Qualities such as civility, respect for self and others, family values, community cooperation, loyalty to country, all these and more helped our ancestors, especially those newly emancipated from the shackles of slavery, to venture into the unknown of freedom to create new communities and a new society.
The power of the good in us
These values served us well when we chose to use them. One outstanding memory of the power of the good in us is to be recalled in the great migration to Britain in the 1950s when grass-roots Jamaicans went to improve their lot and, by example of thrift, self-discipline and courage in the face of adversity "colonised England in reverse", in the words of the great Louise Bennett.
That indomitable will still enables our people, located all across the world, to excel. Unfortunately, that spirit seems diminished among us here at home at this time. Hemmed in by a breakdown in positive values, forgetting to remember the lessons, which guided us before, we cry for a return to the good old days to avoid the edge of the social abyss which looms.
One from among us who understood the value of the memory was Hartley Neita, journalist, communicator, author, whose passing we acknowledge today. Mr Neita's fascination with the lessons from our history and the hope they offer for the future led him to delve into the national archives and bring out hidden facts about our people and country. They were revelations of the full range of human emotions, the good and the bad, the comedic and the tragic, which make up the mosaic of a people's life, and each had a lesson from which we could learn. These he proceeded to make accessible to a wide readership through his columns in our Gleaner publications.
Communication skills
Mr Neita excelled in many areas of endeavour, all related to his communication skills. Whether as press secretary, first, to a chief minister, then a succession of prime ministers, or as a spokesman for tourism, public relations consultant or author, he grasped every opportunity to share the memory of the Jamaica that was, that is and should be.
In more recent times, he seemed seized with an urgency to awaken us to return to the core values, which created a foundation for family and community, and to share that knowledge with a new generation. He was in the course of writing a new book on the history of the World War ll airbase, Vernamfield, in Clarendon, now being considered for resuscitation as a modern commercial airport.
Hartley Neita died, last week, before the dream of his book could be actualised. Extolled by family, colleagues and friends and a wide circle of readers of his works, he now becomes part of the Jamaican memory which, in his time, he strived to maintain.
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