‘The Birth of Fear in Jamaica’

In 1944 at the age of 15, I was entrenched in the politics of Jamaica, but knew nothing about what was going on on the other islands.

Building up to the elections in Jamaica, I was one of the PNP canvassers canvassing in Upper St Andrew and I was amazed at the kind of people who supported the JLP.  Before I was of the opinion that the JLP was only supported by the Plantation workers and the Dockers, but now I was to see the other side of the coin.

Upper St Andrew contained the upper elites of Jamaica, people like Ivan B Fraser, who made his millions by holding onto goods supplied by the Japanese, before Japan entered the War.

Men like Alan O Ritchie, the Administrator General of Jamaica, Essa the store millionaire, Percy Junior, who made his millions from the export of Pimento during the War and others.

I found these people friendly when I knocked on their door they would call me in, some would sit for a long time trying to convince me why I should join the JLP, instead of supporting the PNP, and the great future which lay before me and the great future for Jamaica.

Although I did not understand the politics, I understood clearly their way of thinking was not mine.

On the night of the Election I was acting as a steward for the constituency of Northern St Andrew, when the election result was declared and Bustamante’s victory echoed throughout the island.

It was like hell let loose, with the followers of Bustamante rampaging through the streets, shouting, singing and dancing.

Instead of reconciliation the people were now further apart, as anyone who was spotted who looked like a PNP because of his or her appearance,  had to make good their escape.  While others stayed behind closed doors, being afraid to enter into the streets. 

The Birth of Fear in Jamaica had now begun.   For months following the Election intimidation became the norm as many people sought to leave the island, because of the increasing fear. 

Over the years a lot of the people who had left the Plantations in Jamaica, for the United States,  never returned to till their own soil.  Along with those who left for England, Panama, Cuba, and the United States.

The shortage of food began to become a problem, unemployment was also rising.

The Kingston and St Andrew Corporation tried in vain to stem the rise in unemployment by building roads and opening the quarries.

The closure of the American Base in Sandy Gully, Kingston, also brought more problems for the unemployed.

The chicken was now coming home to roost.

Bustamante had had his glory, the Bauxite industry was now open but not for the benefit of the people of Jamaica.

Our leader was now in power, but the exploitation of our land and our people was now rigoursly in force, but now more organized.

The selling of our Bauxite to the United States by Bustamante for one shilling per ton was the greatest insult to the struggle of the Jamaican workers who supported  him, and a gross insult to the dignity and pride of all the people.