Dear Editor,
My last trip to Jamaica took me to Accompong, St Elizabeth, to see my father who resides there. I was enthralled by the pied beauty, the lush vegetation, the perennial verdant fields, the variegated flora and fauna coupled with the fresh unspoilt balmy air and the meandering riparian streams from the Black River passing through on its way to the sea. It’s a hidden beauty tucked away in the backwoods of northern St Elizabeth.
My paternal side of family grew up in the region steeped in the Maroon tradition. My grandfather instilled in his offspring the history and traditions of the Maroons. Through that oral tradition I learnt about the exploits of people like Cudjoe and Nanny. These were barbeque and fireside stories that were told to us to empower us and to keep history and culture alive. I was knee high, but recall how grandpa would hammer into our consciousness the need to fight for what’s right.
He would be quick to tell us, though, “Never let people pee pee in your head and [tell you] it’s rain”
Maroons were cultured to be resilient, to be go-getters, and to be peaceful. My grandpa, for most of his adult years, was in the hierarchy of the local Maroon movement. He especially stood out on the sixth of January, Maroon Independence celebration, where he was famous for blowing the abeng, which in itself is a language, because different sounds conveyed different messages. It was used to call for assembly, for warnings, for death announcements, and the Maroons when they hear the sound knew how to appropriately respond.
I recall how Maroon traditions inculcated peaceful co-existence. Discipline was a hallmark of the community. There was respect for the elderly. Manners were the order of the day. There was support, caring, sharing, and it was in this village that children grew.
Accompong was not a place where police frequent because Maroon laws set boundaries which was respected and obeyed and this has evolved with time.
Today, my father is 96 years old, carrying on the tradition of blowing the abeng and rolling the kette drum in his lifetime. He has never had to face a judge or report to a police. People like him and Colonel Cauley have set high bars in that community. The district school has performed creditable in preparing disciplined and achieving students for the nation but you seldom hear about that.
In that vicinity, men and women farm the Crown lands from Accompong to Appleton providing sugar cane, pimento, sundry ground provisions that keeps the bread basket of Jamaica replenished. They grew up off the land, that was their industry, and as my grandfather would oftentimes remind us, “ The only woman that never menopauses is Mother Earth.”
So its against this backdrop that I appeal to our prime minister not to pick a fight with the people of Accompong. Don’t fix what’s not broken; rather, use your energy to fix what’s broken For over two centuries these people have been self-governed with no threats to our democracy or sovereignty. They have done well and there are pages that could be copied at the macro level for the governance of our nation. Their history is well-documented and their ancestry should be rewarded.
Prime Minister, could you consider erecting a monument in Accompong in honour all the brave unsung heroes who fought to get the colonial masters off our back?
How about upgrading the community school to become a post elementary centre at which skills and creative arts can be taught?
I would also recommend the building of a Maroon village as a tourist attraction to help boost the economy of the area.
To do such things would bring much honour than staging a war that needs not be fought with the Maroons over sovereignty.

Dr Burnett L Robinson
Blpprob@aol.com