Dear Editor,

No one should be surprised by dancehall artiste Ishawna refereeing to the bandana fabric in a derogatory fashion. Indeed, no one should be surprised by similar utterances coming from many dancehall artistes because if there is one thing they are not short of, it is ignorance.

Ishawna not only showed grave disrespect to our history, our culture and our tradition, but she showed a lack of knowledge of the significant contribution Ms Louise Bennett “Miss Lou” made and indeed continues to make from her grave, to bring self-confidence and awareness to the vast majority of Jamaicans who are the descendants of slaves.

The bandana is historically connected to our higglers. This was clothing worn by them and it included beautifully designed head ties that they would make from the bandana fabric. Prior to Ms Lou wearing the bandana and giving it full recognition, the fabric was looked down on as being connected to the lower class of Jamaicans. It was seen as something worn by the poor, higglers and by persons who were from the lower stratum of society. Miss Lou, more than anyone else, wore the bandana fabric with pride. She also encouraged others to wear it and in time it became fashionable and beautiful designs from it were made and worn, especially at cultural events, like festivals and during the celebration of Independence and the celebration of the abolition of slavery.

The fabric is also used for tablecloth and for napkins. Ishawna should know that several of us continue to use the fabric and we keep it in our homes with pride as it reminds us of a time in the past when the fabric was associated with the downtrodden and with those who have made sacrifice so that we can be who we are today.

In the case of Miss Lou, Ishawna is perhaps too young to know that she, more than anyone else, gave exposure to a mass of poor, ‘nattyhead’ black children on television with her famous programme Ring Ding. People like Ishawna take for granted the privileges being enjoyed by the black majority today, without realising that a significant sacrifice has been made by those who challenged the elitist, racist classist society that existed in Jamaica before now.

Ishawna needs to be rescued from the pit of ignorance in which she is trapped. Someone needs to sit her down and guide her along the path of knowledge. She needs to be assisted in understanding where we are coming from and who are the people who assisted us in reaching where we are now. It was Miss Lou, perhaps more than any other, who gave the Jamaican language respect and recognition. We have come so far along this road that we now have the New Testament Bible written in the Jamaican language.

Our entertainers especially the dancehall posse, are in the majority entrapped in a pit of ignorance from which several of them need rescue.

Linton P Gordon

Ocho Rios, St Ann

lpgordon@cwjamaica.com