By Ilvea Lezama

Descended from an East Indian father and a Chinese mother, Dorothy Patricia Williams was born in Kingston, Jamaica, on September 20, 1937. “I am Chinese but Jamaican first; my parents were happy to put us with other natives. We felt like we were one; we did not feel like we were any different. That’s why our slogan in Jamaica is “we are one.”

Her father named her Dorothy Patricia after a movie star he admired. As the oldest of two siblings, she knew early on in life that she had to be an example for them. Her hustle mentality started when she was very young. Her father worked arduously at a store, allowing her to get bulks of rubber bands and marbles for a cheaper rate.

“I used to sell them at school for lunch money because we were very poor. Fifty years ago, marbles and rubber bands were our toys. We did not have toys back then. Those were our toys.”

That’s how she got her first taste for entrepreneurship.

Her love for music started with the “clap-hand church.” It was called the “clap-hand church” because there was no actual building where Sunday’s service was held. But instead, Sundays’ service took place on a main road where people would “sing and shake their tambourines.” That became a weekly routine for Williams and her sister. That weekly routine became a foundation for what was to come.

She planned to become a nurse to help the ill like her idol Mother Theresa. However, while studying for her entrance exam to go to the University College Hospital of the West Indies in Jamaica, she met “a handsome young man by the name of Vincent.” Vincent was a driver for her grandparents’ bread van. With the characteristics of a typical “bad boy,” Vincent was known for skipping school and smoking marijuana. A type of young man no parent would want for their daughter. But she was instantly attracted to that bad boy persona.

After receiving her acceptance letter from University College, she packed all her stuff and moved to the campus. Being on campus meant she had no supervision from her parents. That gave her more time to see Vincent.

Her father saw Vincent for what he was – trouble. But she saw him as a handsome young man who would travel two hours by bike to visit her. “We were in love; I knew he was the one for me.”

A few months into her studies, Dorothy became pregnant and had to leave school when she could no longer hide her pregnancy. When her father found out, he was angry, and refused to talk to her. He was mad at the fact that she was repeating history. Her parents had gotten pregnant with her before marriage. And her father wanted something different for her.

In March of 1957, Vincent and Dorothy tied the knot. They moved in into a small rental apartment to settle down as a family. In no time, Gregory Chin was born, who unfortunately lived a short life due to an illness. Amid being heartbroken over her son’s sudden death, she knew she had to stay strong for the other little one she was already carrying. Christopher Chin was born later that year.

Vincent eventually stopped being the bread delivery man for her grandparents. Instead, he started working at a Jukebox company owned by Mr. Joseph Issa. Vincent was surrounded by music, and he loved it. Dorothy would travel with him around the island to service the jukeboxes and collect money. Watching peoples’ reactions while seeing him walk in holding the records was priceless.

The reggae culture had yet to start. “Jamaica was not identified for its music or culture, but Jamaica was only known as the pot island.” Most Jamaicans listened to American R&B, gospel and country-western singers like Elvis Presley and Sam Cooke. In the 50s, Jamaica only had one radio station, which mainly played foreign artists and little of local artists.

Dorothy came out with the idea of selling old records from Vincent’s jukebox job. Coming up with a name for their upcoming business wasn’t that difficult. Vincent wanted to call the record store “Randy’s Record Mart” after Randy Wood. Randy Wood was the owner of a Tennessee station that Vincent used to listen to. At that point, they had the records and the name of the business, but they were missing a crucial piece; a place to operate their business.

Read all the article at yorkpbnews.net