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“Remove the plank out of your own eye”. Religion, Jamaica and me.

You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. Matt 7:5″Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?Luke 6:41

And there are so many similar quotes in the Torah, Bible and Quoran. Why? Could it be that we are so humanly narcissistic, the we lack the humility to simply be silent about our perception of others, their intention, motives, reasons, family, work, deeds, etc? Or do we focus on the speck in someone else’s eye, so as to shy away from addressing the beam in ours….like transference or escapism? Just wondering.

Jamaica, in spite of, dancehall music and bodies jyrating to sexually intoxicating beats; the murder rate, that earned it the top spot on the global list; the attacks on homosexuals that validates their application for asylum in other countries; and the misogyny that undergirds shocking rates of domestic violence, is a conservative Christian society. Christianity is at the center of social, cultural and political life. In observing community occurrences and listening and reading about newsworthy events, I cannot help but consider the dissonance between the perceptions cast by religion and the reality of the existences of the people.

As i was heading to work some time ago, i saw a stout man rushing, and as he was about to slip and fall, another man reached down and bolstered the stumbling man, so that he stopped the man from falling. I was so enthralled at this demonstration of man’s humanity to another, until I was jolted by the statement of a “corpulent and gentlemanly looking woman,” commenting on the sliding man’s weight, and how lucky the good samaritan was the the sliding man did not drag him down with his weight.

I could not help but think about how this one statement perverted the beauty and innocent act of kindness I just witnessed.  I wondered, did she look in the mirror lately and check her own portly figure? Was my thought appropriate of a Peace ambassador? Did it take me to her level? Was the perversion so graphic in my mind because i was quietly protecting the victim? Or was I just so sure that in spite of what the man’s physical appearance, the good samaritan assessed the situation, still wanted to selflessly offer help, and adjusted his own posture so as to save our victim anyway? I contemplated all the possibilities. The falling man was heavy-set, but so was the savior and the critic.  In the moment of seeing the victim about to fall however, I thought nothing of his stature, except that it would be unfortunate if he fell because of the possible injury that may result.  But why, in such a Christian culture, was that not the critic’s thought?  Would she not have wanted someone to selflessly attempt to break her fall?

I reflect on this incident as I sit in Jamaica in service and observing all around me, Jamaicans and foreigners alike. Religion has the uncanny ability to make people think themselves holier than others. We must be careful of the holier than thou attitude however, for the mind is a fertile oasis that can traverse the full extent of good and evil. It is certainly the boundaries we set, within which we live our lives, the makes all difference. It is NOT money, not profession, not education, not our weight, sex, gender, race or color, not our sexual orientation . It is simply our boundaries, or lack of them, that channel our thinking and then our actions; that either equalizes or separates us; that causes us to see the humanity in others, or not; that causes us to be empathetic to the plight of others or narcissistic in our interactions with each other and with the challenges that life presents.

Published by: Local Lives, Global Voices

I, Chandra Young, ‘the moon that outshines the stars, was born in Kingston Jamaica to an Indian Father whose family migrated from India, and a mulatto mother, whose family, paternally and maternally, trace their history on the island to the 17th century sale of slaves, and slaves themselves. We migrated to the United States while I was a youngster. I later went on to graduate from The City College of New York, with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science; then Yeshiva University’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, with a Jurisdoctor degree; and I am currently on hiatus from my doctoral studies in Law and Policy at Northeastern University. After graduating from law school, I successfully sat for both the Florida and New York Bars, and worked in both the Private and Public Sectors. Simultaneously, my role as mother and my passion for education pushed me into Academia, where I have lectured at colleges in the areas of Political Science, History, Business Law, Sociology, Pluralism and Diversity, Critical Thinking, Critical Academic Reading and English Composition. In these capacities, I have mentored inner city/urban college students, and have also served as Guardian Ad Litem to the Seminole County Courts, where I advocated on behalf of children of families in crisis. Being a scholar of Political Science in my collegiate years, I contributed my talents and passions towards championing of the rights of my fellow students, many of whom, like myself, were of Immigrant families. I was instrumental in a student movement that spearheaded a University-wide student boycott protesting tuition hikes in the City University system. The successful protest led to the shutdown of all the University’s colleges in every Borough, and got the attention of the media and politicians of the day. The result of the successful protest was a halt of any tuition increase for several fiscal terms. Today, the City University and State University systems are free to families earning less that $125,000.00, which include most urban, inner-city and immigrant students. While at City College, I was selected as a student ambassador contestant in the Ms. Jamaica-USA pageant, sponsored by the Jamaica Progressive League and the Honorable Una Clarke, the first Caribbean and Jamaican born woman to be elected to the legislature of the City of New York, and mother of United States Congresswoman Yvette Clark. A diligent advocate of affordable housing for New Yorkers, I was committed to the mission of realizing the American dream of home ownership for New Yorkers and I am the recipient of a Proclamation by the City Council of the City of New York, for my efforts in that regard. My dedication to the City of New York and immigrant communities, particularly those of Caribbean heritage, have been unwavering, and I was presented with the Marcus Garvey Award of Recognition by the New York based Jamaica National Movement, for service to Jamaicans and Caribbean people in the City of New York. I continued my passion of being a part of a mission to champion the rights of underprivileged and underrepresented persons in my recent milestone, the United States Peace Corps, where I dedicated 18 months of my life, away from home and family, to the people of Jamaica, as a Literacy Adviser and Community Developer. I am the mother of two children, a writer, blogger and poet. I always loved writing. As a child, I remember finding privacy and solace to write in my garage, where I could hide the written pages amongst the plethora of books our family stored there. I began blogging on my Facebook page and was encouraged by friends who enjoyed by posts, to start a blog. I officially started this blog during my Peace Corps Service, but it is certainly not limited to my service. In fact, it represents an amalgamation of thoughts expressed and lived through the direct and vicarious experiences that being a global citizen can provide. This blog is my way of building a bridge that connects our local lives experienced in our specific localities, with the global voices that unites us in the similar experiences, concerns, pains, passions, etc that joins us together as human beings in spite of geography. You there.......Me here. We....together in one world....one humanity.

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