From the realm of the ancestors, Donna transmits a powerful reminder of the urgent need to emancipate ourselves and our cultural institutions from the stranglehold of those who are determined to ‘civilise’ us.
It is not enough for politicians like Andrew Holness to pay lip service to Louise Bennett-Coverley for “bring[ing] our language on the world stage.” The Jamaican language must be brought into the primary school curriculum in Jamaica.
There’s another queen in the news. Not one imposed on us from abroad. She’s royalty born and bred a yard.
If we are to become a truly emancipated and independent nation, we must claim both English and Jamaican as our official languages.
“Plantation a plot fi tie wi foot, wi a plot fi run weh an plant fi wi owna future.”
We cannot depend on politicians to lead the development process. Many of them are committed only to their personal enrichment.
Slavery didn’t just “happen” like a natural disaster. It was a deliberate commercial enterprise that enriched Britain and the monarchy.
A carpet of grass at the front of one’s house is not a sign of true wealth. It signifies entrapment in an ideology of Englishness that is fundamentally alien.
Di Govament a Guyana never like how Rodney did a stir up di people dem. African an Indian! A it mek dem murder im./ Di Govament a Guyana neva laik ou Rodney did a stor op di piipl dem. Afrikan an Indiyan! A it mek dem morda im./ The Government of Guyana did not like how Rodney was stirring up people. Africans and Indians! That's why they murdered him.
The teaching of West Indian literature at UWI could have enabled the healing of the ruptures of language, culture and society.
Jamaica Woman Tongue 