o mo

dern

tech

nolo

gy),

out

side

of th

e ho

spit

al.

Stre

et li

ghts

di

rect

ed us to

an

othe

rbu

ildi

ng. I as

ked to

use

the ba

thro

om, an

d it

was

then

I

saw

some

thin

gth

at I

coul

d tr

ansl

ate

as

being

Radiography

(bec

ause

th

e sp

elli

ngwa

s si

milar)

an

d fe

ltre

liev

ed.

I

assu

med

at12

Blackbright_August_2009.qxp 11/08/2009 17:27 Page 13

that point

that I

was

going

to ha

vewas

an x-ray, and

I was

right.

I had

the

x-ray, and

as I

left

, th

elittle English

she

knew as “I

wi

shyou luck — God bless you”. I sp

ent

the whole night in the emergen

cy roo

mwondering. My headache wa

s st

ill

pounding —

they wanted to gi

ve me

an

injection

in bottom to re

duce

th

ediscomfort (how does one

conn

ect

one

with the other?), but I had an

inj

ec-

tion earlie

r which

was

so pa

infu

lthat

I

decided

to

suffer

the

headache.

I suffered that he

adac

heall

night

until

I reached

a po

int

where

I wanted the

injectio

n, bu

tthey were being

spiteful,

or so

I

imagined.

I

pointed

to my mo

uth

and

then to my head meaning

that

I

want

-ed a

tablet for

my headache bu

t th

eydidn’t giv

e me one. When the

y to

ok my

blood

pres

sure

and

realiz

ed

that

despite the capsules, it had

not

sta

-bilised

they decided

to gi

ve me

a

tranquillizer

which

seemed to

re

duce

my headache.

Finally, after

a series of ch

ecks

, I

was

allowe

d to go ‘home’ af

ter

afinal check with the cardiolog

ist.

I

was

given

five days off

work.

The

social

activities are

on th

edecline, and

I intend spendi

ng mo

stof my time at work for

the

next

co

u-ple of months pending my repat

riat

ion

on the

18th

.

Less

of

this

stuff.

It

wa

smy

birthday

last

Sunday,

and

let

me

share

with

yo

uhow I sp

ent it

.

It started

off

on Friday ni

ght

when

I was

taken

to an exclusive

rest

au-

rant by a good friend of mine an

d he

rcompanion. It was

downtown,

and

the

restaurant was

amidst plants

an

d a

setting

of antique

furnitur

e co

n-trasted

with dashes of colour

on

th

ewalls

- highlighted

by fl

ores

cent

13

bulb

s.

The

man

poin

ted

to t

he s

alad

bar

, an

dit

lo

oked

de

lici

ous.

Not

want

ing

tosp

oil

our

appe

tite

, we

pu

t a

mode

stam

ount

on ou

r pl

ates

, we

nt bac

k to

the

tabl

e an

d de

cide

d to

orde

r th

e ma

inco

urse

, wh

ich

vari

ed b

etwe

en l

obst

er,

shri

mp a

nd s

teak

. W

e had

two

bott

les

of wi

ne,

the

bill

ca

me up

to

US

$200

incl

udin

g th

e ti

p (i

n 1996

!!!)

. We

had

fail

ed to

re

alis

e, an

d be

caus

eth

ere

was

no

Port

uguese

Sp

eaki

ngwa

iter

s, th

at th

e sa

lad

bar

cons

ti-

tute

d an

“Ea

t as

Muc

h as

you

lik

e fo

r$4

5!” ma

in cou

rse.

We

saw a man

wal

k-in

g ar

ound

wit

h be

ef o

n a

skew

er,

and

wond

ered

ho

w we

co

uld

enjo

y so

me of

that

an

d di

dn’t

re

aliz

e th

at it

wa

sal

so a

par

t of

the

eat

as

much

as

you

like

of

, or

fi

sh ac

comp

anyi

ng th

esa

lad

bar.

So

we

, as

they

sa

y “g

otdo

ne”

We

had

orde

red

two

main

cou

rs-

es,

that

was

why

it

was

so e

xpen

sive

.Re

alis

ing

our

erro

r, i

t co

uld

be c

on-

side

red

a re

ason

ably

pric

ed re

stau

-ra

nt!

My fr

iend

’s co

mpan

ion

didn

’t qu

iver

,bu

t ge

nero

usly

sai

d: “

I’ll

pay

it,

no

prob

lem,

thi

s is

not

hing

for

a b

irth

-da

y -

in Ru

ssia

we

sp

end

thou

sand

swh

en i

t is

som

eone

’s b

irth

day

(he

was

Russ

ian)

so

Ceci

le

look

ed

at

me,

beca

use

she

had

inte

nded

pa

ying

fo

rmy

bi

rthd

ay an

d I

look

ed at

he

r, an

dwe

bo

th sh

rugg

ed si

multan

eous

ly,

and

thou

ght

“how

ni

ce”

- it

wa

s a

very

nice

ge

stur

e.

Blackbright_August_2009.qxp 11/08/2009 17:27 Page 14

Photo

of li

ttle g

irl by

Garfi

eld H

allBa

ck Co

ver b

y Lak

shmi

Nara

yan G

upta

14

On t

he S

aturday

before m

y birt

hday

, I

went i

nto

work f

or a

couple

of h

ours

,and

then went home to clean

my co

n-ta

iner inside and

out. We have

th

ese

awful

bedsheets

and

grey

flan

nel

blankets on our

beds,

so when

a

girl

(who had

just returned from

Ke

nya)

was

gifted a

bedspread w

hich s

he d

id-

n’t

like i

t, I

immediately s

eize

d th

eop

portunity

to ask

if I

could

buy

itof

f her. She

said yes, so I

put

iton

my bed

and

it looked love

ly.

In t

he e

veni

ng w

e had

been i

nvit

ed t

otw

o parties. Someone

was

pick

ing

usup

at 8.30

p.m. to take us

to

th

efi

rst

part

y and

then we inte

nded

to

find o

ur o

wn w

ay t

o the

seco

nd p

arty

.Wh

en we we

nt to the

first

part

y, it

wasn’t really our type of part

y. Th

eywe

re playin

g music

by Jimi He

ndri

x,Le

nny

Kravitz, and

some ar

tist

s I

hadn’t heard

of.

We left th

ere

and

went to an

other

party, but

I ju

stwa

nted to see my birthday in wit

h sp

e-ci

al friends, and

I did. On

Su

nday

,a

minute past midnight,

we op

ened

a

bottle of Asti Spumante whic

h wa

s a

luxury in Angola.

Sunday (dur

ing

the

day) went

pr

etty

quickly. I

made breakfast

for

mygi

rlfriend Cecile —

it was

the

only

way I could get her out of bed

at 7.

00a.

m.,

and

then I

went

to w

ork

to m

ake

some c

alls t

o England, b

ut I

cou

ldn’

tge

t an outs

ide

line.

Cecile had

invited

me for

lunc

h, so

after

lunch

we went to th

e UN

AVEM

Social c

lub

for

a drink

and

a ga

me o

fdo

minoes,

went for

a walk,

and

got

home around

4.30 p.m.

In t

he e

veni

ng,

I had

been i

nvit

ed t

oa

Vietname

se

Restaurant,

by

col-

leagues

in the

Personnel

Sect

ion.

I

had

been

there

once

before

the

food

was

excellent.

This ti

me,

Idon’t

know

if

subcon-

scio

usly

I

was

comp

aring

it to

th

edi

nner

we

ha

d th

e pr

evio

us Fr

iday

,bu

t it

was

of ve

ry low

calib

re in co

m-pa

riso

n. Ho

weve

r, I

was

with

ve

rygo

od fr

iend

s wh

o wa

nted

to

gi

ve me

a

good

ti

me,

and

they

di

d.

I re

ally

ha

d a

wond

erful

birt

hday

.Th

e fr

iend

s I

have

ma

de he

re,

have

made

up

fo

r no

t ha

ving

a

fami

lyar

ound

. I

am ve

ry lu

cky.

I

am ba

ckto

a

clea

n bi

ll of

he

alth

.

I am

lo

okin

g fo

rwar

d to

le

avin

g.Mi

ssio

n li

fe is

no

t for

me,

ever

y-th

ing

is so

tr

ansi

tory

, on

e ca

nnot

get

one’

s te

eth

into

an

ythi

ng su

b-st

anti

al or

me

anin

gful

.

(Writ

ten

by M

yrna

Loy

whi

le in

Ang

ola)

IITT’’SS

TTIIMM

EE FF

OORR

NN

OOSSTT

AALL

GGIICC

RREE

GGGG

AAEE

......

Wer

e Y

ou

Ravi

ng

in t

he

80

s?T

udor

Rose

, D

ou

gies

, A

ll N

ati

on

s, A

poll

o..

Rail

way?

Trev

or H

artle

y, Lo

uisa

Mar

ks, P

eter

Spe

nce,

Keith

Doug

las,

Sand

ra Cr

oss,

Donn

a Rh

oden

, Pau

l Daw

kins

,As

wad,

Deb

orah

Gla

sgow

e, Lio

n Yo

uth,

Afri

can

Brot

hers

,et

c.

Roots

Reg

gae

&L

over

s w

/L

ady

Loy

ever

y Su

nday

from

8pm

- 1

0pm

ww

w.j

am

rock

radio

.com

Blackbright_August_2009.qxp 11/08/2009 17:27 Page 15

www.

mys

pace

.com

/black

bright

news

or

www.

blac

kbrigh

tmag

azine.

com

email: b

lack

bright

news

@ao

l.co

mFo

unde

r &

Man

agin

g Ed

itor

: Myr

na L

oy

BBBBllll aaaa

cccc kkkkbbbb

rrrr iiiigggg hhhh

tttt NNNN

eeee wwwwssss

GGGGiiii vvvv

eeee ssss HHHH

oooo ppppeeee

tttt oooo aaaa

NNNNeeee wwww

GGGGeeee nnnn

eeee rrrraaaa tttt

iiii oooonnnn !!!!

Photo

of li

ttle g

irl by

Garfi

eld H

allBa

ck Co

ver b

y Lak

shmi

Nara

yan G

upta

Blackbright_August_2009.qxp 11/08/2009 17:27 Page 16