Joan Gordon Webley / PNP Caretaker for East Rural St. Andrew / Former Head of the Caribbean Democratic Union / Ambassador and Advisor to the Grenadian PM
I live in Kingston and St Andrew, Jamaica, but I was born in Hanover, which is the other end of the island.
At the age of seven, I migrated to the United Kingdom, to Wolverhampton. Because I was so young, I didn’t really miss Jamaica – apart from the climate. One of the things I cherished at school was the teachers – they were always willing to help. As I grew though, I came into a lot of prejudices: it was the time of Enoch Powell and his rivers-of-blood speech. So that made it a little bitter.
When I started out along my career path, I wanted to be a nurse. But the attitudes I encountered in the hospitals were not very nice. It was a real eye-opener for me. My main challenge though, was that I couldn’t stand the cold in England!
I got into politics when I came back to Jamaica, becoming the youngest female Member of Parliament at 28. I was in the House of Representatives for two terms, and then I served in the Senate. My political career was something that just “happened” to me. It wasn’t because of any particular ideology or party: I’d been working with communities through the Jamaica College service club and seeing things happening that I did not like. That spurred me to go into politics.
I’m one of those people that when there’s something that ought to be changed, instead of grumbling about it, you do something about it.
My husband and I were the first couple to be married in Parliament, but sadly he died five years later, so I ended up raising my two daughters, Joanna and Joan, alone. I don’t know what it is not to work seven days a week, nearly 24 hours a day. When school was over, I would pick up my daughters, and they’d be doing their schoolwork in the back of the van while I was visiting in the constituency.
I served in government for about 15 years, and during that time I travelled a lot. I became the Executive Director of the Caribbean Democrat Union, which linked like-minded parties throughout the Caribbean; I also became the Chairman of the first Women’s Movement within the Caribbean and the Vice-Chairman of the first Women’s International Union. At one point, I was the Ambassador-at-Large to the Grenadian government.
I don’t know what it is to sit still. I am still heavily involved in my political party, though I’m no longer an MP. My girls keep me pretty busy. I do a lot of interior decorating and I also have my coffee farm in the Blue Mountains. I’ve always been interested in growing; in the UK, we only had a little plot of land behind the house, but I would plant carrots and tomatoes to give away to the neighbours. There’s nothing as comforting, or as calming, as being among plants.
I don’t know if I stopped to think, when I was young, about the future I wanted for the world. But for my daughters and myself, my motto has always been: “Do as much as you can, for as many as you can, for as long as you can.”
Joan Gordon Webley, Mother of Joan ‘Nanook’ Webley / Lawyer, Activist, Artist
As told to Selena Schleh
