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Prime Minister Patterson 
Addresses 
The Sacrosanctity of National Sovereignty 
P. J. Reconnects with 
His South Florida Expatriate Community

By Rovan G Locke Ph D

         
   Prime Minister P.J. Patterson                              Ms. Julie Hunter, Executive Director

    The African Ancestors were extremely happy with Prime Minister Patterson's decision to launch his seminal work - A Jamaican Voice In Caribbean and World Politics - Selected Speeches 1992-2000 at the African-American Research Library and Cultural Center, on Saturday afternoon October 11, 2003.    On the first Anniversary of this reservoir of Antiquity and intellectual excellence in the State of Florida, the Prime Minister took advantage of his weekend visit to enhance the uncut umbilical bonds between the Ancestral Continent, the African-American Community and the Land of Marcus Moziah Garvey, Claude McKay, Michael "Joshua" Manley, Robert Nesta "Tuff Gong" Marley and Peter "Cutting Razor" Tosh. 

    The Prime Minister's visit was more than a Book Signing event. He was there to pay his people's respect to the relentless struggles of the Afican American people for economic equity, racial respect, equal rights and justice. His gift of three copies of his book was only a small token of appreciatio by the Jamaican people at home and abroad to the African-American people who have been the consciencizing force of this monolithic super-power. He is fully aware that there has to be a substantial financial contribution by the Government of Jamaica, especially if this revered African-American intellectual and cultural institution is renamed the W.E.B. DuBois - Marcus Moziah Garvey's Library. 

    This time, unlike his unfortunate and ill-advised May 2001 visit for the launching of the Island Grill Restaurant chain in Lauderdale Lakes, Mr. Patterson signaled to the Jamaican Expatriate Community in the South Florida that he takes his national, regional international responsibilities quite seriously and our support is critical in order for him to stage a principled global campaign against the violations of territorial sovereignty. It was clear whom he was targeting when in his opening remarks he poignantly stated, " We no longer fear a nuclear holocaust from the cold war but we see threats to global peace manifesting itself in every continent of the planet. We are faced with the threat of terrorism, which is manifested in many forms. However, we have to be careful that we do not respond to terrorism by abandoning the precepts and the principles, which are essential to create international peace, stability and lasting prosperity amongst people of this earth. We cannot abandon the Rule of Law whether it is International Law hallowed by practice or Laws that are determined by our Constitution that must be applied within our borders."
             
    Ms. Erica Williams-Connell & Sam Morrison with Ambassador Dudley Thompson

    It would be unfair to argue that Mr. Patterson took this radicalized position due to the intellectual refreshing assessments of his book earlier on by the Director of New African Studies, Florida International University, Miami, Florida. Professor Carol Boyce - Davis and Ambassador Dudley "Burning Spear" Thompson. The former drew from the intellectual fountains of Franz Fanon - A Dying Colonialism, - Aime Cesaire - Discourses On Colonialism and Dr Eric Williams - Capitalism and Slavery and pointed out to the rapt audience that Prime Minister Patterson has moved from a politician to a highly respected scholar, who understands the cries of the permanent underclass not only in the Caribbean, but the rest of the global village. Mzee Ambassador Dudley Thompson brought to the discussion his six decades of championing the economic interest of the oppressed people, "From Kenya to Kingston". He knows the Prime Minister from his earliest days in Darliston, Westmoreland and has played a very important role in his political ascending in the Jamaican political Landscape. His prot_g_'s radical transformation over the past two decades is a breath of fresh air for him, especially when in a case of supreme irony the Jamaican Leftocracy has rushed to the cooperate boardrooms and the hallowed halls of the Upper House of Parliament - The Senate on the eve of the twentieth Anniversary of the assassination of Maurice Bishop, it can be said that Prime Minister has surprised his former ideological opponents within the People's National Party and the Dr. Trevor Monroe's now moribund Workers Party of Jamaican by his scathing criticism of the White House's position on Iraq and on International Capitalism. 

    The Prime Minister reiterated his Government's principled position in regard to President George W. Bush's pre-empture first strike doctrine in regards to the former Saddam Hussein's regime. He told his audience, "Indeed, I plan to go further. People cannot be talking about democracy in internal states without recognizing the need for democracy within the global community. Jamaican's position on these two issues remain clear and I would almost say self-evident. Our National interest obliges us to be firm in asking that there be adherence to these goals. We believe that nothing must be done to undermine the Rule of Law. We must, make clear that there must be full and total respect for the sovereign right of each country. Different countries may have different political systems internally but no country has the right unilaterally to impose a political system on any country without the consent of the people involved or without the consent of the International Community. Therefore, for small countries, weak in military might, or small in economic power, we have to support the cry for all of us to abide by the principles of multi-laterialism in the global community to which we belong. There was a time when the world was divided into two. The Romans, who were supposed to be civilized, and the others who were barbarous, One rule applied to the Romans. They would say I am a Roman Citizen. One law applies to them and another applied to the others who were regarded as barbarians. We cannot allow a return of that system under any disguise or description." 
                        PM with Consul-General and Family       Pastor Ward greets Prime Minister P. J. Patterson

    It must noted that Caricom's social scientists at home and abroad have refused to recognize the intellectual depth and political maturity of Percival James Patterson. On a disturbing note, the political heir to Edward Seaga within the oppositional Jamaica Labour Party, Bruce Golding, dismissed Prime Minister Patterson as "a boy in a man's job" when he became Prime Minister on Saturday March 30, 1992. It is possible to argue in a convincing vein that Prime Minister Patterson's rural roots and African ancestry have made it difficult for the urban dominated Jamaican intelligentsia to embrace him as they did the fiery revolutionary warrior, the ascending miscegenated Michael "Joshua" Manley. And yet, P.J. Patterson is Norman Washington Manley's "political" son and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Rex Nettleford is the "artistic" son of Edna Manley. Prime Minister Patterson has grown beyond the effete Drumblair Caf_ society of his mentor, and as in the case of Michael Joshua Manley, has shaken off his colonial trappings. 

    Earlier on, Prime Minister Patterson seized the opportunity on Friday night, October 10, 2003, at the Hyatt Regency/Pier 66 Hotel, Fort Lauderdale, Florida to remind his captured audience that he was no longer an Afro-Saxon political leader but has matured into a defiant and yet, a sophisticated Garveyite leader, not only for his country but for the rest of Caricom. The first anniversary of the Jamaican Consul General for Miami/Southeast North America Ricardo Allicock and The Appreciation Function for Mr. Patterson was more than a rekindling of old friendships and burying the feuds from misinformation fueled by mischievous people. It was the occasion the Prime Minister needed to signal a radical departure from his previous position on the Jamaican Diasporas, especially in South Florida. His extended stay in Broward County was a reaffirmation that Metropolitan Southwestern Dade County is no longer the epicenter of expatriates' political influence at home or within the tri-county. Furthermore, the appointment of Ricardo Allicock as the Consular General for Miami and Southeastern North America has shown that the Prime Minister has come to the belated recognition that there was an urgent need to appoint someone with the intellectual thinking, corporate experience and political sophistication commensurate with the vast human/intellect financial resources and political clout of the expatriate community. He said as much when he mentioned in his short address to the selective group of Jamaican power elites from all strata of society in the tri-county that there is "reciprocal goodwill on his part for the extraordinary efforts of the Jamaican expatriate community in South Florida, especially the Alumni Associations" in their financial remittances to their numerous Alma Maters.
    
Prime Minister P. J. Patterson                   P. J. Patterson and Ja. Consul General Allicock

    He would return on Saturday afternoon, October 11, 2003 to the themes he briefly touched on at the social affaire the previous evening, such as world poverty, the urgency of the Caribbean Court of Justice and the unpalatable trade conditionalities for weaker economies from the World Trade Organization and the inevitable Free Trade Area of the Americas. He lashes out against poverty. "In terms of international trade, every effort has to be made to reduce the poverty gap between rich and poor countries because without that there can be no lasting peace. People are going to fight for survival. We have to deal with the problems of hunger, diseases and ignorance. We have to do so, not on the basis of crump's that falls from someone table. We have to do it as members of one human race and one human family. That is why, consistently in the book and in presentations since then, I have sought to stress the importance of co-operation and co-ordination between developing countries. Cancun demonstrated to the rest of the world, how unity can make us impregnate when we take a common position and we say enough is enough. All we want is equality and social justice in our international relations and in the global village, which we all belong."

    On Regional Integration and the Final Burial of Pat Britannica
In spite of his impressive anti-imperialistic credentials, Prime Minister Patterson remains a devout follower of his mentor, Norman Washington Manley, a founder Father of the independent Jamaican policy, who sacrificed his national political fortunes for the further principles of the Caribbean economic and political unification. In the auditorium on Saturday, October 11, 2003, was Mrs. Erica Williams-Connell, the daughter of another architect of the defunct Caribbean Federalism. Unquestionably, Mr. Patterson engages in an agonizing reappraisal of the 27 September 1961 Referendum on the issue of federation which saw Sir Alexander Bustamante's surprise victory over Norman Manley and the end of any future Caribbean Federal polity with Jamaica as a participant. We saw the emergence or an economic regional partnership with the emergence in 1973 of Carifta Several sections of the book dealt with the economic integration of these small regional states, which, Mr. Patterson would like his readers to believe, is indispensable for their survival. As he tells us, "several speeches in the book relate to our approaches to regional economic integration. I have said elsewhere that if in 1973 it was an option, Caricom economic integration is an imperative. We are moving resolutely to the formations of a common single market and economy". 

    On the troubling issue of the remnants of colonialism within our body politic, it is important to highlight that the Opposition Leader Edward Seaga and Norman Washington Manley have striking similar views. In his determined efforts to establish a Caribbean Court of Justice, Prime Minister Patterson is turning the Founder of the People's National Party "On his head" just as V. I. Lenin did with the case of the Founders of Orthodox Marxism - Karl Marx and Fredrick Engels. The PMP's delegation to the 1961 Lancaster House deliberations on Jamaican Independence was lead by Norman Washington Manley and he never advocated for an independent Judicial System as is now being advocated by his prot_g_ who stated on Saturday October 11, 2003, "Quite a bit of this book has been devoted to speeches I have made about the Caribbean Court of Justice. It is not based on chauvinism. It is based on a single recognition; you cannot be sovereign when one of your fundamental pillars of sovereignty is still subjected to external control. At the same time there are things, which must be done within our domestic borders. We have proceed with the business of economic transformations to build productive sector that is globally competitive because trade preferences will not last forever".

    In his conclusion remarks, Mr. Patterson re-ierated his decision to give up he reins of authority prior to the 2007 general elections. He wants to have sufficient time to engage in rigorous research and writings on his four decades in national regional and international politics. He calmly states, "useful as these speeches are, I think in a society of an oral tradition that a tradition of writing, it is important that we don't allow other to write our history for us. That's the reason I want to go when I want to go because I shall be doing so at a time when my memories can record my own chronicle of Jamaica's activities and of the world as I have seen it. There are others who see the task as so urgent that it should be done right now as we say in Jamaica, a soon come".

Mayor Sam Brown and Prime Minister P. J. Patterson

    The Master of Ceremonies at this Book Signing Ceremonies Consular General Ricardo Allicock expressed the audiences appreciation to the author Percival James Patterson by stating, "Mister Prime Minister I believe I speak on behalf of everyone in saying, truly your honor the management of this library by lending us your presence this afternoon". The Executive Director of this Institution of research and cultural activities, Ms. Julie Hunter captured the historic aspects of this event when she states, " I am honored to be able to stand before you and having had an opportunity to listen to such eloquent speeches about the status of world politics Prime Minister Patterson your books will be added to the precious collection of this institution. More importantly, this gift serves as a link to our two cultures. Your decision to launce your book at the African-American Research Library and Cultural Center symbolizes for us that this center is a bridge to the culture and heritage of Jamaica as well as that of America.

    One of the most prominent Lawyers within the State of Florida, the Savanna-La-Mar born adjunct Professor at the University of Miami's Law School, David P. Rowe most deservingly was given the honor to give the Vote of Thanks. The Prime Minister knows his father, the distinguished Jurist Ira Rowe, very well and there was a deep sense of admiration on his part to hear attorney David Rowe's salutary remarks concerning his book and his numerous contributions to politics and the field of law over the past four decades.

We shall print Professor Carol Boyce Davis and Professor Rowe's articles in our next edition.

        

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