c1977
PEACE TREATY SPECIAL * JACOB MILLER * TOP RANKING * JA
In this cut, with a lively and positive vibe, Jacob Miller sings about a 'Peace treaty', and 'Jungle Heights' and 'Tivoli Heights'. 'Tivoli' and 'Jungle' refer to two of the most vociferous rival gangs operating, at the time, in the so-called 'garrison' communities in Kingston including Southside, Gully, Rema, Wareika and Waterhouse, which are, in the words of one resident, "Rule by de politricksters." The song celebrates the cessation of hostilities between the two rival gangs which was brought about, in part, when Jacob Miller brought together on-stage Claudie Massop and Tony Welch, leaders respectively of the Tivoli and Jungle gangs. The gangs are now known as 'posses', that are "led by local "dons", which are in league with political party figures, established urban political strongholds known as "garrison" communities, veritable fortresses completely controlled by one political party or the other, "states within a state" in which those who sought to oppose the dominant party "would definitely be in danger of suffering serious damage to their possessions or person." (National Committee on Political Tribalism, 1997). A 'COAV' (Children in Organised Armed Violence) report states " The division of inner-city neighbourhoods according to political allegiance occurred in the 1940s and1950s, with party supporters choosing to live together in certain sections (yards) and rival party supporters forced out of others. This segregation of certain areas occurred some twenty years before the creation of politically controlled housing schemes. The growth of these divided, garrison communities in Kingston, such as Craig Town, Tivoli Gardens and others, has been one of the key factors in the development of organised violence in Jamaica and has “fostered the escalation of political violence and nurtured the growth of gun and drug crime". For the full COAV report go here.
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