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9 Downtown KingstonThe epicentre of

Jamaica’s popular

culture

Jamaica is celebrating its 50th year of indepen-dence this August and in some way or another, many organisations are doing their part to mark this great milestone. When working on the theme for this issue, the team was looking at all the things that contributed to making Jamaica what it is today and Downtown Kingston was one of the places that stood out for us. With its glory days long gone, all that’s left is the image of what it used to be, but we were encouraged by the prospects of what it can still become.

What many people don’t realise is that Down-town Kingston is an untapped resource – it holds so much of Jamaica’s history and has the potential to hold so much of it’s future as well. My intention for this issue is to highlight some of the great things that still exist there and encourage people to explore, because the revitalisation cannot be put on the shoulders of businesses alone.

So, let’s celebrate Jamaica in this her big year and use it as an opportunity to learn about us as a people, our country and the possibilities of so much more.

Editor's Note

JUNE 2012

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Scene3 Scenes from Downtown

Kingston

Beauty4 Get groomed

street-side

Fashion 6 Shop Downtown and your

wallet will thank you

Jamaica 50Celebration13 Miss Jamaica World honours

sixteen past winners

Food15 Experience Coronation

Market

16 Moby Dick: Downtown’s

curry haven

Art17 Rocktowa: Using Downtown

Kingston to inspire artists

News & Culture 20 On The Pulse:

Photograph by Warren Buckle

Model:Renee McDonald

Make up by Kimberley Patterson

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Scenes from Downtown

Scene

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Beauty

Get groomed street-side

4

Downtown Kingston is known for a lot of things – great shopping deals for clothing and accessories, the freshest produce and home goods at a fraction of the price in other ar-eas. But eyebrow threading?

It’s probably one of the last things that you expect to see on Princess Street, but right at the entrance of Baby & Me, you will find Sheldon (also known as Mario) o!ering pass-ers-by his facial grooming threading services. He proudly boasts that he practices Muslim facial grooming threading, a skill he picked up while living in Birmingham, England.

For $300 (less than half the going rate for threading in uptown), he will shape up your eyebrows or remove any unwanted facial hair right there on the side of the street in his makeshift ‘salon’.

So if you are out exploring all that Down-town Kingston has to o!er, then let your adventurous spirit take over and experience some street-side grooming courtesy of Shel-don. He assured us that he “will set you up the right way.”

Sheldon demonstrating his threading technique


Fashion

6

Shop Downtown and your wallet will thank you

If you decide to go shopping in Downtown Kingston, then you are sure to have an ‘experience’. The roads are always busy with crowds of people going on about their daily routine, pushcart vendors barrelling down the streets, risking the health of your ankles if you’re not careful and the ever-present taxi drivers who stop wherever they want, in hopes of coaxing new passengers and expelling those inside their cars.

However, in the midst of all the craziness on Princess, Orange and Church Streets, there are some great deals to be found. With a seemingly endless choice of stores, street vendors and sometimes multipurpose establishments (think washing machines, blue soap, school supplies and clothing all in one place), there are some great items being o!ered at very a!ordable prices.

See some of the great finds that we encountered wandering the streets of Downtown.

1. Tan studded wedges, $7,500, Images shoe store, Orange Street

2. Blue ballet flats, $4,495, Im-ages Shoes Store, Orange Street

3. Red patent leather shoulder bag, $4,500, Fashinique Ltd, Kings Street

4. Brown shoulder bag with gold hardware, $5,000, Fashinique Ltd, Kings Street

Shoes and

accessories

1

4 3

2


Clothing

1. Hot pink mini dress with neon green belt, $4,495, Images, Orange Street

2. Printed romper with brown woven belt, $3,500, Fashinique Ltd, Kings Street

3. White mini dress with jewelled de-tail, $1,500, Scuba D Fashions, Prin-cess Street

4. Blue jumper, $1,600, B&P Fashion, Harbour Street

5. Green maxi dress, $4,495, Images, Orange Street

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Culture

Downtown Kingston:The epicentre of

Jamaica’s popular culture

t is impossible to deny that Downtown Kings-

ton has always been the cra-dle of Jamaican culture, as most of our popular music, drama and dance (with the exception of African tradi-tional folk forms brought here by slaves) originated there. Being the country’s capital, there has always been a lot of activity in Kingston and everyone had reason to frequent this area. It is only natural, therefore, that much of the entertain-ment options originated here and it accounts for the birth of many facets of our culture, which are now glob-ally identifiable with ‘brand Jamaica’.

By Tameka Coley

Photograph by Warren Buckle

I


Much of our cultural development started when the prestigious Ward Theatre opened in 1912. Downtown was booming and people would flock the venue to watch the Pantomime, visiting Broadway actors and concerts. By the 1920s, it was one of the most famous and influential theatres in the Caribbean. Broadway plays travelled to Jamaica for a chance to be billed as ‘fresh from a triumphant run in Kingston, Jamaica’ upon their return to New York and the actors referred to themselves as ‘late of the Jamai-can theatre’. The Ward enjoyed its heyday well into the 20th cen-tury, until the building and surrounding neighbourhood fell into a decline, which discouraged attendance.

A wealth of local greats – Charles Hyatt, Ranny Williams, Louise Bennett, Leonie Forbes and Oliver Samuels, also found fame on the Ward Theatre stage, which opened the door for a perfor-mance-type culture downtown which was further explored, albeit informally, through other art forms.

In the 1930s, dance events grew popular after a few gatherings held at Marcus Garvey’s Edelweiss Park on Slipe Road gained trac-tion with people in and around the area. This paved the way for the rise of the sound system and created opportunities for per-formance artistes to showcase their talents to a live audience with instant feedback and gratification. From this time into the 40s and

50s, Jamaicans were exposed to American popular music – the likes of BB King, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino and Stevie Wonder – by way of records imported into the island. Dance ‘sessions’ soon became widespread and more competitive, so organisers now sought unique, exclusive recordings to attract larger crowds, build their repertoire, and set them apart from their contenders. They would set up their mobile sound systems in popular spots or ‘lawns’, such as Chocomo Lawn in Denham Town, where ‘dances’ were held on Sunday nights and would turn up the volume to drown out their competitors.

By the late 50s and early 60s, ‘dance hall’ promoters such as Duke Reid and Clement ‘Coxsone’ Dodd were creating their own rhythms to give them an advantage. The fierce competition be-tween them sparked a rapid growth in the music industry. At this time, however, there were no real recording facilities, so trendy American records - jazz or rhythm and blues - were played, but sound systems were soon unable to get a hold of the new releas-es quickly enough for their competing purposes due to licensing issues. In 1958, Lebanese-Jamaican Edward Seaga saw a need and capitalised on it by founding West Indian Records Limited (WIRL) to begin releasing records – blatant covers of popular American music – by local artistes.

Culture

The Ward Theatre

Pantomime The late Rex Nettleford


Jamaican producer Chris Blackwell jumped on this concept, tweaking the R&B songs, combining them with the more youth-ful be-bop, rhythm and blues and rock ‘n’ roll music which dominated airwaves overseas, to produce Millie Small’s global sensation My Boy Lollipop. This led to a series of hits and the birth of a new genre called Ska, arguably by Cecil ‘Prince Buster’ Campbell, who started his own label and combined traditional mento music with the borrowed R&B to create a new sound. Ska boomed downtown, but was not accepted by the local elite in ‘uptown’ areas.

This would change in 1960 when Byron Lee, an uptown musi-cian, visited a session and was exposed to Ska, which he then transported to his locale. The nation accepted it shortly there-after. With the constant battle between Dodd and Reid, they later created their own record labels and a pressing plant was set up on the island, so masters no longer had to be shipped to the USA – local music quickly began to find its own identity. There was also a greater change happening in Jamaica. With our newfound independence from England in 1962, national pride peaked significantly and this was reflected in the music. Ska acts like The Skatalites, The Maytals and The Wailers came about, and the genre fast became synonymous with Jamaica.

Then the ‘rude boy’ phenomenon came about: men with sharp looks and fashionable clothes who were ‘too cool’ for the fast-paced Ska dance moves and the music was slowed down, evolv-ing into Rock Steady, which had more rhythm guitar, more bass and less horn. Artistes like Desmond Dekker, Eric Morris and Alton Ellis took it to new heights, but the name didn’t quite con-nect with Jamaicans. After The Maytals single Do The Reggae was released in 1968, the word reggae caught on like wildfire downtown. New producers like Osbourne ‘King Tubby’ Rud-dock, Bunny Lee and Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry catapulted to fame and Perry, the most successful of the crop, wooed The Wailers to become their new producer, helping them develop their distinc-

tive sound which would bring them, especially lead singer Bob Marley, international acclaim.

Meanwhile, King Tubby also got busy, branching out from this sound with a variation of ‘reggae toasting’, taking jabs at other artistes or sound system selectors, with his new artiste Ewart ‘U Roy’ Beckford. Tubby discovered that acetates (dub plates) could be manipulated so that the vocals could be left o! the tracks and the hit single Wake The Town was born. It shot to the top of the charts and others like Big Youth followed suit. With the rapid migration patterns in the 70s, it was taken to New York where it evolved into rap music and, in Jamaica, continued to develop into dancehall.

This type of music, with its raw sound and heavy, dance-inspiring beats, made rhyming and lyricism come even easier to the ar-tistes and provided an opportunity for poorer, dispossessed Ja-maicans to express themselves. Many artistes from ‘ghetto’ com-munities found fame through this medium and today, deejays like Beenie Man, Bounty Killa, Sean Paul and Shaggy have achieved global star status. Dancehall music also brought dancers into the spotlight, with the most noteworthy being the late Bogle, who created many dance moves such as the Bogle, Butterfly, Log On and Row Like A boat. He found fame after appearing in the col-laborative videos of hip-hop and dancehall artistes and on over-seas TV networks such as BET, MTV and TEMPO. Soon dance events like Passa Passa in Tivoli Gardens emerged and became world-renowned and the dancehall space became a huge part of Jamaican culture.

Dancehall music has since continued to flourish and so too have many other aspects of our popular culture, most of which either originated from or blossomed in downtown Kingston. It’s no surprise, then, that downtown is considered to be at the heart of our cultural development.

Culture

The late Bob Marley Late popular dancer Gerald ‘Bogle’ LevyThe late Louise Bennett-Coverley

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In celebrating Jamaica’s 50th year of independence, the Miss Jamaica World organisation is celebrating the suc-cess the MJW pageant has had over the years. These 15 women have performed outstandingly since taking the crown and will serve as role models to future winners.


Jamaica 50 Celebration

13

Miss Jamaica World honours

sixteen past winners

Cindy Breakspeare1976

Debbie Campbell1979

Sandra Cunningham 1987

Allison Barnett 1985

Lisa Hanna 1993

Jade Fulford 2003

Terri-Karelle Reid 2005

Cathy Levy 1983

Sandra Kong 1977

Christine Straw 1998

Erica Aquart 1990

Sandra Foster 1991

Sara Lawrence 2006

Yendi Phillips 2007


SENATOR IMANI DUNCAN-PRICE Duncan-Price entered the competition in 1995 with the aim of becoming a voice for the issues that were important to her, such as violence, especially among children in schools. “The messen-ger is as important as the message,” she said. With the theme Beauty with a Purpose in mind, she entered the pageant hoping to make a di!erence in society through her contribution. Among her accomplishments since winning the pageant are studying at Harvard University and establishing Global Justice, a non-gov-ernmental organisation, which led to the largest student move-ment against the AIDS crisis in the United States. Also, as any proud mother would, Duncan-Price listed giving birth to her son as one of her greatest accomplishments. She believes that Ja-maica has come a long way as a country, with more access to health care and education for citizens. For her, the focus should be on getting Jamaica to a stage where people can live the lives they choose, with access to the resources they desire.

DR. TONOYA TOYLOY-WILLIAMSAlong with winning the title in 2004, Toyloy-Williams also won the Miss Jamaica World Scholarship, which allowed her to pur-sue her doctorate in Pharmacology at the University of Florida. “Without that jump start, I don’t know how long it would have taken me to get there,” she said. One of the highlights of her reign was being able to give back to charities and help persons who are less fortunate. With her doctorate under her belt, Toyloy-Williams took the next step and opened her own phar-macy. Since establishing the pharmacy, she has given health talks at various organisations, including high schools and churches. In her eyes, Jamaica has come a long way in terms of development. She believes that Jamaicans should hone their skills and talents to make the country a better place, noting that while a lot has already been accomplished, much more can still be done.

We caught up with two past winners to discuss life after winning the Miss Jamaica title.

Jamaica 50 Celebration


oronation Market is a Jamaican cultural landmark. Lo-cated on Pechon Street in downtown, it can be de-

scribed as nothing less than a high tra"c and energetic place. It has survived catastrophes over the years, with the most re-cent stemming from the Tivoli incursion in 2010, which resulted in a great portion of the market being destroyed by fire. But through the goodwill of companies such as the Digicel Founda-tion, ‘Curry’, as it is popularly known, is continuing to flourish, withstanding all other external factors.

When you think of hustle and bustle in Kingston, nowhere would describe that more than Coronation Market. There are more than 100 vendors o!ering fresh ground provisions and an array of other products. The market has its own energy from the collective chatter of vendors and shoppers, the pushcarts barrelling through the narrow channels between the stalls and the music playing from di!erent spots across the market.

One of the biggest attractions to the market is that the prices are significantly lower than buying in you nearby supermarket or from street vendors. “People come from all over to shop here because the prices are better,” explained Diane Byfield, who has been selling in Coronation Market for over 20 years. People journey to the market from rural Jamaica, Spanish Town, Port-more and even ‘uptown’. This is a common story amongst the vendors as many of them have been selling in the market for 15 years or more, some taking over from older family members.

A trip to Coronation should be something that every Jamaican experiences, even if it is just once. The benefit will be so much more than what you are saving – the goods are fresh, the cus-tomer service is better than most established places and it really is a great experience.

Coronation MarketExperience

c

by Kristina KerrFood


oby Dick in Downtown Kingston has been a major part of the community for as long as many Jamaicans

can remember. However, if you ask older generations about the Moby Dick of their time, it may be a little di!erent from the res-taurant that currently resides at 3-5 Orange Street.

The restaurant was opened in the early 1900s as a watering hole for the heavy pedestrian tra"c that emanated from the busy port that was once the Kingston waterfront. It was the go-to bar for both sailors coming into the port and locals alike. But the Moby Dick of that time and its present day counterpart are totally di!erent.

What once was a bar and restaurant serving primarily pork dish-es is now known for its curry. When Morlyn Mangaroo-McBean bought the restaurant in 1986, she decided to change the menu that had been o!ered for so long and o!er what she knew, cur-ry. You will taste the di!erence in the curry from Moby Dick as she prepares all the food herself and even makes her curry powder in house.

The restaurant currently o!ers five variations of curry including goat, conch, fish, shrimp and chicken and soon plans to o!er cur-ried vegetables for those looking for vegetarian options. All of the dishes are served with homemade roti, rice and vegetables. “If you try to do anything else it never sells,” Mangaroo-McBean said of sticking to her staples. The e!ects of the declining econ-omy have been somewhat evident over time, but the restaurant

still has a loyal following. And with their prime location across from the home of the new Digicel headquarters, they will be sure to get substantial tra"c from the 1,000 plus workers that will be moving in this summer.

“It’s going to be good. Everywhere in the world the city is so important and what about us? I look forward to it,” she said.

After 26 years of running the restaurant, Mangaroo-McBean is making sure that her two daughters, Calema and Cherida and son, Clinton, know the business inside out so they can take over the reigns. She credits the team e!ort from her family including her son-in-law, Devon Morris, for the business’ continued suc-cess. “I will eventually have to let go for them to try for them-selves,” she admitted.

Her constant presence in the restaurant has caused the entire sta! to become totally reliant on her and they consistently look to her for answers, whether in the kitchen or otherwise. But she confessed that at some point, she will leave her family to figure out the ins and outs of the business on their own. “This is theirs and so I know in time they will get it,” she said.

Until then, Mangaro-McBean is looking forward to serving more patrons who come to savour Moby Dick’s best-selling curry. This only proves that even though the restaurant has changed hands and menus over the last 90 years, it is still a gem in Down-town Kingston.

M

Food

Moby Dick Downtown’s curry haven

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n approaching the gate of the building that houses the ROKTOWA gallery, you will probably think you have

made a mistake. Besides the sign promoting the ROKTOWA Café, there would be little to indicate that there is an art gallery in the old brewery building on Pechon Street in Downtown Kings-ton.

ROKTOWA is a contemporary art project with a mission to “plant artists to create growth.” Australian artist Melinda Brown is the creative director and founder of the organisation. Downtown Kingston would seem to be an improbable choice for a project such as this, but Brown saw the rich culture that was present in the area and creative resources that could be made available to artists.

Brown moved to Jamaica in 2005 from New York City, where she was running a similar organisation called Bombora House. She transformed a dilapidated 19th century meat market house into a ‘living sculpture’. The building served as her home and a museum

of eclectic art by herself, colleagues and protégés who lived at Bombora House for some time. But her visit to Jamaica ignited something in her and she left downtown Manhattan to settle in a loft on Church Street, which she converted into a studio before moving to ROKTOWA’s present location on Pechon Street.

The ROKTOWA concept is broken up into six ‘profit centres’ – eco-tours, iguana oasis, neutraceuticals, garden, media and ob-jet d’art. The artists in the residency programmes have access to these unique local resources and are encouraged to use them in creating art for both the local and international markets. The space allows for creative freedom for all the artists taking part in the residency programme.

They have currently taken in about 10 artists from the areas sur-rounding the gallery and also o!er a residency programme for international participants. It is through this programme that they can venture outside of their usual mode of creating, by working with tradesmen from the area to create art from local resources.

O

Art

ROKTOWA: Using Downtown Kingston to inspire artists




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Derval ‘Junior’ Johnson, one of the 10 artists from the area in the ROKTOWA programme, has seen success with his work. If you visit the ROKTOWA gallery now, you will find his signature wooden bird sculptures sitting on display. And as the manager Christopher Jones told us, “Junior has currently sold 10 of his birds on the international market.”

Another notable local talent is Dion ‘Sand’ Palmer, whose paint-ings can be found hanging on the walls of the gallery. He has be-come know for his signature phoenix-like bird and was contracted to paint a mural on NEM Insurance’s headquarters in Downtown Kingston last year. The mural cannot go unmissed as the vibrant colours and sheer size of it brightens up the Peters Lane building. NEM was so happy with the mural that they commissioned Sand to create an additional bird mural on another of their buildings on the property. Overall, the programme has had great success with both local and overseas artists. “We have artists from all over: Asia, Haiti, England, Australia and USA,” said Jones. He went on to explain that the residencies run for as little as three weeks but

can continue for longer periods, from six weeks to a few months. The artists end their residencies with an exhibition, which allows them to showcase and sell pieces that were created during their time at ROKTOWA.

He also mentioned that the organisation includes programmes for the youths in the area. The workshops are held in their project space for kids from surrounding communities that show interest in learning about art. They include two weekly sessions where they are instructed in mostly drawing and painting.

The organisation was way ahead of the curve in the revitalisa-tion of Downtown. Brown recognised the talent, environment and energy from her first visit to the area years ago and has used these factors to ensure that the resources are there for the peo-ple and environment to flourish. The ROKTOWA is testament to her belief in making something of the possibilities of which most are unaware.


News & Culture

20

by Keresa Arnold

RELAY FOR LIFE CELEBRATES 10 YEARSThe Jamaica Cancer Society held its annual Relay for Life event on June 9. The event celebrates cancer survivors with individuals from all over Jamaica gathering at the Police Of-ficer’s Club to walk in support of those a!ected by cancer. It includes a victory lap in honour of survivors as well as the lighting of candles in memory of those who have died.

On the pulse

AT THE MOVIES: FRIENDS WITH KIDS Friends with Kids stars Adam Scott, Jennifer Westfeldt and Jon Hamm, and looks at that stage in every friendship when ev-eryone seems to be having children. It explores the dynamics amongst one set of friends and journeys with the last two singles in the group as, feeling out of sync, they decide to have a child together.

AT THE THEATRE: GOD’S WAY REOPENS Coming o! the success of last year’s showing, the award-win-ning show, written by Dahlia Harris, returns to the Pantry Play-house and will run for two months beginning in June. The story highlights the importance of faith and the many ways in which it is tested.

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