LONG BENCH

Passing Through?

Sit down. Breathe. Smile. Drink some wash. Belch. Laugh. Plan to stay awhile.

I suspect that you are one of many Jamaicans at home and abroad who are thirsty for deliberate, thoughtful, open-minded, non-partisan commentary, musings, rantings and visioning about everything connected to the place and to the idea of being Jamaican inna dis ya world an’ dis ya time. No problem. No topic, person, issue, idea or question is off-limits here — art, humour, politics of all sorts, writing, design, food — in fact, this blog aims to throw corn and call all fowl at the same time. Makes the nyamings more interesting, don’t it?

I want this space to promote ideas, ways of thinking and modes of expression that we cannot seem to find in the mainstream sources which provide – filter even – most of the information that we have. Bit by bit, the alternative realities that we have been creating in our individual corners can find each other, and eventually, bore a hole in the repressive anti-intellectual, anti-literate and unkind environment that is the Jamaican diaspora. At the very least, you’ll have something interesting to read and reflect on while that other revolution is making its way. (See also “Rules of Engagement“)

Yes, a girl can dream, but why not? It beats waiting for smaddy a’ fa’rin to give me the idea and the permission to do something with it.

So, come mek we draw long bench and lap shift (yes, even men can do that…); there’s much for us to reason, dream, invent, build, learn, understand, laugh about and do, if we want a better future, beginning now, today.