Black Heart Man

Some time ago I attended a party and happened to be in the company of an elder statesman Jamaican politician. He commanded the centre of attention in the room and soon began to relate stories of his travels throughout the country during its early development years. He told of going to college in the United States and returning home to Jamaica and wanting reacclimatize himself with his homeland. Thus he went to live in Jamaica’s interior (which is very rural) and was gifted a little black car to move around with. As he sojourned he noticed the children happily playing and decided on befriending them to learn their traditions. He bought sweets to distribute hoping that by this kind gesture he would make friends and blend in.

Soon he noticed that as he drove around in his little black car, children were running for their lives, parents were dragging their youngsters inside homes and hastily closing doors behind them, his very appearance seemed to trigger streets teeming with playing children to resemble vast empty wastelands with not a child in sight instantaneously. He was perplexed until he was informed that his modus operandi was similar to the fabled Black Heart Man. But who was this, he had never heard of such a person. Apparently, Jamaicans believed that there was a fiendish character who roamed the country side stealing little boys and girls away from their parents, dressed in black and driving in a black car, the legend further made the stipulation that once the children were stolen they were never heard from again. Yes, he could have been mistaken for the Black Heart Man as the black suits that he wore were in vogue in the United States from where he had just newly arrived.

Of course that gentleman had to change his whole mode of dress to be accepted and later went on to become one of Jamaica’s most influential advocates. I tell this story because to this day communities and families have to remain continuously vigilant because of the real threat to children out there. Therefore, the question of how to keep kids aware of their surroundings and of such sensitive to potential danger without making them into paranoid little people, is real to all parents. Can the retelling of such fables help? Do you pass them on in their historically relevant context or do you change them up to suit your reality? I think both options can be exercised as long as the dialogue is open, children can be armed with realistic tools to assist them in protecting themselves. The prospect of having a communtiy of aware children presents a win win situation for all, in my estimation.