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...alive in the 30's.

Norman Washington Manley

In reply to JohnBull

Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak

In reply to JohnBull

I arrived after the thirties. But those pictures are alive to me.

They would be Manley leading his team into Parliament when he won in 1955 and I remember that clearly.

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My Mom even though Mdm. Rose Leon switched parties perhaps even more than once admired het. Is that her?

In reply to Brerzerk

No.

She left the JLP after quarelling with Bustammante and after a short stint as an Independent candidate, became a comrade and joined the PNP.

I believe she is the only woman to be as Minister in both parties.


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In reply to JohnBull
Thanks..Nice memories of the man who was my idol in many ways and still today.
NWM..how Jamaica needs him now more than then

In reply to hubert

You can say that again.

He was a man of integrity. People looked up to him.

When he lost the 1949 elections even while winning the popular vote) a few members of the JLP went to him offering to cross over to give him the power/

Norman Washington Manley declined. And waited until 1955 when he won outright and, with a declaration that he was giving up his law practice to take up the case of the nation, he immediately removed the tax on bicycles and drays and radios.

Great man.


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In reply to Ewart

He was. Father of the Nation as far as I am concern

In reply to Ewart

1049? Lol.

In reply to dale_staple

Thanks. Fixed.

When you reach my age anything can happen.



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In reply to Ewart

Fascinating interview as it gives insight into his character and personality, pity the interviewer was so poor. Most interesting to me was his answer when asked about his relationship with Busta. He was just getting into it when the woman took him down another track.

Anything to add, Mr. Walters...?

In reply to Ewart Ewart, when did Iris King become a parliamentarian?

In reply to alfa1975

1959... She won the seat in Kingston West Central.

At the time she was the only politician in Jamaica with a degree in Political Science and Government Administration.

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I spent the entire morning at JC as I took my good friend's youngest grandson to his welcome ceremony. The kid earned his spot just like his father and brother. It was sheer joy listening to my brethren di principal who displayed his bust of Norman (and several trophies) for the new boys and their parents/guardians. He reminded them that only one college produced three PMs.
At the end of the ceremony the deputy principal reminded me that I was her lecturer years ago. I laughed and told her I I remembered her. I was there because his mum isn't well, dad is still overseas and grandma had to work.
I was truly happy that I agreed to go with him. I used to drive both his dad and big brother to JC (on my way to campus).

In reply to Chrissy

When I went to JC I was "welcomed" by a posse of older boys who made me sing all that year's festival songs, and then relieved me of my lunch money.

What happened to that welcome ceremony...?

In reply to JohnBull

Manley's creation of Jamaica Welfare is the stuff of legend. Here is an extract from my book:

When Norman Manley launched Jamaica's first national civil society organisation Jamaica Welfare in 1937, he did so with a philosophy that communities were a critical part of nation-building, particularly by encouraging the values of self-reliance, development from below, local civic pride, and care for the disadvantaged – (Robert Buddan, Sunday Gleaner Aug 13, 2006).

Jamaica Welfare, like the Jamaica Agricultural Society and 4H Clubs, prepared the Jamaican society for Independence and all this saw a great amount of input from Eddie Burke – (Middleton Wilson, in correspondence with Ewart Walters).

Jamaica Welfare was in many ways the true foundation of Jamaica, its mores and its outlook.

Significantly all social work projects in Jamaica have their roots in Jamaica Welfare (later Jamaica Social Welfare Commission, later Social development Commission) established by Norman Manley in 1937. It was established so well that the colonial government turned to Jamaica Welfare to organise the food for Jamaica for the soldiers during World War 2. This was the name of Jamaica Welfare became Jamaica Social Welfare Commission.

The name Social Development Commission came about in 1965 when Edward Seaga as minister of development and welfare decided to put his stamp on Jamaica Welfare to take some of the credit (although Seaga was only seven years old at its establishment in 1937, the year before the People’s National Party was established in193 just like he did with Tivoli Gardens when it was Norman Manley who secured the funds for that development from US president John Fitzgerald Kennedy in 1961.

And also just like Seaga did when he commissioned Olive Lewin to research folk songs mainly to drown the historical fact that it was Norman Manley and Jamaica Welfare that commissioned Louise Bennett to go around the country with an English professor who was "an expert dialectician and grammarian" (to use Henry Higgins words in My Fair Lady), to record on the primitive tape recorders the songs of Jamaicans. It was Jamaica Welfare that hired Harry Belafonte to do the Banana Boat Song and Jamaica Farewell.

An island-wide phenomenon, Jamaica Welfare created standards of living and behaviour. It did so in a way that did not promote urban drift but showed people how they could remain in their homes and communities and prosper. It therefore had a much more profound and permanent impact on the island than did the small increases in wages that the unions arranged. It was the difference between eating a bulla-cake and learning how to make one. It was founded by Norman Manley in 1937 through his negotiation with the United Fruit Company and Standard Fruit Company, then the two largest multi-nationals in the world. It was the small banana producers who formed the Banana Producers Association co-operative in the 1920s that engaged Norman Manley as their lawyer. Communally based, the Banana Producers Association was formed in the face of stiff opposition from the Boston-based United Fruit Company which then dominated the export business in Jamaica. By the mid-1930s when disease wiped out the bananas, Manley was in discussions with the head of the United Fruit Company about the conditions of poverty among banana producers, most of whom were descendants of slaves.

It was a time when banana and sugar together constituted the economic mainstay of Jamaica. Neither tourism nor bauxite had yet entered the picture. A type of banana resistant to the disease was to be planted, but this plan faltered when many of the rural folk left their homes to seek employment in Kingston. Since the only land Black people could own was hillside land, the bananas were grown there. Those discussions led to a negotiated endowment from Sam Zemurray, the head of the United Fruit Company. In Norman Manley’s words, the proposal was that the United Fruit Company would set aside one cent per stem exported from Jamaica to form a fund to be administered by him for the good and welfare of the people of Jamaica with emphasis on the rural people.

This fund would be used to develop rural life with service co-operatives, among other things, to make it sufficiently attractive for rural folk to re-plant banana trees and strengthen the banana industry. So the fund would not be used for charitable purposes but would provide real help in the cultural development of the island and its peasant folk. The people who were recruited in 1938 had to oversee community projects, cottage industries and educational entertainment in schoolrooms and at wayside concerts to change the quality of life of the Jamaican masses. Rural upgrading was the special emphasis. As a person from the rural area himself, Manley was quite sensitive to the needs of the rural folk.

As Wilson saw it,
For the first time ‘patch-batty, stained-up clothes’ Mr Banana man had a voice in not only his planting and reaping but in his marketing and shipping. Yes, ‘patch-batty’ had shares in ownership of ships! It brought the Black peasantry into the heart of business, ownership and management. The formation of the Jamaica Welfare was both a social and economic revolution in a quiet way. It brought about an intermingling of the middle and lower socio-economic groups in one body. It helped in the liberation of the Black man from that crushing social burden he bore. While he personally could not get a bank loan, he and countless others in the association got loans and were respected for their turnover at the People’s Co-operative Banks, which was the second revolution and also community based. It was the discrimination by the big commercial banks and their policy of no loans to ‘patch¬-batty, stain-up trousers’ why these came into existence. They mirror our penchant for ‘pardner’ (a community savings plan) but they were a little more sophisticated and commercial than the ‘pardner’. So when Fr. Sullivan arrived at Saint George's College and began to sell the idea of co-operatives, we were a fertile soil for another social and economic transformation of the Black masses who learnt not only how to do banking but also how to manage money – something that Busha (White overseer) and Custos operated as a mystery. The story of the co-operative moment in Jamaica is not only of an alternative to the bank of the White man and big Brown man but of the endurance of this quiet revolution – (Ibid).
Jamaica Welfare turned out to be an eminently successful effort to build the Jamaican nation. It was a nationalist agency of social change and renewal at community level. Not confined to the wharves or estates, it permeated Jamaica through every nook and cranny, over the hills and down the valleys. It awakened boys and girls of the youth movements and stimulated men and women of the adult clubs and associations to step out and declare themselves for village betterment and give a hand to others in the upward climb. It was a massive, broad and successful programme of upward mobility through self-help. It was based on tapping existing funds made from local produce, so it was revolutionary; its intent was to improve the lot of the workers in the communities where they lived. Sugar had waned, and the era of producing bananas for export was in full flow. Community development along with an economy based on cottage industries was the objective.

Out of Jamaica Welfare came several farmers' co-operatives. Many of these were linked closely with the Jamaica Agricultural Society which was responsible for forming many co-operative entities in the 1940s and 1950s. In 1941, the Young Men's Sodality of the Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Cathedral established the first credit union. In the early days of the credit unions, members had to be trained for six months before they could get a loan. They were trained in co-operative principles and what it meant to be in business collectively with the other members. They were taught about the importance of conscience in paying back loans so that others could get their loans. And they were taught about understanding peace and unity as being part of one family. All co-operatives came about because of hard times. In 1941 in Jamaica, Black people could not get loans in banks and had to rely on loan sharks who wanted 75 per cent interest.

Former Governor-General Sir Howard Cooke recalls that,

through Jamaica Welfare, people would meet and learn how to communicate. They would learn how to sharpen their tools properly. They learned how to preserve food, how to cook, how to sew; they learned about housekeeping, how to beautify their homes, so although people might think it was not academic, in truth and in fact it was a part of the learning process. So when Norman Manley was able to get the cess for bananas the whole idea was that the money would be used to send out people and – although we don’t realise it – we were instrumental in changing the region and changing the world. The welfare movement was adopted and we had people like Eddie Burke, who went to Africa to teach people community development and continuing education. Thom Girvan went to South America, but it wasn't only that. Jamaica was producing leaders in Central America, and if you go to places like Colombia and Ecuador, you will find that Girvan had been to all those places teaching what we had learnt from the welfare movement. – (Ewart Walters, Sugar Boy pp 82-83).

Jamaica Welfare started with 229 villages in 1948 and quickly grew to 200,000. It promoted its activities through its magazine, The Welfare Reporter. Jamaica Welfare also brought movies (cinema shows) to rural folk through its mobile cinema unit. These were not full-length movies but short snippets from all over the world, mostly through the BBC. Most rural areas had no electricity, and so the cinema unit was equipped with its own mobile generator. The organisation received grant funding from the Colonial Welfare and Development Fund and targeted rural populations. Its scope was wide. The objectives were “to promote, manage and control schemes for and to do any act or thing which may directly or indirectly serve the general interest and the social or economic betterment and aid of the agricultural or working people, small settlers, farmers, labourers and working people of and in Jamaica; to engage in any work or activity directly or indirectly relating to the health cultural improvement, education, recreation, agriculture, industry, finances, trade, justice and morals of or for the persons described.”

As chairman, Norman Manley handpicked the staff. The first board had representatives from agriculture, the civil service, business and law, anthropology, land surveying, medicine and education. Thom Girvan, Eddie Burke, Leila James Tomlinson and Arthur Carney were among the main leaders while cultural leaders included Louise Bennett. It was their role to oversee community projects, cottage industries and educational entertainment at wayside concerts and mobile cinema shows to change the quality of life of the Jamaican masses. At first the organisation experimented with building community centres, one of which can still be easily seen on the main road through Porus, to serve as catalysts for rural development.

But within two years Manley and his board were seeing that the emphasis should be on fostering co-operation and self-help activities among the rural people, making full use of existing facilities. Answering a deep feeling that rural Jamaica needed special help school teachers came in on terms that meant no financial benefit to them.
Jamaica Welfare built community councils, created cottage industries, savings clubs, adult literacy programmes, and instructions in home improvement. There were 1,180 organised groups – 127 Pioneer Clubs, 57 handcraft groups, 261 co-operative groups, 110 Three-F (Food, Fitness and Family) groups, and 725 other groups organised by other bodies that received assistance from Jamaica Welfare. There was leadership training and demonstrations. Organised fishermen’s co-operatives led to the establishment of a Fisherman’s Federation.

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In reply to JohnBull

They were there - speaking from di podium and taking the new
'cóllege men' on tours of the campus.

In reply to Ewart

It may interest you to know that Norman's Legacy through the Jamaica Welfare which began in the late 30s is alive in the little but growing town of Guy's Hill
which straddles the parishes of St. Ann ,St Mary and St. Catherine which bears the greatest area. The welfae building is still there and activities are
still vibrant..the little building that housed a farmer's bank, an off shoot of the Welfare development is syill there and when ai last visited 12 years or sop, was still functioning
to help farmers.
Above all, the little town was perhaps the first to have a Town Hall, dating from the 30s. It remains an imposing structure and functional.

Growing up in that area ,it was the venue for large meetings,cinema shows,dances and other social events,nit the least ,tea parties.In later times a basic school became an occupant.
For a small country town nearly 3000 ft above sea level, Guy's Hill has been a leader in progressive pursuits.
NWM set the pattern and it is ironic that when Suffrage came and politics evolved, one count more fingers than PNP supporters in that Town until the late 50s.

NWM was more about the people and advancement to self rule...and not rabid political divides. Was way ahead of his time too all things considered.
As an aside, Guys' Hill was also the first place outside of Kingston Metropolitan area to have Redifusion (rad boxes with one knob) installed. It was the Cable radio of the time and Radio Jamaica
became RJR to the day,Radio Jamaica and Redifusion.(spelling)
My Barber who is still alive and over 100,had one of the first in his shop.It was never turned off.

Because of its elevation , the town's main drawback was reliable water supply even though the White River had its headwaters on the St. Mary /St. Ann side.Solid commitment to source water with better pumping options are needed and catchment areas can be identified to solve this woe. Still I was told recently that Guy's Hill is no longer a poor cousin to Highgate which although is solely in St.Mary and a rival in elevation over the years modern developments in residential housing and banking and medical field have overtaken the latter with huge investments being spearheaded by those in the diaspora from the area.

I think NWM would be pleased by the advance in that little Town wwhich he had a significant role in placing on the Jamaica map through his Welfare Endevour.

In reply to hubert
Seaga destroyed that fabulous vision for development.
Community development was deliberately destroyed for political gain.

In reply to hubert

Quite right. Jamaica's rabid politics arrived with Seaga in the early seventies as he tried to gain power by the gun and we can thank him for the harvest of guns and gun murders which he bequeathed to us.


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In reply to hubert

Quite right. Jamaica's rabid politics arrived with Seaga in the early seventies as he tried to gain power by the gun and we can thank him for the harvest of guns and gun murders which he bequeathed to us.


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In reply to Chrissy

Seaga's 100 Villages program was his reply to Jamaica Welfare.

As far as I know it has not gone anywhere.


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In reply to Ewart
To hell in a basket

In reply to Chrissy

Yes Blinds did everything to demean the NWM vision and accomplishments. After all Blinds had a grudge as he was rejected by Manley
for membership in the PNP at the outset of a political career.
I cannot say he succeeded although he tried to mimic a wonderful iconic program with his 'villages' endeavor as Ewart pointed out.
He did succeed mightily in bringing gun culture to the nation and that is a lasting legacy ,the consequencies of which the country is still saddled with
and even beyond politics.
Gun crimes is now part of the Culture of the country.

In reply to hubert

Yes, Fed by the continuing Blinds propaganda that Michael was communist, even though Blinds disavowed it in the end his peeps have not..


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In reply to hubert
I love Guy's Hill! My big Sis (RIP only sibling lost so far) husband had relatives there. Had a Great-Uncle their and believe it or not my youngest Grand-Aunt lived close by and left us just this year

In reply to Chrissy
and to think he had a degree in sociology, what a charlatan...for all of the '70's and most of the '80's ordinary Jamaicans were fooled into believing that he had formal qualifications in Finance and Econ and was some financial genius. Increased levels of education within the populace changed dat.

In reply to Brerzerk

That's a lot of losses my friend.Condolences and continue to give thanks for their lives
lived.
Yes, Guy's Hill is a cool place,no pun as wind breakers are needed come January/February back
in the day.For little town ,I think it still had the most bars and was told just a few months ago that
it has more now