CHAKA-CHAKA SPELLING
Mi heart full dis week. An mi have nuff tings fi seh. So mi nuh have nuh space fi nuh half a column inna Chaka-Chaka. A pure Prapa-Prapa. All who get lef, can go read di English version ya so.
PRAPA-PRAPA SPELIN
Fram wi a pikni, mi did nuo se Kingsley neva aadineri. Im did brait laik maanin staar. An im a ‘entrepreneur’ lang bifuor im did nuo dat de French word. Di Seventh-Day Adventist Church did chrai ton di uol wi ina kyapitalis. Dem did av wan invesment pruogram fi mek moni. Evri ier, evribadi get wan likl moni fram di chorch fi inves ina som likl bizniz fi mek di moni gruo.
Wan ier, Kingsley bout 13 ar so, im disaid fi tek di moni mek biskit. An im mek nof moni. Im ton iin di moni tu di chorch. Lang aafta dat, wi si Kingsley stil a sel biskit. Dat de taim, im a get di flowa an shuga an aal wa waantin outa fi wi uona kichin. So wi aks im, ou invesment don an im stil a sel biskit. Im se, im did inves fi di Laad an im a inves fi imself nou. Aal wi kuda du, a laaf an gwaan bai biskit fram im.
WAN NYUU MAGL A BYUUTI
Wen Kingsley ton big man, im stil a inves. Bot a no ongl fi imself. Im elp nof smadi divelop dem talent. Im inves ina ediekshan, ina kolcha an ina di byuuti bizniz. Wan a Kingsley bigis invesment a fi mek blak uman ina disya konchri nuo se wi byuutiful. Dat a no wan likl sinting. Luk omoch gyal pikni a gruo op iina Jamieka, aal nou, an a tingk se dem ogli! Dem blak, dem ier no gud, dem nuoz flat an dem no shiep laik Coca Cola bakl.
Wan taim, Lois Samuels, wan a Pulse suupamagl, we byuutiful kyaahn don, tel mi se somtaim shi stil fiil laik se shi ogli. It ort mi tu mi aat. Mi nuo shi naa go shiem fi mi tel unu. A no shii fi shiem. A di wan dem we chriit di likl blak pikni dem laik se dem a no notn. Luk pan di adz dem fi di Jamieka fambili we aal kain a bizniz put out! Di faada blak, di son blak, di mada bruon, an di daata bruon. Wa rang wid di likl blak gyal dem? Dem kyaahn go ina adz?
Wen flat-nuoz, jredlaks Zahra Redwood win Pulse Miss Jamaica Universe Contest ina 2007, mi glad bag bos! Kingsley gi Jamieka wan nyuu magl a byuuti. A di sed siem ting Tammy Chin se ina 2009, wen shi did a pafaam fi Caribbean Fashionweek. Shi stap sing an shi se tu Kingsley: “You’ve definitely changed so many girls’ lives; and you’ve changed the way people even look at themselves and what we thought beautiful was.”
Nof a di fashan magl dem outa di Pulse Modelling Agency de pan aal kain a tap-a-tap magaziin kova aal uova di worl. Ina Aktuoba 2015, Vogue magaziin did put out wan stuori, “5 Jamaican Top Models Who Changed the Face of Fashion.” Grace Jones, Stacey McKenzie, Nadine Willis, Robyn Mackintosh an Jeneil Williams. Tuu a dem – Nadine an Jeneil – a Pulse magl.
BIEBI BRODZ
Ina Juun 2018, wen Kingsley torn 65, mi did rait wan kalam fi selibriet im bortdie. An mi taak bout wan a di pikcha dem ina di invitieshan tu im bortdie paati: “My favourite picture in the invitation is of Kingsley, me and my dolly. Mischievous people have commented on the white dolly. What did they expect in the 1950s? My dolly is perched on my hip, supported by my left hand. And my right hand, on my baby brother’s shoulder, protectively holds him close.”
Mi a tuu an a aaf ier uola dan Kingsley. An mi did kaal im Biebi Brodz. Mi did chriit im laik se im a dali. A plie-plie wid im aal di taim. Wen im staat gruo op, im neva tuu laik dat. Wors laik ou im a bwai an mi a gorl. Im fiil se im big sista a chrai kanchruol im. An wi did av nof kyach op uova di 71 ier a im laif. Bot im did nuo se mi an did di de, roun im shuolda, aal di taim, a protek im. Mi neva waahn notn apn tu mi Biebi Brodz.
Mi sari mi neva nuo wen Kingsley tek sik laas mont. Im mek mistiek an neva go a dakta wen im beli tek im. Unu don nuo, nof man no laik go a dakta. Mi did rait bout dem ina mi kalam we kom out pan Mie 19. An mi puos it ya so. Mi nuo se Kingsley no ina dat de kyatigori. Im a man wid vijan. Aal nou, mi kyaahn andastan wa apn. If mi did biliiv ina uobiya, mi wuda se dem uobiya im. Mi a fi tek bad tingz mek juok. Bot, fon an juok asaid, if mi did nuo, mi wuda go a Kingsley yaad, grab im an tek im go a dakta. Ina dis ya taim, nobadi nat sopuoz fi ded fram bos apendiks. Bot a so. An mi jos a fi aksep it. Bot mi beks bad.
Kingsley did de iina Intensive Care Unit a University Hospital fi faiv wiik. An mi go de nof-nof taim. Wen mi go luk fi im wan taim, im se, “Thank you.” An mi se tu im, “We yu a tangk mi fa? Mi a fi de ya.” Mi an stil roun im shuolda. Di wait dali mash op lang-lang taim. Biebi Brodz jos gaan lef mi. Mi a go mis im fram ier tu itorniti.
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
My heart is full this week. And I have a lot to say. So I don’t have any room for two writing systems. There’s no Chaka-Chaka. It’s only Prapa-Prapa. All those who can’t keep up will have to read the English version here.
From we were children, I knew Kingsley was extraordinary. He was as bright as a morning star. And he was an ‘entrepreneur’ long before he knew that French word. The Seventh-Day Adventist Church tried to turn all of us into capitalists. They had an annual fund-raising investment programme in which the church gave small sums of money to members, which they were to invest in profit-making enterprises.
One year, when Kingsley was about 13 or so, he decided to invest in biscuits. And he made lots of money which he handed over to the church. Long after that, we noticed that Kingsley was still selling biscuits. At that time, he was getting the flour, sugar and all the rest of what he needed from our own kitchen. So we asked him how come investment was over and he was still selling biscuits. He said he had invested for the Lord and he was now investing for himself. All we could do was laugh and continue buying biscuits from him.
A NEW MODEL OF BEAUTY
When Kingsley became an adult, he was still investing. But not only for himself. He helped a lot of people to develop their talents. He invested in education, in culture and in the beauty business. One of Kingsley’s biggest investments was making black women in this country know we’re beautiful. That’s no small achievement. Even now, so many little girls are growing up in Jamaica thinking that they’re ugly! They are black, they don’t have ‘good’ hair, their nose is ‘flat’ and they aren’t shaped like a Coca Cola bottle.
Lois Samuels, one of Pulse’s absolutely beautiful supermodels, once told me that sometimes she still feels that she’s ugly. It hurt my heart so much. I know she won’t be ashamed of my disclosing that. She’s not the one to be ashamed. It’s those who treat little black children as if they have no value. Just look at the ads for the Jamaican family that all kinds of businesses put out! The father is black, the son is black, the mother is brown and the daughter is brown. What’s wrong with little black girls? They can’t be included in ads?
I was so elated when Zahra Redwood won Pulse’s Miss Jamaica Universe Contest in 2007, with her ‘flat’ nose and dreadlocks! Kingsley gave Jamaica a new model of beauty. That’s exactly what Tammy Chin said in 2009, when she was performing at Caribbean Fashionweek. She paused to address Kingsley: “You’ve definitely changed so many girls’ lives; and you’ve changed the way people even look at themselves and what we thought beautiful was.”
A lot of the fashion models from the Pulse Modelling Agency grace the covers of the top magazines all over the world. ln October 2015, Vogue magazine published a story on “5 Jamaican Top Models Who Changed the Face of Fashion.” Grace Jones, Stacey McKenzie, Nadine Willis, Robyn Mackintosh an Jeneil Williams. Two of them – Nadine an Jeneil – are Pulse models.
BABY BRODS
In June 2018, when Kingsley turned 65, I wrote a column in celebration of his birthday. And I highlighted one of the pictures in the invitation to his birthday party: “My favourite picture in the invitation is of Kingsley, me and my dolly. Mischievous people have commented on the white dolly. What did they expect in the 1950s? My dolly is perched on my hip, supported by my left hand. And my right hand, on my baby brother’s shoulder, protectively holds him close.”
I’m two and a half years older than Kingsley. And I called him Baby Brods. I did treat him like a dolly. Always playing with him. As he grew up, he wasn’t too pleased about that. Especially since he was a boy and I was a girl. It was as if his big sister was trying to control him. And we had lots of arguments over the 71 years of his life. But he knew my hand was there around his shoulder all the time, protecting him. I never ever wanted anything bad to happen to my Baby Brods.
I’m sorry I didn’t know right away when Kingsley fell ill last month. He made the mistake of not going to the doctor when his stomach became upset. It is widely known that many men do not like to go to the doctor. I wrote about them in my column published on May 9, which is here. I know Kingsley is not in that category. He’s a man of vision. Even now, I can’t understand what happened. If I believed in obeah, I would say they obeahed him. I have to joke about this awful time. It’s therapeutic. But, all joking aside, if I had known, I would have grabbed Kingsley out of his house and dragged him to the doctor. In this day and age, no one should die from a ruptured appendix. But it is what it is. And I just have to accept it. But I’m so vexed.
Kingsley was in the Intensive Care Unit at the University Hospital of the West Indies for five weeks. And I went there many times. Once, when I went to see him, he said “Thank you.” And I said to him, “Why are you thanking me? I have to be here.” My hand was still around his shoulder. The white dolly was discarded a long time ago. Baby Brods has just gone. And left me. I am going to miss him from here to eternity.
Jamaica Woman Tongue 
Yahwe or e woooo Mail: Search, Organize, Conquer
Sincerest condolences.
I feel it all your close filial love and the vexation over the cause of his death. Caroline my sister he was indeed sprecial and we loved his larger than life persona yet down to earth self. May he Rise In Power