The irrelevance of Black History Month in Jamaica

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

IT is quite surprising to note that some Jamaicans want to celebrate a Black History Month as done in the United States, or to participate in the recently created Kwanzaa winter observances that fall around Christmas. Some American importations such as Coca Cola beverages, McDonald's fast food, Uncle Ben's rice, and Kentucky Fried Chicken are not entirely bad since they employ local workers and sometimes require some local ingredients. Imported American ideas, however, usually deserve closer scrutiny. Neither Black History Month nor Kwanzaa passes any respectable need-to-have test in Jamaica.

This is not to say that there is anything inherently erroneous in espousing a Black History Month, or even joining the commercial slide toward adding Kwanzaa as yet another marketing opportunity. But celebrating Black History and Kwanzaa did not originate from any overriding commercial need. They were individual responses by politicised subordinate groups in a society quite different from Jamaica. Both festivities are quintessentially made for the USA.

Black History Month, formerly Black History Week, was the brainchild of the eminent scholar, Carter G Woodson, the second African American after WEB Dubois to receive the degree of doctor of philosophy at Harvard University. Both Woodson and Dubois were distinguished intellectuals who deplored the biases and patent inadequacies of American society and especially of history. They vehemently opposed the marginalisation of black people in the USA. Rectifying those social omissions became the reason for their intellectual being.

Woodson founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History in 1915 and the following year created a journal, The Journal of Negro History, to disseminate new research on people of African descent. During the 1970s when black political sensibilities were undergoing fluid changes, the association modified its name and that of the journal to reflect the more acceptable term, Afro-American. In the 1920s, Woodson along with associates in the college fraternity, Omega Psi Phi, began advocating for a designated week in February to call attention to the neglect of non-white dimensions to the American reality. The selection of February reflected the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln who freed the US slaves and Frederick Douglas. But February also presented other important historical milestones such as the birth of Dubois, the congressional approval of the 15th amendment extending the franchise to black males, the taking of oath of the first black senator during reconstruction, and the founding of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People. On February 1, 1960, a number of college students in Greensboro, North Carolina, began a sit-in in a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter and gave impetus to the ongoing civil rights movement. And it was on February 21, 1965 that three Black Muslims assassinated Malcolm X.

By the 1950s many cities and states recognised Black History Week celebrations. With the civil rights movement gaining strength in the 1970s, February was declared Black History Month in the USA and an increasing number of institutions began to recognise the occasion and support various forms of observances. Black History Month has become a sort of collective catharsis for the centuries of neglect of African-American history and marginalisation of American non-whites.

Kwanzaa does not have quite the intellectual pedigree or honourable genesis of Black History Month. Instead, it grew out of the radical Black Nationalist movement of the 1960s. Ron Karenga (the self-designated new name of Ronald McKinley Everett, a Black Power activist) created Kwanzaa in 1966 as a seven-day black alternative to Christmas and white American culture. Over the years Karenga has given many explanations for Kwanzaa. In the 1960s he declared that his aim was to "give blacks an alternative to the existing holiday and to give blacks an opportunity to celebrate themselves and history rather than simply imitate the practice of the dominant society". Later the explanations would vary from allowing African Americans to reconnect with their African past to a community celebration of blackness.

Karenga described Kwanzaa as recognising the seven principles of Kawaida, a Swahili term for tradition and reason. Each of the seven days of celebration is dedicated to one of the principles of Umoja (unity), Kujichagulia (self-determination), Ujima (collective work and responsibility), Ujamaa (cooperative economics), Nia (purpose), Kuumba (creativity), and Imani (faith). Kwanzaa ceremonies sometimes include drumming, ritualised drinking, lighting a candle each day, feasting and the exchange of simple Swahili phrases such as Abari gani, which roughly translates as "How are you?"

Eventually Kwanzaa gained a sort of general acceptance, with the US postal service issuing two commemorative stamps and Hallmark greeting cards getting into the act. In 2004 a small research organisation estimated that 1.6 per cent of its survey, extrapolated at about 4.7 million Americans, observed the holiday and President George Bush even issued a Kwanzaa message that year. Nevertheless, very few Americans can trace their roots to East Africa. The Kwanzaa use of Swahili phrases is contrived and the ritual resembles a watered-down version of the Jewish Hanukah or Festival of Lights.

Black History Month and Kwanzaa grew out of a minority population that had been oppressed and marginalised for centuries in the USA and whose self-confidence and self-esteem had been aggressively denigrated. That has not been the case in the Jamaican and Caribbean experience. Throughout the Caribbean non-whites have comprised the majority of the population almost everywhere. They have shaped mainstream society in fundamental ways as Brian Moore, Michele Johnson, Patrick Bryan, Barry Higman and Swithin Wilmot have demonstrated in excellent histories. Moreover, authors of Caribbean histories represent some of the most path-breaking research in the fields of the humanities and the social sciences. Jamaicans do not need a month to focus on their history or to imitate irrelevant foreign rituals. They simply need to make their history a more fundamental part of their formal and informal education throughout the year. That history will show that for much of the modern era the Caribbean held an important position in a wider Atlantic world that was shaped largely by locally enslaved and free people.

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COMMENTS (18)

A. Croft
2/20/2010

After reading all of this the one thing that I could think of was this: I am glad that I live under a constitution that gives me the rights to live my life, for the most part, the way I choose. The freedom to travel, read books, use the internet, control my finances, etc. Going back in history and trying to blame a group of people who no longer exist should not be an issue. I would not want to take on the self deprecation of some black people. An example of this is the way they view themselves with respect to other races. I do not want to loose my self confidence and lower my expectations in terms of what I can achieve. These lowered expectations of many black people is part of their problem. If Black History Month and Kwanza are in place to try and eliminate the problem then I would say yes to these efforts; otherwise, from a personal perspective, I do not need it.
I do admire the way African Americans work within the legal framework to achieve their objectives on a political level. They have achieved a break through in education and many have access to a superior system of education and good jobs. It is up to them to take advantage of what is available to them. It is all up to them. Jamaicans can learn from this.

Stanley Palmer
2/19/2010

I agree with Verna Kitson.

Ricky Edwards
2/19/2010

I think most of the posters have lost sight of what the columnist is saying. My interpretation of his argument was that for Jamaica, a predominantly black country, why the need for a month to celebrate our history. It is a history that should be celebrated and taught year round. I happen to agree with the columnist. The need for a Black history Month in the US is derived from their particular circumstances where it is felt that as a minority racial group, their contribution to that society has been important enough to not be ignored, and being in the minority, they have no control over what is taught to their children. In order for their achievements to be noted, honored and publicised, the designation of a specific month in the year serves that purpose. That is where the dis-connect with the Jamaican experience exists. Blacks form the majority in Jamaica therefore the history of Jamaica is inter-twined with the history of it's black population, hence whatever is taught about Jamaican History in schools is in fact, the history of all its racial groupings.
One solution to all this is to name February as Black American History month and use that month to recognize the struggles and exploits of the black American experience of the civil rights era, and compare some of those notable figures and heroes to our own.
As for Kwanzaa, I question the relevance of a ritualistic celebration using a language that I am not even sure was spoken by my own ancestors.
Obviously there are strong views on this topic on both sides. I for one agree with the premise of the column on both items and see no benefitial relevance in the recognition of either of these items in Jamaica. To blame the current socio-economic conditions in Jamaica on our non-observance of the American's Black History Month celebration and Kwanzaa is an absolute over simplification of the issues and utter nonsense.

howie J
2/19/2010

Mr. Franklyn, I totally agree that Jamaica doesn’t need a Black holiday, but I would rather celebrate the 7 principles of Kwanza than take part in the European barbaric holiday called Halloween, where so-called decent people stick fake knives with dripping blood thru their skulls. If you are going to talk about America’s influence on Jamaica, then talk about something like Halloween which has no social good, not Kwanzaa which has the potential to enlighten and unite a mentally enslaved people.
I look forward to your piece, Part 2, called THE IRRELEVANCE OF HALLOWEEN IN JAMAICA during the Halloween celebration.

Chinese Jamaican Bloke
2/19/2010

so when will Jamaica celebrate Asian heritage month?

John Smith
2/18/2010

This Writer is demonstrating the relevance of ignorance and self hate, but then again he may not consider himself Black.
Why not discuss Thanksgiving or Halloween; No bcoz we ongle have strength for hating on self.
The unfortunate thing is that many Jamaicans think like this classic ignorant Writer.
Jamaican in general need a whole decade or more of intense African History, maybe then they will figure why as 90% of the population they ongle control 10% of their economy, while non blacks comprising 10% of the population control 90% of the economy-Go figure.
Delete and confirm censorship of black progressive comments.
Big up yuself Dr Rose.

Norman Edmonson
2/18/2010

Dr. Rose,
I am in complete agreement. Thanks for the detailed and accurate response to a columnist whose opinions concerning this issue are quiet disturbing.
Can you imagine that a presumably reputable journalist would hold such uninformed position. How ridiculous could it be to suggest that black people in Jamaica have no problems with self-confidence or self-esteem. I don't know where the columnist has been living but the evidence of these destructive behaviors in Jamaica is overwhelming.
Although black nations throughout the world have their own black history celebrations which are unique to their respective country, it is beneficial for us as black people to have unified celebrations throughout the Diaspora.
The USA played a major role in the transatlantic slave trade, and is a major economic and political giant. We are already Americanized in many ways, often in destructive ways, so why should we not be Americanized in positive ways and participate in their black history celebrations.

Dr Rose
2/18/2010

I am very distraught when I read comments like yours in light of the great sacrifice men such as the late Prof. Rex Nettleford. On the other hand, I am comforted when I recall that the Great Teacher-Christ lost his life trying to change the thinking of people like you.
Let me be clear about the tone of my discourse with a few situational references, so that there will be no misunderstandings about my intentions.
When the Jewish people were delivered from bondage- they were instructed to collect and places stones at the place of their deliverance so that they will never forget; they were further instructed to bind the precepts that preserved and guided them upon the foreheads of their children and teach them to the children for generations to come. After the Holocaust the Jews erected memorials and instituted rituals so that they will never forget the atrocities done to their people and further demanded that other take note by advocating that their history be taught in our schools. I am somewhat troubled by your comments, but that explains for me why many Jamaicans (Yes, I am Jamaican), migrate to the USA and show such disregard for memorials/rituals and celebrations unique to the African-American struggle, not knowing that today they are beneficiaries of this very struggle. And let's you venture to educate me- I am fully aware of the contributions of people from the Caribbean to this struggle.
You seem to imply that Jamaicans have arrived and that the slave ships no longer dock at the wharves, etc. What an attitude of arrogance! Yes, I am proud to have had my earliest experiences in Jamaica, but my accumulated experiences were enriched by exposure to the history of my brothers and sisters in these Unites States of America. I am the more sensitive to their plight and now feel obligated to ensure that their legacy is valued remembered down the generations.
The Biblical Job would say- “You speak like a foolish man". With this sort of dialogue, you engage those who are schooled-yet not educated; strong-yet powerless; seeing-yet lacking in vision; rich-yet poor; freed-yet chained. MUST I GO ON? I think you get my drift.
Have you ever wondered why as a people we continue to wonder in the wilderness and why a journey that should have taken us 4 days is taking us 40 years- figuratively speaking? It is because we have forgotten from when we came and the precepts and rituals that sustained us amidst atrocities. So, my brother- while you see no direct relevance to celebrations such as Black History Month and Kwanzaa to the Jamaican experience- I ask you not to continue to sow seed of dissent among a people who already have borne the effects of centuries of division.
I am sure you feel proud to be a Jamaican and for the most part I do too, but please don't kid yourself in assuming that we are so culturally competent that we need not remember. It is because of this very attitude that I believe the island is in the state it is currently. If we fail to remember from when we came and the landmark along the journey, we will certainly be revisited by the pain of our past.
You show me the fallacy of the observances you criticize and I show you an island still enslaved. Today the crime rate and atrocities against the citizens by their own is appalling; at lease during slavery it was the white man who committed those crimes against the black people. I find it even more frightening that crimes against women and children go virtually unchecked and you think you are a free people. I find your legal system somewhat of a charade - beautiful on paper but lacking in results for those victimized by the powerful and often failing to hold their perpetrators accountable for their crimes against humanity. Have you seen some of our beautiful black sisters lately... how they have bleached their faces hoping to capture the complexion of their European counterpart? O have you missed the fact that many of your churches are not interested in social justice, but would rather be in bed with the government? Certainly, you must notice that it has become more advantageous for individuals to defraud one another than to be a wage earner or producer of goods and services? I wonder what our ancestors would say about that -given the fact that they endured centuries of forced labor without compensation. My friend a people who have merely exchanged their wrought-iron chains for a mental one is a people who are far more enslaved than were their fore-parents.
Do me and our people who remain on the Island a favor; start a re-education campaign in which you will emphasize the enormous price our ancestors paid for our freedom. Help my fellow Jamaicans to understand that we cannot continue to devalue each other and certainly not those whose experiences might have been different from ours. Maybe then they will be able to identify their own action and attitudes that have perpetrated the vestiges of slavery even today. Let there be no more Moravia (Liberia), where the freed slaves became the new slave masters because that is exactly what is happening in Jamaica today.

A truly free people do not need designation of days or months to celebrate their journey, but if we fail ignore the landmarks and if we fail to transmit the principles that are restorative and sustaining for the generations looking on- we will have nothing on the white man.
Shalom!!

l j
2/18/2010

We need a Caribbean history month in Caricom states

2/18/2010

Amen! Preach brother. Preach!.
We have learned much from our black American brothers and sisters. I really do hope, however, that Caribbean people and Jamaicans in particular, embrace your message and be more discriminatory in their importation of Black American ideas (and insecurities).

josh davis
2/18/2010

as we live in a 'free' country where freedom of thought and freedom of religious rights exist i can see no reason for the need 'means test' any form of celebrations that does not violate the laws of the land.
i must also add that most Jamaicans are black and there can be nothing wrong with celebrating the history of black people worldwide ,if anything we need more celebrations.

Winston G
2/18/2010

I am a black man who keeps wondering what is this black thing all about.
Of course I know my history, and it is that history that particularly makes me PROUD to be black. So we WERE slaves. So we WERE under colonial masters. Se we need to know and appreciate our history. CERTAINLY!! But why a whole month to look at black history - IN A WORLD OF MANY RACES?
How about Asian history month or Jewish history month? How about Caucasian history month? The world is full of many races -NONE MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE OTHER.
It often looks to me like as black people we suffer from a form of inferior complex. Why do we need to focus so much on being black. My race IDENTIFIES me and it's a proud identity for me. Ok, I'm black. So what?
I'm HUMAN with endless possibilities. It's time for us to reach our potential, achieve what we can and stop focusing so much on being black - or pink or blue for that matter. We are all HUMAN BEINGS. Like God made flowers of different colours, so he made the human race.
I know I am going to face a lashing for this, but I think it's high time we get off this race thing and get on with our lives.

2/18/2010

I totally agree with the final statement, about the need to make Jamaican history formal and informal educational pursuits for the whole year. I would stress that learning about other black achievers elsewhere would not be harmful. Still developing our own culture is preferably to just imitating everything the Americans do.

Timothy Whitt
2/17/2010

First, let me state that Im an African-American and I totally disagree with what you have written. Black Histoy Month is not just for African-Americans, it is for Black People globally. European colonizers and enslavers did not come to enslave some Africans but all the Africans that were profitable for them. BLack History is relevant to the Black people of Ja because like African Americans they have also been the victims of rascism, bigotry, white supremacy, colonialism, and exploitation which continues to this very day. When I was young, I had to learn, not only the history of Blacks in America but in JA as well. I had to learn about Paul Boggle, Nanny, the Maroons, etc... Im a die hard Bob Marly and Peter Tosh fan. I hav never been to Ja but Im proud of what I consider to be my Black heritage in Ja. Your article seems to be an attempt to perpetuate divisions amongst Black people, in a time when we need to unite for the ufpliftment of the race globally. Crime is ripe in the communities of JA and the Black communitites here in America. Self love amongst black people is a globall need. You are right when you talk of the commericialization of Kwanzaa and black histoy month. It is a topic here in America. That is the nature of Babylon, it makes that which is holy become profane. So, in the words of that great Pan-African leader," Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery non but ourselves can free our minds."

Timothy Whitt
2/17/2010

First, let me state that Im an Africa-American and I disagree with your views totoally. The need for African people to know and have knowledge and pride of their history is a global reality. Europeans did not come to colonize some African people but African people all over the world . Black peopele the world over have been victims of rascism, bigotry, exploitation, and white supremacy. When I was young I had to learn about Paul Boggle, Nanny, and other African Jamaican heros. Im proud of what I consider to be my Black heritage in JA and I have never been to Jamaica. BLack History month is not just for African-Americans but black people the world over in our on-going struggle to liberate Black people where ever they are. You are presenting another attempt to show a differenc and division among black people that will fail. You point to the attempted commericialization of Black History month. This is to be expecte in a Capitalist society where anything holy and spititual is made profane, but it does not stopt the on-going need for African redemption and unity. As that great Pan-African leader once sung, "Emancipate yorselves from mental slavery cause non but ourselves can free our minds"

Eniamrej Noxid
2/17/2010

i like how you did not post my comments. there was no deragetories, no hateful material but yet was not post. thanks alot

Verna Kitson
2/17/2010

You are right in the sense that those particular events are directly embedded and emerge from the efforts of African Americans to remake their identities in a society that has been largely hostile to them.
However, you seem to want to have your cake and eat it too. "Black History Month" and "Kwanzaa" are as problematic as imports as "Kentucky", "Taco Bell" and "Uncle Ben's Rice", as are "Thanksgiving","Halloween", "Superbowl" and live Christmas trees. Except, those other imports are positioned as "mainstream American" (therefore good to eat) rather than particular to a racialized group (not good to eat). That African American history and cultural identity has been deemed inferior to that of the hegemonic American identity that is largely understood as "white" affects how we in Jamaica read the issue of "relevance". As it stands, readers can legitimately argue that this column is offering a thinly veiled anti-black argument, and they would be on to something. Apparently, only some forms of American imports are acceptable to you, and others aren't, based on the transparency of the ideological baggage borne by the imports. In my opinion, when you can see all of them as part of the same process - Americanization of Jamaica - rather than decide that some are more worthy than others because of the former's cash value and indicator of "progress", while the latter seems to mean a devolution to the margins, then I will take your criticism seriously.

Richie L
2/17/2010

Sir, I beg to disagree with your thesis about Black History Month. While, I do not necessarily subscribe to the need for a celebration during a single month, I think it is still important that there is ongoing recognition of the contribution of people of African descent in Jamaica.
Yes, Jamaica is majority Black, but that does not mean that the contributions of Blacks have not been subjugated in the society. One just needs to look around to see many who are "bleaching" as evidence. South Africa is a Black majority country and you can see the happenings there.
In light of all the tributes to the work of Prof Rex Nettleford, I am surprised at your thesis, especially at this time.
Population size of a people is not the only determinant when deciding whether there should be emphasis on studies of such people.
As far as Kwanzaa, I agree with you.
Richie

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The irrelevance of Black History Month in Jamaica