Michael Gordon is puzzled. He can't understand why his friend quit a Wall Street job to return to Jamaica. His friend's desire to work for the country that shaped his indomitable Jamaican spirit seemingly eclipsed interest for the job and its lifestyle. In contrast, Gordon's patriotism has been consumed by bitterness because his brother was murdered in Jamaica. So Gordon's resolve is clear.
"Mi naw go back a Jamaica a blouse and skirt," Gordon said. "That's how bitter I am at Jamaica right now."
Gordon, 33, and his friend, are examples of the two extremes that exist among the Jamaican Diaspora [an organization that strengthens the links and support systems between Jamaicans residing abroad and those at home and deeps the collaboration and cooperation between the stakeholder groups that serve them.]
The Jamaican Diaspora Conference held June 15 and 16, despite disappointments, want to help with social and economic development in their homeland. The desire is intense, so much so contentions have erupted over the selection process.
"The diaspora movement has become an ugly mess," said Dahlia Walker, the Diaspora advisory board member of the Southern United States. "All the regions are dealing with strife as there are people who believe they ought to be invited. They refuse to understand that it is a delegate conference not a mass meeting or rally."
Fiercely Jamaican
Despite Gordon's anger, he and most Jamaicans abroad are fiercely Jamaicans. Beneath the layers of discontent, Jamaicans are fraught with nationalistic zeal, discretionary income and nostalgia about a country they left behind. Their hearts are still in Jamaica. Some are coming because they have skills they sincerely want to use for the common good. Others are coming because they seek entrée into a class-conscious society they never knew. Still others want to witness just how the government will do its one-upmanship on what they say they're already doing.
Cathy Tomlinson, a retiree in Hartford, Connecticut, is president of the National Association of Jamaican and Supportive Organizations (NAJASO), an umbrella organization charged 29 years ago to be Jamaica's “patriotic front” in the United States.
An executive board member of NAJASO at its inception in 1977, Tomlinson wants to "get a better understanding of this movement," she said. "I want to hear it from the horse's mouth."
Others want to see what has been accomplished since the first conference in 2005.
"The first conference was something new; a new adventure. I want to see if we accomplished anything in the last two years and whether there's more acceptance of the idea," said Jean Welsh, a Washington-based medical doctor who frequently travels to Jamaica with the Organization for International Development, a group of doctors who offer free medical check-ups and medications. "Some Jamaicans see us as a threat. They're saying: 'Here you come with your big expertise to take away our little jobs.'"
Until the idea of the Diaspora returning home is sold to the public and the public buys in, she says, some people will continue to see the concept as a negative rather than a positive. That may be so. Nevertheless, some oversee Jamaicans want to ride the Diaspora's wave of enthusiasm to give back and to solidify the path to a better Jamaica.
The genesis of a movement
The government has disseminated carefully crafted communications and advertisements to build hype. The buzz has overwhelmed consulates and embassies. Janet Madden, the community liaison in Washington, says the embassy is overwhelmed. "We have more requests than we can handle."
The excitement has led some to believe the movement is new. It's not. Former Prime Minister P.J. Patterson always talked about a Jamaica without borders. Wherever Jamaicans reside and work, he used to say, Jamaica is present. Before that, the late Ambassador to the United States Alfred Rattray, in 1977, convened delegates from Jamaican organizations to form an umbrella organization for a proliferation of Jamaican organizations.
The National Association of Jamaican and Supportive Organizations became the patriotic front for an island then marred by violence. Patterson, who was deputy prime minister, became Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 1978. Moreover, the Washington-based National Coalition on Caribbean Affairs had been advocating for Caribbean governments to become more involved in helping to organize the Caribbean Diaspora, says Curtis Ward, a former ambassador to the United Nations.
Senator Trevor Monroe said that he introduced a resolution in the Jamaican Parliament to do just that and to recognize the value of the Diaspora. The resolution, a model for other islands, was adopted. Senator Delano Franklyn was appointed to lead the charge.
Duplicity in the Diaspora
Casual observers and a few NAJASO members, citing lack of transparency and accountability, view the government's push to engage the Diaspora with skepticism, especially after news that remittances had surpassed tourism as the number one foreign exchange earner. Other NAJASO members see the movement as encroaching on their territory.
Not so, according to the same government officials. However, others say it should be so because the National Association of Jamaican and Supportive Organizations lost its way years ago. The organization, they say, lacks leadership and is floundering because most members are over 50 years old and have failed to recruit younger members and other professionals with skills to run a more effective organ.
It's unclear whether the National Association of Jamaican and Supportive Organizations and the government will kiss and make up. One thing is clear though: Many individuals and organizations are already contributing to Jamaica, in their own way, to help sustain alma-maters, families and friends. Moreover, some say many brilliant Jamaicans are not in volunteer-run organizations with endless meetings where people profile or jostle for positions.
"I'm results-oriented. I don't have to be in a formal organization to be somebody or a part of the Diaspora," said Grace Virtue, a Maryland resident.
Like Virtue, other observers say they hope the conference will be, if nothing else, useful because the movement's purpose is still unclear.
Professor Rex Nettleford, president of the Jamaican Diaspora Foundation, says the conference's purpose is to hear the Diaspora's needs and find ways government can be a more effective advocate for Jamaicans oversees.
"We eagerly await the Diaspora and what they have to say," Nettleford said. "We're not just interested in the Diaspora because of remittances."
