Mark Wignall | Spice and the morality police

When Spice did her musical collaboration with Kartel – Rompin Shop – it was a big hit and also a controversial one. I had no problem with its raw, sexual content. I would have preferred that it was toned down a bit.

Were I true to myself, I would have admitted that much of my judgment on such matters was developed from British literature, the type of teaching that was quite common in a Jamaica of the 1950s and ‘60s. Which meant that creativity when brought to sexual matters in books, movies, and songs was best expressed in softer tones. But I was also wading in a bit of hypocrisy.

In the 1960s, more than a handful of our stars in the pop music arena used sexual crudity to keep themselves commercially relevant. At times, it was also a demand from the local music listening population. I enjoyed these songs but would never allow them to be played to my children in my living room.

The fact is that I did not summon any side of me to see Rompin Shop as expressing its true meaning in just about the only way it could be done - in hot Jamaican moments in Jamaican language.

The problem is, of course, its release into the public domain. Many among us would prefer that sexual matters or even just talk of it be confined to the privacy of the bedroom or the rushed softness of a banana walk. So whoever did that song, Rompin Shop would be forever seen as attached to those musical vibrations.

Recently, Spice (real name Grace Hamilton) went to a school - St Catherine High - as part of a bigger tour on her Ohh No School Tour. The no meant no to drugs, no to early sex, no to what doesn’t put value on you. I can’t fight with that message, especially as long as she can up the messaging, knowing that such campaigns are nothing new.

MORALITY POLICE

And then the morality police struck. The acting principal of the school gave her exceptionally high marks for the views expressed during a panel discussion she participated in at the school. She did not perform.

“She came to the school as a past student, and I would not want to take that privilege from her. I don’t have any regrets to be honest,” According to others, she was the wrong person to deliver the good message. In other words, her best worth is in the song Rompin Shop.

According to the advocacy officer for the Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society, Phillippa Davies, ”... dancehall artistes cannot be two different people in the same body.”

Ms Davies must have been overjoyed at hearing the news that the Spice tour had been cancelled. Without raining on Ms Davies’ parade, much of the world and the thought processes governing the global social complexities operate mostly in non-binary modes.

If someone should peep through the bedroom of a couple doing naked people stuff on the bed, it doesn’t mean that they also don’t sing hymns in church on a Sunday, When I was in my mid-teens, I delighted in reading Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer, known for its candid sexuality, and every other book of that type.

I wish Ms Grace Hamilton, Spice, all the best in her attempts to reach out to our young school children, many of whom need regular mentoring. Some need immediate repair from the social machine shop.

OH NO, MR CHUCK!

This matter took place more that two weeks ago, but it is still worth some mention.

During a meeting of the Integrity Commission (IC) Oversight Committee on January 14, Minister of Justice Delroy Chuck stated, “Why is the Integrity Commission asking members to indicate the salaries of their spouses or sometimes of their children? I don’t know if this is something that is appropriate because I have advised the relevant members, let them know your spouse is not prepared to divulge their salary.”

My friend, a veteran lawyer, asks, “My first question is: Has Chuck read the IC Act/Law passed by Parliament in compliance with the Jamaican Constitution, an Act/Law he voted for? The Act/Law allows the IC to do so, Minister.

“The next question: Why is the minister of justice giving legal advice to fellow members of Parliament?. He should not be practising law while appointed to the official position of minister of justice. He is paid handsomely to represent the people of Jamaica and the Government and not give private legal advice. Chuck is the minister of justice, a high- ranking legal official. How can he be preaching intentional violation of a valid law?

“Did he not take an oath to uphold the laws of Jamaica? Why did Chuck make such a statement in Parliament, the legislative body where the IC Act/Law was passed?”

WILL ROAD REPAIRS BE ELECTION PROBLEM?

Little by little, a few roads are being repaired. I say this against the background of our national road infrastructure being at its worst ever. The irony is that our highway network is at its best ever.

The fact is that most driving takes place on off-highway settings. Last Thursday, just before I wrote this column, in three instances, a yellow bus and four red-plate taxis sped out of a long line of traffic and dangerously navigated corners blindly. And all of that on roads that were badly pitted with numerous potholes.

Let us get one fact out of the way: The PNP has no solution to bring remedy to our roads. If it has a solution to keep the national murder rate trending down. It is best to keep that magic bullet behind closed doors. Simple. These are political times, and it would suit the Opposition to keep the promises open but not exact.

Mark Wignall is a political and public affairs analyst. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and mawigsr@gmail.com.