'JA-FAKE-ANS' BLAMED FOR GLAMORISING YARDIE GANGS

A group of young people from the most deprived tenement yards of Jamaica
have been flown to Britain to help fight the growing lure of the "Yardie"
gangster lifestyle among British urban youth.

Police, community leaders and youth workers are concerned that the
reputation of Jamaican criminals for fearlessness, fast living and
expensive clothes and cars is drawing young Britons to seek to emulate them
by turning to drugs and gun crime.

Increasingly, those responsible for so-called Yardie turf war shootings in
cities such as London, Birmingham and Bristol are British-born, and the
speech and mannerisms of the slums of west Kingston, Jamaica, are prevalent
among black, white and Asian urban Britons, sometimes referred to as
"Ja-fake-ans".

Backed by the British Council and the Jamaican Tourist Board, the Area
Youth Foundation (AYF) has arrived to counteract this dangerous
misinterpretation of Jamaican culture often espoused by those who have
never visited the Caribbean island.

Their visit has taken them to some of London's poorest estates, to
Caribbean carnivals and to inner-city districts in Yorkshire and the
North-west.

Visiting Liverpool last week, Omaall Wright, 22, from the violence-torn
Denham Town district of Kingston, said he was concerned by the attitude of
some young men in Britain.

"I think they expected us to be ruffians. Bad boys out of Jamaica. Some of
them were behaving like they were bad kids, they spoke with Jamaican
accents but they weren't really Jamaicans," he said. "They thought that was
how people were in Jamaica. That our drug culture was big, that everyone
was a 'rudy' and loved to fight."

Mr Wright, who graduated from college as a drama teacher and is also a
performing artist, said he hoped to show young people that most Jamaicans
abhorred the violence that afflicts the country's poorest areas. He said:
"I tell them they must count their blessings in this rich country, to grasp
the positive and reach their goals."

Mr Wright's advice is credible on housing estates because he has come from
a far harsher environment. "My brother was killed by the security forces.
I've seen my friends and other relatives killed just like that in the
gutter," he said. "When I share experiences like those, they believe me
when I say there is a need for peace. My message is stronger because of my
experiences."

Teenagers who have joined the AYF in Jamaica have managed to turn away from
the gang culture to embark on careers in law, the police, the army and the
media industries. Others have established their own businesses.

AYF students are drawn to the project by its reputation for arts
productions, which provide a platform for building their confidence and
introducing them to other skills.

Sheila Graham, joint founder and executive manager of the project, said the
Jamaican young people were using their abilities in the performing arts to
engage with British youth and put across a serious message. "The power of
music is greatly under-estimated," she said.

In Liverpool, the AYF met up with other young artists from around the
world, who were performing for the Queen and local people as part of the
city's bid to be named European Capital of Culture.

Mr Wright and his compatriots sang a series of self-composed pieces, one of
which included the lyrics: "You don't have to be a roughneck to get power
and respect, you don't have to move along with the crowd ... I don't need a
gun to be a man."

Among those listening was Leroy Ruglass, a rap group member and a visual
artist from the inner-city Liverpool district of Toxteth.

Ruglass, whose father was Jamaican, said: "I have read so much publicity
about Yardies and subconsciously you buy into the lie and expect Jamaicans
to do the walk and talk."

But [the AYF] are showcasing Jamaica; it's not about guns and rough, raw
and ready. They have got the Jamaican accent but not the baggage you expect
to come with it."