Dear Editor,

The Jamaican language well describes the roles of those who are swimming upstream against the tide of prejudice that Patois faces. It is a struggle of will and determination to carve out a tool of communication that attracts international respect within a global community of languages.

One of the advantages of Patois is that it makes its users fearless, indepedent, and self-assured. It allows people the liberty to be their own bosses and not to be unduly attached to the chains and shackles of an alternative tongue. It allows its users to chart new avenues in language development as the dialect continues to evolve instead of remaining static.

Patois inspires and pushes new boundaries on the language horizon. The Jamaican creole stands out as ingenious and unique, which, for many, may mean challenging the status quo. Anyone who attempts to promote the Jamaican creole as an independent tool of communication in any official categary is up against the establishment, which recognises only English as a serious system of verbal and written interchange.

The Patois user must, therefore, exhibit bravery and selflessness in the face of fierce assault, just as a brave firefighter would to rescue lives and property that are in danger. When someone insists on speaking the Jamaican language in a formal setting it is not to unduly provoke or “diss” propriety but to respect and engender a native tongue that pulses from the genuine Jamaican’s heart. It is to preserve authenticity and language basics when truth becomes more urgent than its form.

Louise “Miss Lou” Bennett-Coverley may have faced heavy backlash for daring to take the road that was never travelled — the uncomfortable berrated way of communicating without the beauty that decked the paved official way of the English tongue. Courage and bravery may be needed to cross traditional boundaries for the good of many.

Patois makes people comfortable with themselves and their culture and with being who they truly are within. It is the reflection of how one feels and thinks — a collective DNA that appears in the language and forms a reflection in the mirror instead of a painting on the canvas.

Homer Sylvester

h2sylvester@gmail.com