BROTHERS AND SISTERS of the "Tribe of Gone-A-Farrin" came home last week to run mout' and palave about this wonderful addictive, beloved, irritating, but-we'll-never-leave-it place called Jamaica. They came from the United Kingdom and from Canada and from the US of A, some 500 of them for the Second Diaspora Conference.

In every contingent, there were stories to be unearthed of the remarkable voyage of our people who took on the world outside, wrestled with some fearsome demons, conquered and lived to tell the tale today. It is easy to make fun of the eccentricities of some of those who have come back to settle after years of fighting a battle from which nuff of our young hotties would run.

We speak particularly of those who went to the UK. The English working-class accents, the seeming refusal to accept that Jamaica has changed after 40-50 years, the compulsion to build castles on the hills, abounding with turrets and arches - serve to label some of our returning residents as "a little mad". Call them naïve but you may want to look at them in a different light.

These days, things in the UK are not like they used to be when they landed there. For one, black people are no longer invisible and there are laws against racism. Many of our kin Up There are in positions of influence which they would not have imagined, after the ill treatment of the past. Some really have attained heights unimaginable.

Think of a black man, from Mizpah, Manchester, Jamaica, taking his seat in the House of Lords. We speak of Sir Bill Morris, Lord Handsworth, who has become only the second man of colour to rise to such eminence.

He followed the legendary Sir Learie Constantine, iconic figure in West Indies cricket, first of our Caribbean people to be so honoured. William "Bill" Morris broke down many barriers, especially prejudice in trade unionism and created a more equitable life at the workplace, not just for himself but for Britons of all races.

Which history book will let our children and their children know about the man from Jamaica who today is on the Board of the Bank of England, a man who was asked to use his organisational skills to help edge the House of Lords away from extinction?

With all of that, the son of Manchester, chancellor of the University of Technology, carries himself with quiet dignity, not a trace of the "nuffness" which afflicts far, far lesser men. With quiet confidence, at the diaspora conference, he moved through the crowd, sharing with fellow graduates of the "diaspora school of hard knocks",

the latest developments in the contemporary journey in a new world, a reminder that while things are not all perfect, they're certainly better than they were before. thanks to brave men and women whose names are not on any Honours List but to whom much is due.

AMONG THE DELEGATIONS at the conference, the Canadian branch of the "Jamma Family" set a benchmark for others to follow,

I thought. A significant number of the places on their delegation were allotted to young people, grandsons and granddaughters of our people who took on a new life in the often frozen North but who never forgot the warmth of the sun where they came from.

For me, this was the heart and pulse of what the diaspora story will have to be - inoculating a new generation with love and respect for this country, persuading them to care enough to want to keep the familial ties strong.

I asked some of the young Canadian-Jamaicans why they had agreed to participate in the conference which was essentially an event for middle-agers.

"We want to experience for ourselves and to know where we came from. We want to get to know what our parents and grandparents have been talking about. Family ties are very important to us."

Our American family members were on spot too, assertive (even aggressive), as usual, but still committed and "boasie" in the best way. What I found interesting was the wide area of the States over which our people have settled. We're everywhere from "sea to shining sea", embedded as "the American people" but Jamaican still the same.

WAS THE CONFERENCE worth all the effort? One participant slammed the whole event. He was displeased at the level of the discourse. He saw the conference as "a waste of taxpayers' money".

There was nothing in it for the poor, he said. (Later, I learned that he had what we call "issues"). I'm sure he knew full well that the participants (himself included) paid their own way to attend. Such courtesies as were offered were not lavish by any means.

But what really was the point of the conference? Someone else persisted, "Is this diaspora thing an indulgence, or does it have real value?"

Senator Delano Franklyn, who headed the hard-working management team, insists that the efforts of the past two years in building bridges with fellow Jamaicans abroad, has been worth it. We will all be the better for this and future endeavours, he insists.

Senator Franklyn concurs that two conferences between 2004 and now do not a diaspora movement make, but the will to succeed is there and will make the difference. There's quite a lot of ground to cover and others to whom I also spoke were highly optimistic for the future, even if there are thorny issues ahead.

For instance, there is the demand being made by some of our people Out There, to be given an active role in the political process here.
Some already see diaspora-people as senators. Others want to vote in general elections.

How would such proposals fit into our form of democracy and even if amendments to the constitution were to be made, there are still doubts if it would work.

A diaspora constituency, as big as the numbers at home, is a tempting target for politicians eager to expand their territory, but would they be so eager if the vote were to be against them? Only time will tell if the expectations can be met. Meantime, so long as our people keep talking, not fighting, let the diaspora roll.

SAY WHAT? One little kink remains to be ironed out. Exactly how is the word DIASPORA pronounced? No two people seem to agree on it. Before we go much further, let's decide on which is the one. and let EVERYBODY use it, nuh! That's a good place as any to start.

Mothers can't father

Trousers in Denim

Cream of the 'Crop'