Why Tessanne Chin Matters to Me

Pitiful is the person who is afraid of taking risks. Perhaps this person will never be disappointed or disillusioned; perhaps she won’t suffer the way people do when they have a dream to follow. But when the person looks back-she will hear her heart – Paulo Coelho


Miss Tessanne Chin
Photo credit - NBC The Voice

If you’re living in some deep, rural place in Jamaica, plagued by a lack of basic amenities like say, electricity, you are forgiven if you haven’t heard about Tessanne Chin; (affectionately), the "Chiny" girl. Otherwise, what’s your excuse? If you’re paying even scant attention, I’d guess that she matters to you, she sure matters to me. Here’s why.

The first time I went to Paris, I travelled very low budget but decided that I wouldn’t let the opportunity pass me by since I was in England and could not otherwise afford the trip. I stayed in a little hotel with only a ‘face basin’ in my room because I couldn’t afford a room with a shower. A single shower served six rooms, but I wasn’t prepared to share so I made my ‘face basin’ work for me.

When I checked in, the young woman at the front desk spoke no English but we managed to complete the process uneventfully. My objectives were simple, see as much as I could, on foot, don’t get lost and take pictures, hopefully with me in some of them.  Years later what remains the most pleasant part of that experience was the broad smile which the word “Jamaica” brought to the face of the young woman who spoke no English and her cognitive declaration of “ah, Bob Marley”. It felt good, and it’s unforgettable.

In recent years our best and worst have been on show for the entire world to see. We cringed in national shame as “Dudus” dominated the world’s media. We sighed in painful disappointment and even disbelief as our athletes returned positive drug tests, in numbers too many to ignore. No I won’t say more, you have your own list.

If you’re reading this you’ll probably remember the sense of pride and joy you felt when a young Ardenne High School, Jamaican student named Jody-Anne Maxwell won the prestigious Scripps Howard Spelling Bee competition. Over the years we have enjoyed the usual respite from our realities when our athletes gave us joy as they proudly took victory laps, draped in our national flag. Or excite us with world class swimming gold medals and all, or ride a horse in the Olympics in a sport we barely recognize (equestrian), or make a name in a sport which we are scarcely equipped to pursue (bobsledding).

If you have not figured it out yet, Tessanne Chin matters to me because she gives me another reason to celebrate the best side of Jamaica. Maybe she’ll win the contest, maybe she won’t but what she’s achieved so far is simply spectacular. 

Thank you for taking the risk; for giving me another reason for, in the words of P!nk, "just a little bit's enough". 

Political Party Renewal

 

Photo credit - Google

 

“If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.” Lao Tzu

I’ve been watching and listening to the current Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) leadership challenge fracas, as keenly as I did that of the People’s National Party (PNP); back when Mrs. Simpson-Miller had her turn. My conclusion then is the same now, both parties could benefit from an extraordinary change in culture which will give more eligible Jamaican voters a solid reason to engage in the political process. It won’t be easy and it will take time.

Start by changing the party's constitution to impose term limits; that way challenges will not be to the sitting leader, unless he/she is completely inept, corrupt or otherwise. Term limits will ensure that there is always healthy competition at the second tier and that the organization maintains a robust leadership pipeline; a consistent flow of new ideas. It prevents stagnation and atrophy whilst warding of the onset of an entitlement syndrome. Try it, you'll like it and it will send a powerful signal that the party really wants to renew itself.





Andrew Holness
Opposition & JLP Leader
Photo credit - Google





Our political leaders ought not to serve at their leisure; they’re not lifers occupying a jail cell, passing time. How dare they make what should be a healthy competition into a fight for scraps! On the one hand we have a hand-picked parvenu whose claim to fame is youth; as if good ideas are the exclusive purview of the young. On the other hand we have another whose claim to fame is experience; as if we don’t know that there’s a marked difference between a year’s experience repeated ten times and ten years’ experience. Who cares? Too few, and that’s the crux of the matter.

Audley Shaw
Photo credit - Google

 

Should you even care? Absolutely, because ours is a Westminster modeled democracy which requires an intelligent and useful opposition to temper the excesses of any overbearing party in government. The fact is that, as a nation, we generally do not care. You don’t have to take my word for it the data can be found on the Electoral Office of Jamaica’s website but just in case you can’t be bothered, I’ve plucked some out for you. Stare at them and make what you will of them but I’ll wager you’ll come back to the same place and ask why can’t we consistently engage at least 70% of voting age citizens? I can’t prove it, but I’m convinced leadership has something to do with it.

 

Year	Total Electorate	% Votes Cast	% PNP	% JLP
1944	663,069	58.70	23.50	41.40
1949	732,217	65.20	43.50	42.70
1955	761,238	65.12	50.50	39.03
1959	853,539	66.09	54.80	44.30
1962*	796,540	72.88	48.59	50.04
1967	543,307	82.24	49.08	50.65
1972	605,662	78.88	56.36	43.40
1980*	990,417	86.91	40.67	58.34
1983*	990,586	29.48	00.00	88.02
1989	1,078,760	78.38	56.03	42.89
1993	1,002,599	60.28	59.40	39.05
1997	1,182,294	65.22	55.74	38.57
2002	1,301,334	59.04	51.59	46.92
2007	1,336,307	61.46	49.35	49.97
2011	1,648,036	53.17	53.00	46.30

How telling is it that in its 75 years the People's National Party has only had 4 leaders with the first two having 54 years between them and by the way, they were father and son? And as for the JLP, don’t think your 6 leaders in 70 years is anything to celebrate; with both Donald Sangster and Hugh Shearer having acted as leaders. More telling is the fact that between Alexander Bustamante and Edward Seaga they served as party leaders for a combined 61 of the party’s 70 years. Should we even wonder why the party is where it is today?

I can only hope that after the dust settles it would have been worth the mudslinging and maybe, just maybe the party can become a real opposition. I won’t hold my breath though for I’m neither suicidal nor naïve.

Thanks to Ms. Dionne Jackson-Miller (@djmillerJA) for pointing out that Donald Sangster and Hugh Shearer acted, which may not count.

The Games of 2013

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” Sir Winston Churchill

Usain Bolt
Credit Ricardo Makyn
Gleaner Staff Photographer



Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce
Credit Ricardo Makyn
Gleaner Staff Photographer



The 14^th IAAF World Athletics Championships held in Moscow ended just right for all Jamaica, with Shelly-Ann Fraser-Price and Usain St. Leo Bolt crossing the finish lines with relay batons safely in hand. How wonderful is it to hear our national anthem played at the very end, three times in a row. We couldn’t ask for more. Or could we?

 

In recent times, to understand the absorption rate of the international track and field games such as the World Championships and the Olympics you also have to follow on social media. Unless, of course, you are fortunate enough to be in Moscow or London in 2012. Only then will you experience the full extent of the interest of all the world in Jamaica’s performance and the growing interest of Jamaicans beyond the 200 metres or relays.



I’ll go out a limb and divine that for the average Jamaican a good run in the short sprints and relays are all that they need to knock two pot covers together in excited hurrah. I am noting however an exciting trend in an increasing number of Jamaicans taking notice of other events beyond those for which we are best known. How else do you explain our ever growing cheers for athletes whose names we can barely pronounce let alone commit to spelling? It’s not accidental; the impact of Usain Bolt has been immeasurable and has brought many personalities and stars into the limelight.

Kimberley Williams Triple Jump Credit Ricardo Makyn
Gleaner Staff Photographer 





Edna Kiplagat
Marathon Champion
Getty Image

As they say in some circles, “all an a sudden” we’re cheering for names like Mo Farrah, Meseret Defar, Tirunesh Dibaba and Edna Kiplagat; all over distances that we’ve not even ventured an effort let alone a few competitors. We now know the names Bohdan Bondarenko and Svetlana Shkolina (high jump), Teddy Tamgho (triple jump) and Yelena Isinbayeva (pole vault); along with their events. So as consumers of the sport we’re evolving; becoming more sophisticated and wanting to see the country work harder at producing athletes beyond a handful of names like Kimberley Williams (triple jump), Natoya Goule (800 metres) and Damar Forbes (long jump) – hint hint Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA).

Hansle Parchment
Credit Ricardo Makyn
Gleaner Staff Photographer

Yes, the “usuals” delivered our craved high but others worth mentioning gave us our doses of uppers and downers. We were spectacularly not surprised, though truly delighted, by the sprint doubles, Warren Weir’s silver run and Nesta Carter’s first individual bright bronze medal. We were sure that the 4x100 metres relays were ours to lose.

We ached with Hansle Parchment and Anneisha McLaughlin as they went to pain filled places and gasped a few “oh somethings” as Andrew Riley clipped that late hurdle to lose his place along the way. We were saddened by Allyson Felix’s fall from grace, she’s a gracious competitor and we always prefer to win by beating the best of them. We were in shock for our Caribbean star, Kirani James, as he learnt the hard lesson of loss against the big boys. We swore aloud at out television screens as they announced the disqualification of our women’s 4x400 metres relay team and let out a great big “kis teet” when Kaleise Spencer was dropped from the 400 metres hurdles for what many saw as “foolishniss”, ‘fight dem a giwi’.  



Novlene Williams-Mills
Credit Ricardo Makyn
Gleaner Staff Photographer



These games delivered more to Jamaica than rankings and medals. They delivered a brief respite from our harsh realities. They delivered messages of determination from those Like Novlene Willaims-Mills who competed against the toughest odds. They delivered messages of pride in our future from those like Stephanie McPherson and the Williams sisters who realized a dream by just getting thus far. They delivered messages of hope from those like Natoya Goule who never made it past the first rounds of their events.

For this fan of the sport however, the most important message to emerge from the 14^th IAAF World Championships was about courage, delivered by a teenaged high school student, barely old enough to vote or marry without his parents’ permission. Jevon Francis shouted to the entire world, WE DO NOT QUIT. We do not quit because it’s hard, we do not quit because it seems impossible, we do not quit, because we have nothing to lose by giving our all.



Jevon Francis Credit Ricardo Makyn
Gleaner Staff Photographer



Just as they did in prior years, Jamaicans gathered in Half Way Tree and Downtown Kingston where they were whipped into a freakish frenzy as our athletes delivered just the right doses of victory.

The rest of us congregated on social media to make our pride known, Jamaica Land We Love.

 

I Don't Eat Pork



Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell
Photo credit AFP/BBC Sport

 

Anyone who knows me well enough, is aware of the fact that I don't eat pork. For those who define them otherwise, I also don't eat pig's tail, ham, bacon or sausages with pork. When I travel abroad if there's a meal choice on a long haul flight I opt for Hindu or Asian vegetarian. More often than not I simply go full vegetarian to reduce the issues surrounding special arrangements. 

The fact is though, that I can't stop saying it, I am always placed in situations that require that I state up front that, "I don't eat pork". It's not written on my forehead and there's no outward sign of my aversion. Pork is not my only issue; I'm also allergic to shell fish, so I don't eat shrimps, prawns, scampi (which almost killed me once), lobsters or crabs. This too must be established up front, when the occasion warrants it for in the case of the allergy, it's a matter of life and death.

 

If you've got to this paragraph you're probably just about ready to shout, "So what" or "who cares, what’s the point?" Here goes. The news this past weekend for track and field watchers locally and internationally was, well, shocking for most. The vultures are circling with the news of five Jamaican athletes testing positive for banned substances. The conspiracy theories abound and fingers are pointing. The Gleaner carried a report that Asafa Powell’s physical trainer has been arrested in Italy (Italy police arrest Asafa's physical trainer over banned substance by Leighton Levy 14-7-2013). And the beat goes on.

 

So let me connect the dots for you, if I don’t keep saying I don’t eat pork, I can’t blame anyone if a slice of ham ends up on my plate at Christmas. On this matter I’m once again inclined to heed the words of sports medicine expert, Dr. Paul Wright, “local athletes are not paying enough attention to the information disseminated by the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission”, (Sports medicine expert says Jamaican athletes paying little attention to doping data by Melton Williams Gleaner 15-7-2013). At this point, I don’t know if Asafa Powell, Sherone Simpson, Traves Smikle, Allison Randall and even Tyson Gay are drug cheats, per se. I do know that one swallow of that yummy lobster bisque can cost me much more than mere discomfort so like me, they must at all times be vigilant.

 

“Trust, but verify” – Ronald Reagan  

The Changing of the Guards

The National Senior Championships of 2013 may not have brought out the crowds of 2012, but the die-hards probably didn't notice or care. Our minds were fiercely concentrated on the highs and lows of each moment. This die-hard could only afford one day at the National Stadium, Saturday, but the television coverage was pretty decent so I only missed the vibes of the crowd. I would guess that most persons saw the obvious victories and the noticeable absences of those “big-names”.  

 

Natoya Goule
Photo by Ricardo Makyn Gleaner Staff Photographer
 

For many, I suspect it was enough that Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce predictably delivered in the sprints, and they joyously celebrated Kerron Stewart’s big 100 metres win. They were as pumped as young Warren Weir was feisty. They rose to their feet en bloc as Natoya Goule chased the finish line against the clock. They moaned in disappointment as the talented schoolboy jumper from Wolmer's, Christoff Bryan, fell shy of the qualifying height, even whilst at seventeen years old, he is our National Senior High Jump Champion. A cloud of injuries has overshadowed this year’s championships which couldn’t go unnoticed and we dug deep in the ranks to produce what I regard as a fair team. 

 

What struck me most intensely was the very smooth changing of the female guards, the woman constables. Some we can expect to continue running on the European circuit for the rest of the season just as others, I suspect, may see these trials as the final curtain call on their athletic careers.

 

We crossed our fingers and toes for soldier-girl Aleen Bailey but knew in our hearts that these National Championships may well be her swan song.  This constant of Jamaica's track and field ran 7th in women's 100 metres final but don't be fooled, she did so at the IAAF 'A' standard. Aileen's 200 metres 6th place was however just outside the 'B' standard. 

 

We watched as the women's 100 metres hurdles gave us our own Williams sisters and at the same time Delloreen Ennis-London, at thirty-eight, just missed out on a spot in 4th place. Note well, the top four women in this event made the IAAF 'A' standard, so Deloreen's 12.94 seconds is commendable.

 

My personal favourite was the women’s 400 metres final which had everything I could hope for in the one lap sprint. It demonstrated that we have the talent to go forth and build, but build with ardor we must. Novlene Williams-Mills sent a bold message that the young team will need experience and leadership to take on the world, so she went commandingly to the head of the line. What a finish, what a talent.

Novlene Williams-Mills
Photo by Ricardo Makyn Gleaner Staff Photographer

Of great significance is the performance of Stephanie McPherson, who ran a season’s best of 50.16 seconds behind Novlene, and who in her own words is “getting faster and stronger” ('I'm getting faster and stronger' - McPherson targeting 49.10 by Ryan Jones Gleaner Staff Reporter May 6,013). It certainly wasn’t lost on me that Novlene was the only one of the Bronze winning 4x400 metres quartet from the 2012 Olympics that made the team for Moscow. Whilst there are more races left in the likes of Rosemarie Whyte, Shericka Williams and Christine Day, it also wasn’t lost on me that the average age of the final eight was/is 26.75 years old. We therefore have much work to do to maintain balance between youth and experience going into 2015/2016/2017. Novlene is thirty-one years old, and this win was as sweet for her as it was tough.

 

In June 2012 I wrote of Ristananna Tracey, “If she remains healthy and fit, with time and experience, she will be called upon to carry the torch in 2016”. I continue to believe this and I am delighted to see her steady progress. The top three 400 metres hurdles finalists all surpassed the IAAF ‘A’ standard of 55.40 seconds, with 4^th, 5^th and 6^th places comfortably meeting the ‘B’ standard of 56.55 seconds. If you didn’t notice, Kaliese Spencer’s 51.65 seconds 6^th place in the 400 metres was only 0.10 seconds below the ‘A’ standard, a very positive indicator for the 400 metres hurdles. Let me not fail to point out that the average age of the eight finalists plus Kaliese is 23 years old. Stay healthy and navigate injuries judiciously then watch the ride down the road.

 

I continue to bemoan the shallow pool of talent after 400 metres. I was among those cheering boisterously on my feet for Natoya Goule as she not just made the IAAF ‘A’ standard but a sub-2 minutes personal best at 1:59.93 in the 800 metres. Even more striking than the absence of the event’s standard bearer, Kenia Sinclair, is the fact that of the (only) three others in the race none made the IAAF ‘B’ standard.

 

I am not at this stage making any comparisons to any other country’s results, especially not the USA. My intent was to draw attention to the subtle changing of the guards in the ranks of our female athletes. We have work to do JAAA’s, in shoring up the bench for the short sprints. Beyond 400 metres we need to dump or get off the pot, it’s inconceivable to me that we cannot produce more than one or two middle distance runners per generation. In the last 20 years only two names have stood out at 800 metres, Kenia Sinclair and Inez Turner, now we hang our hopes on Natoya Goule.

 

With a few short weeks to go to the World Championships in Moscow, much work will take place away from the eyes of the very demanding local and global publics. Jamaica will be called upon to deliver both entertainment and results.

 

Heads high, Team Jamaica, we’ve got your backs.