"Everybody worked together..." - Sir Howard Cooke on his boyhood days

Jamaica is now mourning the passing of former Governor General Sir Howard Cooke, who died on Friday, at age 98.

On July 24, 2012, as part of RJR's reflection on Jamaica's 50 years of political Independence, Sir Howard Cooke spoke with Earl Moxam about his many years of public life, spanning various fields.

In this excerpt from the interview, he speaks of his early years as a boy growing up in a rural St. James village.

You may click on the arrow above to access audio of the selected portion of the interview.

EM: Sir Howard… What is your own perspective on how well we have done in 50 years of Independence?

HC: I am one of those who will fully subscribe to saying that Jamaica has been great. We are a great people. We have done a lot and we have developed more than people think. So I am one of those who subscribe to the idea that we are a developing nation.

EM: In terms of those things that we have done well, what for you would be some of the most outstanding things?

HC: As a matter of fact, when I think of Jamaica, I think of development, socially, economically and spiritually. Socially, we have made great strides: housing, education, agriculture, sports, so many fields of endeavour!

EM: Describe a typical village for me when you were growing up.

HC:  Remember, in those days we had no electricity and we had to come together, whatever we were doing. If you were having a funeral, it was the funeral of the village; if you were having a wedding, nobody could say ‘you can’t come to my wedding,’ because it was the wedding of the village, and so everybody worked together to build the community. We had the Agricultural Society, the various organizations; all of them had to work closely together so that we could really improve the situation.

EM: Would you say that we have grown apart at the community level since then?

HC: I don’t think we are as cohesive now as we were then. For every activity in the community was related to everybody else. I think we were kinder to each other, we respected each other’s needs, and when you were poor, the rest of the village looked after you.

EM: So, you must be distressed at the level of crime and violence we’ve had in recent times.

HC: I am quite distressed! Because, in those days, when you heard of one murder for a whole year in Jamaica, you thought it was a terrible thing! So, the crime and the lack of respect for one another, and people’s attitude, they all concern me very much now.

EM: Why do you think this has happened?

HC: For one thing, the communities have grown in number, and as people grow together in number… many people coming together clash.

NOTE: click on the arrow above to access audio of the selected portion of the interview.