Imani M Tafari-Ama

Lead in the Veins Imani M Tafari-Ama

Lead in the Veins is Dr. Imani Tafari-Ama's critical synopsis of development concerns confronting Jamaica - including unresolved issues of colonialism and its aftermath; political complicity with violence, masculinity and the incorporation of some men into the prevailing discourse of violence. Passion, love and loss also take their place in this fast-paced text, while the final words are devoted to an exploration of philosophical and existential questions. Dr. Imani Tafari-Ama, who holds a Ph. D. in Developmental Studies from the Institute of Social Studies and Erasmus University in The Hague, The Netherlands, has done extensive research and development work in the areas of gender, justice, violence, sexuality, poverty and political economy. She is also an expert in the use of development communication techniques including audiovisual documentation, workshops, drama, focus group discussions, face-to-face and telephone interviews and surveys as data-gathering instruments. Her Doctoral thesis, Blood, Bullets and Bodies: Sexual Politics Below Jamaica's Poverty Line (2006), now a published book, is a comprehensive case study of Southside, an inner-city community in Kingston, Jamaica, which explores historical and contemporary connections among bourgeois democracy, urban violence, political economy, sexuality and identity politics to show the complex contradictions that are inherent to the Northern Caribbean island. A Pan-Afrikan visionary, Dr. Tafari-Ama also lectures on a wide range of topics including identity politics, violence, gender and embodiment, feminism/womanism, and Participating Action Research.