Caribbean Community (CARICOM) officials have called for a stop to this kind of entertainment, voicing their strong opposition to the alarming trend of glorifying violence in the Caribbean entertainment sector.
Recently, Grenada’s Prime Minister, Dickon Mitchell, highlighted the critical need for coordinated action to address the growing issue of crime and violence afflicting the region during the 46th Regular Meeting of the Conference of the Heads of Government of CARICOM, which was held in Guyana. His speech focused mostly on denouncing attitudes and songs that encourage crime and violence.
- Advertisement -
The prime minister of Grenada declared, “Crime, violence, and public safety, it is a matter of fundamental importance to CARICOM.”
Prime Minister Mitchell highlighted the concerning rise of this tendency in the entertainment industry of the Region, especially in the southern Caribbean noting, “The Caribbean has produced some of the world’s most renowned entertainers, from Machel Montano to the Mighty Sparrow…to Bob Marley. Their lyrics have always been inspiring, uplifting, funny, entertaining, but they never promoted violence, they never encouraged violence, they never glorified violence, they never denigrated women.”
To do this, the leader of the Caribbean demanded that encouraging and upbeat material be promoted. The importance of the creative industries in the region was also emphasized by Prime Minister Mitchell as a means of securing the ideals of Caribbean civilization for future generations and fostering a more promising future.
“We are not here to say that you do not have the right to your cultural expressions, artistic expression, (and) poetic lifestyle but all societies have to again, determine what our values are,” the head of CARICOM said. He said that although it appears like normalizing and mainstreaming violence and celebrating criminality is happening, CARICOM leaders are certain that it shouldn’t be.
Additionally, Prime Minister Mitchell said, “Heads have committed to ensuring that we liberally, strategically and resourcefully commence the process across all spectrums on the issue of how we can use our creative…to bring us back to where we were.”
He clarified that CARICOM aspires to be a constructive and motivating entertainment business. “We are not here to talk censorship, we are not here to curtail anyone’s right to speak or to say what they want, what we are saying is that we need to encourage positive inspiring content, that looks after our young people that encourages them to appreciate that they don’t need to die at 20 or 21 years,” Mitchell emphasized.
