During the April gas riot last year a group of mostly white and light brown uptowners carrying ‘no gas tax’ placards went to the gas station at the foot of Jacks Hill and began demonstrating. Across the road on the sidewalk was a group of mostly black middle and lower class people also demonstrating with signs. Both groups were espousing the same cause. But according to Dr. Carolyn Gomes.

“Our placards were saying the same thing, but the road between us seemed like the Berlin wall. We kept looking across at each other like we were from two different countries. Yet bit by bit we began to talk and laugh and mix with each other. On the second day people brought box juice and food and shared them out. We parked cars and put on Bob Marley and it became like a party. It was a wonderful out of many one people feeling. You could feel a connection being made. Everyone on all sides was so glad for this opportunity to mix which we hadn’t had for so long.

After the riots ended about 30 of us had a meeting and talked about how good the whole thing had felt and if we couldn’t find a way to keep the connection going and make something real out of it. So Gregory Mair, Trevor MacMillan and myself were elected to a steering committee. I guess I was chosen as leader because I had the most mouth!

We definitely didn’t want any partisan politics involved. We decided to focus on something all Jamaicans can relate to, justice. Even if you could remove all the other problems facing the country, you would still not have an equitable society if people are treated unjustly. So Jamaicans For Justice was born.

When we started going out into communities like Grants Pen we were met with a lot of suspicion. People kept asking who we were and what we wanted and why we were coming now after all these years. And they were right. We had ignored them as if they didn’t exist for so long. But you have to start somewhere. And we expected the wariness. You can’t overcome centuries of mistrust overnight. And this country has spent much of the last 40 years building barriers between communities, classes and parties. We privileged uptowners who cocooned ourselves have to bear a lot of the blame for this situation.

The lack of response discouraged us. But Father Richard Albert encouraged us to take things one step at a time and not rush things. Just keep talking to people he said and a way will show itself. And he was right. We also wanted to deal with concrete issues and not be just a talking shop. So we came up with the scroll of shame of actual injustices that had been perpetrated to prevent them from being forgotten.”

Nearly a year on the efforts of Jamaicans For Justice are bearing wonderful fruit. They helped Michael Gayle’s family to get justice done. And their persistent call for an enquiry into the Montego Bay Street People incident has finally paid off.

The group is not without critics. Some accuse it of being a trojan horse front for political parties trying to get mileage out of other’s misfortunes. Others claim it is just a bunch of light skin uptown profilers out to embarrass a black prime minister. Dr. Gomes is unfazed by such arguments.

“In a society like ours with a history of slavery and colonialism you have to face up to the race and class arguments. Let’s face it, we have done a lot of harm to each other in the past by sowing divisions amongst ourselves.

You can’t change the past, but you can try and overcome it. Which is why our goal is to go beyond masks and labeling. We want people to see themselves as human beings first and Jamaicans second. Race and party should be irrelevant. If this country is to progress we must stop fighting against each other and unite our energies. Jamaica’s greatest strength is its people. We have triumphed over so many difficulties in the past. If we break down all the barriers and unite now, there is no problem we can not overcome.

We must get over finger pointing and blame placing and deal with our mistakes like adults. We must put things right when they go wrong and not just keep saying ‘not me, not me’. We are not seeking vengeance in the street people incident - although if crimes were committed justice should take its course. But mainly we want those who were involved to admit that what they did was wrong. And we want to have systems put in place to make sure it does not happen again. We all do things in this life we are not proud of. But we can learn from our sins.”

Admirable though JFJ’s persistence has been, it could not have gotten results without media support. By refusing to let the story die, the press gave the powers that be no room to hide from public outrage or their consciences. Who could doubt the legal and moral imperative for a commission of enquiry after reading Mr. Hugh Small’s superbly argued “The Prime Minister, The Law And Street People”?

No one is happier over the decision to call an enquiry than Elizabeth Hall, head of the JFJ Montego Bay branch and chairperson of the Community for the Upliftment of the Mentally Ill (CUMI). For since 1991 she and Joy Crooks have devoted themselves to reaching out to the mentally ill homeless in Montego Bay.

“I felt that through CUMI the MoBay community had set an example to Jamaica on caring for the less fortunate. Because CUMI is almost entirely community funded. Nearly every business and person we approach contributes to our cause. Those who say Jamaicans are not a caring people are talking nonsense. And then to see persons we are trying to help rounded up like cattle and dumped by a mud lake where they might have drowned! It felt like a slap in the face. I hope this enquiry finds out who was responsible and lets them feel their shame in public. It’s not that we want revenge. But it must never happen again.

You know this restores my faith in the political process and the prime minister. He said in parliament that he had a vision of Jamaica where there was justice for all. Well it took him a little time, but he is finally proving a man of his word.”

It is perhaps too much to say that the calling of this enquiry means a new beginning for the country. But this is surely how the democratic process is supposed to work – citizens cry out, the press magnifies these calls, and the leaders hear and respond. Jamaicans For Justice, the media, the individuals and organizations who gave public support, and the prime minister all deserve plaudits. The country’s future doesn’t seem quite so grim today. And every Jamaican should feel just a little bit prouder.