Last evening, while on my way home from the office, they were playing past Festival Songs on the radio. When I was a child these songs filled me with such pride. To hear the artistes and the people around you sing the words of these songs with such lustfull pride, was intoxicating. The feeling one got when you heard “This is the land of my birth, this is the land of my birth, this is Jamaica, My Jamaica, the land of my birth”, tell me you never felt great, and i’ll call you a liar!

Last night however, each and every repitition of the chorus, of the lines we have now commited to heart and mind, was like being stabbed. In my heart. In my mind. In every place I had put what was great about this country. Instant depression, when you look at the state of our nation:

Murders. We seem to be heading to 2000.

Corruption. Guvament seems to be practicing the same things they decried while in opposition.

Irresponsibility. Where were the authorities all these years when the country was going to shit? What were they doing, that now criminals who fancy themselves “Dons”, criminals who are referred to, in the media, as “Area Leaders”, have all but seized power? Who do the asses, who seek to legitimize these criminals, think they are? Have we lost in the struggle for law and order, that we now have to “work” with these people? Why didn’t they let us know they have given up, so i too can stop giving a damn?

Neglect. People, roadways, housing, public utilities, social programs, all paid no mind at all. But what do we expect from people whose only purpose is to win elections?

I want what I loved back. I want to be proud of this country, its people. My people.

This is NOT my Jamaica!

P.S. Running away is no rass solution