Book Description
Megawattage sound systems have blasted the electronically enhanced riddims and tongue-twisting lyrics of Jamaica's dancehall DJs across the globe. This high-energy raggamuffin music is often dissed by old-school roots reggae fans as a raucous degeneration of classic Jamaican popular music. In this provocative study of dancehall culture Carolyn Cooper, Professor of Literary and Cultural Studies at the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica, offers a sympathetic account of the philosophy of a wide range of dancehall DJs: Shabba Ranks, Lady Saw, Ninjaman, Capleton, Buju Banton, Anthony B, Apache Indian. She demonstrates the ways in which the language of dancehall culture, often devalued as mere 'noise,' articulates a complex understanding of the border clashes that characterise Jamaican society. Cooper also analyses the sound clashes that erupt in the movement of Jamaican dancehall culture across national borders. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Carolyn Cooper--Dancehall's Cultural Theorist
Carolyn Cooper continues to be the most insightful thinker writing on the implications of Jamaican dancehall culture for the politics of gender and globalization.While Cooper focuses heavily on local Caribbean dancehall in her book, she weaves a narrative applicable to political theory and cultural studies internationally.Cooper is a folk philosopher who has been at the center of much heated debates over the last decade due to her position privileging folk life and Jamaican indigenous language--patois--over high brow theory.Cooper did not need Immanuel Kant to know that articulating the gulf between theory and practice many times revolves around disputes over competing political languages.Cooper and Kant converge insofar as they each attempt to develop universal laws of culture, of which some elements are a priori and others specific to the realm of experience.

Cooper's 1989-1990 JAMAICA JOURNAL essay "Slackness Hiding from Culture: Erotic Play in the Dancehall" was the first scholarly analysis of Jamaican dancehall culture.Since the publication of that essay, an explosion in literature on dancehall ensued.Cooper expanded the central argument of that essay into a book released a few years later entitled NOISES IN THE BLOOD.Cooper's current text under review, SOUND CLASH (2004), is an investigation into Jamaican dancehall culture at large.To study local Jamaican dancehall is to study dancehall's impact outside the island.Hence, Cooper devotes the latter third of the text to dancehall in places such as Barbados and Great Britain.Nevertheless, a majority of the work deals with interrogations into the lyrics of key musical figures in Jamaican dancehall including Ninjaman, Lady Saw, Capelton, Buju Banton, and Anthony B, and the ways in which those figures reflect wider concepts of the self, gender relations, power, and freedom.

The notion of "slackness" serves as an overarching subtext throughout.The chapter on Lady Saw is quite simply a must read, as are chapter 2 comparing the classical reggae lyrics of Bob Marley to the dancehall DJ Shabba Ranks and chapter 9 explicating dancehall in the South Asian Diaspora via the rhymes of British DJ Apache Indian (born Steve Kapur).Lady Saw in particular has been maligned by Jamaican bourgeois society much the same way that heretical European women had been marginalized by men historically in their respective cultures.Yet Lady Saw is the ultimate folk philosopher who has managed to use her lyrical prowess to destabilize conventional notions of womanhood, thus transform our understanding of concepts through the epistemological slackness she wields.As Cooper observes, "Lady Saw's brilliant lyrics, reinforced by her compelling body language, articulate a potent message about sexuality, gender politics, and the power struggle for the right to public space in Jamaica...It encompasses the cunning strategies that are employed by outspoken women like Lady Saw who speak subtle truths about their society" (p. 123).

Cooper devotes time in the Introduction to rebutting criticisms leveled against her by other dancehall commentators, one of whom is Norman Stolzoff.Stolzoff is the author of another seminal text on Jamaican dancehall, WAKE THE TOWN AND TELL THE PEOPLE (2000)--a book that I suggest readers interested in Cooper's work should also consult.Wherever you stand on the debates between Cooper and her critics, you must take those conversations as a healthy indicator of the increased awareness about dancehall and the reality that the principles of those living dancehall inside and outside Jamaica offer their own notions of universalism.In closing, I highly recommend SOUND CLASH to all those seeking to understand how a cultural form of life can indeed change the very way we view politics, theory, the world, and ourselves. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Bestbook on Caribbean Pop Culture
I was drawn to this book firstly through its title.
Since many books on caribbean pop culture tend to be either too theory ridden or journalistic, I was impressed with this work's ability to ride in the liminal space between academia and the everyday, so to speak.

Here is an author who seems to really know the subject matter and whose approach reflects passion and even an anxiety to take Caribbean criticism to new levels. Although the book makes reference to other more established critical approaches to Caribbean pop critique, it doesn't fall into the trap of labouring over them, instead it demonstrates how far Caribbean culture has advanced and the distance that criticism must be prepared to go to catch up. Given the work done on Contemporary culture studies at University of the West Indies, this book marks a new trend in some respects, chief among which must be the attempt to unhinge cultural critique from the pole of overworked methods rooted in postcolonialism, gender, marxism etc.

Here is a work that is prepared to chart its own course, so to speak. Its discussion of leading-edge subjects such as AIDS, gospel, Internet, Technology etc makes this book easily the most creative and daring work so far on Caribbean culture in the 21st Century.

For me "Culture @ the Cutting Edge" helps to invigorate criticism about Caribbean society. In the future this text might very well be regarded as one of, if not the defining work that marks the active entry of the UWI School into the robust domain of first world cultural production.
... Read more

Book Description
Travel writer and historian Stephen Foehr examines the historical, cultural and political influences that helped an island of two million people create the international music phenomenon of reggae and its associated forms. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Live Vicariously
Take a vicarious trip to Jamaica with this book! Stephen Foehr travels to the heart of Jamaican culture, and meets with the people who helped form it. He leaves the safe tourist areas far behind and goes behind the scenes into the deep countryside and interacts with the denizens of some pretty dangerous places. Good book. Well researched historical perspective, but not so much that it is dry or reads like a textbook. Still this book would be a great for modern music history classes.

Foehr Reaches Deep
Stephen Foehr has an unequalled understanding of the spiritual and intellectual qualities of the people who have created the musical culture of Jamaica, and anyone who professes to have a complete library of the best books on this topic cannot afford to be without his book.From my perspective, it is the best book on the market today for people looking for an understanding of how Caribbean culture created one of the most distinctive musical genres of the twentieth century.What makes it superior is Foehr's ability to draw from decades of first-hand knowledge of his topic. He is not an anthropological field worker but a deep insider who works with the care and sophistication of the best anthropologists and musicologists. Add to this, however, that he is not an academic who is distanced from his subject by abstractions or a journalist on an assignment. He is close to the soul, and if you admire Jamaica and its culture, you will feel at home in the world depicted in this book.

jamaican warriors
JAMAICAN WARRIORS is fascinating and though about music, the social/political tones are revolutionizing and nurturing my understanding of reggae. I feel as though I'm with the author and the warriors as the textual conversations and images are so inclusive. Such makes for rewarding reading and fast page turning. A multifaceted book whether music, Jamaica travel, or history be your love. ... Read more

Book Description
Since its emergence from the ghettoes of West Kingston, Jamaica in the 1930s, the Rastafarian Movement has been transformed from an obscure group of outcasts to a vibrant movement that has not only become firmly entrenched in Jamaican society, but has successfully expanded beyond the Caribbean to North America, the British Isles, and Africa. Ennis Barrington Edmonds provides a compelling portrait of the Rastafarian phenomenon and chronicles how a once-obscure group, much maligned and persecuted, became a dominant cultural force in the world today.Edmonds charts the evolution of the relationship between Rastafari and the wider Jamaican society.In the early years of the movement, there was outright confrontation and repression, as Rastas were seen as a threat to Jamaican society. This evolved into a grudging tolerance and eventually an aggressive appropriation of Rastafarian symbols in the 1970s and 1980s--as evidenced by the veritable coronation of reggae artist Bob Marley--resulting in the "culture tourism" of the late twentieth century. Edmonds focuses in particular on the internal development of Rastafarianism as a social movement, with its network of "houses" (small, informal groups that form around leading Rastas) and "mansions" (larger, more communal associations), to track the process of this strikingly successful integration.He further demonstrates how Rastafarian artistic creativity, especially in fashioning the music and message of reggae, was a significant factor in the transition of Rastas from the status of outcasts to the position of culture bearers.Rastafari presents an intimate account of a unique movement, which over the course of several decades had entrenched itself in Jamaican society and has become the international cultural and political force it is today. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Thorough treatment
Rastafari: From Outcasts to Culture Bearers. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. (Pp. x -194). By Ennis Barrington Edmonds.

The publication of Rastafari represents the author's maturing views on the birth and development of a powerful religious movement from the Majority World-a movement regarded by some as the only major religion having its genesis in the 20th century.
Here we learn of the humble beginning of the movement in the 1930s, its consolidation in the following two decades, its flowering in the 70s and 80s and of its global impact particularly in the final decade of the last century.
In seven chapters, Edmonds successfully argues his thesis that the entrenchment of Rastafari was made possible by ` (1) the internal development of the movement, (2) the gradual rapprochement between the movement and the wider society, and (3) the impact of Rastafari on the evolution of Jamaica's indigenous popular culture' (p.4).
The appendix, " A Review of the Literature on Rastafari," significantly updates the material found in the dissertation. One notices too that the writer has carried out his sociological analysis so rigorously that there is little or no evaluation of the theological and historical claims of Rastafari.For example, whereas others of pointed out the lack of documentary evidence for the Garvey prophecy concerning the crowning of Ras Tafari, Edmonds appears prepared to defend the prediction by invoking the reliability of the oral tradition that bears it (p. 147 n.34).
Edmonds is also optimistic that the movement has a bright future but also observes that"during the decade of the 1990s several notable Rastas, including Tommy Cowan and Judy Mowatt (of the I/Threes [sic]), converted to evangelical Christianity. This defection raises further questions about the possible demise of Rastafari.'"In fact, Ms. Mowatt, in an interview on Jamaica's CVM TV, even claims that the late Robert Nesta Marley made a deathbed profession of faith.A similar testimony is to be found in Hannah's book (p. 62). Interestingly, Marley's mother, turned biographer (Bob Marley: An Intimate Portrait), was a Christian before she was converted to the Rastafari by her famous `Jam-icon' son.
I have noticed just a single typo, something looking like an e-mail address on page 49: ` the lying. Preacher.' All in all, Rastafari is recommended as one of the most up-to-date and balanced treatments by a non-Rasta. For the student and scholar in particular, it should be read alongside Dr. Ikael Tafari's monograph, Rastafari in Transition, also from a sociological perspective.

















... Read more

Book Description
Sister Jamaica is about women factory workers, their households, jobs and lives in Kingston during the destabilization of the Michael Manley administration (1978-79). It shows how these working class women and their household members achieved access to scarce resources and survived a national political and economic crisis. The author argues that such achievements were the result of these women and their households exercising a variety of traditional and contemporary cultural, social and economic options. Bolles looks at the influences of race, class and gender, emphasizing women's roles in kinship, kindredship and domestic organization. Domestic chores, cash flows and networks of exchange are examined in order to illustrate which household member performed what kind of task and under what kind of circumstances. The division of labor among 127 households is examined. Finally, Bolles looks at the factories and female work forces against the background of international capitalism. This text will provide beneficial reading for introductory anthropology classes and courses in women's studies, Afro-American studies, and Caribbean and Latin American studies. ... Read more

Book Description
This is the first book-length study of dub poetry, the musical talkover that has been an important part of the reggae scene in Canada, Britain and of course the Caribbean since the 1970's. Christian Habekost 's qualifications for writing such a book are beyond dispute. He is a German poet who has been involved with the dub movement since it began and knows most of its leading figures. As Ranting Chako, he is featured on the LP Dread Poets Society. The bibliography indicates that he has interviewed many of the 43 poet-performers mentioned, often on several occasions. Verbal Riddim, based on his doctoral dissertation at the University of Mannheim, is a successful blend of the performer and the researcher. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Uncanny insight into the Jamaican/African culture.
Ms Sobo has done a awesome job of presenting details about the thought process which goes on in the minds of Afro/Jamaicans.And Jamaicans in general.I wish I would have read this book a decade ago. ... Read more

Book Description
When Jamaican recording engineers Osbourne "King Tubby" Ruddock, Errol Thompson, and Lee "Scratch" Perry began crafting "dub" music in the early 1970s, they were initiating a musical revolution that continues to have worldwide influence. Dub is a sub-genre of Jamaican reggae that flourished during reggae's "golden age" of the late 1960s through the early 1980s. Dub involves remixing existing recordings--electronically improvising sound effects and altering vocal tracks--to create its unique sound. Just as hip-hop turned phonograph turntables into musical instruments, dub turned the mixing and sound processing technologies of the recording studio into instruments of composition and real-time improvisation. In addition to chronicling dub's development and offering the first thorough analysis of the music itself, author Michael Veal examines dub's social significance in Jamaican culture. He further explores the "dub revolution" that has crossed musical and cultural boundaries for over thirty years, influencing a wide variety of musical genres around the globe. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Imaginative Work on a Revolutionary Musical Form
A book like this is long overdue. The simple fact that it was published makes it good. Of the two most important strains of contemporary black music, hip-hop has generated thousands of books and articles, but dub has been largely ignored by the ethno-musicological world.

Dub - Soundscapes And Shattered Songs In Jamaican Reggae by Yale ethnomusicologist Michael E. Veal, is a scholarly work, but don't let that scare you. I know some of you might dislike the book because of its somewhat academic tone, scoff at many of its themes and find them pretentious, but I strongly disagree. This is a terrific analysis. Prof. Veal examines dub in a variety of contexts not only as an expression of Afro-Caribbean culture and the Jamaican music business but as an art form and creative process comparable to just about every modern, futurist and post-modern movement from dada and surrealism to conceptual art, from Luigi Russolo and John Cage to its influence on hip-hop and worldwide dance-pop culture.

It's not all dry, academic stuff. The man knows, and more importantly, loves his dub music. First, Prof. Veal shows us his dub credentials by going into detail about Jamaican music. But instead of the more familiar reggae legends about impoverished young ghetto singers and gun-toting producers, Veal's emphasis here is on recording studios, audio equipment, and the engineers themselves. After all, dub mixed at the various studios sounded the way it did because of the improvised, often homemade technology the early reggae engineers used. Syd Bucknor, Sylvan Morris, Graeme Goodall and Byron Smith are all mentioned, moving on to Tubby, Errol ET Thompson at Randy's, Channel One etc. There's a lot of interesting information about how JA studios developed during the late 60s and 70s.

Veal also compares dub with rock psychedelia and the use of ganja, but also notes that many of the most famous dub originators didn't smoke (Tubby and ET, for example) and while some reggae figures insist dub is not "ganja" music, others insist it most certainly is. Dub can be seen as similar to psychedelia's liberation from sonic slavery, but it seems unlikely that Jamaican engineers were listening to Pink Floyd's Ummagumma. On the other hand, a certain amount of psychedelia's production techniques like echo/delay and phase shifting made their way into some American R&B and Soul records of the late 60's and early 70's, which have some rather proto-dubby-sounding parts. These records would've been familiar to Jamaican musicians at the same time dub began to appear, and are likely to have influenced them.

Prof. Veal conducted dozens of recent interviews with various figures connected with dub's 70's heyday. "Fortunate survivors" would perhaps be a more accurate way of describing them, given the all too common murders and early deaths which are a tragic fact of life in JA. The dark, moody and aggressive nature of much dub is also considered as a reflection of the crime and violence in Kingston's ghettoes. These interviews contain a wealth of comments which help shed new light on the development of dub. Sadly, the fact that a book on dub has taken 30 years to appear means that King Tubby and several others aren't around to offer their comments

Then, he takes us through a few carefully analyzed mixes by various engineers. It's good to see others besides Tubby and Scratch getting their due credit. Here, Prof. Veal shows us he really listens to this stuff like a truly obsessed fan. Starting with some late 60's Studio One productions, he describes the recordings in great detail, noting the peculiarities of the mixes, instrument placement, sound quality and tape hiss. He describes how the mixes were done based on his interviews with the engineers, what key the tunes were played in, how echoed/delayed chords and vocals create strange rhythmic and harmonic juxtapositions, even noting the echo/delay rates used, the qualities of various types of reverb equipment, and how the signal path through the mixing board created certain sounds. There's a lot of interesting comments by the engineers; Jammy says his best mix ever was "Jammy's A Shine", his powerful, mind-blowing dub of Ronnie Davis' cover of the Wailer's "Sun Is Shining" produced by Bunny Lee around 1977-78. "That record mash up Jamaica and England and Europe and them places completely!" says Jammy.

Professor Veal explores the concept of dub as a process rather than product, which transforms the "truth" and "reality" of a normal reggae tune, its sounds unfolding and being turned inside out in the mix, causing the listener to question the authority of their preconceived notions. This was similar to the goal of dada/surrealism (to take one example) and thus dub can be considered to be part of the 20th century's avant-garde tradition. Many of the themes have been briefly discussed by music critics in the pages of The Wire and the liner notes to the Macro Dub Infection compilations for instance, but Veal devotes 300 plus pages to it, and expands on dozens of the same thoughts and feelings about dub as I (and others) have had for these last 25 years. Slavery and colonialism, the Afro-futurist sonic sci-fi of Sun Ra and Lee Perry, class and race issues, technology and information, all get name checked. The fact that Veal's themes are sprawling yet coherent demonstrates the importance of this music.

I've always felt it is probably one of the most revolutionary developments in late 20th century "pop", and Veal also touches on this line of reasoning. Dub radically subverts traditional structures of harmony, rhythm and composition. Dub disrespectfully ignores the notion that every recording of a musical performance is sacred and must not be technologically tampered with because it destroys the integrity and authenticity of the musicians' "artistic expression" as caught on tape. The implications of this subverts the idea that a piece of music (or any art) is "complete" in only one, final form, as intended by its "creator", and ignores ownership and copyright issues. Thus it can be compared to such figures such as Cage, Stockhausen, Warhol, Duchamp, Derrida, Deleuze and Guatarri, post-structuralism and deconstructionism (etc bla bla bla). Dub wallows in gimmicky, anti-musical sound, using echo, fade-ins and outs and other sound effects in totally inappropriate ways which an "authentic" "serious" musician would find absolutely appalling. It not only re-mixes, but it re-thinks, ignores, or gleefully violates practically every rule in the book. The same things were said about bebop back in the 40's, but ironically it is often the jazz purists who loathe musical developments like dub and hip-hop. Like the use of sampling, dub's entire assault on musical convention infuriates traditional, conservative musicians, and on balance, this is certainly a good thing. That's what makes dub so innovative and important, and of course so much fun.

These days, when there are so many people creating what Adrian Sherwood calls "designer dub" - a reggae composition intended to be "dubby" from the start, Veal reminds us that "dub" cannot really exist without a "vocal" version to compare it with - dub is a process of transformation. That's what makes dub so powerful. It's far more dramatic when you hear the vocal followed by the dub (or perhaps vice-versa). A "dub" tune by itself may sound good on its own terms, but it will be far more thrilling when heard in contrast to its traditionally-mixed vocal cut. Obviously, the 12" and "showcase" LP are the ideal formats for this.

I'm really impressed with this book, and it's about time someone from the academic world gave dub some serious consideration as a major, influential musical art form.

Overly academic treatis on dub
I was very excited to find a first book dedicated to DUB MUSIC. The book starts off well enough, and I appreciated the contextualizing with experimental electronic music movements in Europe. But overall the problem is that the author has written the book too much concerned with satisfying his musicologist colleagues, and thus the lay reader is left in the cold (and I say this as someone who took musicology courses at University myself!). Veal has taken much of the excitement out of the subject and left academic dryness. I don't mean to dismiss it out of hand, but I am very disappointed and I feel it is only fair to warn the potential reader what they are wading into -- this is not a popular reading title, it is overall an academic work.

Droppin' Science
While there may be some readers grumbling about the author's 'dryness' in this volume, I found it to be a unique and invaluable resource in bringing out many heretofore unknown details of dub production techniques from some of its most revered protagonists.

This book authoritatively helps frame Dub in the greater context of Jamaica's musical and cultural landscape in the second half of the twentieth century, with unique innovations which some would argue has had an immense but vastly under-appreciated impact on the rest of the planet's musical development up to this very moment. The author has managed to provide studio rats such as myself with the luxurious wealth of information that -short of being having been there- some of us had been looking for since first hearing some of these recordings more than a quarter of a century ago, and as such is an invaluable addition to any dub creator's tolbox.

The minute and precise details in which some of this is recounted is a unique asset in helping preserve what has up to now been nothing but soon-to-be-gone and more often than not distorted oral tradition, and its many direct quotes from those key players still alive today will make it a solid historical reference point for those planning to further study this subject for years to come!

It is also welcome and refreshing to read such an account from the writer's African-American perspective, as it brings up many crucial facets of Jamaican music and culture into a sorely needed focus, which up to now has been the province of either ethnomusicologists who for the most part somewhat missed the point, or enthusiasts without the necessary research background and clarity of expression to bring it all together.

There are very few books that arguably helped change one's life. In my case, this is most definitely one of them. It comes with my highest recommendation.

the author could not translate his enthusiasm for the subject into a compelling read
Reading Michael Veal's Dub: Soundscapes & Shattered Songs in Jamaican Reggae, one understands just how vast Veal's knowledge of Jamaican music is. Unfortunately, the author could not translate his enthusiasm for the subject into a compelling read. Instead of being vibrant and humorous, the text is often academic and dry, stripping away the passion that would usually be associated with the subject matter. Ideally the book would have come with a companion CD, but Veal explained that the licensing would be too expensive, so readers are left having to follow the clinical text to get a sense of the music described.

Dub music is reggae music that has been reinterpreted through the use of sound effects, echo and reverb - the title refers to dismantling of prerecorded music. The music is often seen as a precursor to popular dance music. Dub has also leaked its way into mainstream pop music, as evident in "dub mixes" of top 40 hits by artists such as Madonna or Janet Jackson. The original dub music is a spin-off of reggae, though, as with any form of music, it has been diluted for mainstream popular consumption, as well. Pioneer engineers like Osbourne "King Tubby" Ruddock, Lee "Scratch" Perry and Errol Thompson all revolutionized dub music, and get deserved mentions in the book along such luminaries as Clement "Coxsone" Dodd and Sylvan Morris, and institutions like Studio One and the Black Ark - studios where some of the earliest works of dub music were created.

The book has some interesting points; the section on the influence of marijuana on dub music is particularly fascinating, as was his discussion of how producers would abuse their equipment to obtain a certain effect, but Veal often buries them with an avalanche of facts, figures and names (he has an unfortunate tendency to name drop), that will leave the reader overwhelmed. He has the germ of a great idea - he cites specific songs and discusses them in length, going over the details of the sounds of the songs and describing notable instrumental sequences and effects, though he gets mired in technical jargon (sometimes even including musical notes), that the reader may often find him or herself skimming through the passages.

To Veal's credit, he does put dub music into a political and historical context, which gives importance to his subject, and the background information on the cultural influences that shaped dub music is very interesting; his passages about dub music and marijuana is illuminating, as the author attempts to debunk the myth that Jamaican music is "pot music." He also does the reader a service by including a detailed discography of the artists cited in the book.

If Veal had trimmed down his writing a bit, and not overstuffed the tome with so much dry information then the book would've been a fascinating read. The text would have flowed better if the author had not tried to present the subject in such a textbook manner; the impulse is understandable, as Veal was obviously trying to make a claim for dub music an important academic or scholastic subject, but given the cultural impact of dub music, such a labored attempt in not needed. As such, one comes away from the book feeling as if there was an interesting book in there somewhere, done away by the author's zeal for overwhelming his audience with facts.

How about a Dub Version?
I'm in the midst of reading this book, and, yeah, as others have noted (here and elsewhere) it is a bit dry.So how about dub version of this book?We can add the playfulness, humor, and reverb that are missing!Who's in with me? ... Read more

Book Description
Escape to the beautiful sounds of Calypso music, the vivid colors of red, black, green and gold, and the sensuous taste of gumbo and sugar cane rum.Follow Claudette Copney on this enchanting and captivating journey through her native home of Jamaica in her new book, Jamaican Culture and International Folklore, Superstitions, Beliefs, Dreams, Proverbs and Remedies.A colorful collection of self-help remedies and dream interpretations as well as accurate and thorough information on the customs and traditions of the Jamaicans, Claudette Copney's book has something to offer everyone.

Covering topics such as tourist attractions, religion, food, music, folklore, superstitions and even a few Calypso songs, Jamaican Culture packs a wealth of information between its colorful cover.Copney travels to her past and recounts the magic of the holidays in Jamaica and the mischief of her school days.She blends her own reminiscences with a thorough exploration of ancient traditions and customs in order to create an educational self-help resource, a valuable travel guide to those who may visit Jamaica, and a tremendously entertaining book for people of all cultures and interests.

As a native of Jamaica and resident of the United States for some twenty years, Claudette Copney is able to clearly emphasize those aspects of the Jamaican culture which are often misunderstood by Americans.She explains the true origins and meaning of the rastafarian lifestyle, including the common hairstyle of dreadlocks and the significance of the red, green and gold colors of the Rasta flag.Copney also delves into the widely misunderstood realm of herbal healing, superstitions and dream interpretation.Her work is a tribute to this unique and vibrant culture and a wonderful resource for any reader who enjoys being swept away by enchanting stories of far away places. ... Read more

Book Description
A reporter who befriended them charts the rise of gangs from their roots to the influx of crack that helps them proliferate, and the police who can't stop them. ... Read more

Book Description
CONTENTS

PREFACE

THE BIBLE

RELIGION

MORALITY

HUMAN RIGHTS

UNITY

GOVERNMENT

LEADERSHIP

EDUCATION

RESPONSIBILITY

PLANNING

WORK

SELF HELP

DEVELOPMENT

LAND POLICY

RESOURCES

AGRICULTURE

FINE ARTS

HEALTH

INTER AFRICA

ETHIOPIA'S POSITION

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS

FATE

LIFE

DEATH

MISCELLANEOUS ... Read more