CARIMAC Times 2016: The JREAM Edition Journalists Reviving Awareness of what Matters | Page 105

Photo by Marlon James

is, ‘Please, don’t put out your child. Nuh care
what the community want say, nuh care what
pastor want say, nuh care whosoever want say.
Ah your pickney, make dem stay where dem
deh. If so be the case, where you fear for them
to die, seek help and try to support your child
as best as possible.’ ”
Romario Wanliss
Burton’s message may have helped Romario
Wanliss, had his parents heard it years ago.
Like Burton, Wanliss’s parents were content
with their child’s whims. To others, Wanliss was
considered a tomboy. But Wanliss described
himself as adventurous, a child who loved to

play outside, and a child who loved to be the
“bad guy” in a game of cops and robbers.
“In my eyes, I was just me,” he said.
Wanlisss was born and raised in Montego Bay,
the eldest of six children. When his mother
migrated to England and took his brother, fiveyear-old Wanliss was left with his other brother
and father. Wanliss said his father was strict,
and he and his brother spent most of their
time in the confines of their yard, forbidden
from wandering on the streets. As a result, he
never truly experienced discrimination from
his community.

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