Reseña del libro ""Notes in Time": Excerpts of Gems from The Artful Blogger (en Inglés)"
ABOUT THE BOOK- "NOTES IN TIME" Jamaica has historically been classified as "The Pearl of the Caribbean" with its shores washed daily by its azure waters. The island's history, not unlike the other members of the archipelago has been similarly shaped by colonization Britain, its last colonial master who had captured the island from Spain in 1655 administering it through 173 years of slavery till August 6, 1962 when it granted the island Independence and its autonomous political leadership. In the years since Independence, Jamaica's stature has risen in the international sphere due largely to the contributions made by Jamaicans daily, at home and abroad. Culturally, the island has been ranked by the United States of America's CNN among the top ten most culturally influential countries in the world, led by its pulsating Reggae music through a long line of musicians piloted by its long deceased Icon Robert Nesta Marley and a litany of current performers including Chronixx and Romaine Virgo who have all combined to keep the island's flag flying in this industry as it maintains the pre-eminence of the genre in a global industry. In the area of sports, Jamaica's dominance in athletics has been a matter of record. From Herbert McKinley to Usain Bolt, Marilyn Neuville to Elaine Thompson, Jamaica has established an enviable record of performance in Track & Field athletics that spans some 70 years. Beyond the lights and the stage, Jamaicans have dominated in industry and technology at home and abroad, yet the island operates within a shadow of decadence that produces results that are negatively, as grating as its positive strides in the social and political space. This has been the source of my writings for more than half a decade as I sought to bring to public attention, topics that require serious consideration, especially if we are to have meaningful discussion on these issues within the public sphere. Jamaica, for example has been one of the leading voices in the call for regional integration from as far back as 1957 when early discussions were being held with respect to the establishment of the West Indian Federation, an idea that was eventually scuttled because of individual island insularities, which eventually drove the movement for political independence for the larger island states. . In 1973, Prime Minister Michael Manley affixed his signature to the Treaty of Chaguaramas which gave birth to CARICOM, yet more than 40 years later, the region is still unable to agree on the fundamentals that will allow regional cooperation on issues of Trade, regional travel and political cooperation. At home, politically, it would appear that after years of strife, punctuated by their ideological differences, both the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the Peoples National Party (PNP) may have found a way to end their decades long tendencies towards violent political strife and to work towards political continuity. This development though has not resulted in any significant movement in the social and economic needle as the country continues to function between fits and starts. Corruption continues to be the bane of the island, feeding the crime monster which robs the island of not only its youth potential but also to provide a deterrent to members of the Diaspora desirous of returning to contribute to nation building as well as to frighten away potential foreign direct investment. These are the issues that I have attempted to cover as I wrote over the last five years and it is these issues that headline my discussion articles even as we attempted to raise up recommendations for potential solutions. Overall, I hope this book will throw some light on subject areas that may have piqued the interest of some of its readers at one time or the other. I equally hope that the material will help to engage them in the struggle for social and economic progress.
