Kevin O'Brien Chang

Despite its stagnant economy and record homicide rate, Kevin O'Brien Chang has always felt Jamaica's positives outnumber its negatives. So much that he decided to write a book about them.

That book, Jamaica Fi Real: Inside The Beauty, Vibes And Culture, is scheduled to be released in early 2010.

"Most books about Jamaica are written by people outside of Jamaica. This is a look at Jamaica from a Jamaican point of view," Chang told The Gleaner.

The author, a columnist with The Sunday Gleaner, said he wants his book to show why a small country has had such an international impact.

detailed achievements

There are detailed entries about the achievements of Pan-African Marcus Garvey, reggae superstar Bob Marley and wunderkind sprinter Usain Bolt.

"Whenever I do research, I find that a lot of the things they teach in our schools are inaccurate," Chang said. "For example, people love to say Garvey had no big following in Jamaica, but that's not true."

Chang debunks that myth in his Garvey piece, noting that the St Ann-born thinker was welcome by a crowd of more than 1,000 followers when he was deported to Jamaica from the United States in 1927.

Another interesting tidbit: Jamaica's first prime minister Alexander Bustamante made one of his first public speaking appearances during the 1930s on a Garvey platform.

diverse cultures

Chang was born in Manchester to parents of Chinese and African ancestry. He also pays homage to Jamaica's diverse cultures, saying its racial tolerance surpasses that of other multi-ethnic Caribbean countries like Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago.

"I think we have people who are proud of who they are without being antagonistic against others. It's a real accomplishment," Chang said.

Press freedom is another area Chang believes Jamaicans take for granted.

He uses the contrasting views of veteran journalists John Maxwell and Wilmot Perkins to illustrate this point.

There is also a section in which well-known personalities such as Dr Omar Davies (music), Tony Becca (sports) and Trevor Munroe (history) give their top-10 moments.

Jamaica Fi Real: Inside The Beauty, Vibes And Culture is Chang's second book. His first, Reggae Routes: The Story Of Jamaican Music, was co-authored with businessman Wayne Chen and released in 1998.