Lady Loy

10 minute interview between BBC 3 Counties and Myrna Loy, Luton's Learning Mentor and Publisher of Blackbright News.

Who do young boys look up to when the father is not a positive role model; when men in the family are not as supportive as they could be? Lady Loy says that many weekend dads or part-time fathers try to raise their children but tend to over-compensate because contact and time with their children is limited. Over-compensation can have an adverse affect on the childs development and ultimately goes against what the father is trying to do, which is to elicit respect from their children and be seen as guiding them in the proper way.

Blackbright News covers this article.

Born in Britain but raised by Jamaican parents. I didn't know who I was? So I went to Jamaica to see if I could find my identity. Was I black (No! they call me red or 'browning'); was I Jamaican (No! they call me 'far-en' which means foreign); was I British? (No! I have to tick Caribbean or African on the Equal Monitoring Form). It is no "me head a hut me!"

Funny! Witty! The Other Side of Tourism should have you cracking up with laughter and horrified at the same time. This memoir catalogues a host of situations as I try to find myself in places where I don't belong. It is so captivating, you can read it over a weekend.

If you are not sure about this unique travelogue - then check it out at the library - you have nothing to lose, but it is a must read and I am sure you will want your very own copy after sifting through the pages. Once you pick it up, you just cannot put it down!

Email culturalgarden@aol.com if you want a copy - only £10. Payments accepted by postal order or paypal.

If you have time, please read the Review below:

REVIEW BY PATRICIA LASHLEY, MOMENTUM ARTS, CAMBRIDGE (UK)
THE OTHER SIDE OF TOURISM ‘Jamaica Revisited’ written by Myrna Loy

Good evening, Buenas Tardes, Bomate!

The Other Side of Tourism is indeed an incredible novel!

An Incredible Journey for the Author or was it? Did the Author really discover who she was? Did she find her true identity? Who is she? Is she Black British, Jamaican, Black-British Jamaican, African-Caribbean? Did the disparity in years between her visits to Jamaica do much to enhance her own cultural identity and self-awareness? The Author wants her readers to decide and alas I felt I had made my own decision having to review this incredible tiny novel as a Trinidadian, a Caribbean woman of the soil, living in Britain. The book is filled with personal experiences, self-discovery, and honesty. I had the honour of reading the first manuscript and then looking on as the author developed a novel with much determination and deep aspirations to tell her story and share her experiences with us and the rest of the world. To understand the Other Side of Tourism, is to understand the Author, a truly incredible, creative person, who’s share will power to find her identity inspired a book that is written with such wit, humour, gaiety and honesty, one cannot help but read it to the end and read it again and again, each time discovering something new, something more amusing, or discovering a bit more about the Author herself.

From a Tourism perspective, it is important to note that the more you travel throughout an island the more you discover, different classes of people, hospitality differs, sometimes one can lose the essence of a whole country by being too myopic in one’s vision about where you are at that point in time, coming with your own pre-conceptions, assumptions about how a country is and should be, especially in the Author’s case having her Jamaican heritage negated by her mother. For many people and for Jamaicans themselves, Jamaica remains a truly incredible place, rich in cultural heritage, with a culture that has been embraced globally. Jamaica has its own unique identity amongst its Caribbean neighbours, to discover that, is to truly find a place, a space and identity of one’s own.

You will find when you visit a beach as a single ‘foreign’ woman, there are characters that would come up to you and want to know if they could join you, or do something for you. The attitude is to be polite but stern and sometimes by asking questions about the country, they are willing to just sit and chat with you and tell you a lot about the place deterring them of any unclean intentions or impure thoughts like ‘magga mickey’ or as the Author will discover on her second visit. You will discover too, where beach hotels are located, surrounded by some of the most amazing tourist attractions, lies impoverished communities, houses or shacks with no running water or electricity, children unable to go to school, but only knowing how to survive to ‘make a dollar’ by smiling and selling to the tourists on the beach. This is their upbringing. To quote the author ‘It’s the culture nothing personal’. I would say no, it’s their upbringing a sub-culture merged into a much bigger culture, where people are highly educated, appreciative of their culture, happy to promote it, happy to share their stories, tell tales, and entertain. Had the Author been more adventurous she would have discovered that Jamaicans on the whole are truly amazing people. Though sometimes appearing serious, hasty, they are just as polite, subtle, generous and fun. (Free speech).

I felt that the Author had she been free from judgement would have found her trips to Jamaica more enriching and would hope that she would return and discover another side of Tourism, However, one has to sing her praises, and admire her brevity, her fear of criticism and creativity, to write Jamaican Patois in a way that even locals can read and enjoy. Though some words may not be spelt or have been interpreted differently, though at times code switching even during a sentence of a Jamaican local became evident, the Author cleverly displayed ownership of the language that she was discovering and wrote an incredible piece of literature. Her ability to use code switching at opportune times and even as her own thoughts permeated, showed her subconscious longing to learn more about the culture. As she wrote ‘Accepting that ‘gruffness’ was a part of the culture I conceded.’ Recognising her own inept way of responding as she states ‘my mother’s influences took hold and made judgement. I winced at the coarse dialect and unrefined tone..

The words ‘precision’, ‘professional’, ‘proper’ her wanting to examine every place or nook and cranny, as we would say brings out her British culture even more. As quoted ‘I was constantly in dissension with who I was and who I had become’.

‘I couldn’t stand it. Had they received no training on how to speak properly’ That wanting to criticize, and constant frustration by the slow pace, and lack of punctuality and a sense of time, is a culture that has left its legacy even throughout the Caribbean, which is usually described as ‘British snobbery’? We all do it!.

Another attribute that is very British, is sticking to one thing, one place. For e.g. the Author’s experience at the Seagull Restaurant as she proclaims ‘because the food was so good, I ate at the Seagull in the morning for breakfast, in the afternoon, for lunch and in the evening for dinner. British guests once they discover a hotel, a restaurant that made a good impression the first time, they are not keen to go anywhere else. There is no part of our Caribbean culture that would do that. We simply love to explore and discover new places, people and things.

I want to say to the Author ‘You are a Tourist in Jamaica, you have an opportunity to become a friend of Jamaica and you should be a proud Black-British woman visiting the homeland of your parents.’ To describe herself as a Black British Jamaican puzzles me as it would any Jamaican but yet one can understand and empathise. ‘Ay tooriss, a twenty dollars fe dis yu know, let me know if yu waan’ some – me ‘ave fe see if me can mek some money off it. {Well you definitely not getting any money from me for that little dirty piece of green leaf and fancy calling me a tourist, how did he know I wasn’t born in Jamaica? How could he possibly know, when all you displayed, from your accent, to your body language, was very British. Again, as the Author discovered as she dismayed as she tried to speak Jamaican patois with the locals, ’The oscillation of accents was becoming tiresome and definitely not working to my advantage.’.

At times I felt compassion for the Author and wished that her mother had shared some of the richness of her heritage with her. To quote ‘To test the consistency and taste, the lady dipped a spoon in the concoction and tipped some into the palm of her hand so she could taste it. I like the way she did that. My mother always did that when she tasted the soup she was making {I didn’t see people do that much anymore in England}. We still do in the Caribbean.

The people of Jamaica are what we describe in the Caribbean as ‘straight up’. You don’t have to second-guess their intentions or motives, you know right away what they want and why? In the Caribbean we find the British Tourists difficult and demanding but once you can get them to unwind they can be a lot of fun. Some of the women come to the islands with a particular mindset about what they want and they sure do go out of their way to get it, as explained by the Dread on the Author’s second visit. There would have been no discrimination against ‘Magga Mickey’, although in reverse Magga Mickey would not be reciprocated the very hospitality he extended in Jamaica, in England. So as our Author found the intruders at the beach irritating there are others, who would find it sensational.

I can recall one guest at a hotel I managed in Grenada, asking for reimbursement because the rain fell for 3 days and we said in our brochure it was the dry season. I soon quieted him with a rum punch and pointed out to him the share joy of being away from the pressures of work in England, reading a book on the verandah of your hotel, making love to your wife, all these can be purely rejuvenating if you allow yourself to relax and take in the beauty that you have been blessed with.

I would describe the Author as very British – her race or ethnicity bares little relevance to her cultural upbringing, which is British and is articulated within the pages of this book. Even though the Author attempted to rekindle her affiliation to Jamaica through another visit, she was unable to shake the true character and culture that is so inherent in her British Culture and upbringing. As quoted ‘It mattered to me. It mattered in the sense that I wanted to know where my place was in the Jamaican mindset.’.

To quote “Being born in England of Jamaican parents, I should have had the best of both worlds, but I used to get confused about my identity because my mother would belittle the Jamaican side of it. She believed everything British had to be better, so she would chastise me when I tried to emulate her dialect as if she was ashamed of it; but there was something about the Jamaican language that enthused me.”

It is indeed sad that West Indians who left their islands to seek milk and honey in Great Britain, found it necessary to negate their own culture, but in doing so it still did not make them more acceptable. To teach your children about the culture, their heritage, their history, is to enrich them with an education for life. It enhances their self worth and identity as the Author will discover for herself. Reading this book made me appreciate my own cultural heritage. I can recall as a child my mother saying that her grandmother would twist her tongue to speak English, rather than teach her children Spanish. She felt that they would have far more opportunities if they embraced the English language and adapted the colonial ways. Little did she know what a share asset it is to be able to speak another language and what a privilege to travel to the lands of your grandparents and find commonality among those you visit and meet.

Similarly in her book the Author describes her journey to find her identity and commonality with Jamaica, the land of her parents..

....

The Second Time Around!

Why was Jamaica revisited by the Author? What did she not discover in her first visit that was calling her for a second time that will help put to rest what she thought to be her space and identity? Was it a creative journey, a spiritual journey or an opportunity to change earlier assumptions and perspectives?

The second trip brought out a lot more about the Author’s own personality and cannot be associated with any particular culture, the need to find her own space for example. I enjoyed the author’s descriptive and creative language, when she was in tune with her own beauty and the beauty she saw around her. I enjoyed her open and honest display of her own feelings even those that were subconscious.

To quote ‘he told me he would take me to a special place where no touriss were allowed to go but I must be there by 5:00 in the morning. It was my secret. I should have been scared to walk early hours of the morning with a complete stranger, but I wasn’t. That is why I couldn’t understand the category of a tourist. A tourist would never have felt comfortable walking with a stranger through wide empty fields in Jamaica. On the Contrary many do!

He was my Jamaican Brother! It was at this point I felt at one with my fellow Jamaicans. The Author had by now conceded that there are great advantages to having a dual heritage. However, I still believe there are many visits to Jamaica in the future that will bring even further awakenings in the Author and a deeper understanding of where her place is in Britain and Jamaica. I look forward with much anticipation for more wonderful pages of adventures from this Author. It is indeed a pleasure to know Myrna Loy!

Gwe Mercie! I thank You!

Lady loy asks the listeners for a reason why people are unfaithful.

ON SUNDAY 8 FEBRUARY, The Legendary Blackstones braced themselves for a two hour drive in the heavy snow to get to the Jamrock Radio studio in Luton, to be interviewed by Empress Lady Loy, where they filled the airwaves with their musical history and sang in harmony, live in the studio!

As the track 'Born to Love You' touched the turntable, they sang a cappella into the microphone. Lady Loy had to inform her listeners that it wasn’t a recording but the Blackstones singing live.

The Blackstones shared with their experience over 50 years of recording music and their elation when meeting up with Clement Coxone Dodd in his Studio One premises in Jamaica where he agreed to record the album “Tribute to Studio One” last year (2008). The Blackstones are the first British UK artists to ever step foot in the studio, let alone be tutored by Dodd himself.

“He (Dodd) clicked his fingers and said – me waan record an album wid dese men here!” said Junior Bailey with a cheeky grin, repeating what Coxone had said. An endorsement by Coxone Dodd meant the world, and their faces shone with pride. “Me wake, eat h’an sleep Studio One” continued Junior. Leon Leiffer confirmed: “not any and anyone can go into the studio.. you have to sit down and wait patiently until Sir Dee (as Coxone is sometimes known) calls you.

The Blackstones, born in Jamaica but grew up in England, were originally lovers rock connoisseurs, but now they are qualified to cross all genres from Motown to Studio One, and their latest album 'A Tribute to Studio One' testifies to this. Inspired by Curtis Mayfield, the Impressions, The Temptations, Claredonians, Melodians, the Uniques and the Techniques, the Blackstones are more than qualified to produce wicked renditions of Train to Skaville; Born to Love You ; Soul & Inspiration, Red Rose and more humorously, Derrick Morgan’s “Greedy Gal”.

Whichever album you buy, it is a must for your collection. All you need is a glass of wine, good company and a Blackstones CD and you gaaaan clear! Go deh!

LADY LOY INTERVIEWED THE BLACKSTONES featuring tracks from their albums
Someone’s gotta write about it
100% Pure Niceness
Byron Lee – Treasure Isle with the Blackstones
Tribute to Studio One

If you are a woman, I can only say that suffering a sickle cell crisis is more painful than childbirth ... these are the words of Dr Lorna Bennett, Director of the Sickle Cell Society in N W London. Listen to this informative and moving interview conducted by Lady Loy.

There is a perception that black men are either in prison or mental health institutions but according to government statistics, only 9% of black men in prison and 2% are in mental institutions, which doesn't correlate with the information we are receiving.. Lady Loy questions these statistics with Janet Brown, a social worker.

25. 100% pure niceness Blackstones
26. Soul & Inspiration Blackstones
27. A man is just a man Patrick Booth
28. I apologise Michael Arkk
29. Men cry too Beshara
30. Practice what you preach Richie Spice
31. Miss you Ambelique
32. Natural High Al Campbell
33. Three Times A Lady Anthony Malvo
34. Chances are Tony Curtis
35. You’re not Alpheus
36. Boxers & Stockings Queen Ifrica
37. Change is going to come Michael Gordon & Tippa Irie
38. Don’t throw it all away Barrington Levy
39. Never let me go Joe White
40. Memories by the score John Holt
41. Want you back Singing Melody
42. By your side Ghost
43. Hold on Clayton C
44. Looks are deceiving The Gladiators
45. Pressure Drop Maytals
46. You can feel it Winston Jarrett
47. My Time Bob Andy

Lady Loy’s Tracklist for Sunday 25 January 2009

Intro: Lady Loy’s Dubplate – Kirk Davis & Jahranimo

1. We need Barack Movado
2. Special Singer King Everald
3. Swagger Elephant Man
4. Tax & Tear Felus
5. Life so nice King Ali Baba
6. A nuh matey ting Stacious
7. Gangsta Blue Lady Marsha
8. Sensi Bug
9. Love Life Nah Switch
10. Came at the right time Nahswitch & Sean Paul
11. What can she do lady Anne
12. 1st class citizen Eddy Fitzroy/Red Summer
13. Murderer Busy Signal & Alobrosie
14. Love Triangle Andrew & Wadada Blood
15. Step forward baby mudda Charlie Black
16. Pure Life Pressure
17. Tek yuh mine offa me Richie Spice
18. My gal dis Maxi Price
19. She’s Royal Taurrus Riley
20. African Queen 2-Face Idibia
21. My farda seh Gyptian
22. Is there time Gyptian
23. Ready now Turbulence
24. Ballroom floor Mikey Spice
25. 100% pure niceness Blackstones
26. Soul & Inspiration Blackstones
27. A man is just a man Patrick Booth
28. I apologise Michael Arkk
29. Men cry too Beshara
30. Practice what you preach Richie Spice
31. Miss you Ambelique
32. Natural High Al Campbell
33. Three Times A Lady Anthony Malvo
34. Chances are Tony Curtis
35. You’re not Alpheus
36. Boxers & Stockings Queen Ifrica
37. Change is going to come Michael Gordon & Tippa Irie
38. Don’t throw it all away Barrington Levy
39. Never let me go Joe White
40. Memories by the score John Holt
41. Want you back Singing Melody
42. By your side Ghost
43. Hold on Clayton C
44. Looks are deceiving The Gladiators
45. Pressure Drop Maytals
46. You can feel it Winston Jarrett
47. My Time Bob Andy

Men call in to defend their corner on infidelity!

Lady Loy recites the poem Perfidia and then plays tracks to support the topic on infidelity by playing Perfidia by Phyllis Dillon, Baby Why by the Cables and Queen of the Minstrel by Cornell Campbell.

Call-ins are very much a part of the Lady Loy segment of the former DIY Reggae show, and in this particular segment, when passionate callers share their concerns with Dr Lez Henry about his views and his work.

Lady Loy interviews Dr Lez Henry during her DIY Show with Ras A K Tramplaz, on his book Whiteness Made Simple

Ras A K Tramplaz (aka Aaron Kedar) and Pan Africanist, Mandingo, express their strong views on Barack Obama to Lady Loy, in an interview that took place on 12 January this year (2008). Mandingo's passionate views on who is serving the true interests of African people, should be shared, as there may be others who share his line of thinking.

This podcast shares a play by a woman acting as Robert Mugabe's wife Grace which is meant to illustrate the type of person Robert Mugabe was.

Lady Loy also re-enacts an interview between Gill Noble and Robert Mugabe once again to highlight key sensitive issues relating to Mugabe's life.

There is then some reggae music

Listen to this provocative play and to the information uncovered throughout the interview (which is continued from part 1) on the Lady Loy Show.

Extract: "Power-sharing in Zimbabwe is dead and it is time for African governments to oust President Robert Mugabe, Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga has said.
His comments are some of the strongest by an African leader against Mr Mugabe, says the BBC's Karen Allen in Nairobi.
"It's time for African governments... to push him out of power," Mr Odinga said after talks with Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
Zimbabwe is in political deadlock over a unity coalition government deal."

Listen to Lady Loy's interesting take on the Mugabe regime supported by reggae music by Jah Cure & Jahranimo and others.

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