With the Arab Spring and, now, the American Autumn in full swing via the #Occupy movement, the global atmosphere is fragrant with the scent of revolution. For one self-declared revolutionary, it is an exciting time but he cautions against romanticizing the concept of revolution. Gavin Hutchinson, more commonly known by his pseudonym, Dutty Bookman, is a 29-year-old Jamaican activist and writer who recently published his memoir called Tried & True: Revelations of a Rebellious Youth.

"Revolution is not always about guns and bombs or large groups of people protesting in the streets," the book's prologue declares. "Revolution involves being swift, effective and sometimes unexpected."

Dutty then proceeds to tell the tale of his life in Jamaica between 2006, after he graduated from a Florida university, and 2010 when he decided to relocate to Washington, DC shortly after the inaugural Manifesto|Jamaica Festival, which he helped to launch there. About halfway through Tried & True, readers encounter an entire chapter detailing his experience visiting Toronto for the first time. It was while he was engaged with the Ignite The Americas youth arts forum that he was also exposed to the Manifesto Festival for the first time.

"When I got back to Jamaica, I immediately started telling everyone who would listen that arts and culture was potentially the most effective vehicle for revolutionary progress in Jamaica," said Dutty. "As fate would have it, I was also a talk show host on a national radio station at the time, so my voice was amplified while I carried that message."

Soon, other young Jamaicans with similar vision began to align and collaborate on what would become ManifesTO's first sibling organization, Manifesto|Jamaica. During that time, Dutty was also the Communications Coordinator for the Bob Marley Group of Companies (including Tuff Gong International and the Bob Marley Museum). The result is a remarkable journey of a young rebel who refused to be satisfied with the status quo of his country's post-colonial society. Tried and True is a historic work that draws from the author's personal writings over the years to create a work that demonstrates the importance of individual growth as a key factor in collective progress.