It was good and it was bad ...

Published in the Jamaica Gleaner: Friday | July 27, 2007

OCTOBER 1980: Opposition Leader Edward Seaga being wildly greeted by a section of the huge crowd at a JLP election rally at South Parade in downtown Kingston. Seaga told the huge crowd that Manley was forced to call elections in 1980 because the country was bankrupt. Seaga said he accepted the challenge of early elections and said: "Now we will see who is the man and man and who is bwoy." -FIle

Today, we continue excerpts from former advertising executive Gerry Grindley's explosive book, Judas Mentality. It can be purchased through amazon.com

The People's National Party (PNP) administration of 1972-1976 was a dynamic period in the history of Jamaica. These were crucial times to the development of Jamaica as a sovereign nation. Manley's doctrine of democratic socialism changed the way the Government would regard the instance of leading a nation. It was, essentially, the first Jamaican political rhetoric to have ever been developed.

The PNP had articulated an ideology, and that ideology guided the governing of the nation. This was historic. Unfortunately, it also became detrimental as the democratic process began to waver under the weight of the expanded ideological strain.

State of emergency

In 1976, the state of emergency consumed our nation. I sometimes wonder what else went on in the country that year. Surely, many things did.

Cuba and Communism are the two buzzwords of this year in the life of Jamaica. At the time I became frustrated with the daily posturing and the overall national compromise that th with Cuba had brought on to Jamaica. My staff and I met with Prime Minister Michael Manley, at his request. We met on a Sunday in July 1976 at his office. What triggered this meeting was the fact that our agency had decided that we would promote his 1976 re-election. In this meeting, a staff member asked Michael if there was any guarantee that his party would not go communist. He respectfully responded no. This was an extremely sad moment for me.

Michael was a good man. He had vision, and he adored people. Notwithstanding, he got sucked in so deeply to all that was communist. It was tragic. I knew that we would become estranged for many years, thereafter.

'We refused'

News of this meeting got out, and the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) subsequently contacted us to help them to run their campaign against Manley later that year. We refused to do it, but they kept calling. Election time came, and Manley was re-elected under a state of emergency. Many JLP frontliners were detained.

In November 1977, members of the private sector arranged for me to meet with Hugh Shearer to discuss possibilities of Grimax promoting the JLP, led by Seaga. He and Seaga were at loggerheads, and I feared that Shearer would challenge Seaga during Grimax's promotional efforts. It was for this reason that I insisted on meeting directly with Shearer in person. Shearer agreed to cooperate.

As a result, the JLP became an official client of Grimax Advertising Limited.

1969: Officials of the People's National Party join in song at the leadership conference at the National Arena. Third from right is the new leader, Michael Manley. Others (from right) are Sydney Veitch, secretary, Keeble Munn, M.P., Carlyle Dunkley, Senator P.J. Patterson, a vice-president, and an unidentified supporter. - File

The ensuing period was one of national disorganisation and fear. Manley was still in power, and the country was influenced daily by what was happening in Havana.

The Brigadistas were deployed in rural areas of Jamaica.

The Home Guards were spying on our people. The soldiers, disguised as doctors, were scattered over Jamaica, indoctrinating our youth with Communism. It was as if Castro was leader of two nations - Cuba and Jamaica - and Manley was his representative to Jamaica.

I could not support this sort of an arrangement. It was my passionate belief that Jamaica deserved a Prime Minister who was dedicated to building our own system of government, not one who got caught up inimposing the system of another country - a communist country at that. People's rights were suppressed, and their movements restricted. These social restrictions were being defined under the guise of democratic socialism.

Tremendous unity

The doctrine's infiltration into our country was facilitated by the tremendous unity that has now become legendary of the PNP. They seemed unbreakable.

But deep in the belly lurked 'men of a single idea', quite opposed to the democratic way of life as we knew it then.

The politics of participation was now drifting into the deep waters of Communism. My reasons for even considering working with the JLP, I believe, were obvious. The problem with the JLP was that they could not define their political positioning or philosophy.

The party was bereft of organised political thinking, and this compromised their ability to fight against a government that was packed with intellects who were cogent orators of socialist rhetoric. The PNP had the people under a spell. It was actually quite impressive.

My work was cut out for me. I had to take the JLP men under my wing and teach them how to formulate their political position so that the people of Jamaica could relate to them. It took many sessions, day and night, to get the party's position right and clear.

I used every single visual and communication skill known to man to help these men understand what they were about, so that they could go into the streets and tell this message to the people of Jamaica. This is the message they adopted and stood for: 'For equal rights and justice'.

This is who they became a counteractive force in the pursuit of, and preservation of justice and freedom. The process of helping the party to articulate this very politically savvy and socially relevant position was packed with adventure, glamour, excitement, and radicalism. Winston Spaulding used to say that we all were 'the biggest band of cause-fighters Jamaica ever had'.

'What a bam bam'

By the time 1980 came around, we were ready to take back Jamaica. With our new slogan, 'Equal Rights and Justice', the JLP was well on its way to compete for control of the country. While under great political and national pressure, Manley announced the 1980 election eight months in advance. He did this while on a visit to the United States. All I will give you now is this: 'What a bam bam'.

When the JLP won the election, the names Grindley and Grimax were blacklisted. To this day, not even I can truly understand how this happened. Of course, we did get some information from people in the JLP. I had even heard that the new Prime Minister instructed the Cabinet not to have anything to do with me and not to appoint me to any positions.