Hurricane Melissa
792 words
Hurricane Melissa
In the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, a chorus of voices has emerged insisting that England should do more to help Jamaica rebuild. These demands often come wrapped in the familiar rhetoric of historical responsibility, climate reparations, and the moral obligations of former colonial powers. (more…)
Nanny of the Maroons
912 words
Nanny of the Maroons
Contemporary academia loudly celebrates the concept of “lived experience” as a legitimate way of knowing. Personal narratives and subjective impressions are often treated as evidence, placed on the same level as empirical data or archival documentation. Yet this principle is applied selectively. When scholars write about slavery, they suddenly abandon the idea of lived experience, not because it loses relevance, but because it becomes politically inconvenient. (more…)
661 words
The recent trend of adding words such as broughtupsy and carry-go-bring-come—terms originating from Jamaican dialect into the Oxford English Dictionary represents a significant degradation of the English language. While dictionaries are, by their nature, descriptive rather than prescriptive, the deliberate inclusion of colloquialisms over abstract, sophisticated, and idea-laden words signals a shift in what is considered “worthy” of codification. (more…)
1,196 words
The British Caribbean today is defined in the global imagination by Afro-West Indian culture. Reggae, calypso, Rastafarianism, carnival, and the distinctive Creole dialects have become central to how outsiders view the region and how the region views itself. (more…)
2,456 words
English football fans in Europe during the 1980s and ‘90s were not ambassadors either for the British game or Britain itself. Increasingly cheap flights across Europe meant that vast numbers of fat, pasty, sweaty, bald or balding men were able to enjoy spoiling the afternoons of those wishing to use cafés and bars in Portugal, or France, or Malta.
Whenever England or a top English side played in Europe, a town square somewhere would soon fill with beer bellies on shirtless, gross, and grubby torsos. (more…)
3,010 words
I want all you skinheads to get up on your feet.
Put your braces together and your boots on your feet.
And give me some of that old moon-stomping.
— Symarip, “Skinhead Moonstomp”
People look at you in the street. Makes you feel proud. — a skinhead
Tribalism and Western youth go together, and from the 1960s to the 1980s in Britain the most feared tribe were skinheads. (more…)
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
1,084 words
Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton recently concluded their tour of the Caribbean to celebrate the Queen’s platinum jubilee. Commentators contend that the trip was orchestrated to highlight the relevance of the monarchy in a region where the demand for republican status is escalating. (more…)
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