JAMAICA IS 50 YEARS OLD BUT, WHO CARES?

By Sheneka Bryan:         

I was one of the unfortunate ones to have been at Work on a public holiday; Emancipation day- Friday August 1. Sitting in my sparsely decorated cubicle beside a rather disgruntled co-worker at 7 in the Am, this morning I was moved by some unnamed force to ask him what his problem was, what could possibly be upsetting him on such a ‘lovely’ day (I say lovely because at this time I figured he was miserable like myself working on a holiday). No such thing; He simply was sleep deprived and could not wait for the afternoon to start his weekend. I was somewhat taken aback by his answer and decide to press him a little further, ‘so, what of the holiday I asked, no plans to partake in the Island festivities’ to which he replied ‘which holiday you a talk bout?’ My boss overheard and we both look at each other in disbelief. Moral of the story, there are quite a few Jamaicans out there who have no idea what Emancipation or Independence (from henceforth refer to as Emancipendence) day is, let alone what they stand for.

To some, the period of August 1st and August 6th means the usual traverse to Negril for the week long Party season, ‘Dream weekend.’ Hundreds or I dare say Thousands of Jamaicans and Tourists converge on the said Westmoreland town for the week long partying ranging from the all White, super inclusive Daydreams party to the very super fun Wet and Wild held at the island only Water Park. I have many friends from the Diaspora who make the yearly trip for this contemporary event solely for the promise of island fun with no cultural relations. If I was to mention to them, ‘no man, skip the party, let me take you to the real Jamaican experience and go to say; The Grand Gala’ they would look at me like I’m mad. Surely you can’t be serious. The point I am trying to make is that, our culture is dying. In the past The Emancipendence use to be a celebrated time of the year beginning with the launching of the Jamaica Festival Queen and the national Festival songs competition. The former I’m aware is still up and going strong but for this year I have no idea if there was a festival song competition, or if there was why haven’t we heard enough of them being played on the radio?

Jamaica celebrated 51 years of Independence this year and based on the poor effort by the government I am inclined to think that all the money was spend last year in the Jamaica 50 celebrations. Oh, what a difference a year makes. Last year coming up to the season the island was abuzz with activities and excitement. I for one was caught up in the excitement and ensure that I was off work during that time so I could visit the Emancipation/Independence village with visiting friends. We had a great time. The National Indoor Centre was transformed into a village showcasing different cultural aspects of our island. You could have your children’s picture taken with a very capable and respected member of our constabulary force as well as have some good old ‘chahklit’ tea with the ‘oil pon top’ (traditional chocolate balls with cinnamon sweetened with condensed milk). Outside on the grounds of the national stadium in the boiling sun I locate a stall where I was able to get a drink of white rum with a splash a Ting to cool me down as we got seated and wait for the show to began, and what a show it was. I was delighted with performances from traditional Jamaican folklore to the present dancehall culture ending with the national Jamaican 50 song by Shaggy and friends. I can say at that moment I was filled with so much national pride, my chest swells whenever I think of that glorious moment.

Fast forward to August Morning 2014, the Pride is still there but the delight and wonder is no longer. The Independence village resumes to its smaller location at the Ranny Williams entertainment centre and though we had a little sprinkling of rain a few days ago the drought is still with us. This year Emancipendence event was organised by our very capable Minister, the beautiful Lisa Hanna and the Ministry of Youth and Culture with a budget of $57 million. Now, that’s a lot of taxpayers’ money you might think and at the end of it the people; like my very unaware co-worker doesn’t even know what day it is much less the significance of the events. In short, the Emancipendence activities should allow us as a people to take pride in our history and not just celebrate the ‘out of many one people motto’ but understands what it means to be part of such a diverse culture. No doubt the Ministry is trying but maybe their focus should be less on awarding different politicians at the event and more about educating the masses about socio-economic issues and how we can play a part in making Vision 2030 a reality.

While we cheer as our politicians enter the Grand Gala in chauffeured vehicles, waving to the crowd as Princess Margaret did back in 1962 on Independence day perhaps we should step back, take a look at ourselves and ask; ‘Does this look like progression?’ This type of pageantry is the same that our ancestors use to do for the ‘backra’ masters yet we continue to emulate. While we are at it, why not use some of the $52 million to make the celebration more purposeful. As our national Hero Marcus Mosiah Garvey said

‘A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without root’

We can see where efforts were made by the ministry to integrate contemporary aspects of the culture such as; the bleaching culture but at the end of the day are these programmes making our chest swell with pride on a daily basis as it would say watching the Reggae boys play in the 98’ world cup or watching Usain Bolt win every single race? I think not.

So, this brought me back to the point I was originally conveying. Our Emancipendence celebration is just a water-down version of what it once was. It is not only up to our leaders though. Jamaicans must make some changes in their lives and inadvertently changes in our nation. Only then will our great legacy live on for generations to come.