The Runaround

I was on track for the Olympics. Then the government tried to deport my family

- BY TAMARRI LINDO

I GREW UP in Kingston, Jamaica, in a neighbour-hood called the Spoilers—I guess what in Canada you would call a ghetto.

My parents wouldn't let me walk to school by myself. The neighbourhood was dangerous, and it was made even more so by political division. My grandmother was a member of Parliament for the left-leaning People’s National Party, and my dad organized for them as well. He often faced death threats and once an outright assassination attempt. During the 2012 election campaign, an assailant slashed his neck. My brother and I were in the crosshairs too. Once, we heard rumours that the opposing party was planning to shoot the car that took us to school, and we had to hide out at our grandmother’s for a while. Everyone in my family was on high alert. A family friend who was a member of the police force became our unofficial bodyguard.

Despite the danger that surrounded us, I thrived at school. Track and field is the most popular sport in Jamaica, and I went to one of the best high schools in the country for it. I dreamed of going to the Olympics.

In early 2019, I was on a two-month visit to Toronto with my family when we got word that our friend on the police force had been assassinated back in Jamaica. We panicked. It became clear that, although most of our possessions were still in Kingston, it was too dangerous to go back.