Do you ever question why certain things happen in the Caribbean? For example why young people can’t get a decent job after leaving school, why is the colour of your skin such a big deal, or why do we accept things the way they are?
There are many sad truths in the Caribbean that we haven’t really acknowledge. I say to my friends, words don’t really matter and spending time trying to find the answers to things I can’t change is simply irrelevant.
But Kevaughn Ellis has put some of these sad truths into words. His poem, Why? identifies some of the realities of living in Jamaica. I simply had to stop and listen to his words carefully. His poem made me feel that understanding life and knowing the truth, really matters, especially about things that matters to me most.
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I have never really asked the important questions about why things are just the way they are in the Caribbean. Even if I asked these questions, I have accepted “life is like that in the Caribbean, and why try to do anything to change it“. In so doing, I have failed to acknowledged the many truths of about Caribbean life. The truth about the colour of my skin and how I have been treated differently from my friends with a lighter skin shade or how it took me a long time and a few good connections to land my first job in Jamaica.
The sad truth about the Caribbean is that we are not always a paradise. We can’t simply forget about what happens around us. We have to acknowledge either that we will try to change things or simply live with these sad truths.
