by Dr Neals J Chitan
I’ve seen it too many times not to believe it and build a theory on it! People whose attention is target-focused on winning, achieving and succeeding are less likely to get distracted by less important issues and engage in violent behaviour.
It was Monday, 6 August 2012, and I was visiting Grenada from my then foreign hometown of Toronto, during the London Summer Olympic Games. The single event we were all awaiting had finally arrived, and among the more experienced and seasoned athletes of the “bigger world” was 19-year-old Kirani James kneeling at the blocks to represent the Spice Isle in the final of the men’s 400 m.
On that day, I was in the town of Gouyave myself watching the crowd as they listened with bated breath for the starter’s pistol, and the race was off! As their young hometown boy tore up the track and put on the show of a lifetime, people were jumping and clapping in exuberance as he straightened up off the corner to the home stretch, exploding to the finish line in 43.94, winning GOLD!!
The crowd instantly erupted in jubilant celebration, hugging and shouting victory as their local hero, now an international star, in his usual humble sportsmanship way, hugged and congratulated all his opponents. It was instant mas on the streets of Gouyave as DJs kept the crowd jumping and waving their national flags, and I found myself in the thick of it. What was very noticeable, though, was the unity that people were enjoying. Not one person got hurt! There was no need for police intervention as police were celebrating too! Despite the revellers may have come from feuding communities, no gun shots were heard, no one was hurt, as the celebrations went far into the night and next day.
Similarly, I saw it again on 13 June 2019, in Toronto when my home team Toronto Raptors put a licking on Golden State Warriors to claim NBA Championship in front a home crowd of an estimated one million viewing outdoor on a jumbo screen downtown Toronto. Again, as the clock ran out and the final shot sank in the basket to give Toronto a 114-110 championship win, the crowd erupted in celebration. An estimated 2 million people from all races, ethnicity, religions and professions dropped their differences for the moment and exploded on the streets of Toronto in national unity, embracing, hugging, shouting and celebrating. It is interesting to note that despite the crowd, Toronto Police Service reported no violence!
And most recently we saw another case in St Lucia, as the massive crowd of people from different communities, ghettos, professions, denominations and classes watched the nail-biting 100 m women’s final at the Paris Olympics 2024, on big screen downtown Castries. The crowd erupted in mass jubilation as 23-year-old Julien Alfred smashed the finish line in 10.72 seconds and brought home St Lucia’s first Olympic medal — GOLD! Again, I watched the celebration as thousands jumped, hugged, shouted and waved their nation’s flag in national pride and excitement, but to date, I have had no news of violence during the celebrations in an island which has seen a steady increase in violence and homicides.
By the way, a similar crowd and excitement was seen in Kingstown, St Vincent as Shafiqua Maloney took to the starting line for SVG in the women’s 800m race. Although she did not medal, that didn’t stop the people’s celebration just for getting them to the finals. However, again with no incidences of violence or harm to anyone.
What can we learn as a region? It would seem fair to say that the energy, synergy and unity that occur when people are focused on winning and succeeding can be an antidote to the crime and violence we see erupting in our region.
Yep! Instead of “an eruption of gun violence” why not “another eruption of jubilation” as Caribbean people unite to win bigger and better?
If winning indeed causes unity and peace among the population as seen in these cases, then I hereby challenge the governments of our region to engineer and design opportunities for our people to unite and win at a personal, family, community and national level. It may be the antidote to crime and violence we are looking for in the region.
Dr Neals Chitan is an International Social Skill Consultant and Crime Reduction Specialist who holds a PhD in Social and Behavioural Sciences and currently works in Grenada. He is the President/Founder of Motiv-8 For Change International a Toronto-based Social Skill Agency and can be reached from North America at 647-692-6330 and locally 473-416-8377 or at [email protected]
