This is a narrative of Jamaica told on a musical crescendo, no 'bungar.ung'. Just the words of Jah. `Equal Rights: Reggae and Social Change' is seeking to transform the bare walls of the Jamaica Music Museum, stringing together notes of this truly Jamaican genre. "Since reggae is Jamaican, we have used it to convey the message," said Herbie Miller, director/curator of the Jamaica Music Museum. "It is a journey highlighting socio-political and spiritual sensibility." The realm of the `happy go lucky' Jamaica transitions to Ska depicting plain and modern art building the crescendo of social change as the legendary Bob Marley and the Wailers resonate 'Get Up Stand Up', evolution of musicians on the frontline of social change.
With the new law instituted, the face of the population of the Caribbean evolved and whites eventually became a minority although they continued to hold their superior social status. According to a book called "Caribbean Islands - The Sugar Revolutions and Slavery," by the early 19th century, less than 5 percent of the population in Grenada, Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Jamaica, Tobago were white. They accounted for less than 10 percent of the population of Anguilla, Montserrat, St. Kitts, St. Lucia and the Virgin Islands. Only in the Bahamas, Barbados and Trinidad were more than 10 percent of the population white.
Vesey knew the horrors of slavery first hand. Since he had lived in St. Dominique as a youth, he followed the events there with particular interest. Men from the area and surrounding plantations would attack the city, take control of the guardhouse and block the bridges and roads, killing every white person in sight.
Two individuals who played vital roles during the Haitian Revolution are Dutty Boukman, the papaloa or voodoo priest, and Alexandre Petion, who fought side-by-side with Henri Christophe.
An exhibit, curated by well-known photographer Michael Chambers, entitled "Bathurst Stripped" is celebrating the history of a street in Toronto that was home to many immigrants from the Caribbean. Chambers has produced a photo-based installation of a barrel. This piece recognizes the contributions and sacrifices of the new immigrants and "The Barrel Children." A recent photo of Linda Carter who was the first black model in Canada to achieve prominence in the 1970s wraps the barrel which is filled with items such as corned beef, books and toys - things sent back to families in the Caribbean.
Dessalines became a lieutenant in Papillon's army and followed him to Santo Domingo, where at first he enlisted to serve Spain's military forces against the French then he joined the "real" slave rebellion that was inspired by Dutty Boukman, a voodoo priest, and led by Toussaint.
While at its inception, the revolutionary ideals of the newly formed nation called Haiti held great promise, the reality as understood today detracts from this plesant image . Still , our rituals and their symbolic associations mirror these revolutionary ideals. For example, soup joummou, the New Year's and Independence Day celebratory pumpkin soup, signifies the communion of equals through the consumption of the once forbidden delicacy reserved for the colonial masters. Today, as family and friends gather around the dinner table, we are clearly proud of our freedom and accomplishments, yet know that there are countless Haitians who are hungry, sleeping under tents. Two hundred and eight years after independence, many Haitians live in abject poverty and have no rights as humans.
[Nicole Brooks] says part of her mission as an artist, whether in film or theatre, is to really uphold looking at stories about her roots. "And so when I discovered that the catalyst of the witch trials was because a slave named Tituba from Barbados was accused of teaching obeah to young white women in the town, I sat back and reflected on how did these Puritans knew the word 'obeah'," says Brooks. Brooks says she is not breaking any rules or being untraditional because the definition of an opera is "a play that's sung." 'It doesn't have any attachment to say it has to be in classical form or that a particular genre of music makes it an opera," says Brooks who is giving a voice to these women. When she held a workshop of Obeah Opera she had to deal with some people who thought she was critical of the Puritan's Christianity and others, including her mother, who were concerned about her exploration of obeah. She answered them by noting that in the contact between captured Africans and white Puritans, there was a connotation that everything African was bad.
Seventy-two Jamaican migrants left yesterday afternoon on the Ascania for Britain. The majority are joining relatives in England. Others are going directly into jobs there. The Ascania arrived yesterday morning from England and docked at No 3 Pier. Two hundred and thirty-six Jamaicans, who had been resident in Britain, returned home on the ship yesterday morning.
From earthquakes, hurricanes and fires to Olympic glory and Independence, The Gleaner started chronicling Jamaica's roller-coaster history ride in 1834, and has had a front-row seat at every major event since. The Honourable Roy McNeill, minister of home affairs, announced yesterday that he has refused the application of the Reverend Clennon King, a United States citizen, for political asylum in Jamaica. McNeill, according to the official statement, considered King's application and reached the decision that his case is not one that qualifies for political asylum. King, of Albany, Georgia, arrived in Kingston last month and asked for political asylum from what he describes as insidious persecution and official harassment in the United States.
