Less than two weeks ago, I received a message on LinkedIn from my former Cognizant Technical Officer (CTO) in which she told me that she “Miss those JA-STYLE days.” Of course I was not sure exactly what she was missing and I did not feel well enough to ask her. While I recalled how satisfied everyone was at the close of that project, I knew for certain that she did not know most of what happened behind the scenes and that often as the Chief of Party / Project Director, I had to put my life at risk, similarly to the years on the German funded (GTZ) Project when I ventured out into the nights on Kingston streets spending hours with prostitutes and street boys, exploring their realites while immersing myself into their communities. The success we had on those two projects would have been impossible if I did not earn the trust, not only of my superiors at the Ministry of Health and my staff but especially the trust of the community organizers and the leaders or in some cases the area dons, as Jamaicans called them.
A few days ago news broke that Dudus, the Jamaican described as a drug lord, was in an altercation with Diddy, the well known American hip hop/rap music icon, in the prison where they were housed. It was alleged that Dudus inflicted an injury to Diddy’s head, causing him to be removed from the prison to an outside hospital. I had no idea if this story was true but I felt the need to share my experience about how my life was affected by the power that this man weilded in Kingston, Jamaica while I was working on behalf of the United States government to improve adolescent health lifestyles (the JA-STYLE project). Back then around 2006, I was reliably informed that Dudus was the “real don” and “president” in West Kingston and some of the other general geographic areas where I was assigned to work carrying out targeted interventions. Here now twenty years later, he was still regarded by many as the “real bad man” and “president” at Fort Dix Prison in New Jersey.
When I was working in Kingston on my last project in 2006 to early 2009, I had to work or pass through some of the communities that he controlled. While Arnett Gardens in the vicinity of Rema was not an officially selected community, I remembered clearly having to go there for a graduation exercise for parents as they too got involved; it was an opportunity to meet families and also those in charge of those dangerous “ghettos” as we rolled out the parenting workshops.
As I entered the community the first time, I remembered passing through narrow streets while the driver pointed out the signs of the Black Roses painted on at least two concrete wall fences. While the seasoned driver did not say explicitly that Black Roses was the name of the dominant group, I understood the signage and knew that I was in their territory. I also remembered how tight the housing units were built closely to each other next to the streets, making them easier to be controlled. That first time I went there for the community graduation on that unforgettable night, I had to talk to a man who was hidden behind a door in the dark. I guess he had to see me first and approve of my presence there. In the unscheduled meeting, I heard his voice as I stood nervously calm in the bright light but I was never allowed to see his face. That night was the first time I felt the power of that hidden man and I knew that I would be safe in that “garrison” not only that night but while the project was being implemented in Kingston and Jamaica. At this point, I must make it clear here that I had no way of knowing if the hidden man was Dudus.
It was always discussed quietly how Jamaican politicians work hand in hand with gang and drug dealers but I have never had any proof of that. All I knew was that while I was running those projects in several rough inner city communities, I had to earn the trust of everyone involved, including high level politicians that I met in the light and the dons in the dark unknown that I was never allowed to see.
The power that Dudus wielded in Jamaica and abroad was arguably more than that of the prime minister of Jamaica. Many teenage boys and young men admired and respected him then and they still do today, as evidenced by what was seen on social media. During the process while Dudus was being captured in 2010, I was just about getting ready to leave Jamaica after successfully completing that same project. The news story was so huge that it made the headlines at the New York Times. The picture of women marching in full white attire on a Kingston street, as if going to a baptism lived on in my brain. When all was said and done and when the dust settled, an estimated seventy to one hundred and fifty people died, as it would appear, for one man.
This was not an ordinary man that they called Dudus also known as The President. A graduate of the prominent Ardenne High School in St. Andrew, he ruled West Kingston and probably other parts of Jamaica for a very long time. Whether it was true or not, the perception was out there that he was running things at the notorious Fort Dix in 2026 and many Jamaicans were very proud of that accomplishment. They continued to celebrate his badness, not only by this prison fight but as they called out his name affectionately as Dudus; another nickname that rhymes with the Jamaican Putus and one that was loved, feared and revered even while he was incarcerated.
So to my former CTO, I also missed those JA-STYLE days when all the strategic objectives were met in a reduced three year timeframe and way below the US$5 million budget but I am now telling you that they came with significant risks and a huge price that not only I had to pay, but also other contractual employees, with no official protection from neither the Jamaican nor the United States governments. These dark uncomfortable truths and strategies were never written officially in bilateral project documents or evaluation reports but without them we could have never entered or leave those communities safely as we conducted educational and health interventions.
Yet, back then in public domain, so many politicians and high ranking citizens claimed that they would never partner with dons on community projects. That’s what they said openly for the rest of Jamaica and the world to hear but the reality on the ground and in the deep trenches was the informal unspoken words of agreement between “the powers that be.” And I suspected that all key parties involved in those days knew it as they celebrated the project’s success in the end.
Presidents were not naive either and I am assuming that they knew this too!
