The Behavior of Nation Builders (Part 2)

Why Do some Jamaicans Hate Jamaica?

Recently I was having a conversation with a person I have not seen for many years, this person was a Jamaican born and bred but like many other Jamaicans this person migrated to a foreign country.  Before long the conversation turned to Jamaica at which point the individual went into a rant about not being Jamaican any more, how much she hates the place, that Jamaica had never done anything for her and now she was an American and would never go back to "that" (spit) place. It seemed that Jamaica had done her some great injustice. Normally people who say these things to me would be placed in the “Never see, Come see” category that is people who were so poor and lived a very hard life but was able to migrate, these people would have some reason to come to such conclusion. Give a starving man some dry crackers and he would think it was the best meal in the world but this particular person was not like that, far from it, Jamaica had invested a lot in her and the upper middle class life she was living in Jamaica was much better than the life she is living as an American.

I do not understand how a person, who was born in Jamaica, socialized in Jamaica, went to school in Jamaica and even work in Jamaica can turn around and declare that they are no longer Jamaican, how can a person cast of their Jamaicaness and why would anyone want to? Maybe it is this difference in attitude towards ones birth country between people from first world and third world which determines success or failure in the Nation Building process.

These “Use-To-Be-Jamaicans” confuse me, they almost always side with external powers against Jamaica and most thinks that it is to Jamaica’s advantage to downplay her sovereignty and allow external entities of the First World to do what they wish with her. Some have even expressed to me that, if there was ever a war between Jamaica and America they would gladly take up arms against Jamaica, simply because they see America as a force for good and everyone else including their own birth country as evil and not worth defending.

The Anti-Jamaica Jamaican

The anti-Jamaica Jamaican is like an evil homeless duppy that is unable to completely cross over to the other side, they are trapped in the Jamaica dimension destined to spend eternity haunting wherever other Jamaicans gather to discuss and debate issues concerning their homeland. These "Use To Be Jamaicans" levitates from one messaging board to the other spreading their brand of negativity towards Jamaica. To this type of person, Jamaica and Jamaicans are never ever right, even when they are the victims. The anti-Jamaica Jamaican’s motto is “The good Jamaican must suffer for the bad Jamaican” regardless of how good a person you are or how law abiding you may be, so long as one Jamaican breaks the law, it is OK for the innocent Jamaican to suffer the consequences. The anti-Jamaica Jamaican is a firm believer in the Phrase “Nothing Good can come from Jamaica” they live by it. There is no objective criticism, no problem/solution by the Anti-Jamaica Jamaican just constant bashing.

Their way of thinking does in fact represent Jamaica’s failures, they think the way they do, because Jamaica has failed to instill in them a natural love and respect for who they are and what they are. Of all the born Americans and British that I know, none of them seems to be affected by this psychological defect regardless of their geographical location or the hardship of their upbringing, they are still Americans and British to the core and I have far more respect for them than these “Use-To-Be-Neva-See-Come-See-Anti-Jamaica-Jamaicans”.

Jamaica is a country where the majority of the inhabitants have been engineered to not have any faith or love for the country of their birth and in their own abilities to build a successful nation state or even define what constitutes a successful nation state in relation to Jamaica’s Unique Reality.

In Jamaica the act of migrating, to leave ones homeland is not viewed as an act of last resort, it is not only the first resort but the second, third, right through to the last, for many of us it is seen as the beginning and the end. Nation building is the responsibility of each and every Jamaican and no amount of distancing yourself from this country will diminish that inherent responsibility.  The aim of Nation-building is to foster social harmony, Social cohesion and economic growth, Nation Building is a hands-on process so just sending money or barrels to Jamaica is not Nation Building.

Traveling is good for us, I recommend it all, exposure to other countries, peoples and culture with an open mind, learning along the way is the best thing one could ever do and it can have positive effect on Nation Building in Jamaica, so long as we do not lose sight of who we are and our unique reality. Whenever I see positive, innovative things happen in other countries I think about how I could bring home that concept to Jamaica, to adopt these ideas to a Jamaican way of life.

 

A blog about my Move Back to Jamaica after 20+ years of living in the US. Most of the articles focus on the period from 2005-2009 when the transition was new, and at it's most challenging.

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Please visit Francis Move Blogspot  

Most Jamaicans cursed the day the slave ship turned right instead of left.  We behave as if we were left stranded on some barren rock, left to suffer for all eternity. However it is not the rock that is barren but the minds of the people living on it. Why is it that for some Jamaicans to become motivated and take life seriously, they must first leave the country of their birth? These are not the behavior of Nation Builders.

If we do not have a natural love and respect for what makes us uniquely Jamaican then all is lost because it is that love that is required for us to define what constitutes a successful nation state in relation to our unique reality. It seems Jamaicans who migrate to other countries are more than willing to take to the streets in those countries to fight for their rights, equality and justice but would never lift a finger to fight for those same rights in Jamaica. The act of nation building ended when we achieved independence from Great Britain, then pre independence Jamaicans took to the streets to fight for their rights, their freedom, bringing about workers rights and universal adult suffrage, independence however was not the end of the process, it was the beginning.

No development can take place in Jamaica without the participation of all Jamaicans regardless of geographic location. I have nothing against traveling and I have nothing against moving to live in another country so long as one maintains a certain level of respect for ones birth country.  What I do despise is the person who leaves only to turn around and attack my Jamaica with utter contempt after never contributing a day to its development, never giving back, never even tried. It is as if we were born with the notion that one can never achieve anything if one is living in Jamaica. The person we are now is has a result of Jamaica’s investment in us but we were engineered to devalue that investment. 

Some of us have achieved in spite of hardship in Jamaica but for the most part most of us was given a successful start in life that enabled us to move on and build on that start. Jamaicans leave Jamaica better prepared to take on the challenges of their adopted countries. We leave Jamaica after taking advantage of its free or subsidized education and health care, most have been to some of the best high schools on the island, some have achieved university degrees, professional careers at times at the expense of the Jamaican tax payer and yet they turn around and curse this very country that made it possible, instead of thanking her.  No, this is not the behavior of Nation Builders.

I must thank Jamaica, because growing up in Jamaica I remember:

• At the start of every school year we use to get free material to make school uniform, I remember lining up  with the rest of the school to collect my free khaki material, God Bless Jamaica, I will be forever grateful.

• Every now and then the school would give out free products, sometimes it was flour, or cornmeal or milk powder or sugar, sometimes all three, this was given free by the tax payer to help assist parents. God Bless Jamaica, I will be forever grateful.

• I remember when the Government introduce free school lunch, it was stated that children cannot learn on empty stomachs and needed a balance diet, this lasted from Primary school to high school and consist of free soy box milk, free veggie patty or veggie meat loaf with soy crust. God Bless Jamaica, I will be forever grateful.

• I suffer from a inherited condition that requires constant care, this I got free of cost from the University Of the West Indies Hospital, Medical Research Council, not only was the treatment and medication free but they would send a bus to pick us up from home or school and return us after they were done. God Bless Jamaica, I will be forever grateful.

• All of my education in Jamaica was for the most part free, from Primary school to high school. God Bless Jamaica, I will be forever grateful.

For a small third world island we did not do so bad, we are able to provide free healthcare and education which enabled most of us to be the productive masters we are today, so join me in saying Thank you Jamaica, I will be forever grateful.

Americans have a saying that they use to describe success in their own country, it is total rubbish but they believe in it and have the power to make others who are not American believe it also, “Only in America can a poor man become rich” my blood boils when I hear people living and working in Jamaica spout this rubbish as if rags to riches is only possible in the United States. We have rag to riches stories all over Jamaica but we were engineered to devalue this as well and as such we are unable to use our own people as role models.  

   

Jamaicans were never malnourished, never suffer from systemic persecution or had to flee this island on make shift floatation devices, yet some Jamaicans talk about Jamaica as if that was the case. I go even further to say that Jamaica is in the problem she is in because of the mindset of the citizens both home and abroad. We do not seem to have the ability to stand and fix problems or right what is wrong, we have no desire to build instead we flee or try to flee while filling our hearts with nothing but contempt for a country we have done nothing to develop and see as an unfortunate birth place. These are not the behavior of Nation Builders.

If you do not want any part of the Nation Building process then fine, no one can force you, you are free to go wherever you want, turn your back, never look back, never speak of us, never speak to us, become something and someone else but please do so without the contempt and the venom for my beloved country. You do not need to hate Jamaica or dwell on her misfortunes in order to feel good about your decision to turn your back on your birth right.

I am a Jamaican and I am proud to be a Jamaican, it is who I am, the very essence of my being is Jamaican and I will die a Jamaican. It is not my Jamaican passport that makes me a Jamaican and as such acquiring another countries passport cannot take my "Jamaicanness" away from me. No matter where I am in the world or what other passports I may have acquired, I will still be a Jamaican.

If Jamaica is a failed state then it is because the people of Jamaica those living in and out of Jamaica are failures, no one else can fix Jamaica but Jamaicans, no one else can define Jamaica’s future and her place on this planet but Jamaicans. Building a better Jamaica is the responsibility of each and every Jamaican regardless of your geographic location, it is a challenge we all must rise to and all of us must answer the call. That is the behavior of Nation Builders.

Read Part 1--> Behavior of Nation Builders Part 1

No Lickle Twang - Louise Bennett

Me glad fi see yuh come back, bwoy,
But lawd, yuh let me dung
Me shame a yuh so till all a
Me proudness drop a grung.

Yuh mean yuh go dah Merica
An spen six whole mont deh,
An come back not a piece better
Dan how yuh did go weh?

Bwoy, yuh no shame? Is so yuh come?
After yuh tan so lang!
Not even lickle language, bwoy?
Not even lickle twang?

An yuh sister what work ongle
One week wid Merican
She talk so nice now dat we have
De jooce fi understan?

Bwoy, yuh couldn improve yuhself!
An yuh get so much pay?
Yuh spen six mont a foreign, an
Come back ugly same way?

Not even a drapes trousiz, or
A pass de riddim coat?
Bwoy, not even a gole teet or
A gole chain roun yuh troat?

Suppose me laas me pass go introjooce
Yuh to a stranger
As me lamented son what lately
Come from Merica!

Dem hooda laugh after me, bwoy!
Me couldn tell dem so!
Dem hooda seh me lie, yuh wasa
Spen time back a Mocho!

No back-answer me, bwoy - yuh talk
Too bad! Shet up yuh mout!
Ah doan know how yuh an yuh puppa
Gwine to meck it out.

Ef yuh waan please him, meck him tink
Yuh bring back someting new.
Yuh always call him 'Pa' - dis evenin
When him comes seh 'Poo’.

More about → The Behavior of Nation Builders (Part 2)

Eat what we grow and grow what we eat

I fully support The Ministry of Agriculture’s Eat Jamaica Campaign, I have been fortunate not only to observe but to engage with people living in the English countryside and I continue to be amazed at how territorial they are about the things they consume, food mileage is very important to them.  A butcher or a local grocer would advertise with pride that the products they sell were not only produced locally but organic and with minimal environmental impact. The butcher in Devon County  would advertise that the beef on sale was Genuine Devon Beef from a farm only a few miles from the store and British certifications or seals placed on packages for all to see, to prove that the items was produced locally and pass British Standards.

It comes as no surprise therefore that British agriculture satisfies 60 per cent of the food needs of the UK. If countries that are more economically stable and classified as First-World can set aside material needs and make common sense decisions based on individual and environmental cost in the interest of humanity and future generations, then why can't we do the same for our Jamaica?

In a country so dependent on nature and the environment for its existence, we should be more conscious of the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat. Jamaican certification and seals means nothing if the Jamaican consumers have no confidence in brand Jamaica.

I am happy to report however that the Jamaican Environmental movement is growing and slowly having a positive impact on certain sections of our society. Over the past decade several organizations have been created to push for a greener more environmentally friendly Jamaica and they have become a force to be reckoned with. It is very important, that we the public get behind these organizations in order to educate the general public that Jamaica’s future will come from the Environment and our success will come from embracing a sustainable way of life. It is clear for all to see that our present way of life is not sustainable, we are in a sense flogging a dead donkey whose rotten carcass is making life unbearable, we are as Michael Manley puts it “going up the down escalator” the level of Jamaica’s growing  debt is proof of this, we borrow to live.

There is a lot of exciting, innovative things happening in Jamaica, lots of little cute concepts and ideas from cafés to wine bars, cute little shops, gourmet foods such as Tamarind Hill Farm's Goat Cheese all beginning to take life, most of these innovations are being driven by the ex-pat community, non-Jamaicans who choose to make Jamaica their home, they see Jamaica as a viable option, they see things in Jamaica that most other Jamaicans cannot see. Liz Solms organized event “Farm-to-table”, a monthly gourmet dinner served in the middle of a farmer’s field using foods from the farm itself.  Check out Therese Morris, Founder & Owner of Flavour du Jour, as she promote the local food industry.

The Higher the petrol Price the Bigger the vehicles?

The rising price of oil and the negative effects that it is having on our economy and society demands that we make certain sacrifices that is in the National Interest of our country. Do we really need a gas guzzling SUV to get from Barbican to New Kingston or from Sandhurst to Manor Park?  The size of the vehicles on the small roads of Jamaica is a bit over the top but in Jamaica, style means everything, common sense plays no part in our daily lives.

Driving a monster truck while depriving our society of much needed foreign exchange to feed, educate and provide health care to our kids is a crime against our society and future generations. How much does it cost to fill the gas tank of one of these monsters? The environmental and financial impact of our actions will come back to hurt us.

In some richer countries the people have chosen to drive small, fuel efficient and environmentally friendly cars which are more suited to the size of our roads. Some of these Small, environmentally friendly cars are produced by companies like Mercedes Benz, which should satisfy the superficial need Jamaicans have to own brand-name products.

Update: Thursday | June 16, 2012

JAMAICA'S FOOD import bill continues to spiral out of control, jumping by US$100 million last year to a staggering US$930 million. Some J$750 million was spent on imported French fries.

Following his disclosure at a recent graduation ceremony for the first batch of 28 graduates from the Farm Field School project funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Roger Clarke told Agro Gleaner that the increase was a shocker.

He said: "I was anticipating a lowering of the import bill (so) I was alarmed at it." This comes against the background of the national 'Grow What We Eat, Eat What We Grow Campaign' and Backyard Gardening project, both of which were deemed to be successful in promoting consumption of local agricultural produce.

Meanwhile, Ancile Brewster, the IDB's country representative to Jamaica, warned that any attempt at reducing the food import bill would need to go well beyond "more than just blocking" imports. Speaking ahead of Clarke, he had put Jamaica's annual bill at more than US$800 million, which, when combined with Trinidad and Tobago's US$600 million, sees the two countries paying in excess of US$1.5 billion to import food each year. Read More: Rising food import bill concerns Clarke


LOCAL BANANA growers in Portland are appealing to the Ministry of Agriculture to provide a sustainable local market for them to sell their fruits, as thousands of acres of green gold are going to waste. The last-ditch appeal comes against the background of large amounts of banana chips and other by-products of the fruit that are imported into the country each year, while rural banana farmers remain poor.
Read More: Banana growers plead for help

Environmentally Conscious Consumer Operations

More about → Eat what we grow and grow what we eat

The Behavior of Nation Builders?

A country, any country is only as good as its people, so in order to understand the problems that exist in Jamaica one must first understand the people of Jamaica, the way they think and their relationship to the country of their birth, do they see themselves as part of the nation building process?

Three hundred and fifty years of British rule helped mold the Jamaican mind into what it is today, British rule was based on the path of least resistance, it was best to have a willing and docile people to govern, if required, force was used to achieve this objective but for the most part the British regarded the use of force to be counterproductive and costly, the use of soft power was preferred.  By the early 1900s Britain was able to pacify the inhabitants of Jamaica simply by making them believe that they were British subjects like any other British Subject, a valid part and parcel of the grand Empire, even without the rights and privileges given to their Anglo Saxon counterpart. 

At the start of the 19th century present day concept of Jamaica and Jamaicans simply did not exist, the population did not see themselves as patriotic, nationalistic Jamaicans entrusted to build a nation state, a society future generations of Jamaicans would be proud of, they saw themselves as British Subjects which is exactly how the British wanted them to feel since they were not in the business of promoting pro Jamaica Nationalist movements, to do so would be counterproductive as the population would start to question British rule, as such they preferred the Borg approach to conquest and colonization “Resistance is futile, you will be assimilated” and in 1948 the British Nationality Act conferred the status of British citizen on all Commonwealth subjects.

Jamaican Flag 1906-1957

 

The Section of the population that saw themselves as and believed themselves to be British men and women of the empire, for the empire even without the rights, wealth and privileges of their Anglo Saxon counterpart began to see Jamaica as the problem, its distance from the source of power, the mother country was affecting their ability to achieve the rights, wealth and privilege that every true British men and women should have, this blasted rock, this island outpost, this satellite of the Empire was keeping them from their goals, to walk hand in hand with their Anglo Saxon brothers and sisters united under the crown. England had done a proper job on the mindset of the people, brainwashing at its best, so good was this mind job that it continues to this very day as the current generation still sees Jamaica as the problem and still tries to distance themselves from her. 

River of Blood

While the Colonial Office was busy convincing the population of the various colonies that they were British, part and parcel of a grand empire, working for queen and country they failed however to send that memo to inhabitants of the British Isles. One must understand that at the start of the 19^th century the inhabitants of Jamaica had no idea that a poor working class Britain existed and how could they, the closest thing to working class Britain they saw was British soldiers and they had guns and was entrusted with the task of policing the inhabitants, so they were seen from a position of authority.  Other than that the British contingent was made up of Ladies and Gents of the colonial office, civil servants of the crown, judges, estate and business owners, working class Britain just could not afford to travel and had little or no information about the empire or how the people within it live. As such the conflicts that followed after their arrival was bound to happen.  

Several family members who migrated in the late 50s and 60 expressed to me how shock they were with the living conditions when they first arrived in England, they just did not expect to find such poor working class Britons living in such poor conditions, shocked that they left better conditions at home in Jamaica and too embarrassed and too broke to return home, they decided to stick with it. All that coupled with the fact that they were now experiencing blatant racism the likes of which they have never experienced before.

If you have not read the story of Enrico Stennett, a privileged half-black Jamaican youth, and two friends, stowed away to England, where he thought he belonged, on the SS Empire Windrush, well then I suggest you do, the Jamaica Gleaner published a three part excerpt from the Book titled “Buckra massa pickney”

[Enrico Stennett: "Each day, as I sat on the harbour and gazed out to sea, I could only see England through my eyes, thinking of the land of milk and honey, the land where the streets were paved with gold ... the land my ancestors so proudly talked about ... the land I had been told I was a part of and where the people were Christian and good people. Now my only goal in life was to reach this land."

AFTER FIVE weeks of homelessness in London's East End, Enrico Stennett came to the grim realisation that stowing away to England was a big mistake. Post-war London was in disarray, so much so that even the Britons themselves were left in the cold. Racism was there to welcome him, and nobody cared about his mixed heritage and privileged upbringing in Jamaica. He was just another black man.

Enrico: "Sometimes I would burst into tears knowing that I had reduced myself to living like this. Jamaica was too far away to help me now. I could not take the next ship back, it was too late, and I had disobeyed the wishes of the people who knew best. For this, I had to pay the price."

Enrico: "The funniest incident that happened to me at that time was when I was standing in a long queue at a bus stop, when a child of about seven years old shouted to his mother, 'Momma, Momma, look there is a white man with a nigger's head'. ... At the same bus stop on another day, a child approached me and said, 'Mister, can I see your tail?' When I told the child I had no tail, the child said I was lying, because his father had said all black people have tails."]

The day the Empire Windrush first docked in Kingston harbor sealed Jamaica’s faith, we never stood a chance.  These British men and women of African decedent, who lived their entire lives in Jamaica was going home to the Mother Country, to coexist with their fellow  Ladies and Gents in the upper echelons of British society and to take their rightful place and position within Her Majesty’s Realm.  However when the people of Jamaica arrived in England they immediately found out to their shock and horror that they were not British Citizens but Jamaicans, this title was not a title they wanted or wore with pride, the title of Jamaican was forced upon them by the Anglo Saxons of the land. The resistance to their presence by the native British population forced them to rally around and embrace the only thing they knew, the only thing they had in common and that was their “Jamaicanness”, they became Jamaicans not because they wanted to but because they had to in order to survive. In most cases early migrants from Jamaica to Britain experienced great hardship.

Allan Wilmot who arrived in 1947 wrote “I never knew what it was like to be broke, hungry or homeless until I came to this country. I couldn't even afford a cigarette”, so why is it then that we are prepared to go to such length, to suffer and to fight for survival in any other country but not our own?

“Almost the entire population in Britain really expect the coloured man to live in an inferior area…devoted to coloured people…Most British people would be quite unwilling for a black man to enter their homes, nor would they wish to work with one as a colleague, nor stand shoulder to shoulder with one at a factory bench.”

Lord Leary Constantine
Cricket legend, Political activist and first black peer
From the book "The Colour Bar" (1954)

Those who were left behind on the blasted rock simply decided to just sit around and bide time, wait for their chance to escape the rock for the Mother country and when the mother country turned her back on her subjects the people of Jamaica searched high and low for her replacement this they found in the United States of America, Uncle Sam.

 

Not everyone supported Jamaica’s independence from Great Britain, large sections of the population including my own Grandmother was against it, most Jamaicans who migrated to Britain during the early 1900s hated the idea of independence as they declared that Jamaica needed Britain to take care of them, which is the exact same thing most Jamaicans today say with regards to the United States of America. Why are we so child like, why do we always need to be taken care of, a mindset that explains our current political predicament?  These Jamaican Royalist often declare with pride that Jamaica was once the pearl of the Caribbean, the pride and joy of Britain without an understanding of what it means when the British describe one of its colonies as a Pearl. Britain had many pearls most of which were underdeveloped societies but were big money earners for Queen and country. At the time when sugar was king Jamaica was a British pearl with a slave labour force,  It is this ability to extract maximum profit with minimal cost and minimal investment and at the expense of the local population that defines whether a country was a pearl or not.

 

Independence was an upper educated middle class concept, made up mainly of mix race Jamaicans who were not welcomed in England and had no real power at home, Middle Eastern Jewish immigrants who control the means of production and now needed the power to go with it and the British who had decided that Jamaica was now a drain on the purse of the crown, a has been, use to be pearl and it was time to release her to the wild. 

After independence it quickly became apparent that we got rid of one Foreign Colonial Master only to be shackled by our own Home Grown Colonial “Muppets”. It did not take long for them to settle into the houses vacated by the old British colonials and start their own brand of oppression while paying lip service to the concept of Nation Building and “upliftment” of the masses. This was now easy to do because after 350 years of British rule the mindset of the population was subservient, self hating and looking to be taken care of. 


Behavior of Nation Builders Part 2  

Colonization in Reverse - Louise Bennett

Wat a joyful news, miss Mattie, 
I feel like me heart gwine burs 
Jamaica people colonizin Englan in Reverse

By de hundred, by de tousan
From country and from town,
By de ship-load, by de plane load
Jamica is Englan boun.

Dem a pour out a Jamaica,
Everybody future plan
Is fe get a big-time job
An settle in de mother lan.

What an islan! What a people!
Man an woman, old an young
Jus a pack dem bag an baggage
An turn history upside dung!

Some people doan like travel,
But fe show dem loyalty
Dem all a open up cheap-fare-
To-England agency.

An week by week dem shippin off
Dem countryman like fire,
Fe immigrate an populate
De seat a de Empire.

Oonoo see how life is funny,
Oonoo see da turnabout?
jamaica live fe box bread
Out a English people mout'.

For wen dem ketch a Englan,
An start play dem different role,
Some will settle down to work
An some will settle fe de dole.

Jane says de dole is not too bad
Because dey payin she
Two pounds a week fe seek a job
dat suit her dignity.

me say Jane will never fine work
At de rate how she dah look,
For all day she stay popn Aunt Fan couch
An read love-story book.

Wat a devilment a Englan! 
Dem face war an brave de worse, 
But me wonderin how dem gwine stan Colonizin in reverse.
*
**

(Don't worry I have trouble reading it also) 

I am very interested in Early Jamaican migration to Britain, the reality surrounding such migration, the mindset of the people in the early 1900s and why they decided to leave. I want to know what they found when they got there and what happened... I continue to interrogate the older members of my family whenever I get the chance, about conditions in Jamaica and the UK at time... A lot of history is based on nostalgia, fantasy and perception and I am forced to dig deep in order to get to the reality of the time… 

The social and economic condition of both Britain and the Jamaica is well documented and helps to dispel the nostalgia, fantasy and perception fog, even older Jamaica living in Jamaica would tell you things was better when they were a boy but they were a boy and they see reality through a boys eyes. Migration to America was just an extension of early 1900 migration and not very interesting as the migratory mindset that most Jamaican now have was conditioned in us from early 1900s and before. During Slavery we wanted to escape the plantation, to run away and after slavery we wanted to escape Jamaica. 

Watch 1 to 16

 Rural life - turn of the Century

 

Going to Mother Country

Men of the British West Indian Regiment - For King and Country

 Caribbean Regiment

For King and Country

Caribbean Personnel Recruited By the RAF

 Working sugar plantation

More about → The Behavior of Nation Builders?

A Few of my Favourite Places

 Jacobs Beach, Silver Sands Trelawny, Jamaica

 Strawberry Hill Hotel & Spa 

 Comfort Farm, St. Mary

 The View From the Loo, Devon,UK

 Dartmouth, Devon,UK

 Wembury, Devon,UK

 San San, Port Antonio, Jamaica

More about → A Few of my Favourite Places

The Jamaican Campaign for Real Ale

The wine revolution in Jamaica is being televised, a revolution that was started some time ago and is spreading all over Jamaica, new wine bars and shops are opening all over with wine tasting nights and food pairing but the Jamaican Beer Revolution is nowhere to be seen. Jamaica in my opinion is the most boring place when it comes to drinking beer because of the limited selection from which we have to choose. For the most part our choices are limited between Red Stripe, Heineken, Kingston lager or one or two other watered down imported generic lager. For stouts the choice is between Guinness Foreign Extra Stout or Dragon, sometimes you might find the odd Guinness draft but all-in-all the Beer selection is very predictable, very boring. 

Not only is the selection of beer limited and predictable but the taste of the selected beer is also limited and predictable, a Red Stripe by design will always taste like a Red Stripe, the same can also be said for all the other lagers and stout, you know what to expect when you open a bottle or a can. The manufacturers have decided that this was how they want their product to taste and the population with its limited selection pool have no other choice but to acquire a taste for that product. For many years growing up in Jamaica this was all we had to drink, all we had to choose from and as such old habits die hard, we have acquired the taste for a cold Red Stripe or Heineken on a hot tropical day as we convinced ourselves that there is nothing like it in the world without having experienced and explored other possibilities.

The world of Beer is as diverse as the world of wine there are many different types of beers, many different styles but none more interesting than the brewing of Real Ale, whether it be Cask Conditioned or Bottle Conditioned Ale. This is ale brewed using traditional methods and ingredients, top fermenting yeast at warmer temperatures and is allowed to mature in the container use to dispense it, a process known as secondary fermentation, as primary fermentation took place in the fermentation tanks. As a result like wine, the beer matures as its taste, characteristic and sensations changes over time, from day to day as live yeast carry on the process of fermentation even on the supermarket shelves in the case of Bottled Conditioned Ale or in cask located in the cellar of the pub. With this process there is no need to infuse the beer with gases such as carbon dioxide as the live yeast gives off natural effervescence during fermentation. These ales can also be flavored, infused with the essence of fruit, herbs and spices to enhance the taste and these days one can go to certain events specializing in the pairing of beer and food.

A World Wide Beer Revolution is in full swing as pubs across Great Britain, Europe and America pride themselves on delivering locally brewed beers to their customers. As per CAMRA (Campaigning for Real Ale) there are over 2,500 different Real Ales brewed regularly in the UK. In America the supply of craft Beers from microbreweries and brew pubs have increased dramatically over the years and everywhere around the world people gather at annual beer festival events to taste the latest brew.
 

Jamaica is ripe for a Beer Revolution, I have seen brewers around the world using brand Jamaica to sell their products, for example Jamaica Red Ale from California, Blue Point’s Rastafa Rye a delicious Rye Beer comes even with a dreadlocks Rasta man on the bottle and Hemp Ale infused with hemp oil just to name a few. Jamaicans can also be as innovative and create our own local Real Ale.  We could also explore the idea of growing hops at higher elevations which would be one less raw ingredient to import. Unlike the wine revolution which is 100% import base, the beer revolution can be for the most part a locally driven revolution, base mainly on local production, importing only the raw material required, that is not to say that we should not explore what is out there, it would be a sin not to, we can learn from others. Beer is seasonal, winter ales are normally heavier than summer ales, I am certain that summer ales and some winter ales would do very well in Jamaica utilizing natural Jamaican fruits and spices with local spring water to add a unique Jamaican flavor and aroma to locally brewed Real Ale. 

Mad River Brewing: Jamaica Brand Ale

It is my hope that a day will come when Jamaican brew masters will fill our supermarkets with locally brewed beers taking advantage of our unique resources, creating Ales with distinctive Jamaican characteristic with names like Three Finger Jack, St. Elizabeth Red, Blue Mountain Porter infused with Blue Mountain Coffee or Appleton Red Ale using old rum cask for primary fermentation. My personal dream is to create my flagship ale, Comfort Ale brewed and bottled on my own farm Comfort Farm in St. Mary using natural spring water from the guava river located on the Farm, infused with fruits and herbs from the farm to deliver a new unique flavor and served using a hand pump in my own Gastro pub, The Comfort Pub/Ale House.

Let the revolution begin!

Some of my Favorite English Ales:

• Doom Bar – Sharp’s Brewery
• Jail Ale – Dartmoor Brewery
• Summer Lighting  - Hop Back Brewery  
•  Butcombe Blond – Butcombe Brewery
• Tribute – St. Austell Brewery
• Fuller's 1845
• Brakspear Triple/Bitter
• Spitfire Premium Kentish Ale
  
  

  

  
  

  

  One of the best I've ever had.. A+

  
  

  
  

More about → The Jamaican Campaign for Real Ale