Dear Editor,

Jamaica’s relationship with her Diaspora has always been of particular, even if underrated interest. Her Diaspora are those who left her shores and their descendants for many reasons, though often economic ones.

This movement of Jah people started soon after Emancipation — a type of missionary colonisation with the likes of Joseph Merrick’s travels to what is now the Cameroon. Jamaica’s emigration followed American money, not British influence, and may have supported the promulgation of the Monroe Doctrine more than anyone intended. From the 1880s up to the 1920s, Jamaicans were all over Latin America. While the work of our people in Panama, Honduras, and Costa Rica is well studied, less is known about the 3,000 Jamaicans recruited to Ecuador to build one of the world’s highest and most spectacular railroads — now a world-class tourist attraction.

They all went for economic empowerment, hoping to return and lead independent lives as cultivators. Many were successful, others not so. Some made fortunes in the mines of Colombia and Venezuela, then lost all in the bars of Barranquilla. Arriving back home with nothing but a new language, they were duly mocked for their troubles. The original lyrics to the Rukumbine tune was about such returnees who “cyaan buy cawfee”.

Through the ensuing decades, as Jamaicans moved to the USA, UK, Canada and other places, the dual possibility of success and dashed dreams were played out. Expectations grew equal to the perception of wealth in the Diaspora. However, most Jamaicans know that things are not all rosy in the Diaspora.

It is the feeling of many in the Diaspora — the global Diaspora — that Jamaica is only concerned with the flow of remittances, gifts and goods. There is deep-seated distrust, and this has not been helped by the current attempt to set up the Global Jamaica Diaspora Council. The general feeling is that this is a rushed exercise, designed by and for Kingston, while electoral committees in the various jurisdictions are left to hold the bag. We are forced to wonder if Diaspora communities are now new colonies of their countries of origin.

About a dozen types of colonialism have been identified by scholars. Consistently, the main feature is the extraction of benefits, usually economic. Miss Lou’s Colonization in Reverse focused on the economic extraction by Jamaicans in London. But things have gone beyond Miss Lou. Remittances and support for Jamaica have been good.

The Economic Growth Council has identified the potential for Diaspora bonds as a cheap source of funding for Jamaica’s development, predicated as it were on the emotional attachment we all feel for The Rock. But what for the Diaspora? Will Jamaica go beyond seeing its relationship with the Diaspora as not only economic, but sadly extractive?

The present reality and future possibilities demand that there be a rethinking. We need a ‘Doctrine of One Jamaica’ at home and abroad. Jamaicans and their descendants need to be seen and made to feel like they are part of the nation of Jamaica. We must pivot towards a One Jamaica approach, wherein all Jamaicans at home and abroad are respectfully given the opportunity to make Jamaica great and experience greatness. The Jamaican nation is more than those on The Rock.

Jamaica has much to give to aid the development of her Diaspora communities. Many of the problems that can be found in the land we love also appear in Diaspora communities. In the UK, poor school outcomes, youth disengagement, need for entrepreneurial financing, issues of mental health, among other challenges, are rife. These things can benefit from close cooperation between the Diaspora and the intellectuals, entrepreneurs and practitioners in Jamaica.

But we, in the Diaspora and Jamaica, need to see things from a different perspective. Development in Jamaica is good for Diaspora communities. Likewise, development in the Diaspora is good for Jamaica. We are one. We are Jamaica.

Gregory J Roberts, PhD

g3210ster@gmail.com