The recent outcry surrounding the case of Donna-Lee
Donaldson really highlights how we are as a people and a nation. All over social media, the
common thought is “Justice for Donna-Lee”. So many people are following up on this
case, and I can imagine that yes, the family needs answers, as well as everyone
that is invested in this case. I was on social media, specifically Instagram and
I happened to come across a video of a group of people led by LA Lewis demanding
justice for Donna-Lee. While this may be genuine, I put to you that as a nation,
we are a bunch of hypocrites!
Let me first put this out there, I am NOT saying that people
do not have the right to be angry, the right to protest, the right to demand
answers, the right to their opinions, and I am not saying that the family does not deserve closure in this case. However,
I have a question for all the protestors, those on social media, and those invested
in this case, where was and is the outcry for Jasmine Dean, for our missing children,
and the many missing persons in Jamaica? Why is it that we did not put the same energy into
demanding Justice for Jasmine Dean? The answer is simple, we are a bunch of
hypocrites! We are only interested in justice for those who we know about.
Yolanda Beckford, Christopher Murray, Shinell Douglas,
Tanisha James, Tajae Hylton, Merlin Taylor, Shamilla Williams and Tava-Goy
Tavares. Do you know what all those persons have in common? They are also missing,
but you did not know that did you? Even if you knew, do you even care? I bet
you have no clue who they are. But you know Donna-Lee don’t know? What is the
difference between her and them? She is popular and they are not. Do you think
if Donna-Lee was just another missing person on the JCF web page we would care
so much? Obviously not! We don't even know who Yolanda Beckford is.
Whenever I read about the Donna-Lee case from our news source
this is what I see “in the case of the disappearance of social media
personality Donna-Lee Donaldson.” Emphasis added. That was taken from
the Jamaica Gleaner. Is it that we are more interested in justice for Donna-Lee
because she is popular? Is it that we care less about Jasmine Dean because she was
just a blind student at the UWI, in other words, she is just another Jamaican? Just another missing person? After all, people go missing all the time right? Where is
the outcry for the thousands of missing children in Jamaica?
I see no concern for the number of children and other
persons that goes missing in Jamaica. “Data from the Child Protection &
Family Services Agency (CPFSA) show that between 2017 and 2021, some 6,686
children were reported missing” Gleaner April 9, 2022. Where are the outcry, the
protests, and the social media sensations demanding justice for the hundreds of
children that go missing each year? Oh, these children are not popular,
nobody knows them.
It is so funny how we act over people we consider “popular”
and how we care less about people we consider as “just another person”. Jasmine
Dean deserves justice, but guess what, we don’t remember about her, do we remember
that emotional video that her father did? Are you telling me that nobody knows
about what happened to her? Jasmine’s father deserves closure too, but I bet your
popular social media sensations don’t care. I bet your popular protestors don’t
even remember her, I bet your outcries fall short of the hundreds of missing children.
Is Donna-Lee’s life worth more than the others?
It is full time we more pass our hypocrisies and not just demand
justice for one but justice for all. Just critiquing not criticizing!
