Kingston Accord ready for distribution

At the heart of the second annual Jamaica Poetry Music Symposium (JPMS) held at The Mico University College on Sunday is a multi-faceted document called the Kingston Accord, which seeks to assist Jamaica to thrive. Created at the first JPMS last March, it was put before the audience for ratification.

Having been ratified, the symposium organiser and poet Yasus Afari told his audience, 1,000 copies will be printed and distributed to places of influence around the island and the world. These include government ministries, agencies and departments, the Jamaican diaspora, churches, and educational institutions.

The theme of the accord, both last year and this year, is ‘Creativity in Nation Building: Taking Ownership and responsibility –Transforming lives, Shaping the Future’. Its preamble states that: “It was formulated to analyse, evaluate and assess [the] history, heritage and aspiration of Jamaica, looking at identity, resources, strengths, weaknesses and best practices so as to move forward in oneness, take ownership and responsibility as we aspire to transform lives, in shaping our future.”

JPMS 2023 was mounted by SenYAcum Edutainment in partnership with the Broadcasting Commission and the Jamaica Music Museum, among others. Those partners and others returned this year.

Brief, but informative talks were given by various speakers during the morning session on creative leadership, creativity in research and technology, social welfare and wealth and institutional building and – just before lunch – the role of food in the island’s renewal.

In the afternoon, Afari spoke at length about the importance of the general public getting into farming, even at a basic level. “If yuh can’t do better,” he said, “start with skellion (scallion) in a pot on yuh window sill.”

He was also interested in finding a way for Jamaicans as a whole, especially those at the “grassroots” level, to benefit from international exploitation and appropriation of aspects of Jamaican culture. He believed, he said, that the way to national development was through community development.

Perhaps the most passionate contribution came from Cordel Green, executive director of the Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica, who was fearful of the negative effects of artificial intelligence (AI). He said that people who are seeking to have their artistic work copyrighted might face a greater problem with “the latest iteration of AI, generative intelligence.” It can create work “in the style” of the artist, and “style” is not now covered by copyright laws.

He concluded, “We need to determine in our courts if we are going to be human-centric in this age, as we play our part in advancing the human race – especially in the era of trans-humanism.” (He was referring to machines which mimic people in various ways.)

Towards the end of the day-long symposium, several poets and a singer performed. The next symposium will be held on Sunday, March 30, 2025.

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