Your Value Poem

When I think of all the people who are led by others to believe that they are nothing, it fills me with fury.  People devalue other people so that they can trample all over them and use and abuse them.  If you have been so devalued, this is my gift to you.  Assert your worth every day.  Peace. Dawn Marie Roper

Your Value Poem
By Dawn Marie Roper

You are valuable.
You are remarkable and one of a kind.
Most people won't admit this to you
But that doesn't matter.
As long as you know it, it's fine.

You are valuable.
You won life's lottery to be here.
There was no you before.
There will be no other you after you're gone.
You are unique, special and dear.

You are valuable.
How much money would you take for your brain or your eyes?
Your heart and liver and hands and feet?
How much for your experiences and your thoughts?
You are a very precious prize.

You are valuable.
You were born that way.
You bring something great and special to life
So don't let anyone devalue you.
Always remember you are valuable, each and every day.

Dawn Marie Roper, Kingston Jamaica
"Justice, Truth Be Ours Forever"

Language Blocks

I am doing a social work degree.   A week ago we were studying language development in children.  The discussion took an argumentative turn after someone in the class declared her contempt for Jamaica's native language being spoken in the workplace and other official settings.   Jamaica's native language, commonly called "Patois", is still mostly a spoken language.  But it is our own language. That didn't matter to the individual.   She wouldn't hire anyone, she said, if they used the native language during a job interview.

Well, I debated with her on this.  It struck me as odd that she, being Jamaican born and raised, would so look down on her own language.   All born and bred Jamaicans speak and understand Patois.  Not all of us speak English, the official language.  So, I was very surprised at her comment.  In 2017, her attitude struck me as colonial and out of step with modern happenings with regard to Patois.

I asked her if she wasn't aware of how widely accepted Jamaica's language had become.  Jamaican Patois has been codified and many works have been published in it.  We now have a Patois bible.  Jamaican Patois is being studied in universities abroad.  International stars like Rihanna, Nicky Minaj and a host of others seemed to have adopted it as their own.

She would not be moved.  So I asked her whether she would reject a Japanese job applicant who tried to impress by using our language back to her.   No, she would not accept him or her, she said.  She is not easily impressed by anyone, she said.  Hmm.  That's nice.  So, I guess when President Obama visited and belted out "Wha' a gwaan, Jamaica!" she wasn't impressed either.  Well, she would be the first Jamaican I met who wasn't charmed by it.

I wondered how she felt about our many cultural ambassadors who had helped to put our language on the international map.  Did she not respect Bob Marley and Louise Bennett?  What about Shaggy and Sean Paul and countless others?  Are they not deserving of honour for promoting something beautiful and distinctly Jamaican?

Well, she is entitled to her opinion.  But my main concern with her view on Patois is this.   In her professions, she has lots of influence over impressionable people.  With her attitude toward something so uniquely Jamaican, I wondered if she wasn't inspiring self-hatred rather than self-esteem in those Jamaicans she encounters who speak only Patois.  It is a sad thought.

Dawn Marie Roper, Kingston Jamaica

Who I am? Who are you?

How easy it is for liars?
Saying just about anything,
No matter how it hurts.
You don't know me.
Yet you talk as if you do.

But while you run your mouth,
You should ask yourself,
Who you are.
I am shouting this declaration.
I know who I am.

Who am I?
I am a woman of love,
I give love
Whether it's returned or not.
Do you know how to love?

Who am I?
I am a woman of compassion.
No one will suffer at my hands,
Not even a stranded bee in my window.
Do you know compassion?

Who am I?
I am a woman of justice.
I believe we are all valuable, though not all equal.
But fairness towards everybody is what I work for.
Do you believe in justice?

Who am I?
I am a woman who believes in being good.
Although I miss the mark sometimes,
My conscience won't permit anything else.
Do you believe in being good?

Yes, how easy it is for liars?
Saying and doing destructive things.
But instead of beating me down with evil talk,
Ask yourself,
Who you really are.

Let me be!
Loving, compassionate, just and good.
That's who I am.
And I am happy with that.
Who are you?

By Dawn Marie Roper, Kingston, Jamaica

February 3, 2017