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NEW YORK, USA (SHUZZR PR): Since his incarceration, Dancehall Superstar Vybz Kartel has been breaking bars locally and internationally. Just weeks ago the artiste’s literary work- namely his book “The Voice Of The Jamaican Ghetto”, was placed on the shelves at the prestigious Princeton University.
Princeton University is regarded by many as one of the most prestigious tertiary institutions in the world, and is often compared with Harvard in debates about the best universities in the United States of America. The university has one of the most robust matriculation criteria globally, and currently serves as the alma mater of former US presidents, John F. Kennedy, who later transferred to Harvard, James Madison and Woodrow Wilson. America’s first African-American First Lady, Michelle Obama, also studied at Princeton University before pursuing law at Harvard Law School.
However the calls and pleas from several Jamaicans namely Professor Carolyn Cooper for the book to be added to the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) readings have been largely ignored. Professor Cooper has also earned the ire and condemnation from many who dwell in the ‘upper echelon’ of the Jamaican
society.
In a response to our inquiry at the University, Fernado Acosta-Rodriguez, Librarian for America, Iberian and Latino Studies of the Princeton University Library states “I am mainly responsible for developing Princeton University Library’s collections of books and other materials published in the Spanish and Portuguese speaking world. I, however, am from the Caribbean (from Puerto Rico, specifically) and am personally interested in the history and cultures of the region as a whole. Several years ago, my African American Studies colleague, Emily Belcher, and I, became increasingly aware of how difficult it was to acquire books published in Jamaica and the West Indies in general. It was then recommended that we establish a book acquisition contract with Alan Moss, Ltd., a one-man operation based in Barbados.
Mr. Moss would travel every year across most of the West Indies acquiring books and periodicals on behalf of research libraries based in the United States and other parts of the world, including Princeton.”
He added, “Princeton chose to establish a contract for the acquisition of books published in the Caribbean, including Jamaica, with Barlovento. We asked that book vendor to acquire for Princeton books that represented and documented all political and cultural points of view, and to pay particular attention to grassroots organizations and to the popular voices of the region. We believe that this broad and inclusive approach to the development of our library collections will serve well both current and future generations of students and scholars. It was in that spirit that the book vendor recently acquired a copy of Vybz Kartel’s ‘The voice of the Jamaican Ghetto’ for Princeton, and also why we were happy to receive it and permanently add it to our library collection”.
This newest exposure proves that the Voice Of The Jamaican Ghetto, a book authored by controversial dancehall artiste Vybz Kartel and his business associate Michael Dawson, is still going places despite receiving some amount of resistance in Jamaica.
– Shuzzr