his personality. his restlessness, his rapture, his rash impetuousness – his causes and carings, his sudden concepts – seemed to be no different from the nation ’ s. ” again, on a deeper, more compelling level, i found slipstream to be prescient, perhaps foretelling the dismal fate that could befall our present generation of caribbean leaders if they fail to put aside their “ macho ” personal ambitions in favor of re - engineering our small, highly open vulnerable economies and societies to withstand mounting pressures, both from inside and outside. none other than sir shridath ramphal, a caribbean luminary and the distinguished speaker at last year ’ s eric williams memorial lecture, emphatically notes that leadership in the region has “ put the gears of the caricom single market in neutral and the gears of caricom single economy into reverse ”. completing the trilogy is the book entitled, “ horses in her hair : a granddaughter ’ s story ”, rachel manley ’ s ode to her grandmother, edna manley. as rachel manley writes “ looking for the meaning in edna manley ’ s life is baffling if the conundrum is approached headon. she was always more in the weave of life than in the embroidery. she saw the world in terms of the symbolic, most things open to her interpretation. she understood and lived her life between its lines rather than according to an accepted script. edna, cousin to both norman and bustamante, crept between the starker realities to claim another role – a role, some say, as mother of jamaica ’ s artistic soul. ” in my opinion, horses in her hair is a stark reminder that as we seek to forge a new caribbean home, as we seek to cast away the island hubris of our leaders, we must balance our quantity of life, with our quality of life. culture must be an important vehicle that inspires our quest for greater caribbean regional unity. we have seen the unifying strength of culture in our playwrights like nobel laureate derek walcott, in our folk poets like louise bennett, in our creators of dance like beryl mcburnie, in our artistes like bob marley, and in our social commentators like the mighty sparrow. as i close, it is my view that rachel is ideally placed to render judgment on whether the caribbean can withstand the existential clash between history and circumstances ; to render judgment on whether the caribbean can

s national leaders who forever changed jamaica ’ s intellectual, social and cultural landscape. her grandfather norman manley or pardi, as he was affectionately called, was the founder of jamaica ’ s people ’ s national party and one of the key figures in the jamaican struggle for independence. norman manley rose to the post of jamaica ’ s chief minister in 1955 and became its first and only premier when jamaica gained self - government before independence. her grandmother edna manley or mardi, as she was affectionately known, was the wife of a national hero and mother to jamaica ’ s fifth prime minister. her legacy is firmly entrenched in jamaica ’ s art, sculpture and painting and poetry and prose. some say edna manley was nothing less than the mother of jamaica ’ s artistic soul. bis central bankers ’ speeches rachel is the first child of michael manley, jamaica ’ s charismatic, controversial prime minister who served between 1972 and 1980, and then again between 1987 and 1992, who attempted to refashion jamaica ’ s unjust post - colonial economy and society into a democratic socialist mould while annoying the united states with his radical foreign policy, especially his friendship with fidel castro, and who passionately advocated a brave new world economic order. even though she has been part of history in the making, lived close to history makers, and even made history, rachel manley affirms that she is not a historian. and although she experienced firsthand her family ’ s intriguing politics and its impact on jamaican society and the region, rachel manley confesses that she is no politician. so tonight, rachel manley is here to speak to us as a writer, an award - winning author and poet best known for her intimate, captivating non - fiction trilogy of memoirs about one of jamaica ’ s most prominent and glamorous political families, her own manley family. yesterday, i was fortunate enough to meet for the first time, ms. rachel manley, an absolutely charming and endearing woman who is utterly passionate and compassionate about caribbean regionalism. she gifted me with personally signed copies of her awardwinning trilogy of memoirs, requested that i read them at my leisure, warning that afterwards she would quiz me on certain aspects of her three books. well, never one to fail an exam, last night and early this morning i skimmed through her trilogy and found them very relevant to the ongoing discourse on the future of caribbean integration, nation building and development. the first book in the trilogy