Dear Editor,
The young people of Joshua Generation, the Youth Arm of Love and Faith World Outreach Ministries, have come to the realization that we must take a stand and let our voices and opinions be heard. We are cognizant of the fact that in today’s society there are several factors/media that influence the behaviour patterns and social norms of our youth today. We are also cognizant of the fact that one of the major players of the aforementioned is music and subsequently the entertainment industry.
These exhibit pornography and vulgarity which support a number of social ills through the promotion of obscene music and themes. These ills include many that we, as a country, are trying to combat such as domestic violence, substance abuse and teenage pregnancy, to name a few. As Kingdom Youth, we’ve decided that we will take a stand and make it known that we do not appreciate and will not condone Hits and Jams bringing artistes like Alkaline to our land. This is a position we maintain in relation to this particular artiste and any others whose music and lifestyle do nothing to positively uplift our youth. It has been made public that Alkaline, Tommy Lee and other artistes of similar nature have been barred from performing in some countries, therefore begging the question as to why we should expose our youth to this level of vulgarity.
Alkaline, Tommy Lee and other current dancehall artistes leave nothing to the imagination and fill the minds of our youth with pornographic lyrics which would only lead them to want to experiment, things that no teenager should be thinking about. The degradation of women in the songs sung by Alkaline, eg, ‘Things Me Love’ and ‘Live Life’ would only encourage more young boys to degrade young women and cause more young women to feel that there is nothing wrong with acting out what is being asked of them in the music, as that is what the young boys would expect.
Now if we try to imagine our teenage sons and daughters expecting of each other what Alkaline is singing then we should realize that we are in a downward spiral as it relates to morals in our society there will be an increase in teenage pregnancy and a further increase in single parent homes. We must face certain facts. Whether we like it or not, whether it should be or not, a lot of our young people are more influenced by the songs that they listen to than their parents. And while it may cause people to say let’s blame the parents, that wouldn’t solve the problem since it would not change the fact that young people are most influenced by music.
Why now? First we must say that our Pastor has encouraged us to be change agents and to recognize that we are capable and well able to create the change that we seek in our society. Second, we have come to the realization that the music industry has a hold on a lot of our youths as they meditate on it day and night. The resulting effect of our youths meditating on immoral music day and night (as we always see them with headphones in their ears) will be actions synonymous with the vile music that they are indulging in daily. We then sit back and wonder why it is that there is a dramatic change in the walk, talk, moods and attitudes of our youths as we allow entertainment groups like Hits and Jams to bring in and promote artistes whose music acts as a depreciation agent for our moral values and a multiplier for vulgarity.
Where do we go from here? First we are calling on Hits and Jams to review their decision to bring Alkaline if they value the morals of this society above the dollars they are likely to make. We implore the government as guardians of our country to recognize what a disaster it would be to give Alkaline the satisfaction of coming all the way to Guyana to spread his immoral message to our Guyanese young people. We are calling on our President who has the ability to withdraw his support of Alkaline coming to this country to do so, and ban all radio stations from playing his music to show that he understands the negative effects of such vile music on our society.
Yours faithfully,
Clayon Halley
For Joshua Generation
Youth Arm of Love and Faith
World Outreach Ministries