Simon Schama TV - Kamala Harris - Bob Marley - Ross Kemp on Gangs TV - Drugs Inc: Jamaican Gangs, Guns & Ganja TV - Simon Reeve TV - Gangsters: America’s Most Evil TV - Usain Bolt - Ziggy Marley - Faster Higher Stronger: Stories of the Olympic Games TV - David Olusoga TV - American Gangster TV - Drug Lords 2018 - Vice online - Rudeboy: The Story of Trojan Records TV - 400 Years of Taking the Knee TV - David Harewood: In the Shadow of Mary Seacole TV -
But the English counties weren’t the only place where it was said something had to be done to avert bloodshed. In Suriname, Guyana and in Jamaica a push to the edge by hope and desperation there had been slave rebellions put down with a ferocity which made Peterloo look like a picnic. Simon Schama, A History of Britain: Forces of Nature
For Jamaica, one of the issues that has been presented as an issue that is economic in the way its impact has been the pandemic … we will assist Jamaica in Covid recovery by assisting in terms of the recovery efforts in Jamaica that have been essential. Kamala Harris
When you have political violence – the youth fighting against the youth for the politicians – then I really feel sick. See, I find none of them really do anything good for the people. It’s divide and rule. Bob Marley
Kingston, Jamaica: in 2006 this Caribbean island became the murder capital of the world. For forty years deadly gangs have terrorised these streets. Here in Jamaica one person is killed every six hours. And for most gangstas there is only one way out. It is said the gangs are in the pockets of the politicians. Ross Kemp on Gangs s3e1: Jamaica, Sky 2007
Over 10,000 people are involved in gangland activities. ibid.
A lot of violence in a very small area. ibid.
Gangs who have aligned themselves with either one of Jamaica’s two political parties. ibid.
In the 1980 elections the gangs were armed by the politicians. ibid.
If you’re a gangsta in Jamaica you’re lucky to reach twenty-five. ibid.
The Shower Posse got their name because they ‘shower’ bullets on their rivals. Drugs Inc s4e2: Jamaican Gangs, Guns & Ganja, National Geographic 2013
Jamaica provides a key stepping stone for the cartels ... Cocaine is trafficked here where it is exchanged for guns and cash. ibid.
The turf wars are between different areas, aptly named Garrisons. ibid.
In Jamaica there are three murders a day. ibid.
Ecstasy is smuggled from Canada and Europe. ibid.
Jamaica is emerging as a rare success story in the battle against crime in the Caribbean. Caribbean with Simon Reeve III, BBC 2015
The Kingston Kingpin, Christopher Dudas Coke: a global priority: ‘Kingston a scene of desolation and destruction.’ Gangsters: America's Most Evil: The Kingston Kingpin, Reelz 2012
He was indicted for moving large shipments of marijuana and cocaine and weapons between Jamaica and the United States. For two decades Dudas was the Don of Jamaica’s most feared gang, the Shower Posse. ibid.
He was arrested on the edge of Kingston. ibid.
I can’t really live outside Jamaica. I can be away, but only for a while. Usain Bolt
When people come to Jamaica, we don’t want them to think about the problems of Jamaica. So let them come be in their paradise. Ziggy Marley
Jamaica has a population of just three million. But it has always had a history of athletic excellence. Faster Higher Stronger – Stories of the Olympic Games I, BBC 2012
Hundreds of thousands of former slaves who had no work and no land. To make matters worst Jamaica suffered the worst drought that anyone can remember. David Olusoga, Black and British: A Forgotten History III: A Moral Mission, plaque, BBC 2016
At that point the militia opened fire on the crowds … The army was unleashed … Some were executed. It was a brutal act of vengeance even by the low standards of the nineteenth century. ibid.
In memory of over 1000 Jamaicans brutalised or killed following the Morant Bay Rebellion. ibid. plaque
The rise to power and global reach for the Jamaican gangsters started in the election of 1976 … Both parties armed Kingston’s gang members and used them for personal security and also for violent attacks. American Gangster s3e7: Jamaican Shower Posse, A&E 2008
In 1980 CIA’s right-wing JLP launched an even more aggressive bid for power. ibid.
Almost 900 people were killed in Jamaica that year. ibid.
The Feds claimed the Shower Posse moved 300,000 pounds of marijuana and 20,000 pounds of cocaine worth over a billion dollars on the street. ibid.
Other Jamaican gunmen set themselves up in Harlem and Brooklyn. ibid.
1988: The US federal government launches a massive crackdown on Jamaican drug gangs. ibid.
‘Drugs are always a big business in Jamaica. And Christopher Coke was president.’ Drug Lords s1e3: Christopher Coke: Jamaica’s Narco Prince, old dude, Netflix 2018
‘The violence was always there.’ ibid.
May 2010 Kingston Jamaica: The Caribbean island is wreaked by gangs wars. ibid.
‘20% of the cocaine going into the USA was trafficked through Jamaica.’ ibid.
The Shower Posse … Coke’s war against the police will bring Jamaica to its knees. ibid.
The Don reaches hero status in Kingston. ibid.
He’s tried to turn himself in to the Americans. ibid.
ORANGE HILL, Jamaica — It’s hard to believe lighting up a joint was illegal in Jamaica until about four years ago. But since a 2015 law change, individuals can have a small amount of ganja for personal use, medical sales are allowed, and ganja tourism is on the rise. Which all means permits are being issued for growers and other ganja-related businesses.
The question that worries locals is: Who’s going to profit from this? Jamaicans, or somebody else?
The ganja gold rush has attracted foreign investors pumping in money and setting up shop on the island. Smaller local farmers, many of whom had been harassed and punished for growing in the past, simply can’t compete. It now costs $2,000 for a growing license and $10,000 for a distributor’s license, and the application process can be difficult.
‘I’m not saying all of these investors coming in are evil,’ says Ras Iyah V, an activist who's been fighting for ganja legalization for years. ‘I’m just saying most of these coming in are concerned with money. About making money out of an industry that our people have suffered for.’ Vice news online article Dexter Thomas 4th May 2019, ‘Inside the Fight Over Jamaica’s Ganja Gold Rush’
‘The seeds for what we take for granted – this multicultural society that we live in now – they were really formed on the dancefloor back in the day in the late ’60s and early ’70s.’ Rudeboy: The Story of Trojan Records, Sky Arts 2019
Chapter 1: The Trojan: Let’s go to Jamaica: one of the bigger islands …’Kingston was, was fun, ya know, much lovin’ in Jamaica. Then till them start migrating to England, here.’ ibid.
Between 1955 and 1963 over 100,000 people emigrated from Jamaica to Great Britain. ibid. caption
David Betteridge: Island & Trojan Records: ‘We were a Jamaican music company.’ ibid.
Millie: My Boy Lollipop … Dandy: Rudy, A Message to You … The Maytals: 54-46 Was My Number … Derek Morgan: Seven Letters … Desmond Decker and the Aces: 007 … The Harry J All Stars: Liquidator … Untouchables: Tighten Up … Lee Perry … ibid.
In 1968 the same year Trojan Records is founded, MP Enoch Powell reacts to rising levels of Immigration and addresses the nation. ibid.
A new Vibration is emerging in Jamaica and Trojan begins importing records to sell to a growing market in the UK. ibid.
While mainstream radio will not play Trojan records, pirate radio beings broadcasting Jamaican music. ibid.
Trojan skinhead culture is sweeping through the UK and a new market for Jamaican music is emerging. ibid.
Between March and June 1969 Desmond Decker’s The Israelites sells over a million records. ibid.
Queen Nanny – Granny Nanny – aka Granny of the Maroons, is Jamaica’s original national hero. Her face adorns the country’s $500 bill, recording thee story of a freedom fighter who stood up to the might of the British people to win freedom for her enslaved people. 400 Years of Taking the Knee I, Dotun Adebayo narrator, History 2020