Weekly Gleaner UK 60th Anniversary

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JUNE 30 - JULY 6, 2011• 15

The Weekly Gleaner - Spreading the Jamaican Howard Campbell Gleaner Writer

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Empire Windrush with the Jamaican immigrants on mass being welcomed June 22, 1948 .

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HILE LIVING in London during the 1960s, Alvin Brown said it was difficult keeping tabs with the latest news back home in Jamaica. The Weekly Gleaner newspaper was his main source of information.

Brown joined the British army in 1961 and went to England the following year for training in Yorkshire. He remembers making the weekly trek to a Jamaican store in Ladbroke Grove where he lived to buy the Weekly Gleaner.

If it was not there, he hustled to the Jamaica High Commission where it was also sold.

"You would hear one or two things on the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) but nothing much. So, it was really important to get the Gleaner in London or Birmingham," Brown said.

A Rastafarian, Brown recalls reading about Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I's visit to Jamaica in The Weekly Gleaner of April, 1966. He said Jamaicans in Britain welcomed news from home in any form "Even the music bring news to England them days. When we hear 'bout Shanty Town (Desmond Dekker's hit song, 007 Shanty Town) we knew right away what was taking place," he said.

The Weekly Gleaner first appeared in England in 1951, primarily to feed the growing

Jamaican population in that country. Three years earlier, hundreds of Caribbean nationals travelled to the Mother Country on the Empire Windrush, a former British warship.

They went there looking for work and to help boost the British economy which had taken a battering in World War II. The 1950s and 1960s were exciting times in Jamaica which made it even more important for its expatriate community to keep abreast of the latest developments there.

The independence movement (from Britain) was gathering throughout the Caribbean in the 1950s and the feats of politicians like Alexander Bustamante and Norman Manley made for good reading.

JAMAICAN PREMIER IN LONDON FOR TALKS WITH BRITISH GOVERMMENT: Sir Alexander Bustamante, Premier of Jamaica, is pictured at work in his Sovay Hotel suite during his recent visit to Britain. Sir Alexander met the Colonial Secretary, Mr. Regional Maudling and discussed the European Common Market with Britain’s Chief Negotiator, Mr. Edward Heath, Lord Privy Seal.

to T ublica of p

Myers, Fletcher & Gordon Solicitors

The news picked up even more steam in the 1960s.

Jamaica gained independence in 1962 and a new music (the ska) which emerged from Kingston's clubs found favour with white youth in London's underground.

Through The Weekly Gleaner, Jamaicans in England were able to follow the political progress of the new nation, as well as leading ska artistes like the Skatalites, Millie Small and Prince Buster. When some of these acts eventually went to England, fans already had an intimate profile of them.

Ronald Getfield joined the Gleaner's circulation department in 1973. At that time, he said demand for The Weekly Gleaner in England had outgrown its London base, as Jamaican communities had also sprung up in the Midlands in areas like Coventry and Wolverhampton.

According to Getfield, senior members of the Gleaner's editorial department selected what they considered to be the week's best stories and compiled them for the British market. An important aspect of the publication those days, was results of Senior Cup cricket which featured Jamaica's leading cricketers.

"It was important to publish matters relevant to the Jamaican situation," Getfield said.

Initially, the Weekly Gleaner was sent to England by boat. At the dawn of the 1970s, it was produced on negatives and dispatched by air to London where it was published and distributed to agents.

Excerpt from The Story of the Gleaner - Memoirs and Reminiscences published 2000.

UK Legal Advisors MFG House 15 Cambridge Court 210 Shepherd’s Bush Road Hammersmith London W6 7NJ Telephone: 020 7610 4433 Fax: 020 7610 4455 Email: mfg@mfglon.co.uk Website: www.mfglon.co.uk

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16 • JUNE 30 - JULY 6, 2011

File His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie inspects a guard of honour of the 1st Batallion, Jamaica Regiment at the Montego Bay airport shortly before his departure. Escorting him is Major Leslie Lloyd.

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His sweetness lingers forever - A tribute to Lincoln ‘Sugar Granulated’ Buga Minott

T

he late Lincoln Minott (aka) Lincoln ‘Sugar Granulated’ Buga Minott was not only a great singer, but also a gifted record producer, songwriter, composer, and arranger. Lincoln was a father figure and mentor to numerous young Jamaican, British, Japanese and American artists.

Sugar’s first major hit in Jamaica was Mr DC which was released on Studio 1.

He recorded and produced a host of British talent, such as: Janet Kay, ‘You Bring The Sun Out’, Carroll Thompson ‘Make It With You’, Trever Hartley, Selasie I, Junior Roots with Natty Dread times, These are just but a few of the names out of his vast catalogue. Sugar Minott also hit the top 10 British Charts with the song ‘Good Thing Going’, which is still a reggae party favourite.

RAISED THE BAR Without a doubt Sugar raised the bar for reggae from his Jamaican based Black Roots studio production at 1 Robert Crescent, Kingston 5. He created ‘Youth Promotion’, which was a movement to help the youths’ progress musically.

His studio was an open yard for every one.

Black Roots studios in Jamaica paved the way for artists such as: Little John, Junior Reid, Tena Saw, Yamie Bolo, Colourman, Louis Lepkey,

Sammy Dread, Barry Brown, Tristan Palmer, Toney Rebel, and Garnet Silk and many more.

He built his Black Roots label, to over 3,000 7” vinyl records and 80 albums, this is a fantastic achievement for an artist producer.

Josey Wales, Little John and Colourman go back a long way, they were part of the foundation and building blocks of Youth Promotion sound system. Sugar Minott mentored all three artists and was influential in getting them their first break in the music industry and his guidance brought success after success throughout the years.

This is why Lincoln ‘Sugar Granulated’ Buga Minott is known and respected as the ‘Dancehall King’. Similarly, Youth Promotion was seen as not just a sound system- it was a university!

Colourman had a massive hit with kick up rumpus in 1985, Josey Wales and Sugar Minott set the pace in the dance in a big way when they worked together on other sounds system such as Stur Gav. We as family and friends of Sugar Minott recognise the importance of his outstanding contribution to the reggae music industry. Out of loving respect we are keen to honour his memory, and play a musical tribute to keep Sugar’s legacy alive and invite you join us on tour, to celebrate his musical achievements in style.

Sugar Minott

VERSATILE STAR ENT. & YOUTH PROMOTION Invites One and all in the Name Of His Majesty to a Special Peace & Love

TRIBUTE TO SUGAR MINOTT Date

Saturday 16th July 2011 The Luxurious Black Grape Platinum Suite, 268 West Green Road, Tottenham London, N15 3QR MUSIC BY •Youth Promotion •Gemi Magic •Bobo El Numero •Trevor Ras Sax SPECIAL GUEST APPEARENCES Earl 16 and many more...

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Representing on the Nites

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Little John Tour Dates 8th July 2011 Black Swan Bristol 438 Stapleton Road Easton BS5 6NR 9th July 2011 Club Krystal Bedford 30 Broadway MK40 2PH 15th July 2011 The Big Western Manchester Great Western Street Moss Side M16 7PA

THE WEEKLY GLEANER

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Josey Wales 23rd July 2011 Railway Club Bradford Wakefield Road BD4 7PE 30th July 2011 West Indian Club Southampton Trinity Road Newtown, St Mary’s SO14 0BB 6th August 2011 Love Lounge London 516 Old Kent Road SE1 5BA

Colour Man Ticket info £15 or more at the Door Ticket outlets: Blacka Dread Records, Brixton; Body Music, Seven Sisters Rd, Tottenham, Or call Info hotline: E.Minott: 079 5049 2687 Kulture Black: 079 4477 6530 Bertie Stama: 079 1684 9390 Kaka: 075 0707 1933

JUNE 30 - JULY 6, 2011 • 17

Messages

Nurturing rich traditional values - now and beyond W

E AT The Gleaner Company Limited are indeed privileged to be celebrating the 60th year of publication of The Weekly Gleaner (UK).

We have a strong tradition of anticipating the information needs of our readers and responding appropriately. As Jamaicans moved to the United Kingdom (UK) in the 1950s, The Gleaner moved with them; providing pertinent news coverage from Jamaica with greater frequency than the twice monthly postal correspondence available to the Diaspora at the time. Since then, The Weekly Gleaner, with its tailored content, backed by the cred-

ibility of its Jamaican daily counterpart, has been consistently satisfying the needs of the overseas Jamaican community.

Over the years, in response to the rate of cultural integration in the UK, we have made further investments in media through our acquisition of The Voice publication and our recent launch of voiceonline.co.uk, extending our reach to other Diaspora as well as nationally.

CONTINUED RESOLVE This presence in the UK, supported by our jamaica-gleaner.com website and our radio channel Power106 through go-jamaica.com, is an indication of our continued resolve to adapt to changing reader habits and technologies in order to remain your best news source at all times and the Jamaican news brand foremost in your minds. Our achievements have only been possi-

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ble through the great effort of our teams of professionals who have, and continue to, take personal care to ensure that you have access to the facts and important issues to make informed decisions that impact your family, your local community and the Jamaican Diaspora at large. We are thankful in this regard.

As the West Indian Community in the UK prepares to celebrate Jamaica’s 50th Anniversary and the UK’s hosting of the Olympics in 2012, we at The Gleaner, pledge to continue to be of great relevance to you, delivered in the format that best suits your lifestyle. We hope that you will also join us in celebrating this milestone achievement.

Christopher Barnes Managing Director The Gleaner Company Limited

Toast to celebrate a tradition MYERS, FLETCHER & Gordon are extremely delighted to congratulate The Gleaner on this milestone in its history: 60 years of being published in the UK. It is our pleasure to advise and work with The Gleaner and its subsidiaries on their UK legal matters.

Like The Gleaner, our firm has its origins in Jamaica. In London, we advise on UK legal affairs including commercial litigation, commercial and residential property, estate planning (wills and probate) and corporate commercial law.

Our team has recently been expanded as a result of the merger into us of Myers, Ebner & Deaner, a firm which has its roots in London to the 1930s. As such we have 80 years of UK legal experience.

In addition as we are a part of the Lex Mundi Association of Independent Law Firms, we are able to instruct and advise on matters throughout the world.

We applaud The Gleaner.

Here’s to many more achievements.

Myers, Fletcher & Gordon

Keeping the community informed TWENTY YEARS ago I moved to Jamaica and founded the law firm Gifford Thompson & Bright. I have never regretted that move.

Jamaica remains a land of much joy and beauty and great opportunity. Since the events of May 2010 in West Kingston, the crime rate has fallen. In spite of the economic situation world wide, Jamaica’s true wealth is in its people situated on the Island and overseas who have the spirit to teach any tolerant society the principle of Jamaica’s national motto ‘out of many one people’.

Jamaica remains a democracy where leaders can be held to account and human rights are protected by law.

Throughout the years The Jamaica Gleaner has been staunch in its balanced and fearless reporting, and The Weekly Gleaner UK has kept the UK Jamaican community both informed and entertained with all things Caribbean.

The press plays an important part in holding governments to account, and for 60 years the UK Jamaican Diaspora has been well served by The Weekly Gleaner. As long as there are Jamaicans overseas in the UK, there will be a need for the Weekly Gleaner UK, and I wish it continued success.

Lord Anthony Gifford Q.C Senior Partner Gifford Thompson & Bright Attorneys at Law

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JUNE 23-29, 2011 •

19

A long-time friend

By Clayton Goodwin

C

OUNT PRINCE Miller has regarded the Gleaner newspaper as being his friend for as long as he can remember - not that he can actually remember the founding of The Weekly Gleaner (UK) in July 1951. At that time he was still a youngster “back home” in Jamaica and had no idea that he would come to spend the greater part of his life in this country. Then his attention - and that of all young people of his age - was on things American. Above all, they listened avidly to the songs of American singers such as Louis Jordan and Billy Eckstine.

It is a time and, above all, a country for which Prince still has greater affection. As we huddled over our soup in a Chinese restaurant at Fulham, West London on a chilly English “summer” afternoon he mentioned that in a few days he would be back in Jamaica which he visits as often as he can. “I have not seen Jamaica for sixteen months - and that is a very long time”. And he recalled the memories of his early days and the role of the Gleaner newspaper in reporting them.

Pride of place, naturally, had to be given to “Muletrain”, the song - no, the performance - by which his career is still defined.

Miller attributes that to the comedian Bim (a.k.a Ed Lewis).

Prince was a singer then with the Downbeats and when he turned up for a performance wearing Bermuda shorts Bim told him that he just had to do a comic number. They selected “Muletrain”, a hitherto rather static number by the American singer Frankie Laine.

“Just go out there and do it” Bim told him. And without any training, or idea of what to do, except his own intuition Prince did

just that. The wide mouth, the shake of his facial features and the wide eyes - it was all there, and has since become his trademark.

The entertainer explained, too, how on a tour to - I think it was Bermuda he took over the part of Bam in the comedy duo “Bim and Bam” when the real performer of that name was ill.

JAMES BOND STORY It was the filming of the James Bond story “Dr No” in Jamaica that sparked the interest of the England entertainment industry in the music of the island. Miller’s life was changed, too. He was working on the set of the film as a chippy because, in spite of being the island’s leading entertainer, he wasn’t paid all that much - well, hardly anything. As he worked he entertained the other employees so well that the film’s director decided that he had to go into the nightclub scene. After that he received offers of work in England, even though he wasn’t able to take them up at the time. While he was still in Jamaica, Prince played to packed-out, enthusiastic audiences at the Carib Theatre in Kingston.

Eventually Count Prince Miller came to London with Jimmy James and the Vagabonds in the early 1960s. He maintains regular contact with Jimmy and has spoken recently on the phone to Millie Small (“My Boy Lollipop”). We shared memories also of a mutual friend, the late Wilfred/Jackie Edwards. That reminded me to ask the unfair question - Who in his opinion were the best Jamaican singers of his lifetime? “The two Jimmys - James and Cliff” he replied “Boris Gardner and Winston Francis”.

During the 1960s the Vagabonds toured extensively in this country and throughout Europe.

Promoters who usually regarded Jamaican artistes with suspicion because of their poor record of punctuality were impressed by the group’s practice of arriving early. Among his many travels Prince recalled a tour of Hungary which was then under a Communistregime behind the “Iron Curtain”. He was surprised that the country was more lax in its social and moral attitudes than we had been led to believe, but the musicians were followed by the authorities wherever they went.

CAREER HIGHLIGHT The highlight of Prince’s long career was his role in the Caribbean Music Festival at Wembley Arena in September 1969 which was so successful that it was repeated the following year.

There is a rather good piece of film on “Youtube” showing him performing “Muletrain” at the event and the whole concert was photographed for Horace Ove’s film “Reggae”. Yet he was more than just a performer. Miller was integral to setting up the concept and was compere of a star-studded cast. And accidents do happen.

The microphone broke down for a full half an hour during which he had to entertain the capacity audience of several thousands just like the Caribbean Theatre - and he did it so well that the reporter of the Melody-Maker praised his professionalism as being akin to that of the world-renowned Apollo.

There is so much more that I could report on Prince’s career but space is limited. We haven’t touched on his acting in which he has achieved equal distinction. He started “treading the boards” professionally in a Mozart opera at the London Opera House, has made television advertisements, and has acted in both straight and comic roles on stage and television. Readers will remember him particularly as “Vince” in the series “Desmond’s”. Only last year he dominated the second part of the stage-play “The JA Story” which enjoyed a short run in London and will open again in Bristol for a tour of the regions.

Count Prince Miller has well-merited the award of Commander of the Order of Distinction which has been conferred on him and of which he is justly proud.

Throughout our conversation Prince made repeated reference to the support which the Gleaner had given to him and other Jamaican artistes in all that they have undertaken. What has made the Gleaner so special? “The Gleaner tells the truth” he replied and indicated that the newspaper was interested in the person behind the stardom. It is a role which he foresees the newspaper continuing to fill for many years to come.

The entertainer and the newspaper seem to be so much made for each other that I have jotted a note in my diary to interview him again when The Weekly Gleaner celebrates its centenary.

Prince Miller

Your Link With Legal Jamaica BARBARA J. LEDGISTER (ATTORNEY-AT-LAW)

all property transactions, wills, intestate, land title,

020 8764 1555 (offices in 3 parishes in Jamaica) 20 • JUNE 30 - JULY 6, 2011

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JUNE 23-29, 2011 •

21

Life unfolding – through The Weekly Gleaner’s eyes Hugh Muir

By Hugh Muir

O

URS WAS a house of rituals. Chores on a Saturday, church on Sunday; prayer meetings in the sitting room every Wednesday evening. Dad would go to work and save for when she was away as part of her ministry, mum would stay at home.

Dad would leave early each morning because he worked on the other side of London, but when he returned early evening he would have folded in his duffle bag, a copy of the Daily Mirror.

I’d grab it as soon as he walked through the door. There began my long association with British newspapers. And once a week, already appraised by the Mirror of everything he needed to know from a British perspective, Dad would then seek to reconnect with the life he knew prior to his sojourn in east London. Usually at the weekend, he would arrive home with a copy of The Weekly Gleaner.

Back then, the weekly purchase didn’t seem particularly significant. I knew that Jamaica was where my parents had come from. I had seen a

few grainy black and white photographs and knew I had relatives in the Caribbean - Aunt Net in Maypen; Uncle Walsie in Kingston. But the Gleaner experience was different for my parents.

It would set them off on all sorts of conversations about how Michael Manley was doing, the state of the Jamaican dollar, the debates that were being had about public morality.

The ever present discussion about the effect of religion in public life. The doings and wrongdoings of the celebrities of the day. The appearance of British figures would occasionally spark comment. Sometimes, if the person concerned was a bigwig in the Pentecostal church, we would know them. That would be a bit of thrill for me.

Occasionally it would be someone who had come to our house after a Sunday service for dinner.

The Gleaner had a role for them. It reminded them that they were on a journey in Britain but that it was not the destination. The plan was circular. It was always going to lead back to the Caribbean and so there was always an emotional and a practical need to keep in touch with

Jamaica. The paper, with its weekly encapsulation of the joys and challenges of living on the island, allowed them to do that.

But it had a role for me too. It seems strange these days to imagine a world where no-one in authority was black. The people on the television were white, the vast majority of my teachers were white.

The man who sold us West Indian fare; from yam to green bananas to shrimps and pigfoot, was white. He had picked up a bit of the lingo.

But he was still a ruddy faced Englishman.

What I took from the Gleaner all those years ago as a black boy born in the UK was the empowering knowledge that there is no limit to what black people can do. I saw black politicians, black community leaders, black newspaper columnists, black doctors; the soap opera of life with a cast that looked like me. My Dad brought back a lot more than news each week when he pitched up with the Weekly Gleaner, for me at least.

A piece of Jamaica in your hands - Gleaner reader of 44 years recounts his experiences London, England: FOR OVER 44 years The Weekly Gleaner has provided a sense of closeness to Jamaica for Kenneth O’sullivan in North West London, since he bought his first copy in 1967. O’sullivan left Race Course in Clarendon, Jamaica in 1965 and kept informed of happenings on the island at his home in Kensal Rise, with a stock of The Sunday and The Weekly Gleaner.

“In those days the cost of the Gleaner here (UK) was

two and a half pence. It was in 1967 that I first went in search of The Gleaner newspaper, as there was a postal strike in Jamaica and we could not hear anything out of the island; someone told me that the paper was available and I got my first copy from a news agent in Park Parade in Harlesden North London,” the 66 year old O’sullivan told The Weekly Gleaner.

“When it was not available in my area I would walk to as far as Cricklewood some three miles away to get a copy.”

In the 1960’s, O’sullivan

Contributed O’sullivan

22 • JUNE 30 - JULY 6, 2011

www.jamaica-gleaner.com

said, Jamaicans who migrated to the United Kingdom wanted reliable information from home, which the Gleaner provided.

“We wanted to see how Jamaica was being developed, we wanted to be kept informed about the new industries and factories that were being built; we wanted to know the truth,” he said.

“It (The Gleaner) was our main link with Jamaica as there wasn’t even the concept of a mobile phone; we had to write letters and that took weeks before there was a reply, when a copy of the Gleaner came you know that you are holding a piece of Jamaica in your hands; there were some regrettable news that you could not miss but there was a lot of good news showing Jamaica developing as an independent nation,” he added.

For over 44 years, this avid reader has kept abreast of the Gleaner’s publications changes. “When I first started reading The Gleaner here there was no stock exchange in Jamaica, over the years the newspaper has transformed in many ways, with more news and current issues put into it; interestingly in recent times there has been the inclusion of some stories from the sister paper (The Star) which has given more dimension to the paper,” O’sullivan noted.

O’sullivan attachment to The Gleaner sees him subscribing to the Sunday Gleaner. For him, “When my Sunday Gleaner don’t come I am like a fish out of water and every Thursday The Weekly Gleaner is a must.”

THE WEEKLY GLEANER

16 | THE VOICE June 23-29, 2011

CLASSIFIED

BORN ON THE 4th JULY

Make a note... our brand new website launches July 4th

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JUNE 23-29, 2011 •

23

FILE The Gleaner Company headquarters as seen along East Street, central Kingston.

‘Old Lady of Harbour Street’ riding the information superhighway History of The Gleaner

T

HE GLEANER was born in a time of fundamental change: 1834, the beginning of the end of slavery in the British colonies.

At that time in Kingston a great deal of business was done by auction, which facilitated the disposal of crops of sugar and coffee. Two half-brothers, Jacob and Joshua deCordova, saw a business opportunity in the buying and selling of goods and published deCordova's Advertising Sheet. Then on 13 September 1834 they launched the first issue of The Gleaner and Weekly Compendium of News, the predecessor to die current Gleaner. The paper was published on Saturdays for a subscription of ten shillings per quarter for the city and thirteen shillings and four pence for rural areas.

The first issue included, on page three, a lofty statement of purpose: In commencing our Editorial career, we consider it necessary to state distinctly the mode in which the "Kingston Gleaner" will be conducted.

We are perfectly aware of the difficulties of our present undertaking; but we feel assured from the proverbial kindness of the Jamaica Public, joined in our unremitting exertions to render our paper worthy of their support; that all difficulties will be surmounted, and a fair portion of patronage will crown our attempt to please - to amuse and to inform.

The privacies of Domestic life shall ever be held sacred: it is therefore determination to exclude every attack on private life: no matter how high in station, or humble in circumstances; Editorial squabbles will be alike avoided; we shall

treat brother Editors with respect, by which means we command respect from them.

Just three months later they changed the billing The Gleaner: A Weekly Family Newspaper devoted to Literature, Morality, the Arts and Sciences, and Amusements.

Two years later they merged deCordova's Advertising Sheet with the Gleaner to produce a four-page paper published every day except Sundays. The advertisements were printed on a separate sheet and distributed gratis by five o'clock every morning and the whole paper

pered. After his death in 1850, his son Michael ran it until 1869; after Michael's death, another son, Gabriel, took over.

Michael's son Joshua joined the business at the age of seventeen in 1878.

In 1875 the paper was being printed on a steam- driven press. A fire destroyed the Gleaner in 1882 and for two weeks the paper had to be printed at the Government Printing Office. Rebuilding after the fire, the Gleaner remained "the Old Lady of Harbour Street" for almost a century until she moved to her present location on the corner

and his brother Sir Neville Ashenheirn. J.L. Ashenheim was a cousin of Joshua and the grandfather of former honorary chairman, the Hon Leslie Ashenheim.

Sir Neville Ashenheim was the father of the current vicechairman of the board of directors, Richard G. Ashenheim.

The capital of the new company was thirty thousand pounds sterling and the articles of association included elaborate safeguards against any one shareholder assuming control.

An unusual provision regarding voting power allotted one vote for every five shares up to two

instructions for the next.

Lewis Ashenheim

Hon. N.N. Ashenheim Gleaner Photo Mr. Leslie Ashenheim (centre) chairman of the Board of Directors of the Gleaner Company, with recipients of Long Service awards and other directors of the company, following a presentation ceremony in the Company’s Board Room on Thursday morning. From left are Col. Michael DeCordova, a director, Mr. H.K. Burke, 25 years service, Mr. Fitz Albert Andrade, also 25 years service and Mr. Mr. S.G. Fletcher, also a director.

was ready for subscribers by six o'clock in the morning.

GREW AND PROSPERED Jacob deCordova subsequently emigrated to the United States to seek his fortune. He found it as a realestate developer on the Texas frontier. Under Joshua, the Gleaner remained a family business, and it grew and pros-

24 • JUNE 30 - JULY 6, 2011

of North and East streets.

Gabriel died in 1892, leaving Joshua in control. On 10 June 1897, Joshua transformed the business into a public company. Ever since then, the family who founded the Gleaner has been represented on the board of directors of the company by the Ashenheirn family. Two of the promoters and founding directors were J.L. Ashenheim

thousand, an additional vote for every one hundred shares thereafter up to three thousand; and, above this, only one vote for every five hundred onehundred shares.

Joshua deCordova served as secretary and managing director until he retired in 1902, handing over to his nephew, Michael deCordova. Under Joshua's stewardship, the

Gleaner identified with and promoted Jamaican business, even promoting tourism as a guarantor of the Jamaica Exhibition in 1891.

Michael deCordova had joined the paper in 1888, also at the age of seventeen. He became managing director when Joshua retired and is remembered as a "giant of a newspaper man".

Every morning he would appear in the newsroom holding his Gleaner, seat himself at an empty desk, summon his key men, hold a post-mortem on that day's paper and issue www.jamaica-gleaner.com

EARTHQUAKE The devastating earthquake of 14 January 1907 destroyed most of the city of Kingston, including the Gleaner building on Harbour Street. It would take two years of litigation before the English insurance companies finally paid earthquake damage claims and a new, enlarged building could be erected.

Four days after the Gleaner building had been entirely destroyed by the earthquake, the newspaper was on the street again. An 'emergency' edition printed on foolscap at the Government Printing Office, was headlined "The Earthquake and the Future" and sold for threepence. The editorial read: “The business centre of Kingston is today amass of ruins. On Monday evening we, were struck by an earthquake and within forty seconds our capital had fallen and over 1,000 persons lay dead and dying on the ground ... The blow has been terrible (but) we will not allow ourselves to be terrified. We will build Kingston again am God's help will build it better.

Four days later, the price of the emergency edition had been reduced to one penny.

Publication ceased briefly in February while new equipment was being installed alongside the restored press in a temporary building erected on the site of the Gleaner building. A delay in the delivery of the electric motor for the press was overcome when Michael spied "a queer-looking object on four wheels with a smoke stack which, on enquiry, I discovered to be a steam engine". "Puffing Billy", as it was nicknamed, THE WEEKLY GLEANER

Gleaner Photograph Computer terminal operators in the Advertising Department assisting the public to place advertisements in the Gleaner.”

kept the Gleaner's press rolling for six weeks. The Gleaner resumed publication on 11 February, price one penny.

LATEST TECHNOLOGY Michael deCordova kept up with the latest technology. His innovations included a radio room, and in 1908 three Linotype machines were installed. Each machine was able to do the work of eight hand-compositors and produced cleaner, more legible type. In this semi-automatic process the copy, as the news matter was called, was typed ii the Linotype machines where the characters were cast in an alloy lead, tin and, antimony, then extruded on thin strips of metal in the required lengths.

These strips, known as 'slugs', were then arranged by hand in a 'forme' to compose each page. A the time, the Linotype process was the very latest in printing technology and served the Gleaner well for over fifty years.

In 1912 a photoengraving department began operation, and in 1917 a rotary press was installed. The press, invented

by Richard M. Hoe {1812-86), replaced the old flatbed design and used several cylinders to apply type. The Hoe rotary press was capable of producing eighteen thousand sheets an hour, printed on both sides. It employed a continuous roll or web of paper.

Motor delivery routes were established islandwide in 1920, and a special magazine section, known popularly as "The Pink Sheet", as it was printed pink paper, was added to the Saturday Gleaner in 1925. It featured highlights of local social events. In 1939, right after the outbreak of World War II, the Sunday Gleaner was introduced.

During the war, newsprint and gasoline became scarce and the size of The Daily Gleaner had to be kept at eight or ten pages while the few galloons of rationed gas available had to be used mainly to transport reporters covering news.

Papers were delivered by train, bicycle, donkey, mule, boys on foot and anything else that could move without using gas.

THE GLEANER EXPANDS THE WEEKLY GLEANER

OPERATIONS On 11 June 1950, the Children's Newspaper (now Children's Own) began to be published. In 1951, the year Sealy was formally appointed editor, two new publications were started: in July the Overseas Weekly Gleaner (now the Weekly Gleaner, North America [NA] and United Kingdom [UK] editions) and, on 24 November, the evening tabloid, The Star, was on the streets. The editorial column read: 'The Star seeks to serve you in its own special field.

The accent will be on bright news, plain speaking, lively entertainment, and a full fare of interest for all our readers."

Subscription rates for the Star were one and a half pence per copy. In 1955, The Farmer's Weekly was started with the Saturday edition of The Gleaner.

The Overseas Weekly Gleaner grew out of the efforts to keep the public informed after "the worst modern day strike by a hurricane on the shore Jamaica" in August 1951.

The press room was filled with water and without electricity.

Few staff were able to reach the old Harbour Street build.

However, within days a twelve-page issue with details of the destruction was published and arrangements made for a small plane to drop copies in remote areas that were inaccessible by road.

In 1959 a new Crabtree rotary press was installed: The Gleaner went to nine columns per page and the Star to six. In 1960 the first branch office was established in Montego Bay. In 1961, The Weekend Star was launched. It was an enlarged edition of the Friday Star, twenty-four pages with an eight-page entertainment section, priced at threepence.

In 1963 The Sunday Magazine (now Outlook) was added to the Sunday Gleaner.

In 1964 the capital of the company was increased to £550,000 sterling, and in the following year the one pound sterling shares were divided into four shares of five shillings each. Gleaner Company shares were first quoted on the new Jamaican Stock Market in 1969 at twelve www.jamaica-gleaner.com

shillings per five-shilling share.

In 1969 'The Old Lady of Harbour Street" moved to a modern five-storey plant on North Street where the new six-unit Crabtree rotary press had been installed. The transfer of the Linotype machines took place over a weekend and so smoothly that not one issue was missed!

MAJOR CHANGES The decade of the 1970s brought major changes in both production techniques and personnel. The switch from hot type to cold type .in 1975, when Selectrix electronic typesetting machines were installed to replace the old Linotypes, was the first ripple of the wave of the future: the computer age.

Copy typed into the Selectrix machines was scanned by a computerised optical scanner and transformed by a photographic process into strips of typeset print which were then 'pasted-up' to compose cameraready pages. At the same time, the ball-metal method of casting heavy semi-cylindrical metal printing plates was replaced by the more modern photo-polymer system that employs thin plastic plates attached to 'saddles' on the

press.

In 1974, Christopher Roberts succeeded Aston Cuthbert as financial director, always a key role in a successful business.

Theodore Sealy, CBE, retired as editor in 1976 and the Hon Hector Wynter was appointed to the post. Executive director S.G. Fletcher had retired in 1971, and five years later his successor, Tom Sherman, also retired and was succeeded by Oliver F. Clarke, formerly chairman and managing director of the Jamaica National Building Society.

Mr. Clarke initiated and presided over a Gleaner milestone. A four-million-dollar mortgage debenture loan, the largest stock issue ever placed on the Jamaican money market, was floated in July 1978 and oversubscribed in four weeks. The debenture was used to refinance existing short-term high-interest loans and helped to steer the company once more into a profit position.

Public response to the debenture was overwhelming.

The minimum target of $2.5 million was reached in ten days, and on the day that the issue closed the Royal Bank Trust Company was processing completed applications at the rate of one per minute.

Thousands of Jamaicans saw it as a means of preserving a free and independent press and 30 per cent of the applications received were for the lowest unit of fifty dollars.

Three hundred

Gleaner Company staff members were among the subscribers. Numerous applications came from people who bought stock in their children's names, while International Paper Sales Company of Montreal, Canada, provided sixty debentures for orphaned children in Kingston.

A feature of the loan was the opportunity to convert 25 per cent of capital repayments into Gleaner shares. Two new directors were appointed to the board of the Gleaner Company to represent the new stockholders.

In 1977, the Gleaner overcame its reservations about participating in a predominately state-owned organisation and bought into the

Caribbean News Agency (CANA), the regional news agency founded in 1975.

CANA has its headquarters in Barbados and maintains bureaus throughout the English-speaking Caribbean.

The agency merges Renter's global news coverage with regional news, relaying to its subscribers international news with a high Caribbean content.

Over a period the Gleaner Company acquired 14.3 percent of CANA shares. Since 1981, CANA's Jamaican bureau has operated out of the Gleaner building on a rental basis.

The Gleaner was one of the first newspapers in the Caribbean to 'go computer', and the development of pagination put it in the advance guard of newspaper publishers worldwide. However, that state-ofthe-art system was married to letterpress printing presses that were fast becoming obsolete. A separate computer system handled almost all the accounting functions of the business department.

Excerpt from The Story of the Gleaner - Memoirs and Reminiscences published 2000.

File Oliver Clarke ... retains the title of chairman.

Gleaner Photograph Newspaper history was made when the first copies of ìThe Miami Heraldî satellite edition, rolled off the Gleanerís press on 9 June 1997. Inspecting the paper are Errol Knight and Karin Daley. While Courtney Burke and Alva Williams ensure that all is well.

JUNE 30 - JULY 6, 2011 • 25

Gleaner photos

SLICES OF LIFE CAPTURED BY THE WEEKLY GLEANER LENS’

The West Indies cricket team which drew the first Test with Australia which ended at Sabina Park on Wednesday are (sitting from left) Maurice Foster, Lane Gibbs, Rohan Kanhai (captain), Clyde Walcott (manager), Clive Lloyd and Roy Fredericks; ostanding from left) Uton Dowe, Geoffrey Greenidge, Vanburn Holder, Michael Findlay, Lawrence Rowe, Inshan Ali and Alvin Kallicharran.

HEATHROW CHECK STOP: A group of Jamaican journalists are being shown through the newest section of London’s Heathrow Airport, Terminal Four, built at a cost of J$1.74 billion to house all facilities of British Airways. This is part of the training division, and shown in the background are chutes and inflated craft on which flight staff learn to deal with emergencies.

Queen Elizabeth, The Queen mother, Her Majesty enters the arcade at the Victoria Crafts Market, accompanied by Lady Campbell. Behind are: Capt.

Richard Langley, A.D.C (left) Lt. G. A. Mignon and Brigadier Paul Crook.

Gifford Thompson & Bright Attorneys-at-law BRITISH LAWYERS - Jamaican Law Firm Associated with HAMILTON DALEY - Solicitor & Attorney-at-law GIFFORD THOMPSON & BRIGHT is a Jamaican Law Firm headed by Lord Anthony Gifford QC, a leading barrister who practices at the British and Jamaican Bar. HUGH THOMPSON was educated at the University of Warwick and has practised as an attorney in Jamaica for over 30 years.

SANDRA GRAHAM-BRIGHT RUNS OUR MONTEGO BAY OFFICE She practised as an English barrister for 15 years before moving to Jamaica in 1996.

HAMILTON DALEY is dual qualified, and has jurisdiction to practise in both England and Jamaica, as a solicitor and attorney-at-law respectively.

OUR FIRM CAN ACT FOR YOU ON: Buying and selling property Lost documentary titles Matrimonial and family matters Wills and probate General help and advice on Jamaican Law Representation before any Jamaican court or tribunal Contacts

www.gtbjamaica.com KINGSTON OFFICE 122-126 Tower Street Kingston Tel: 876 922 6056 Fax: 876 967 0225 Email: lgifford@ cwjamaica.com

MONTEGO BAY OFFICE

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Embassy centre 3 Embassy Place Montego Bay Tel: 876 952 2946 Fax: 876 979 3634 Email: gtbmobay@ cwjamaica.com

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Hamilton Daley, UK Contact:

24 HOURS MESSAGE RECALL SERVICE Tel/Fax: 020 8440 6515 26 • JUNE 30 - JULY 6, 2011

REMEBERING GARVEY: “Queen Mother” Moore (2nd left), assisted by Ms. Delois Blakely, Deputy Mayor of Harlem, laying wreath yesterday at the shrine of the Rt. Excellent Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jamaica’s first National Hero, at National heroes’ Park, Kingston. Looking on at left is Mrs. Clover Thompson, executive director of the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission; and at right, Mr. Raphael Ferguson, president of the Kingston Chapter of the United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA); and Mr. Fitzroy Huntley, secretary of the UNIA, Kingston Chapter.

Ms. Blakely said that steps were being taken in the United States to have Garvey’s name cleared of criminal charges. She declared that the only charge which could be laid against the National Hero was that of “uplifting his own people.”

A walk down the memory lane

By Clayton Goodwin My first contributions to the Weekly Gleaner back in 1961 were casual news items and reports relevant to a West Indian readership picked up from my regular assignments with Hayter’s Sports Agency. In those days before independence the Weekly Gleaner was read primarily by people, often English, with business interests in Jamaica.

In early 1964 I interviewed Millie Small, then an unknown singer, at Bromley Court Hotel in South-east London. My prediction of success for her new record “My Boy Lollipop” was mocked because to be successful then it was necessary to be male, white and a group rather than female, black and solo. When “Lollipop” became an international hit Theo Sealy, Group Editor of Gleaner Newspapers, asked me to send as much news, interviews and reports as I could find on Jamaicans, and indeed all West Indians, in the United Kingdom. That request changed the entire direction of my life.

The Weekly Gleaner, too, had changed.

(Incidentally, at that time the word “a gleaner” was generic for all newspapers so great was the esteem in which it was held). West Indians at home wanted to learn of the success of their compatriots who had migrated to the United Kingdom, and those here wished to be kept in touch with the community in other parts of the country. It was impossible to keep pace with the news and requests to be reported and interviewed by people in all walks of life.

HITS AND MISSES It was not easy to achieve. The Weekly Gleaner did not have an editorial office - that did not come until 1977 - just an advertising office with Colin Turner on Shaftesbury Avenue, London. Contributors sent their reports “on spec” to head office in Kingston and knew if they had been published only by buying a copy of the paper. Articles had to be

typed and sent by regular mail which was often long in delivery and items could go astray.

Publication could be months after the piece was sent. Often I have written about an “unbeaten” boxer only for the report to come out after he had lost a fight. One beauty contest was delayed for over a year - being published after the winner’s successor was crowned.

It was very much hit and miss. People/events were reported only if they knew the writers personally - otherwise they went unrecorded. I used to have a home “surgery” on Thursday evening and Sunday afternoon for people to bring their stories. In the late-1960s photographer Eddie Grant, who became the Gleaner’s representative in Toronto from 1970 until the present day, and myself used to cover some six or so events on a Saturday evening.

WORTH IT The effort was well worth it. A prominent boxer recalled his pride on learning that a reporter (myself) was at ringside to write specifically on him and not his opponent. The memories are still strong. Recently I saw Count Prince Miller perform splendidly in the “JA Story”. Over forty years ago Prince, myself and other singers/musicians used to meet at the house of Wilfred (Jackie) Edwards in Gaddesden Avenue, Wembley and exchange the latest news.

The most productive source of information, gossip and making contacts were the many hairdressing saloons such as that run by Madame Rose close by the Jubilee Clock at Harlesden. Information came from unexpected sources. An anonymous beauty contestant, who knew two of the victims, gave vital information on the then unidentified Yorkshire Ripper - one of several national stories in which the Weekly Gleaner was led the field.

Sorry, Mr Editor, that I have exceeded my quota of words .... but how can half-a-century of memories be limited to...... ah, that reminds me when ..........

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JUNE 23-29, 2011 • 27

A legend in his own right T

By Clayton Goodwin

HE INTERVIEW with Sam King in the office of The Gleaner newspaper in London started late. No - this isn’t another of those stories about Jamaicans’ lack of punctuality. Sam arrived exactly on the appointed hour. However such is his fame that as soon as word got around that he was in the building everybody wanted to be photographed with him or speak with him. That, at least, gave me a few minutes grace in trying to work out how to address our guest.

Sam, Mr King, Your Worship, Sir ..... every one of them (and some more) fitted his character and some aspect of his varied experience. Not that I needed to have worried. Sam is so adept now at speaking of his life and achievements that he knew exactly what to say before the questions were framed. All I had to do was to sit back and listen.

He took us right from his early days in Portland, Jamaica where he was born in 1926 and through his arrival in England to the present day. He came here first in 1944 as a volunteer for the RAF, in which he served as an engineer, in the Second World War. King remembers well the devastation caused by the bombing to the major cities, and knew that the country, and what was then the Empire (soon to be the Commonwealth), were involved in a war against a hideous ideology which just had to be won.

The bomb damage was still there in 1948 when, after returning to Jamaica for a couple of years at the end of hostilities, Sam came back here on the Empire Windrush. He described seeing the war-

time destruction around him when he arrived at London Bridge in Southwark - the borough which was to be his base for the rest of his life. Sam and those many of his compatriots and contemporaries arriving at that time set about putting London, and the country, back on its feet physically, socially and politically.

FOLK LORE The Empire Windrush story has entered the folk-lore of more than just the West Indian heritage community. And so has the famous Test Match against England at Lord’s in 1950. Sam was there, as were several of his fellow-passengers from the Empire Windrush. He recalled how everybody joined in with some ideas to help Lord Kitchener put together the celebrated calypso “Cricket, lovely cricket”.

The Weekly Gleaner made its entrance shortly after then in July 1951. Mr King has no doubt as to the value of its contribution to encouraging him and his generation in their endeavours. “The Sam King Gleaner is the Bible of the community” he

repeated several times. While on the subject of newspapers I reminded him that we had met last at an exhibition in memory of Claudia Jones, founder of the West Indian Gazette.

Sam said that he was associated closely with Claudia in her many endeavours - including the establishment of a Carnival at the St Pancras Town Hall and Seymour Hall which led to the setting up of the Notting Hill Carnival. He remembered, too, the well-known visitors who called on Ms Jones and he praised the prescience of Dr Martin Luther King who, when Sam thought that community relations here were progressing smoothly, foresaw the disturbances that lay ahead.

It was a different world then. The “No coloureds. No Irish. No dogs” notices denying housing accommodation to the newly-arrived immigrants were disheartening as well as insulting. Even so Mr King believes that they were the stimulus to the subsequent prosperity of the West Indian heritage community.

These notices, and the attitude behind them, forced the new-arrivals onto their own initiative and encouraged the need and desire to own their own property. He, himself, was among the first black families to buy their own home: there is now a “blue plaque” (marking

association with an honoured citizen) at the house on Warmington Road, Herne Hill.

On his return here in 1948 Sam re-enlisted in the RAF for four years, after which he was employed for 34 years in the post office in which he rose to an executive position. At the same time he pursued a career in local politics culminating in his election as the first black Mayor of Southwark in 1983.

There were still many battles to be fought, but - he said - in his activities as politician, health councillor and school governor he found a staunch ally in the Gleaner. Although he had no criticism as to the role that the newspaper has fulfilled, and its editorial content, Mr King offered the thought that maybe the scope could be extended into including articles offering advice about such important aspects of contemporary life as financial matters and the purchase and upkeep of property.

While his life has been one of challenge and achievement, it hasn’t been always easy. For example, there was a serious and much-publicised racist threat on his life when he became mayor.

Nevertheless Sam maintains a sense of optimism, independence of spirit, and commitment in which his political convictions and Christian belief continue to shine through. In 1998 he was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), of which he is proud but not boastful, for his outstanding services to the community.

All too soon the clock showed that it was time for the interview to draw to a close - we both had other appointments. I took the lift to the ground floor and walked out ..... into the rain which forced me back to shelter behind a pillar. A moment later Sam King joined me there. He had still some more memories to recall, and I was very happy to listen ...... but maybe we should leave that story to another time ..... perhaps to the 75th anniversary supplement of The Weekly Gleaner.

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Keep the fires burning Like the Gleaner I came to the UK many, many moons ago with great expectations and with an open mind in being part of the Jamaican community living in the UK. The Gleaner has made its mark over the years; before the advent of the internet when one is now able to read the daily publications from home. It was what kept us grounded year after year.

For those of us who did not have the opportunity of travelling home very often each week it was often the highlight of catching up with the various news items, recipes, letting the memories overtake us when we went “Roving with Lalah”, the cartoons poking fun at all and sundry, the various letters that just brought home how diverse opinions can range for topic to topic, “Tell Me Pastor” to “Your Doctor Says”; another must read for many, just to name; the editorial ... so many topics to delve into and

feel a part of being at home.

The News might be a few days late... but hey, we did not mind at all... after all it was connection from home.

To work and survive in an environment such as the UK and representing clients from this jurisdiction with legal matters in Jamaica with a different mode of operating at the Supreme Court, the Stamp Commissioner’s office and the Titles office has been challenging to say the least.

How often have Jamaicans travelled to Jamaica with the intention - they believe - that their presence in the island will have their matter “sorted out” in record time, during the 3 to 4 weeks they might be visiting the island? How often have they returned to the UK bitterly disappointed that “nothing happened”?

To the Gleaner I say much respect that the home fires have been kept burning challenges aside - and that the tradition begun some 60 years ago will endure.

Respect is due. Continue to strive towards your goal of enlightening Jamaicans and friends of Jamaica about the beauty that is our island home - flaws and all.

Barbara J. Ledgister Attorney-at-law

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JUNE 30 - JULY 6, 2011 • 29

The Weekly Gleaner

A reflection through the years

By Clayton Goodwin

T Vivian Durham

he Weekly Gleaner has reflected the changes in the life and character of both Jamaica and the United Kingdom over sixty of the most eventful years in the history of both countries. It was launched in the same year as the Festival of Britain illustrated that the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth were recovering with some confidence from the ravages of the Second World War, and between the triumphant cricket tour of 1950 and the athletics honours in the 1952 Helsinki Olympic Games.

The Gleaner was here even before long-reigning sovereign Queen Elizabeth II came to the throne.

The first years were low-key. Jamaican independence was still over a decade away. The Gleaner served primarily to keep those in Britain with business interests in the Caribbean aware of events in the region. The West Indian heritage community, the majority of whom expected to be “home” again within a couple of years, tended to take their news direct from the main Gleaner in Jamaica second-hand from copies sent/brought by friends and relatives. The Notting Hill riot of 1958 changed that percep-

y r a s r e v i n n 60th A

tion. “Immigrants” realised that for better or worse they and their children needed to look on themselves as “citizens” of their new country.

They were here to stay and their press needed to be shaped accordingly.

LAID BACK The production of The Weekly Gleaner was comparatively laid-back. Self-motivated freelancers - Theo Campbell, Vivian Durham, Sheila Brown and, slightly later, photographer Eddie Grant come to mind - sent reports on UK-based events and personalities ad hoc to the Editor in Kingston. Some (an increasing number) were published, mixed with news from “home”.

Advertisements, of which there were few at first, were collected by Colin Turner Ltd in Shaftesbury Avenue, London. It did not appear to be too onerous a task. Yet because the service was important the Gleaner had an influence beyond the immediate merits of its restricted circulation.

There was no cohesion in presentation.

Contributors, who often did not know each other, had a bi-lateral relationship with “head office”. From time to time while on a visit to London Theo Sealy, Group Editor and Managing Director, an august personage indeed, invited the

Theo Campbell

free-lancers to meet him for an hour of so individual chat over a day at his hotel. More immediate requests and information were sent by cable. Nevertheless these were momentous days.

Readership - and activities - rose rapidly on the arrival of thousands of Jamaicans before the Commonwealth Immigration Act of 1962 closed the door.

The Weekly Gleaner carried the community through the politics of the racially-controversial 1964 General Election and of Independence for

Please see REFLECTION, 32

Congratulations to The

WEEKLY GLEANER For their service to the UK over the past 60 years from:

WINDRUSH FOUNDATION Executives: Verona Feurtado Sam B King - MBE Arthur Torrington - CBE

30 • JUNE 30 - JULY 6, 2011

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THE WEEKLY GLEANER

ADVERTISEMENT

Understanding Jamaica Fi Real

Author: Kevin O’Brien Chang

B

eautiful; aggressive; exuberant, talkative; humorous; resourceful; unpredictable – Jamaica brings many adjectives to mind, but boring is not one of them. No other country so young and so small has had such global cultural influence as the land of Marcus Garvey, Louis Bennett, Bob Marley and Usain Bolt. Jamaica Fi Real provides an in-depth look at Jamaica’s people, history, music, sports, religion and culture, creating a vivid twenty-first century portrait of perhaps the world’s most fascinating island.

Author of bestselling book Reggae Routes: The Story of Jamaican Music and longstanding columnist with the Jamaica Observer and the Jamaica Gleaner newspapers, Kevin O’Brien Chang, paints a real and in-

sightful portrait of Jamaica looking at its music, culture, sports, religion, history and people.

To the world at large Jamaica means sunny beaches, reggae and rum, but Jamaica Fi Real: Beauty, Vibes and Culture goes far beyond the surface exposing and exploring the unique things that make Jamaica, Jamaica; in some cases setting the record straight, and also highlighting some significant achievements and little known facts about Jamaica. Did you know that in the 2008 Olympics Jamaica won more gold sprint medals than every other country put together?; that Ska – a mixture of rhythm and blues, mento, revival and rastafarian music – was born in poor west Kingston ghettos?; or that Martin Luther King Jr praised Jamaica as having felt more at home there than anywhere else in the world?

Lavishly illustrated with over 200 images featuring places to go, foods to eat, religious practices and cultural and historical icons, no other book on or about Jamaica provides such an in-depth, honest and creative representation of Jamaica as Jamaica Fi Real. It will appeal to the Jamaican Diaspora, persons wanting to visit Jamaica, and persons generally interested in Jamaican history, culture and lifestyle.

Foreword by Tony Rebel Preface

Introduction

Twenty-First Century Jamaica

xi xiii xv

PEOPLE 8

A Woman We Name

14

The Rodney Riots and Black Power

20

Uptown vs Downtown: Country vs Town

45

Three Finger Jack

49

Grandy Nanny of the Maroons

50

The Sam Sharpe Rebellion

51

Interview with a Modern Day Maroon 53

Out of Many, One of a Kind: 1 The Ghetto Reality of Slackness

Thomas Thistlewood’s Remarkable Diaries

22

Mary Seacole: Black Woman Pioneer

54

Paul Bogle and Historical Memory

60

The Universal Negro Improvement Association

The Reality of Slavery

39

Jonkannu

44

THE WEEKLY GLEANER www.jamaica-gleaner.com

118

A Day at Sabina Park

127

Knocking Bones

129

70

FOOD A Little Bit From Everywhere: 174 The Birth of Jerk

176

Ackee and Salt fish

177

Places to Eat

179

Best Jerk

182

SCENERY

Liberty Hall

72 76

Around the Beautiful Isle: 184

Norman, Busta, Edna & Gladys

78

Not Even Trying

Mutty Perkins & John Maxwell: A Conflict of Visions

91

What is Reggae?

36

The Fastest Country on Earth

Tough Like Busta Backbone

Sound Systems

Buccaneer Myth and Reality

A History of Getting By: 169

Charting a National Destiny: 65

Jamaica Top Ten: 192

Serious Business: 131 96 96

189

THE EXPERTS SPEAK

RELIGION

Heartbeat of a Nation: 95

The Hands of Chance: 33

ECONOMY

Good at Most…

Great at Some: 114

MODERN TIMES

MUSIC

EARLY YEARS

SPORTS

William Knibb – Unacknowledged National Hero?

134

Going Home Jamaican Style

138

Dip Dem Bedward!

140

The Roots of Rastafari

141

The Jamaican Roots of Rap

102

Bob Marley – Reggae Super Hero

105

Lady Saw – Kicking Down the Glass Door

109

Ramping Shop Slackness: Trying to Draw a Line

111

Roots & Culture: 147

Street Dances: Urban Folk Culture

112

Miss Lou – Mother of Jamaican Culture

155

The White Witch of Rose Hall

158

Notes Bibliography Index

219 227 233

ARTS+LITERATURE

JUNE 23-29, 2011 •

31

REFLECTION Continued from 30 Jamaica (and other former Caribbean colonies), the victorious cricket tours of 1963 and 1966, the rapid expansion of music hits in the wake of “My Boy Lollipop”, landmarks such as the first televised inter-racial kiss in Emergency Ward 10, and so much more. By 1967 the management in Kingston decided that a specific London office was necessary to meet the new challenge and opportunities, but it was delayed for a decade because, I understand, there was not enough advertising revenue from the UK to support the venture and advertisers in Jamaica were not enthusiastic about backing an initiative so far from home.

With Enoch Powell’s “rivers of blood” speech, the rise of the Notting Hill Carnival, sports triumphs including the cricket World Cup victory in 1975, greater political and social involvement .... the demand for a more substantial “presence” in London could not be denied, especially as newspapers such as the UK-based “West Indian World” and “Caribbean Times” were making headway in the local circumstances. In 1977 the Gleaner arranged to be represented here by the Kent Messenger Group.

Although the main office and editorial office in Maidstone were considered to be a little remote from the readership it served, the London office in the area of Fleet Street, then the centre of the newspaper industry, provided a handy and effective advertising, circulation and editorial focal-point. Regular weekly meetings

of contributors - including Chris Francis, Herma Diaz, Al Croasdaile, Al Hamilton and representatives from the regions (such as Whit Stennett) - ensured that few stories were missed. The energetic and charismatic Hector Wynter, who had succeeded Mr Sealy in his capacity as Group Editor (while Oliver Clarke succeeded as Chairman and Managing Director), kept a keen interest in the Weekly Gleaner and participated in editorial meetings on his frequent visits to London.

URBAN RIOTS The Kent Messenger Group franchise between 1977 and 1985 co-incided with a series of major events at home and abroad. The Weekly Gleaner was ahead of its competitors in coverage of stories such the rise of Reggae to an international phenomenon, and the passing of Bob Marley, the halcyon days of the “invincible” cricket team, the New Cross Fire, the Yorkshire Ripper, the nation-wide urban riots, world-wide sporting success especially in athletics and boxing (with football on the rise), the “golden age” of beauty contests, and the American-led intervention in Grenada.

With its unique position The Weekly Gleaner continued to carry disproportionate clout.

National radio stations - there were fewer local stations then - and television channels were rarely open to people of West Indian heritage and matters of West Indian interest. National newspapers were similarly not interested.

Unlicensed (“pirate”) radio gave some competition at neighbourhood level. The printed press was pre-eminent to the extent that The Weekly Gleaner, West Indian World and Caribbean

Theodore Sealy, editor emeritus of The Gleaner, listens keenly to Janet, wife of Guyana’s president Cheddi Jagan.

The occasion was the Press Association of Jamaica’s annual awards banquet held at its Old Hope Road headquarters, Saturday night. Dr. Sealy used the occasion to present Mrs. Jagan with a copy of his book on Caribbean leaders. Mrs. Jagan who is the editor of the “Mirror” was the guest speaker at the function.

Times were seen to be “grazing in the same field” rather than competing for their own livelihood.

The “crash” came in early 1985. The economies in both the United Kingdom and Jamaica had gone through a lean time. There was less money in the “kitty” of private enterprise for advertising. Several publications, including the West Indian World, went out of existence and even The Weekly Gleaner had to cut back its coverage. The surprise is not that the Weekly Gleaner had to reduce but that it was able to survive at all in the adverse ambience.

The rapport and “good name” built up with the readership stood the newspaper in good stead.

The defeat dealt the Conservatives under Margaret Thatcher to the Labour Party in the 1979 general election changed the nature of the industry. Denied national influence for a generation socialist and radical politicians became more involved in local activities. The increase in “equal opportunities” investment benefited the number of newly-launched radio/television outlets. The enhanced profile of the West Indian heritage community in the established local and national press reduced the capacity of the UK Caribbean press for being the “first point of news”. “The Voice” newspaper, which was launched just before the “crash”, came out of those of a younger age born here - “black British” as opposed to “West Indian”.

GAINS MADE On the ending of the Kent Messenger Group franchise The Weekly Gleaner had to move from Fleet Street to new premises in Brixton first in the Bon Marche building and then off Acre Lane. George John, a Trinidadian and “giant” of Caribbean journalism in the mould of Theo Sealy and Hector Wynter, was appointed editor. He could inspire contributors, but it was now a different age. Administrative skills, consolidation of the gains made and a steady hand were as important as journalism - perhaps more so.

The newspaper industry has changed beyond recognition within the last 25 years. Fleet Street is no longer the centre of the printed press.

National titles have been dispersed throughout London. Many have found their way to the new 32• JUNE 30 - JULY 6, 2011

Docklands, where The Weekly Gleaner has now settled. George Ruddock, who has been at the helm during that quarter-century, first as Editor and then as Managing Director, has the distinction of being the first Jamaican to edit the UK edition from the United Kingdom and of learning his skills at head office in Kingston. He is uniquely qualified to square the circle of seeking to provide news of Jamaica to compatriots here and carrying UK news.

These were difficult times. In spite of the ending of Apartheid and of the Cold War bringing optimism to international relations the economic situation was harsh. After its own setback, a fire in their premises at Brixton (which occurred, evocatively, during urban disturbance in the area), The Weekly Gleaner moved to the Elephant & Castle complex. Nevertheless the team settled soon and within a few years brought out the London Extra free distribution newspaper. Although racial tension/discrimination and a rise of individual acts of violence remain a source of worry, the value and contribution of the Jamaican heritage community was now recognised nationally.

Coming into the present decade publications of shared commercial or editorial interest started to come together. The Weekly Gleaner and The Voice were no exception and joined up at the end of 2004 - though the London Extra was closed - in shared offices in Stockwell-Brixton, and relocated more recently to Docklands. With so many sources of news, press releases/conference and people of West Indian heritage being reported more prominently in the national media, the present editorial task does more in the presentation of features, interviews and the news - presenting a “black point of view” as Syd Burke used to introduce his radio show “Rice and Peas” - than, as formerly, in digging out news that would not be reported otherwise.

So much has changed, and yet the parallels with the past are poignant. The Weekly Gleaner was initiated one year before and celebrates its sixtieth anniversary, one year before, the celebration of an Olympic Games (1952 and 2012).

It came into an environment of development after the Second World War and stands now in an area due for post-Olympic development. And so much has happened in the years between.

www.jamaica-gleaner.com

THE WEEKLY GLEANER

Newmont Travel, 50 years on from humble beginnings

M

OST WEST Indian clients in the UK today regard Newmont Travel as the largest Caribbean Community travel agent in the country. Many clients have been dealing with the company since it opened its doors in 1962.

However, few might be aware of the humble beginnings of this company.

Back in the 1950’s, the founder of the company, Harry Shaw was a trader in Shepherds Bush and Ridley Road Markets selling bed linens and soft furnishings. We say a trader because at first he did not even have a stall. At the time, a considerable number of his client base were the newly arrived population of West Indians who when experiencing their first British winters needed the very articles that Harry was selling, heavy bed blankets. Unable to pay in full, Harry allowed his new found customers to pay off weekly, a practice still adopted by many of Newmont’s customers today.

It was not long before Harry noticed that over the Summer and Christmas periods his customers who had been up to this point paying off regularly as agreed

seemed to have disappeared for periods of a month to six weeks at a time. On their return he found out that they had returned to their place of their birth on holiday.

Harry’s entrepreneurial spirit was set a light and it was not long before he was selling airline tickets off his market stall..

In 1962 Harry opened his first establishment with a permanent roof under a railway arch in Shepherds Bush Market. This shop was only open on Saturday mornings and the queues regularly stretched down the length of the market. This was closely followed by a Shop in the Balls Pond Road Hackney, not far from where Harry was born, Old Montague Street. In fact this is where the name came from. He said that as a child, the living conditions were so bad in Old Montague Street that when he moved out he wanted a ‘new’ life and there came the name ‘New-Mont’ (NewMontague was too long).

Harry’s business grew and it was not long before the railway arch in Shepherds Bush had to open everyday and then move to a more permanent address in the Uxbridge Road next to the market entrance where it still is today.

Unfortunately, Harry died 13 years ago, but the company is still run by his son Glenn, who values his father’s aims and ethos of providing good service at a fair price.

The latest development for the company is that it moved its Balls Pond Road office in Dalston, East London, last December to a new Superstore in the Kingsland Shopping Centre, right next to Ridley Road Market.

The company is proud to acknowledge that many of its clients that booked back in the 60’s still book today, so too many of the children of that generation who remember being offered a lollipop when they came into the shop with their parents.

It is a testament to the company that not only is it recognised by its customers as being the leading and largest community travel agent in the UK but also by the two largest airlines that fly to the Caribbean, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic. It is that close working link that they have with the airlines that ensures that they can negotiate the best deals for the Diaspora that still wants to travel back to their place or their parents place of birth – ..The Caribbean.

Happy 60th Anniversary to The Gleaner from Mr Newmont We are pleased to see that we are not ‘quite’ the oldest swinger in town.

Newmont Travel is about to celebrate it’s

50th Birthday

and with our experience we’ve really got the

CARIBBEAN COVERED HOTELS Hotels of the Caribbean is a wholly owned part of Newmont Travel and can offer a wide range of hotels throughout the Caribbean from 3 to 5 Star, from room only to All Inclusive.

FLIGHTS As the largest seller of airline tickets to the Caribbean, Newmont Travel have been appointed as main agents for both British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.

Reserve by phone:

0208 9201122 Reserve online at:

www.newmont.co.uk or visit us at:

0844 5444051 www.hotelsofthecaribbean.co.uk THE WEEKLY GLEANER

www.jamaica-gleaner.com

FOR HOLIDAY RENTALS

Unit 18b, Kingsland Shopping Centre, Kingsland High Street, Hackney, London E8 2LX

21 Uxbridge Road, Shepherds Bush, London W12 8LH

See website

www.newmont.co.uk

Here’s to the next

60 years Mr Newmont

JUNE 30 - JULY 6, 2011 • 33

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34 • JUNE 23-29, 2011

24/06/2011 12:22

www.jamaica-gleaner.com THE WEEKLY GLEANER