Many Jamaicans have a romantic notion of life in old colonial Jamaica, somehow they feel that life was better for all under British colonial rule and I sometimes wonder just where they got this idea from. Yes life was very good for a chosen few, yes it was a simpler time but back then a vast majority of Jamaicans lived in poverty. Just before independence one quarter of the adult population could not read or write, one quarter of the total workforce had no jobs and the distribution of land ownership and the means of production represented gross and growing inequalities and at that time pre-independence Jamaica had a very small middle class.
If you ask some old-timers about life back then they would go into great details about how wonderful it was when they were a child, what they use to do, it was a fun simpler time but they were children, with not a care in the world, most not responsible for putting food on the table. However when you sit down and do the research into the lives of the people, read the social and economic historical archives, you get a completely different picture of life in colonial Jamaica, yes it was safer but harder times and most seems to be contented with the hard life they lived, no light, running water, horrible living conditions and very little hope of progress.
I think people were very simple back then and accepted and enjoyed simpler things, I think they accepted their status, position and station in life and did not question it. A lot of times the life they described was not their own but the life of the British colonial class, a life they could not take part in but could only observe and they seemed happy that the colonial class was able to live so well, usually at their expense. I love to interrogate the older generation about life back then, I once spoke to an old friend of the family who loved to talk a lot about the glory days but only in terms of the big house she use to work in, not the house she lived in, how great the lady of the house was, how stylish and upper class, they were, a fine white Lady and gentleman who belong to the upper echelons of Jamaican and British society and even though these people lived in Jamaica most did not consider themselves Jamaicans, Jamaica was not an option for them after independence, the gravy train had ended and so they packed up their belongings and returned to the mother country.
The words Jamaicans used to describe colonial Jamaica was taken from the British, the idea that Jamaica was the pearl of the Caribbean or the jewel in the British crown was a British concept based purely on the benefits Britain received at the expense of the native population and not its development. Britain cared very little about how the native population lived, cared very little about their education and well-being and more about pacifying the people so that they continue to work hard and support the British economy.
Sometime ago I joined a Facebook group called the Jamaica Colonial Heritage Society created by Brett Ashmeade-Hawkins, who is a passionate historian with a wealth of knowledge, he presents historical artifacts with detail descriptions of names, dates and places. The Jamaica Colonial Heritage Society’s group love of history excites me and I support their desire to preserve our colonial past, I love the artifacts they have on display and I understand why each time they see another colonial artifact from our past being destroyed they get very upset. I too get very upset that we as a people have not taken advantage of our history, we see it as something to forget, to push aside, as we set out to destroy everything colonial but unlike some members of the group I will not lash out against the Jamaican people in a very stereotypical way, painting all with the same ignorant brush. Somehow some of these people believed that the British had created a perfect society, instilled the perfect values in us but for whatever reason we are incapable of retaining values, thus reverting to our savage dark nature destroying the perfect society that was created and given to us.
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| Greenwood Great House |
One thing I most admire about the Jewish community is how they set out to preserve various Holocaust sites and Jewish artifacts because they realized that these sites have value and needed to be preserved even though they represented great suffering and hardship for their people. The sites are preserved so that future generations will not forget what had happened to their ancestors.
I view the plantations and the great houses as a Holocaust sites that should be preserved for future generation to understand what had happened to our ancestors, how they suffered, to see how the ruling class lived at the expense of the slave class. It is amazing that in almost all the plantations the slave section of these estates have almost vanished leaving behind the majestic mansions of the white colonial class, which makes it difficult for our young people to imagine the human suffering that took place, out of sight out of mind, as everyone involved push the greatness and sing praises to the people who lived in these massive Great Houses.
I am particular interested in our colonial architecture but most Jamaicans seem to see these old buildings as something to knock down and rebuild into something awful. It is correct to say that most Jamaicans do not see any value in preserving historical artifacts from our colonial history because they were never educated to see any value in it. Our past Colonial Masters did not set out to create an educated society with values or else we would not be in the situation we are currently in since values are normally passed down from generation to generation and our current Home Grown Colonial leaders learned from the very best, they too are not too concerned about values within our society. My estimate is that if we have 100 historical sites 85 percent of them are almost gone, turning into dust.
The shocking thing is, we expect poor, uneducated, ignorant, low income, materialistic people to acquire a sense of value and historical perspective as if people are genetically engineered with values or acquire them through osmosis. The fact is not even our foreign minded, foreign educated, middle and upper-class have these values, at least the poor have an excuse, what is the excuse of the educated class? A well traveled educated Jamaican will tell you about the old historical ruins in Greece, England and France with joy while totally ignoring those at home.
I am a huge admirer of Jamaica’s Environmental Groups, they play an active role in preserving the natural eco-system. They organize lectures and various events such as beach cleaning days, they are environmental activists/warriors as they protest and fight to force our government to put in place measures to protect environmentally sensitive areas, they create petitions so the world wide community can assist them in their fight, they go out to schools and communities, they reach out to explain the importance of the environment to young, old, rich and poor alike, they try to make uneducated low income people understand the importance of the environment to their existence.
There is a need to duplicate this effort with regards to historical sites and artifacts, there needs to be a more pro-active group that is interested in the complete history of our people, not just trying to glorify Colonialism and Slavery as if they wish to return to the good old glory days. It is not suppose to be about which plantation Slave owner you are related to, like any association you can draw elevates your status in life, the nostalgia of a life you did not live but now try to live by proxy, as they praise how great their ancestors were, how big their plantation was, how massive the Great House was and how many heads of slave they had at their disposal, I cannot imagine descendants of Nazi Germany boasting the same way about getting rich at the expense of Jewish suffering. This is not the way to get the Black population on-board, when they read things like this, they then want nothing to do with preservation of these sites. History is suppose to be inclusive, the story of everyone involved must be told, lay bare for all to see and read.
One of my favorite author and Historian is Niall Ferguson even though I do not agree with some of his conclusions on British Colonial History, the fact is he is a brilliant writer and historian and have the ability to describe history in details and take me back in time. In a part of his book Empire “The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power” Ferguson states “If not the British then who?” As if to say, who would you rather to enslave you, use you and abuse you, beat you and rape you, the French would have made your life 10 times worst and the Germans would put you against the wall and have you shot, so count your blessing it was the British. That is what I dislike about his writings but his writings are so much more than this.
For the average Jamaican, colonialism was not pretty, life was not easy and the British for all its 350 years of rule did not invest out of love for Jamaicans, they did not invest in Jamaican minds, They were never interested in building a nation, they just did not create a society capable of valuing, understanding or embracing history. History can be a very profitable business, if we take the time to invest in our past, we could have a very bright future, a revitalized Downtown Kingston to recapture 17 Century architecture, how it use to be, centuries old quaint villages across the island rebuilt to capture historical life, Spanish Town the 16 century capital of the Island, in any other country would be a major tourist attraction with the ability to transport its occupants back to the 16 Century, to see and feel history.
Now I agree that people who know better should do better, it is not enough to just curse poor people because they do not share your superior sense of value, you the materialistic educated class is a waste of space if you do not attempt to use your education, wealth, position in society, your proximity to power to mold our society for the greater good, to build a nation state with values to appreciate our history and historical artifacts, so that everyone can get a better understanding of their future. Today’s educated middle and upper-class have no excuse for not pushing values unless they are truly bankrupt of it , by not doing so you are behaving like the British Colonial Masters of the past but this time with an American outlook on life, if its old… bulldoze it.......
I am a huge fan of shows that trace people’s heritage like “Who Do You Think You Are?” on the BBC. It is fascinating to see how far back these people can go, finding relatives that are spread across the globe. The British Government seems to keep records of everything and everyone and all has been computerized, just by entering your name in the search engine and you can track your family roots going back centuries, even with pictures in some cases, now how cool is that? My mother died when I was 9 months old and I have no idea how she looked as the family have no pictures of her, it seems strange in this day and age but back them people had more important things to do than to stand around taking pictures it seems, so I cannot even connect her face to mine.
I know my last name, is my last name but not really my last name, I know it was given to me based mainly on which plantation my ancestors was sold to. I know name assignment was a simple process, for example, there goes Stewart’s slave and before you know it an entire generation of people with the last name Stewart started spreading all over Jamaica and Stewart could be the owner of the plantation or the overseer, so tracing my heritage is not as easy as I would like but it does not stop me from wondering who my ancestors were, what were they like, what did they do? Are there people in other countries who are related to me, separated only by which ship went left or right, do they look like me, it boggles the mind. I remember going to England for a little family reunion and was shocked to see people who look like me, my father, my sisters and my grandmother so just imagine how many extended family I may have in others countries.
I remember the exact day and time when I read the following text, I will never forget it, certain things can mark you for life and this is one of them, not out of anger but shock and disappointment with humanity, it is my firm belief that no one should get angry over history, upset yes, disappointed why not but anger no. History represents how we use to be, not who we are today, not where we are going, we must use it to shape our future..
Cecil Rhodes embarked on war with Lobengula in Matebele, his troops used a new "secret weapon:" the Maxim which could fire 500 rounds a minute. In 1893, in the battle of Shangani River, 1,500 Matebele warriors were killed while only four British died. The English Liberals penned a bitter satire on the victory, which Rhodes' men --- the Chartered Company Volunteers --- then cynically adopted as their anthem (below):
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The Rise and Demise of The British World Order and The Lessons for Global Power Niall Ferguson
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Onward Chartered Soldiers, on to heathen lands,
Prayer books in your pockets, rifles in your hands.
Take the florious tidings where trade can be done,
Spread the peaceful gospel --- with a Maxim gun.
Tell the wretched natives, sinful are their hearts,
Turn their heathen temples into spirit marts.
And if to your teaching they will not succumb,
Give them another sermon with the Maxim gun...
When the Ten Commandments they quite understand,
You their Chief must hocus, and annex their land;
And if they misguided call you to account,
Give them another sermon --- with a Maxim from the Mount.
I remember when my Primary school teacher had us repeat the following over and over until we got it right. The words did something to me that day, I began to question myself, who am I and where am I going, and how I am going to get there.. It was then that I realized that my principles and my word is all I really have to go by, it is what defines me as a person, I will not turn my back on my principles and my word is my bond.
If We Must Die :
Claude McKay (1890–1948)
IF we must die—let it not be like hogs
Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,
While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,
Making their mock at our accursed lot.
If we must die—oh, let us nobly die,
So that our precious blood may not be shed
In vain; then even the monsters we defy
Shall be constrained to honor us though dead!
Oh, Kinsmen! We must meet the common foe;
Though far outnumbered, let us still be brave,
And for their thousand blows deal one death-blow!
What though before us lies the open grave?
Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack,
Pressed to the wall, dying, but—fighting back!
The following week she had us do the same thing to Mango Time...
Wherever they are now I am sure they must be saying to themselves what a waste of my time and life, what a complete waste of my efforts, to sacrifice so much only to see that my sacrifice was in vain. Look at them running around without any sense of collective purpose, consumed by their own self-importance, consumed by greed and selfishness, look at how they turn their backs on everything we fought so hard to achieve.
Then I can imagine Sam Sharpe and Paul Bogle turning to the others saying “might as well we kept our mouth shut, cut the masters cane and say yes sir may I have another when the whip cut across our backs, instead of having that rope around our broken necks, suspending our lifeless bodies and George William Gordon agreeing”. Because they had so much hope for us but look how we let them down.
