General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMARTIN LUTHER KING, Jr: 'In Jamaica I feel like a human being'
http://go-jamaica.com/ja55/article.php?id=8Reverend Dr Martin Luther King Jr had a vision of a society in which race was not an issue in how people were treated or in how they were allowed to live their lives.
The efforts of Dr King and those like him have, in fact, changed the world, for the better, in noticeable ways. His vision has made the world a more equal place, if not an equal one, and it has helped to ensure that minorities have a voice.
Reverend Dr Martin Luther King Jr, visited Jamaica in June 1965 to deliver the sermon at the University of the West Indies valedictory service. Dr Kings speech was entitled, Facing the Challenge of a New Age.
He spoke about the passing of an old colonial order, the need for a worldwide brotherhood, the need to fight any kind of injustice with love and the need for us to strive to be the best we can be at whatever we chose to do in our lives.
Following the service, Dr King attended a dinner at Kings House hosted by then Governor-General Sir Clifford Campbell and Lady Campbell. The next day, at a packed civic reception at the National Arena, Dr King was given the Keys to the City of Kingston after delivering another stirring 40-plus-minute address.
He began by saying that he had never felt more at home anywhere else in the world adding, In Jamaica I feel like a human being. He said he was proud to be among his brothers and sisters on this wonderful island.
Following that address, Dr. King attended a reception at the home of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) director and then visited the grave of National Hero Marcus Garvey to lay a wreath out of respect for a man he said gave negroes in the United States a sense of dignity, a sense of personhood, a sense of manhood, a sense of somebodiness.
Dr King saw the freedom he was fighting for in the United States in action in Jamaica, a politically independent majority black country. He was so comfortable in Jamaica that he returned in 1967 where he completed the manuscript which became his most important book: Where Do We Go From Here.
He chose Jamaica, not only because it provided an opportunity to reflect without distractions, but because his spirit and vision were inspired by this independent black country.
This interlude of reflection came at a critical point in the struggle, both in terms of the direction of the civil rights movement and in his own thinking and vision which had broadened from civil rights in the United States to human rights for mankind.
Kid Berwyn
(14,642 posts)The other day Mrs King and I spent about ten days down in Jamaica . . . I always love to go to that great island which I consider the most beautiful island in all the world. The government prevailed upon us to be their guests and spend some time and try to get a little rest while there on the speaking tour. And so for those days we travelled all over Jamaica. And over and over again I was impressed by one thing. Here you have people from many national backgrounds: Chinese, Indians, so-called Negroes, and you can just go down the line, Europeans, and people from many, many nations. Do you know they all live there and they have a motto in Jamaica, Out of many people, one people. And they say, Here in Jamaica we are not Chinese, we are not Japanese, we are not Indians, we are not Negroes, we are not Englishmen, we are not Canadians. But we are all one big family of Jamaicans. One day, here in America, I hope that we will see this and we will become one big family of Americans.
Source: https://www.caribbean-beat.com/issue-133/out-of-many#axzz6BaH3CTWk
Johnny2X2X
(18,731 posts)While racism exists worldwide, in a lot of parts of the world it's not the same as the US where blacks face so muck overt racism. I remember going to Brazil for the first time and at least to my eye, the people I met there seemed to be completely color blind, it seemed like black, white, native colors were not even a thing there.
I also know several expats who live in Europe that are African Americans (Poland, the UK, Holland, and Germany). In visiting them they made it known that the burdens placed on them in the US aren't present over there, or at least they don't face them as much. Now I'm sure nothing is perfect, they're just of the mind that they aren't discriminated against as overtly as they are in the US. And of course all of those countries have much less powerful law enforcement in terms of civil rights, so that has to help.
malaise
(267,785 posts)but there is still both racism and 'classism' in these parts.
That said traveling to all inclusive hotels doesn't expose visitors to the workings of any society.
MineralMan
(146,189 posts)In another time, Dr. King might have been one of the best Presidents the United States ever had. Tragically, that was never to be.
Just a few months before his trip to Jamaica, I stood at the back of a crowd in Montgomery, Alabama and listened to him give his "How long? Not long" speech. I was just 20 years old, a skinny white kid from California who stopped in there on one of those trips of self-discovery after dropping out of college for a while.
His speech and the environment in which it was made had an enormous impact on my life, but I didn't know what that impact was until years later. I moved on from Alabama and on to other stages in my life, but Dr. King's speech was one of those seminal events that altered the entire direction of my future.
malaise
(267,785 posts)Lucky you.
By the way Obama spoke to students at University of the West Indies in the same Assembly Hall.
MineralMan
(146,189 posts)I imagine he knew it, though, at the time.
As for being lucky, that speech was one of my Forrest Gump moments, I guess. I went to Selma, based on news stories, but that I happened to be in Montgomery on that particular day was not something I had planned. A lucky accident, I guess.
malaise
(267,785 posts)Greetings massive - Wah a gwan Jamaica!!
MineralMan
(146,189 posts)malaise
(267,785 posts)The rainbow when he was leaving was a signature moment of his visit.
https://blogs.jamaicans.com/the-story-behind-president-obama-waving-a-rainbow-in-jamaica/
It may rain shit for Pompeo's visit this week
MineralMan
(146,189 posts)Sunsky
(1,737 posts)malaise
(267,785 posts)Sunsky
(1,737 posts)Zolorp
(1,115 posts)Jamaica is my favorite place on earth.
malaise
(267,785 posts)tavernier
(12,322 posts)Sadly I have not had such good experiences when visiting, probably because we are in cruise ship ports. The peddlers are many and intense, often coming too close for comfort, and it can be intimidating and uncomfortable. I have many Jamaican friends here in Florida and they are lovely people but they also have warned me to take care in certain areas .
malaise
(267,785 posts)I am with you re the peddlers.
By the way the first cruise ship arrived in Port Royal this morning. My favorite seafood/fishing village will never be the same again