Isiah Mentor sings against vigilante justice
Reggae artiste Isiah Mentor has a message for would-be vigilantes and citizens who engage in reprisal killings: leave all vengeance to God.
The song, God Ah Go Deal With Them, will be released officially on iTunes on his own Village Roots label in October.
“I wrote the song because I know that the ultimate punishment is from the Creator, and I want to promote a form of anti-vigilantism. I don’t feel that people should take up the law in their own hands and do reprisal killings, and that is one of the biggest problems we face today in Jamaica. We need to leave justice, if you can, to the law,” he said.
The song is inspired by the rash of killings of young schoolchildren, especially girls, in recent times.
“The murderers often have anxiety and paranoia over their terrible acts. They are going through torture before the Almighty finally takes them. We leave all vengeance to the Almighty and when their judgement comes, it will be triple; we don’t want our citizens to engage in reprisals,” he said.
In April of this year, there was a mob killing of a 26-year-old man, Miguel Mullings, by citizens who were seeking vengeance for the death of an eight-yearold schoolchild, Shantae Skyers, whose decomposing body was found in bushes in Blue Hole, Sterling Castle Heights, St Andrew.
Isiah Mentor will be releasing an anti-gang song later this year called Gangland, a song aimed at pushing gangs out of the urban communities and promoting good police community initiatives that limit the power of gangs.
He is firm believer in nationalism and patriotism, even in the face of shifting cultural values.
“The Jamaica I know is changing, and there are people hell-bent on changing our culture, our society and our value systems. We need good, decent, righteous citizens to stand up and take our country back,” he said.