The ABCs of Jamaica on the occasion of her 60th year of independence

I was strategic in publishing Jamaican Mi Seh Mi ABC's Commemorative Edition in the 60th year of Jamaica's Independence. To date, we have witnessed Jamaicans aspire and climb to some of the highest heights at home and throughout the Diaspora. And one of my most welcome additions to my commemorative edition of this book is U.S. Vice-President, Kamala Harris. However, this story and journey began way before anyone would buy the original or the commemorative edition or even celebrate a woman holding such a prestigious office in America.

The idea to pen the story Jamaican Mi Seh Mi ABC's came years ago when I became a mother. My first daughter was around the age of three or four and I'd just given birth to my youngest daughter.

I wanted to speak to their Jamaican/African- American duality, their complexity as the 2nd generation (born in foreign), and as descendants and transcendents of the Jamaican Diaspora by way of their father's birth in the UK.

As an avid reader and looking for just the right culturally conscious and multicultural materials to read to my babies..the pickings were slim for my melanated babies. I definitely do not find anything about their Jamerican life. So I began writing my own manuscripts, reading them to my children, and in years to come including their friends into our reading circle.

We lived in Chicago, an eclectic city. At times we experienced levels of cultural and racial dissidence, even my eldest daughter at such an early age. Like ginger tea, her father intentionally steeped her, her new baby sister and their non-national peers, pre-school teachers, and community heavily in his Jamaican culture through lexicon, food, and song. I saw how this proverbial practice of "what yuh do at home yuh do abroad” would lay some much needed foundation for both our daughters in years to come. As my eldest was on a gifted fast track from kindergarten throughout her educational career, I saw things in various schools systematically designed to rob her of her self-esteem. Our rooting her at home, planting seeds of strong cultural pride in her psyche while imbuing her with strong faith helped to stave off some of the intended damage. It simultaneously gave her courage in the midst of experiencing a dichotomy of acceptance and abrasion. In due season she would want to know more, see more, and be more of who she is culturally.  Hence she applied for and was granted a 2018 Grace Kennedy Jamaican Birthright internship.

My daughters' Father, Grandparents, Grand uncles, Grandaunts, and those like them who may or may not be of the Windrush generation sought to improve their lives and that of their family is oftentimes considered expatriates. These so-called expatriates at times may be rated on the low end of the patriot totem within the Diasporic community by their own countrymen. In certain spaces, some may perceive them as disingenuous, unengaged, not vested, or uninterested in the affairs of their place of origin. When in fact this is far from the truth. 

There is usually a sense of duty for the sustainability of relationships and seeing their beloved country thrive and develop educationally, economically, socially, fiscally, and otherwise! This is why people are compulsory about wiring money and shipping barrels home to those left behind even though they themselves may be struggling despite the fact that they are living in the so-called various lands of milk and honey. It is a misconception by some that there are no real struggles for those "in foreign" who reside in places like the U.S., Canada, UK, or elsewhere. Oh but the struggle is REAL and there are levels to it! That is a whole Pandora's box. Nonetheless, many are frugal and have squirreled away their money throughout the years in anticipation of building dream homes in Jamaica as they approach retirement years. They wish to go back a yard! You will often find that many who have left, fondly embrace the greatness of their country, strategically preserving it, honoring, and repping it while influencing their family, neighbors, community, region, and nation where they reside. There needs to be a systemic balance between roots, reality, and culture. During a past Virtual Jamaica Diaspora Sustainability Symposium, the Minister of Education, Fayval Williams said, " The Diaspora has been a great source of strength for us." She advocates for partnerships with key stakeholders who can move the agenda for development, exponential growth, and sustainability in all realms. I too believe this participatory strategy is paramount. Just imagine if we could all work collaboratively using our skills sets, rank, and resources...what could happen to further uplift and propel this beautiful island nation even further. Jamaicans are a dominating force far and wide amongst all sectors. Jamaican Mi Seh Mi ABC's celebrates the achievements, culturally rich heritage, and history of Jamaica and its people.

Some notable Jamaicans and Jamericans who have shaped Black history in the Diaspora and history overall are Marcus Garvey, Claude Mckay, Colin Powell, Minister Louis Farrakhan, Gil Scott- Heron, DJ Kool Herc, Harry Belafonte, Lestor Holt, Ann-Marie Campbell, Al Roker, Jada Pinkett-Smith, and  Kamala Harris just to name a few!

However, the disconnect whether real or perceived between those who have left the island and those who remained have sometimes caused confusion, mistrust, and even unsafety. There is a page in my book where the main character Carradice is proudly carrying the Jamaican flag on her back as she walks the surface of the planet. This particular page profiles the letter Y for Yardie. It is well illustrated and so aptly reads:

Yard is mi home 

And Ah-aouua!! Yard is so sweet!

Whether home or abroad, Mi a yardie,

Mi no business where mi plant mi feet!

And so as a melanated citizen of the Diaspora, mother, and cultural curator my end goal was to create awareness across the spectrum. I began to focus on the commonality between all people of color and the melanated people who have traveled through the middle passage by force or by choice. In other words, the project came through the personal love for my daughters and grew beyond the scope of that love. I wished to communicate to others the love of their origins, the appreciation of their culture, heritage, struggle, and of race. The love of my people and love for ourselves was to push the message that appropriation is not necessary. The world gleans from who we are and what "we" bring to the table of brotherhood. I wanted to be a disruptor, a gadfly. I sought to globally break down walls and stereotypes long before we had the internet when the planet seemed much larger and so vast.

I'd actually secured a contract for the 1st Edition of my book by a publisher out of Chicago. They later rescinded the offer before I could sign ...citing heavy printing costs for ink and how paying an appropriate illustrator with the knowledge of Jamaica would be too costly. This was the pre-digital or print-on-demand age. I was terribly disappointed...but God is God. This was not His timing or the means for how this book would be birthed. I would need to labor more for the details of it, and cover events for things not yet occurred. The technology hadn't been birthed yet and my predestined illustrator, Michael Talbot would be in Jamaican primary schools, ...getting ready, studying, and preparing. You feel me..delay even a hibernation type of delay isn't a denial..Romans 8:28

There is a timeline, timing and season, appointed moment for anything to come forth... a specific methodology, and strategy for the labor and birth of all things...even the coming of age, separation from source supplies and growing into independence towards one self-efficacy even in a small island nation like Jamaica.

The Jamaican Mi Seh Mi ABC's 1st Edition was released in 2017 and the book launched in August Town in conjunction with its 179th Emancipation Day Celebration. I partnered with Sizzla Youth Foundation and thereby a synergy was created between us as proponents of education and stakeholders of the dream. Being that I am not a sparkler, my participation and commitment continued to expand. Hence myself and Nickeisha Henry and an educator who is part of the Jamaican Diaspora in the UK developed the A FiWi Culture Project and presented this curriculum to various youth groups in the Kingston area in the summer of 2018. I continue to support initiatives that address restorative justice and restorative practices, specifically juvenile justice. My adopted August Town is where I partner with the Peace Builders led by its chairman, Mr. Kenneth Wilson. He is a long-time community activist,  peacebuilder, and Program Director for The Sizzla Youth Foundation. It was wonderful to return to August Town and participate in its 184th Emancipation Day Celebration on August 1, 2022. Nationals who live abroad came back to celebrate August Town.

And so this Commemorative Edition Jamaican Mi Seh Mi ABC's released on the first day of Black History Month 2022  is a love story, a call and response to history, heritage, and heroism. It is sounding the alarm to advise all at home and throughout the  Diaspora that your influence and contributions to humanity are global and reverberate through the annals of the ages. It is an extension of the first edition and is written in poetic verse because it's my personal signature as a writer. The educational audience ranges from elementary to secondary level. And there is a glossary included for discussion and more in-depth information.

It is okay for us to be our authentic selves and play our position because the universe needs us. And we must always remember to lift as we climb. Mrs. Louise Bennett Coverely broke barriers and encouraged others to embrace the beauty of patois, their mother tongue. The Webster dictionary defines patios as uneducated or provincial speech.

But Miss. Lou was quite cognizant that this hybrid language, tonality, and those who spoke it symbolized the strength, ingenuity, intelligence, and resilience of preserving places and stages of former histories of where these magnificent people came from and went to. Many are considered  "Butu" for speaking it. But I say it's an art form, a thing of beauty, a refuge from formalities, and should not be seen as a disgrace. It's a linguist's marvel, a place of reverence and it holds equal honor and weight alongside Standard English... 

making its articulator ...its orator multilingual.

It is further empirical evidence of our people's ability to transcend, survive and recoup from places meant to kill, 

subjugate, break and provoke docility. These are the cumulative inflections, interjections, and punctuation of preserved West African words, foods, traditions, movements, faith, war cries, and sounds. Our capability to learn the dialogue of our captor and still maintain a modicum fraction of our culture while rebranding ourselves proves our inventiveness and not ignorance. Our phantom memories of the collective unconscious have produced redemption sounds and endurance songs! 

I applaud the works of the prolific wordsmith and the 3rd Jamaican Poet Laureate post-Indepence of this great country. Olive Senior, a Jamaican in the Diaspora resides in Canada.  We look forward to her literary initiatives as she forwards the culture, raises environmental awareness, and invites us to see her land!

I, Valrie Kemp-Davis am a Griot, A Djeli, A Storyteller. I proudly recount and interpret the ever-evolving stories of our past and present. And like a rudder, I fight to steer us in the direction of our best future by teaching the children! And so I salute  Jamaica as she stands powerful, fully in the splendor and glory of her 60th year of Independence. 

You have persevered and tenaciously risen to the challenges which have been great especially during this season of a doggedly long global pandemic...likkle but Tallaweh! I honor you!