Jamaica

As all my readers may know my Granny was a force to contend with. She didn’t take any nonsense from anyone, and raised her children and grandchildren to be solid citizens, encouraging them to always remain stalworth in their deeds and actions.

Granny would tell me stories of times when merchants tried to overcharge her for goods and services, how she would go to their Business establishment and camp out for several hours until they decided to treat her fairly. If the store owners were extremely unreasonable she would visit them for days on end until they had the good sense to acquiesce to her demands.

I spent so much time with my grandmother as a child that some of her personality traits could not help but be passed on to me. I recall a day when I went to the candy shoppe to purchase a ¼ lb. of paradise plums and the shop owner charged me an exorbitant price for the tiny pieces of candy. Even at the tender age of six years old, I knew they were taking advantage of me, especially since my Granny was not present. Perhaps, that is why she sent me to the shoppe next door to see how I would manage.

At first, I was confused when the shoppe owner told me it would be a few shillings. I was so excited about the candy that I almost paid him, and then somewhere in my mind, my Granny’s voice surfaced. “Now Magsie, go right back to Mr. Chin and tell him, No can do! Tell him that your Grandmother only pays a few tropences, and that’s all you are willing to pay, not a penny more!”

In my feeble six year old voice I said, “Mr. Chin, let me tell you something, Granny doesn’t pay a lot for this candy…..So how about a couple of pences?”

Mr. Chin responded, “Your Granny? Who’s your Granny?”

“You know the little old lady who patrols back and forth with her bible, don’t you remember? We were in here a few Sundays ago, I was wearing my pretty bonnet Granny had made for me.”

“Hmm……he ruffled his hair. Ohh….yeahh..yeahh..That’s your Granny? Mrs. B?”

“Yesiree…and she is not going to be happy if I have spent all of her shillings.”

“Alright little one, give me two pence and tell your Granny I said hello.”

“Thank you, I know Granny will be so happy about this. Bye!”

I hop-scotched out of that shoppe so fast, feeling exhilarated that I learned my first lesson in practicing autonomy.

Granny sat waiting on the veranda, a part of her expecting me to come back defeated, and another part of her secretly hoping I would return victorious.

She was ecstatic that I opted for the latter.

The stories that my Granny told me weren’t to brag and boast about her life or childhood. They were meant to inspire and teach morals and principles about life. Standing up for what you believe in whether others may think it’s mullarkey.

Granny told me stories about my Grandfather and how heroic he was. In times of great stress and turmoil in Jamaica. One of my ancestors, Alexander Butamante was called up on to be the leader of Jamaica, the masses wanted him to lead them out of poverty and political upheaval. Bustamante answered that call, but he knew he could not do it alone. So, he asked my Grandfather to be his driver. He knew it was a perilous task, but if anyone could pull it off my Grandad could.

As Bustamante lead the troops of people across the Jamaican terrain to regain their land and civil liberties that they were entitled to, my Grandfather drove him through road blocks, police barricades and criminal minded gun-men. His number one goal was to protect himself, Bustamante and the important documents that he needed, transported to the House of Parliament. Granddad did not stop for anything or anyone, and because of his heroic attempts, he helped to create a piece of Jamaican history.

My descendant, Bustamante went on to govern Jamaica through their Independence.

Granny told me these stories to instill in me that I come from Great Men. Part of that greatness means that one has to lead by example and to question the social mores that we believe that are injustices.

My Grandmother never wanted any of her children to accept any inferior treatment imposed by society. She always felt that what was good for the goose was good for the gander. So many times in society people will extend the Royal Treatment to one set of people and treat others as "no counts". Granny wanted me to understand that I should never accept less than I rightfully deserve.

Growing up, I sometimes felt I was a rebel without a cause. As I grew older I realized that my idealistic energies are really stemmed from having genes that will not stand for “wrong” whether innocent or otherwise.

From the early years Granny itaught me, “Ghost know who to frighten, if people think you are an easy step-over, they will try anything. It is up to you, to put them in their place.”

While telling me this story Granny went to her bureau and adorned me with a bracelet with a coin of Bustamante’s likeness on it. She told me never to forget my heritage and never ever to let anyone bully me into their way of thinking. For her, it was important for me to understand that the greatness of Bustamante and my Grandfather meant something, it was part of my ancestral fabric.

Granny also went on to say, “You know Mags, people always complain about their children are wayward, Politicians are corrupt, the system let’s them down. Yet they never do anything about it. If your children are bad, then you as a parent have to reorganize your life. My husband, God rest his soul, when the boys were young and started to cut school, you know what your Grandfather did?”

I looked at Granny quizzically…..”I don’t know.”

“Your Grandfather, used to put the boys in his car, along with their school books and drive them everywhere he went. While he was driving ,they had to study.”

“Why did Grandpa do that? Granny, they probably gave him a hard time and made him zany…eh?”

“Give who a hard time……? You obviously don’t remember your Grandfather very well, he carried those boys around with him because he did not want them to end up on drugs or on death row. Your Grandfather vowed that he would rather go to the gallows than have any of his children turn out to be vagabonds. He had a bamboo cane he used to carry called John-scatter-ca-ca, those boys just looked at it and fell in line.”

“Isn’t that kind of harsh Granny?”

“No, he knew how hoity-toity and prejudice Momma and Poppa were, so he was not going to give them the satisfaction of thinking that their daughter would be barefoot and pregnant, with the Taxi Man children smoking from chillum pipes.”

“Granny, Poppa G was a very no-nonsense man, however, I don’t think that he believed you and Grandpa would raise vagrants.”

“Oh yeah, My parents weren’t easy people you know. He was very Irish and set in his ways.”

“This is why I am trying to instill in you children to be the persons who you were meant to be, do not let the world turn your lives into a circus. You children come from strong characters, who believe in principles.”

I must admit, that these talks about strength and fortitude seemed inconsequential to me at the time , however, I must let you all know that recently I have felt like a Lady Bustamante forging ahead during rough circumstances in New York.

I have experienced situations first hand where the streets have been blocked off for no apparent reason. Traffic has been backed up for several hours, and there is a sense of danger that looms. Call it intuition, but I do believe there is something rotten in Denmark.

Coming from a third world country, where we are no strangers to road blocks and curfews, I know how these procedures are supposed to be conducted and the proper protocols have not been carried out.

I can only assimilate my experience to that of one who lives in a war-torn territory. Except I believe the war maybe on Drugs.

I have chosen to write this special Granny story to reach out to all the citizens who truly believe that they can make a difference, to take a stand and say no to the invisible slavery that exists in America and around the world. We seem to live normal lives, yet Big Brother is always watching, our civil liberties and rights are dangling on a thin thread. At any time, the wrong leadership could take those freedoms we enjoy, away.

Bustamante is no longer here to march with us across the terrain. Martin Luther can no longer fight the battles for injustices against minorities and Malcolm X has gone and left his legacy behind.

All the people of our nation need to stand up for what is right and say no to the things that are genuinely wrong in our society.

My Granny’s teachings showed me that one person can make a difference but it helps when you have a motorcade behind you.

My Granny would always say, “Standing up for rights aren’t always easy. People will try to intimidate you. There will be times when you are quaking in your shoes, but nevertheless, you forge ahead like a steamship. Eventually, you will melt the ice.”

I do believe collectively, we do not have to always call on the Government to fight our battles. I think as people who share the same common goal, we can achieve the power to raise good kids, to deter Drug Dealers from taking residence in our neighborhoods and to stop social injustices.

The time has come for us to put idle banter on the back burner and pursue the real issues in our Society before it is too late.

Granny always said, “God gives everybody a garden to tend to, but sometimes they are so busy fasting in other peoples’ garden, that they don’t even realize weeds are growing in theirs.”

When voting in this election, remember the weeds in your garden. They need to be plucked out, so that the beautiful flowers can grow.

In memory of Alexander Bustamante