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| Courtesy of UWI |
In September 2008, I and a former colleague, senior writer S. L. Price, of Sports Illustrated went to Jamaica to do a feature story on the return of Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser to the country after their magnanimous achievements in Beijing. What might have been perceived as a simply story, follow around the athletes, was quickly revealed as anything but simply. Fraser was from Waterhouse, a garrison community within Kingston. I knew in order to represent her fairly I would have to get historical, political and cultural understanding of garrisons and Waterhouse in particular.
For that I turned to Prof. Chevannes at UWI (Mona) and Horace Levy of the Peace Management Initiative, also a former sociologist at UWI. Both men were invaluable in their willingness to share their knowledge of inner city communities in Kingston. I had countless telephone conversations with Levy and sat with him on the UWI campus for about 40 minutes.
Prof. Chevannes allowed me to interview him in his office for one and a half hour. There was only a path cleared for his chair behind his desk, and the guest to sit at a chair in front of his desk. Every other space was covered with books and papers. He talked to me about colonial days through the 70s to present time. I was a journalist and a student that day. I left knowing more that I had every anticipated about political struggles in Jamaica, but also left confident the sections on Waterhouse would be handled with care.
Prof. Chevannes allowed me to interview him in his office for one and a half hour. There was only a path cleared for his chair behind his desk, and the guest to sit at a chair in front of his desk. Every other space was covered with books and papers. He talked to me about colonial days through the 70s to present time. I was a journalist and a student that day. I left knowing more that I had every anticipated about political struggles in Jamaica, but also left confident the sections on Waterhouse would be handled with care.
Obituary
Homecoming Story
-- Connie Aitcheson
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