I found this hidden gem on the Official website for the Governor General of Jamaica. A very inspiring video titled “I Believe“. A well put together video with children saying “I believe” in Jamaica. It is similar to the Obama “Yes We Can” campaign.

It’s a pity this is hidden on the website and does not seem to be getting the exposure a campaign to change minds should. I know some may say it sounds cheesy but it could be a great rallying call to Jamaican everywhere at time when it is difficult to “beleive” with the flood of negative news.

I wrote a month ago that I had no problem with John Beck calling the president a racist. He is entitled to his opinion just like Kayne West when he said “Bush does not like black people”. In that blog entry I said the problem I had with Beck was the statement about “white culture”. I wanted to know what is “white culture”? Katie Couric tried to get the answer to that question. John Beck seems to be tap dancing…not sure which culture can claim tap dancing?

Dallas Mavariks owner, Mark Cuba has some pretty strong opinions, which he expressed in Newsweek, on how big media houses online can make money. He say “Erradicate the parasite websites” so people visit the websites where the content orginated. By that he means websites like Drudge and Huffington Post that create summary stories from another website and then links to the full article. I don’t think this will work. The web is so big that this type of linking acts as free advertisement for a site that on it’s own may never get much visits. I also think people are very selective about the time they spend reading in a  a “fastfood” culture. No one has the time to read a full article anymore.

Last week I received a copy of a NewsWeek article titled “Is Your Baby a Racist“.  The article it is a great read. The main message  from the article is that if more people talked about race with their children the less the chances of stereotypes that lead to racism. It is something I have observed since I lived in America. People are scared to talk about race. I recall some my race conversations with white friends and ex-coworkers. I typically start these conversations from a current event or a joke. First there is some resistance to talking about it. The typical excuses about being comfortable with all races etc. Then when the conversations get deeper and they realize that I want to have a serious discussion things change. Most open up and talk frankly. I remember one person, in a mid-west state I visited, telling me that I was the first black person he ever had a conversation with. These conversation can be uncomfortable but I think they can be healthy.

I read this story ,”Amish newspaper resists lure of Web” ,  and wondered if they will eventually succumb.  Traditional newspapers are dying and moving to the web fast.  Suppliers for the materials used for printing newspaper are cutting supplies making it more expensive to produce.  This is a tough stance but I guess someone has to draw the line. Personally I love the feel of the newspaper in my hands. I am old school…

Saw this over in the Bob Marley group today. Why is it everything that is created to look like Bob Marley never does. Do we as Jamaicans need to cry fowl on this?

Last week there was some discussion in the Jamaicans.com forums on Colin Powell endorsing Bloomberg and not any of the other black candidates. I saw some posts on other website basically saying he should have endorsed a black candidate and demonizing him. Like I said in the forums last weeek I think some in the black community have made a big mistake demonizing Colin Powell especially when he was in office. I totally lost all respect for Harry Belanfonte when he call him an Uncle Tom. He was the voice of reason in an administration bent on war. He was literally forced out because of this.

Any back to this issue of supporting a non-Black candidate. When he supported Obama he heard it from the “right” that he was only supporting him because he was black. Now that he is supporting Bloomberg he is not “black” enough. I think Colin Powell should endorse who he thinks is the best candidate black or white for the job. Based on what I have seen I think he is fair.

I think one of the biggest missed opportunity Jamaicans had was when Mr Powell was in the Bush administration. I don’t care if you are Republican or Democrat if you can help Jamaica I am for it. We pushed up our chest because he was of Jamaican decent however many of us stood by and said nothing when he was demonized. I remember arguing with many of my friends on how it important it was to have Colin Powell in the White House. The things he could have done for Jamaica and Jamaicans if he was embraced and defended by the community. The Caribbean was ignored by the Bush administration as they focused on terror. Africa was not as the Bush administration now holds the record for giving aid to Africa.  Imagine a little voice that could whisper in the President’s ear about the Caribbean. We lost out