Dear Editor,

For many years, a private secondary school named Priory High School existed on the current grounds of 10 Hope Road, Kingston 10.

It was a thriving educational institution until it became public knowledge that it was no longer financially viable. I recall stakeholder tears as various arrangements were made to permanently close the institution.

Years later a new educational institution emerged at the same location. Remarkable is its name and the subtle compliment to its predecessor: Liberty Academy at the Priory. In my opinion, this is one of the most successful namings of an institution I have to date come across. It established an indelible link between its present and its past from the get-go, hence, void of controversy.

The converse is true for Jamaica on the road to republican status, which is beset by a lack of clarity on many issues. If we became independent in 1962, why is there this void, hence the need for something else? Why do some want to remain with the Privy Council while others want a Caribbean Court of Justice? Why do the Maroons still consider themselves a sovereign State within the Jamaican State? When Jamaica becomes a republic, how relevant will Emancipation and Independence days be, or will they be subsumed in a Republican Day?

The crux of the matter appears to be how we have defined Jamaica. Has Jamaica ever been a single State or has it always been a multiplicity of Jamaican states. By my logic, the following should be subsumed in any definition:

*Jamaica 1: Taino Jamaica (2,500 years ago)

*Jamaica 2: Spanish colonial Jamaica (1494 – 1655)

*Jamaica 3: British colonial Jamaica (1655 – 1962)

*Jamaica 4: Post-colonial independent Jamaica (1962 – present)

*Jamaica 5: Post-independent republic Jamaica (being contemplated)

All these versions of Jamaica are authentic, hence their re-emergence in the cycle of history. No matter how hard we try to eliminate these issues, only time will tell if they will ever go away.

Joan Francis

ajfrancis08@gmail.com