Samstag, 17. Dezember 2016

"Up for air" - by Imani Tafari-Ama

In 2010, Tivoli Gardens, Kingston, Jamaica experienced a traumatizing event after the government ordered the security forces and military to raid the community in search of the notorious Shower Posse leader, Crhistopher 'Dudus' Coke. Until now the many tragic deaths of civilians and missing people haven´t been cleared up. The police didn´t show any interest in exposing the truth of their own mishandling of the situation. Speculation has gone so far, that certain people maintain, it was a systematic cleansing of the area, which had always been a thorn in the eye of the Jamaican establishment. One should consider the class division and exploitation of the ghetto communities through politics and the upper class, when analyzing and discussing the aftermath of the raid.

Imani Tafari-Ama wrote a short novel, based on the historical facts ot the 2010 Tivoli siege. We experience the days of the attack by following two main protagonists, who try to survive and make the best of the situation. Their experiences are horrific as they come to face death of beloved ones and other brutal occurences.

"Up for air" is a short and fast read. Good to get into. And most of all, it grips one emotionally. I nearly had tears in my eyes in certain parts of the story, since I know Tivoli and had been there several times. I really could imagine, what was going on there. And even if it is a story, it is so near to the truth that I believe things really happened that way. 

For everybody interested in Jamaican class politics, this is a must read. A big violation of human rights not even a decade ago, which never was brought in front of court. 


http://www.mona.uwi.edu/marcom/ecalendar/events/5918

Anbody interested in the book should contact Imani Tafari-Ama via Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/i.tafariama?ref=ts&fref=ts


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