Jamaica Arise: The 75 year History of the PNP (1938-2013)

1. What was the role that the PNP played in the anti-colonial struggle?

When the PNP was created Jamaica was an European colony. The PNP was against the inequality and the oppression ejerced by the colonizers, so they were willing to decolonize Jamaica.
They were following the ideas of Marcus Garvey, who also was fighting against the colonization. I(t could be said that thanks to him and his ideas, the PNP was born.

2. What was/is the role of women throughout the 75 years of the PNP? (give at least 3 examples)

In the period of the PNP, women's rights were impulsed. Equal pay for men and women and Maternity Leave were achieve thanks to the Women's movement in the 70's. 

There was a lot of important women in those years. One of them was Edna Manley. She did sculptures, and created the "negro art", by mixing culture with the things that she did. That way, people got closer to her art and could learn more about her vision of life. Portia Simpson was also really important, because she was Prime Minister of Jamaica twice, this should be really difficult because Jamaica is a very sexist country.

3. How did the implementation of democratic socialism affect the Jamaican people?

The context of Cold War affected the image of the country to the eyes of they rest of the world, because anything that didn't followed the model of capitalism, was practically communism, even if it wasn't like that.
Just like any country under a communist system, it was believed that the economy in Jamaica was really bad. This is said even in our current times, whit any government close to the left, even if it's not communist.

4. How does the PNP justify privatization and its role in creating a path of neoliberal reforms in Jamaica?

The privatization was a way to deal with inflation, along with the globalization of the country. That way, the administration could collect founds to fix the economic problems the country had at the moment.
The neoliberal reforms are principally because the world is changing, and the system of the country should change too, otherwise, it's gonna be stuck in the past and the economy would be really damaged. The reforms are necessary to keep moving forward.

5. How do you compare the role of PNP in the film, Ghett'a life (Lenny Thompson, Derrick's father) versus the documentary?

In the film the PNP was portrayed like an organization that doesn't care about the people, but about the territories that they had and the power they could get. They were more concerned about the other party more that doing the right thing for the people. In the documentary, the PNP cares a lot about the population, their needs and their rights.