Growing Up Like A Jamaican - De Time Is Shawt But I'm Grateful for De VisitOn November 2008 Stafford Llewelyn Samuels, my last living grandparent, passed away. I miss our talks on the veranda and the sound of his deep baritone voice thickly laced in patois as he recounted stories from his past, barked out orders and cracked jokes.
Growing Up Like A Jamaican - Missing My GrandmaMy maternal grandmother Lucy Olivier Bailey Samuels - we Jamaicans can come up with some fantastic names, eh? - would have turned 101 this month and coincidentally this is the 10th anniversary of her passing. It's hard to get to know the heart and soul of someone when they live far away especially when your only means of communication is letter writing.
Under the Mango Tree"Under the Mango Tree" is the Jamaicans.com 2009 Short Story Contest Winner. Congrats to the writer, Bandanna.
Growing Up Like A Jamaican - Too Busy Ah Follow FashionIs it me or has personal style gotten out of hand? I can understand self expression but the line between what's appropriate for school, at home or at work have been completely blurred. What I fear is that once it's time for young adults to go out in the real world and support themselves they will not want understand why - from 9 to 5 - they have to tailor their outfits to fit company code.
Growing Up Like A Jamaican - What to do when you don't have electricityWhen I tell people that my maternal grandparent’s home was not wired for electricity until 1997 their jaws often drop open. They want to know what did we do for light and didn’t we get bored without TV? Well, during the day we used daylight and at night we used lanterns.
Growing Up Like A Jamaican - Remembering GrandpaThis month my Grandpa Stafford would’ve turned 95 years old. He was such a strong and wonderful man. I miss him being here physically because that means no more long talks on the veranda or nights under the stars discussing everything under the stars but his ethereal presence is hard to deny.
Growing Up Like A Jamaican - Happy AnniversaryBack in ’96 I had an overwhelming need to know as much about my grandparents as possible. I think at that time I was afraid that they would either pass on or forget their history. Although my grandmother didn’t remember a lot about the past my grandfather had a mind like a steel trap. I asked him about how he and grandma met and this is the letter I got in reply.
Growing Up Like A Jamaican - Being Grateful for the little thingsEven in the toughest times my Grandparents never wanted for much. The cylinder they requested in this letter is for gasoline for the stove. Since they didn’t get electricity wired through their house until 1997 they still lived by lantern light, there was no TV and only a transistor radio that was powered by batteries.
Growing Up Like A Jamaican - The New YearThese letters from my grandparents are precious because my grandparents didn’t have a phone and to this day when we go visit their home in Hodges Land we have to first buy a phone card in Black River and then borrow a cell phone to make a call.
Growing Up Like A Jamaican - Letters From My GrandparentsAfter “How To Raise Your Child Like A Jamaican” was published I naturally thought, what’s next? Well, when grandpa passed away last year I came across a stack of letters that they had written to me a couple of them are undated and they span a decade. As you will see my grandparents’ needs were simple but their words gave me insight into the lives they were living thousands of miles away.
Jamaican Weddings "Old time" styleThe modern Jamaican weddings have drawn a lot of influence from American and English traditions. But they are noted for their traditional customer of making rum/fruit cake for the wedding guests and sometimes frozen varieties during the first wedding anniversary.
Living in a Tenement Yard -Part 4As crowing roosters seemingly take turns to welcome the new day, a mild morning breeze sway the crotons and hibiscus flowers in Thelma’s garden. The sounds and motions of the branches cause some feeding pigeons, hens and guinea-chicks to scatter. In an instance, they were back, filling their craws, pecking rice grains and coconut trash off the earth’s crust.
The Hon. Louise "Miss Lou" Bennett-Coverley has diedThe Hon. Louise Bennett-Coverley, fondly known to many as Miss Lou passed away on 07/26/06. It is a great loss to Jamaica and Jamaican culture. We pay your tribute to Miss Lou!!!
Jamaica and ReligionReligion plays a major role in the Jamaican society and culture. Read our overview of Religion in Jamaica.
Stories and ProverbsJamaicans always have a clever saying or story to tell that has nuggets of truth. Read about our proverbs.
The Typical Jamaican FamilyWhat is the typical Jamaican family? Our newest columnist Margaret Bailey gives us some insight on the Jamaican family from her experiences.
Games played by children in JamaicaThe games played by children in Jamaica are a mix of old-fashioned games with some unique...
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Jamaica Christmas Market/Grand MarketAn overview of Jamaica Christmas Market/Grand Market held on the morning of Christmas Day
