Jamaican Society Research Articles

Thick Black women and misogynoir in the Caribbean

ABSTRACT It is well documented that thick Black female bodies are idealized in Afro-Caribbean communities. However, there is also a long and deep history of oppression of thick Black women in Caribbean spaces based on their race, gender, and body shape and size, which continues to inform the lives of thick Black women in postcolonial Caribbean societies. This paper is an exploratory, grounded analysis of thick Black women’s quotidian experiences in this dialectic, explicitly focusing on Jamaica. Using Caribbean research methodologies situated in decolonial feminist epistemologies, I explore the everyday realities of voluptuous Black women who have to negotiate white Eurocentric body discourses in contemporary Jamaican society. The study foregrounds the voices of thick Black women as they articulate their own lived realities with navigating ‘misogynoir’ in Jamaican public spaces.

The Life of Charles Mills, Radical Philosopher Extraordinaire

ABSTRACT Charles Wade Mills was one of the most influential and recognized philosophers in the English- speaking world and played a major role in changing the discourse of political philosophy. But how did he come to be? This article offers a personal remembrance and an account of his emerging ideas about race and racism as developed in some of his key texts. It also explores the relationship between his philosophy and his Jamaican background, arguing that the everyday practices of cognitive resistance in Jamaican society provided him with both inspiration and specific ideas.

“Dishonourable Blacks”? The 1983 “Rebel Tour” and Jamaican Nationhood and Identity

The efforts at nation-building in the West Indies have had to (and still have to) confront obstacles that are legacies of centuries of European colonization and enslavement in the region. Postcolonial challenges have included overcoming structural racism and the negative impact on identity of limiting stereotypes and prejudices; the empowerment of marginalized populations; the provision of greater socioeconomic opportunities; and the creation of more just and equitable societies. These were challenges they had in common with many other colonial and postcolonial societies across the globe. Cricket played a significant role in many of these struggles, and in so doing became an important part of anti-imperial movements within the region. It was, therefore, unsurprising — and perhaps inevitable — that West Indian nations and the West Indian cricket world would become involved in the fight against apartheid in South Africa. Examining social attitudes towards the anti-apartheid campaign within West Indies cricket provides us with insight that can help us to evaluate the broader nation-building efforts. One particularly illuminating episode was the formation of a West Indian “rebel” cricket team that toured South Africa in 1983 and 1984 in contravention of an international sporting boycott. These tours were a shock to many in the West Indies, with one commentator referring to them as “a collective affront to West Indian society, nationhood and history”. However, attitudes in the West Indies to the tour were by no means uniform: in fact, there were many voices in support of the cricketers. This paper examines the reactions in Jamaica to the initial announcement of the “rebel” tour in 1983 to see what light they shed on perspectives of identity and nationhood in the Jamaican society, and what they reveal about the state of the postcolonial project. It poses the question: was the action of the “rebels” an affront to Jamaican society, or rather a reflection of it?

Bob Marley and Gender- Friendly Lyrics: A Critical Discourse On Feminist Response On “No Woman, No Cry”

The existing great strides on cultural feminist demonstration towards developing techniques to preventing domestic violence, and other forms of social construct against women, navigate through resistance and pragmatic ingenuity as a commendable role in appraising the songs of Bob Marley, owing to the constructive criticism the diction of his lyric songs possess. The Jamaican society where Marley’s songs are set is a physical, social and economic violence society which is against women, most especially the poor women of colour, who are perpetuated in part by top down globalization. This article demonstrates how resistance permeates through pragmatic ingenuity and feminist metaphors to embellish and address a set of approaches to legal scholarship rooted in feminist and anti- racist critical traditions, thereby reconceptualizing the human right problems facing Black women who migrate between the United States and Jamaica. Marley’s cultural feminist song “No Woman No Cry” depicts that Jamaica (Caribbean) women have become the private solution to the public problem of fundamental race, class, and gender inequalities in United States. Admissibly, critical race feminist approach requires prospective strategies to be pragmatic and metaphorical, as well as theoretical. It, however, requires a difficult process of building coalitions among women and men who sometimes resist seeing their common interest being trampled on. This scholarly work, therefore, aims at adopting post-colonial feminist theory as a theory that permeates through the subject matter of Marley’s lyric song and attempts to give a critical appraisal of the song from the post- colonial perspective through his poetic diction of the post- colonial feminist society.

Discourse, Difference, and Divergence: Exploring Media Representations and Online Public Sentiments toward Marginalized Urban Communities in Jamaica during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Despite lacking the resources to adequately adhere to public health protocols, urban residents belonging to impoverished communities in Kingston, Jamaica were prominently featured in local news reports that highlighted their breaches of social distancing. These reports generated an overwhelmingly prejudiced online social discourse, characterized by derogatory and dehumanizing remarks. This research aims to explore the ways media representations of calls for social distancing have unearthed latent social cleavages and contributed to the othering of Kingston’s poor. A thematic analysis was used to understand the nature of the public response to these news reports. The comments were manually coded, and emergent themes were classified based on the sentiments expressed. The comments generated evoked class, place, race, and political tensions, potentially perpetuating the public perception of vulnerable groups as the ‘threatening other’. These comments possibly represent deeper problems associated with the social divergence of Jamaican society. The lack of sensitivity exhibited shows a general disregard for the stark social realities commonly experienced by subaltern groups. These findings suggest media coverage promoting public safety, while important, may inadvertently lead to heightened social tensions and perpetuate social stigmas against marginalized groups, potentially stirring social divergence and countering efforts toward inclusiveness and integration.

“Act[ing] Riotously”: Theatre and Performance in Early Nineteenth-Century Jamaica

Abstract Theatrical culture in early nineteenth-century Jamaica attests to tense relationships between tradition and innovation, acceptance and resistance. The early nineteenth century has not, however, received much in-depth treatment by historians of the Jamaican stage, who have tended to focus, instead, on the establishment of formal theatre in the eighteenth century or its revival in the post-emancipation years. In its attempts to recover the bustling auditoria that distinguished Jamaica’s most popular playhouses in the 1810s, this essay details who attended the theatre, and what kind of rules regulated their behaviour. It examines how theatregoing practices reflected the inequalities that characterized Jamaican society; assesses efforts to enforce segregation within the island’s playhouses; and investigates the entertainments that existed beyond them, especially those associated with the members of society least represented or altogether excluded from the island’s theatre auditoria—Jamaica’s free black and the majority of enslaved men and women.

Perceived Health Concerns During COVID 19 Crisis Amongst Jamaicans

Aim: The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented global crisis affecting several countries, including Jamaica. The risk perception of a crisis is shaped by both real hazards and perceived threats. Therefore, a cross-sectional research survey was conducted in August 2020 to evaluate Jamaicans' perceived health concerns during COVID-19. Methods: A cross-sectional randomized online questionnaire survey was sent to a total of 268 participants. As a result, 92 people (34%) responded to the online questionnaire survey in August 2020, and SPSS analyzed the data. Results and Discussion: Out of 92 respondents, 78% were females, 22% were males, and more than 70% of participants were over 35 yrs. old. 52% of participants perceived the country was not prepared for a crisis such as COVID-19. The biggest concerns during this crisis were family health (39%), economic hardship (28%), societal health (20%), and personal health (13%). In personal health, the majority of Jamaicans were concerned about physical and mental health during this crisis. Conclusion: The responding and understanding of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic are functions of both natural threats and perceived risks. The interaction of physical health and risk perception is complex and dependent on understanding the crisis, uncertainty, and destructive potential. The results suggest a crisis burden on mental health in addition to physical health; therefore, an effective campaign should be planned to prevent a deepening mental health crisis. This research study suggests a potential burden on societal health in healthcare delivery systems and other public health services. The awareness program should be promoted to motivate and help the Jamaicans to handle the crisis. The policymakers should consider working with government, science, and faith-based institutions to develop a multidisciplinary framework to control the COVID-19 pandemic's negative impact on Jamaican society.

The Inferiority Complex Constructed by the Dominant Power in Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea (1966): Postcolonial Analysis

This study focuses on the construction of identity shaped by the dominant class. Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea portrays the complexity of identity in the figure of Creole woman, Antoinette, for belonging to neither the Jamaican society nor the European. Using interpretive qualitative approach as its method, this study applies the theory of power and knowledge to reveal the imbalance power relation between center and marginalized. The result of analysis shows that both Jamaican society and Rochester have the contribution in shaping the inferiority complex to Antoinette. The representation of madwoman in Antoinette implies the constructed truth framed by the dominant class. As a result of the inferiority complex, the dependency of the inferior on the superior grows which consolidates the domination of power. Under this situation, the dominant power legitimates their authority to represent others as well as to control the marginalized side. Thus, this study intends to raise the awareness of any kind of oppression which limits people to have a voice.

The Possibilities of Internet Voting in Jamaica: Moving from Convenience to Fixing the Problem of Voter Apathy among the Youth

Recent scholarship recognises the importance of information and communication technologies (ICT), particularly the Internet, and its focus on ways to overcome challenges to political participation. The advent of Internet voting or I‑voting in encouraging youth political participation has been framed within the context of convenience voting which can help to strengthen democracy by encouraging voting, especially among apathetic youth. This paper explores the relationship between Internet voting and youth political participation in the Jamaican society through a survey of 600 youth. The findings suggest that while it may not substantially reduce apathy, which is more intricately linked to perceived overarching systemic failures, Internet voting holds the potential to improve voter turnout at the polls. While convenience was not a major factor driving political apathy, it was an important factor in encouraging participation at the polls.

Tristes Tropique in Jacqueline Bishop's Patchwork Aesthetics

Tristes Tropique in Jacqueline Bishop's Patchwork Aesthetics

Consumer Drivers of Industry Growth and Household Loyalty to Private Security Firms in Jamaica

Jamaica is the fourth most murderous country in the world with more than 100 murders per 100,000 population. Private security firms have grown to record levels and have outnumbered the police and military combined, thus making private security an extremely important part of the security landscape in the country. This article seeks to explain household loyalty to private security providers and the rapid growth of private policing and protection in the country. Prior research has rarely addressed this issue, particularly in a developing world context. Utilizing a final sample of 108 private security customers in Jamaica and partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) for data analysis, the study finds that good relationships between customers and security providers and the service quality offered by private security firms are key drivers of household loyalty. In addition, lack of confidence in the police, service quality offered, and the high levels of “indiscipline” in the Jamaican society are causal to the increased growth in the private security industry.

Imagining and Imagined Sites, Sights, and Sounds of Slavery

Imagining and Imagined Sites, Sights, and Sounds of Slavery Celia E. Naylor (bio) Within academia and related publishing venues, we have witnessed the burgeoning fields of digital humanities, digital scholarship, digital pedagogy, and digital liberal arts. The recent launching of the William and Mary Quarterly's first born-digital article published via the OI Reader app constitutes, as Quarterly editor Josh Piker announced, "a significant milestone for the Quarterly."1 It is also quite telling that the inaugural born-digital article for the journal is Simon P. Newman's essay entitled "Hidden in Plain Sight: Escaped Slaves in Late Eighteenth-and Early Nineteenth-Century Jamaica." In this article Newman employs "sound and video recordings as well as enhanced eighteenth- and nineteenth-century artwork and maps, all in digital format … [to] challenge readers to think about Jamaican society in new ways." He attempts to "explore how white men saw and experienced the island and its population in order to enhance our understanding of how enslaved men, women, and children who attempted long-term escapes were able to achieve varying degrees of liberty and self-determination at the heart of Britain's largest slave society."2 Through the use of various mediums (literature, music, visual culture, etc.) and media (newspapers, digital media, etc.), Newman creates opportunities for twenty-first-century readers to consider the multidimensional and multisensory aspects of eighteenth-and early nineteenth-century Jamaican society. He provides pointed examples of how white artists' images represented Jamaica as idyllic, with pastoral scenes that essentially erased the physical and [End Page 25] energetic presence of blacks; such pictures simultaneously removed all traces of the quotidian experiences of enslaved and free people of color, including the violence deeply embedded within the Jamaican slavocracy. English architectural draftsman James Hakewill's picturesque illustrations of Jamaica from 1820–21 represent one demonstration of such visual depictions. Newman also discusses the similar intentions and representations in the numerous pencil sketches and watercolors of Jamaica by English artist William Berryman, as well as the more limited Ten Views painted by Scottish artist William Clark. Even Clark's depiction of enslaved people at work in Antigua, Holeing a Cane-Piece, still presented an easy, bucolic scene of subjugation.3 One of the strategies Newman employs in order to illustrate the problematic nature of selected early nineteenth-century artistic renditions is to digitally enhance two of Hakewill's prints by repopulating these images of public spaces with more figures of enslaved and free people of color in Kingston's Harbour Street and in King's Square, Saint Jago de la Vega.4 These digitally enhanced images not only offer a necessary correction of skewed, contrived views of Jamaican settings but also (re)integrate the actual physical, corporeal presence of enslaved and free people of color who lived and labored in order for Jamaican society to function at all levels. Using these scenes from specific Jamaican sites becomes not only a process of portraying a more accurate historical view of such public spaces in Jamaica but also a digital portal for humanizing black bodies within these venues. Even as Newman clearly recognizes that "eighteenth-century and modern media present their own interpretive challenges," his article underscores "the problems inherent in historical sources while also considering the merits and weaknesses of modern pictorial, aural, and video materials."5 Just as it is crucial to point out the deliberate erasure (and racialist characterizations) of enslaved and free people of color in the work of Hakewill and other eighteenth- and nineteenth-century white artists, we must also interrogate twenty-first-century decisions made in reimagining these digitally enhanced scenes. Newman states that the figures used to repopulate these images were originally from the artwork of European artists, including eighteenth-century London-based Italian painter Agostino Brunias, as well as nineteenth-century artists Berryman, Clark, and Hakewill.6 The decision to enhance these images with other racialist artistic representations of people of color crafted by white artists introduces other problematic layers of (re)presentation and interpretation. Given all of the resources available in the twenty-first century, perhaps it would have been fruitful to create new artistic, though still [End Page 26] historically centered, renditions...

Traditional knowledge systems and the role of traditional medicine in Jamaica.

Abstract Jamaica's national motto 'Out of Many, One People' reflects the country's multiracial past and the historic and ongoing influences that many cultures have had on the country's traditional knowledge systems (TKS) and traditional medicine (TM). This review explores Jamaican TKS and TM, from the earliest indigenous peoples to their use today. Historically, a significant proportion of the Jamaican population has relied on different forms of TM, and today 73% of Jamaicans self-medicate with plant-based medicines on a regular basis. Modern Jamaica effectively has a spectrum of healthcare provision operating between two healthcare systems, western biomedicine and TM, although the latter is often dismissed as lacking western scientific rigour. Crucial to the development of TKS and TM has been the island's abundant flora, including endemic, native and introduced plants, giving rise to a uniquely Jamaican vegetation. Following a declining oral tradition of transmission, Jamaican TKS and TM also face a concurrent loss of biological diversity that forms an indispensable constituent of these systems, making their conservation and protection a priority. Jamaica is poised to develop a natural health products' industry with the potential to contribute to national growth and development. However, for such development to flourish on an equitable basis across Jamaican society requires recognition of TKS, and legislation that protects TKS and the holders of TKS and guarantees fair and equitable sharing of benefits derived from the commercial use of these knowledge systems. At a time when the rights of indigenous peoples internationally are increasingly recognized, it is also important for Afro-descendant communities in the Caribbean and Latin America to achieve better recognition and to be incorporated into the dialogue on traditional, local and indigenous knowledge systems and their contributions to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Jamaica, Three Years Later: Effects of Intensified Pro-Gay Activism on Severe Prejudice Against Lesbians and Gay Men

Jamaica has developed an international reputation for severe anti-gay prejudice. However, in the past few years, between 2012 and 2015, intensified waves of activism have increased the visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Jamaicans, and supported their social and legal inclusion in Jamaican society. This research investigated the effects of that activism by taking advantage of two large, representative surveys of Jamaicans’ attitudes toward lesbians and gay men: one in 2012 and one in 2015. Over the three-year period there were significant reductions in desire for social distance and opposition to gay rights. However, there was no significant change in anti-gay attitudes, and there was evidence of an increase in anti-gay behaviors. There was also no evidence of polarization of responses to gay men and lesbians; rather, the most prejudiced Jamaicans showed the largest reductions in bias. Implications of these findings for activism in Jamaica and other anti-gay countries are discussed.

Instructional Leadership and Its Effect on Students’ Academic Performance

Introduction: Leadership in schools has been a major cause for concern, not only in our Jamaican society, but on a global level. Leaders are metaphorically viewed as anchors, as they are totally responsible for the success of their organization. Objectives: The aim of the current research is to: evaluate the role of instructional leadership on academic performance of students; Assess how instructional leadership influence on teachers’ instructions; evaluate instructional leadership and typology of school, and explore instructional leadership in secondary educational institutions in St. Andrew, Jamaica. Methods: This research employed mixed methodology. Survey research and phenomenological research methodologies were employed to investigate the topic. The sample comprised of one hundred teachers and administrators at two secondary educational institutions in Kingston and St. Andrew. For the quantitative data, these were recorded, retrieved, and analysed using the Statistical Packages for the Social Sciences for Windows (Version 21.0). The qualitative data were analyzed using thematic identifications and narrations. A p value of 5% was used to establish statistical associations. Findings: The majority of the respondents were females (69%), non-senior teachers (68%), and have been teaching for 4-10 years (43%). A positively weak statistical correlation existed between the performance of students and instructional leadership, with only 1.4% of the variance in academic performance students can be accounted for by instructional leaderships. Conclusion: The discourse of instructional leadership accounting for high academic achievement of students does not exist in this study, and this provides a platform for further examination of the issue from the perspective of instructional leadership and other variables.

Negotiating worlds (yards, shantytowns, ghettos, garrisons): Inequality maintained and the epistemologies of social factors Influencing stratification and education in Jamaica

This article shows how social factors, such as poverty, and the education system have long been on a collision course with class structure in the Jamaica. There have been several studies done on Jamaica’s education system. However, scholars have situated their work on the question of social factors and Jamaica’s education system in either an examination of a particular policy or what happens in the classroom. There have been none that bridges several policy initiatives with history (colonialism) and situates the social stratification of the Jamaican society within the history educational system while engaging with different types of sources (Former Minister of Education and her cabinet). This study (which is part of a larger study) employed interviews and document analysis to collect data. Three requirements for the nation are discussed. First, this study shows that parental involvement in education is needed. Second, there must be an attempt to improve education and school facilities in impoverished areas. Third, the nation must begin to step outside the boundaries erected by historical legacies in order to address the stratification created in part by the education system.

Customer Satisfaction of Policing the Jamaican Society: Using SERVQUAL to Evaluate Customer Satisfaction

Introduction: The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) established in 1867 as a paramilitary organization and over its 148 year history, the institution has sought to address various crimes and it appears that all its policy efforts have come to nought. In seeking to combat the crime pandemic in the society, the entity has been accused of corruption, abuses, professional misconduct and excessive use of power. With such accusations and claims, there has been a negative image of the JCF and so it has sought to inco-operate the user as a part of policing strategy. To date, there has been no empirical research undertaken on service quality in the JCF. Objectives: The purpose of this research is to evaluate the perception of Jamaicans on the service quality of the JCF following the implementation of any aspect of modernization. In that it is to provide insights into service quality (SERVQUAL), aid policy implementation and highlight the current gap in SERVQUAL between the citizen and the police. There is a clear realist that the present policing strategies and mechanisms require modernization. Assessing service quality in the JCF can provide a perspective and solution on the matter of crime management within the society. Materials and methods: The large volume of data were stored, retrieved and analyzed using the Statistical Packages for the Social Sciences (SPSS) for Windows version 17.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Descriptive statistics were performed on the data as well as percentages and frequency distributions. Service Quality is measured using a simple mathematical equation Eqn 1: SQ = P – E Where, SQ denotes overall service quality; P symbolizes perception and E means service quality expectation. Findings: In all cases in Jamaica, a negative score was recorded for SERVQUAL indicating that JCF is not meeting the needs of users of its service. On desegregating the overall SERVQUAL of JCF members, Jamaicans highest expectations were for assurance and reliability of SERVQUAL. Conclusion: The psychology of dissatisfaction with the service delivery of the JCF is accounting for the failure of its initiatives and unless the negative gaps between perceptions and expectations are addressed, the JCF will be a failed organization.

“Seen and Heard”

Abstract This article examines the role of religious communities as spaces of belonging and inclusion. Deliverance Tabernacle, a small church located in the Dudley Square section of Tivoli Gardens, provides a community of care in which residents, specifically women and youth, receive recognition and affirmation unavailable to them in mainstream Jamaican society. Their engagement and participation in the church contrasts with the alienation they experience from the state, evinced here in victims' experiences with offering testimonies to the West Kingston Commission of Enquiry.

A So Black People Stay: Bad‐mind, Sufferation, and Discourses of Race and Unity in a Jamaican Craft Market

AbstractCraft vendors in St. James, Jamaica, interpret the competive strategies of fellow vendors as acts of animosity understood through the trope “bad‐mind.” Despite facing a marketplace increasingly constricted by foreign‐made souvenirs imported by emigrant Sindhi Indian wholesalers, vendors attribute their economic failings and the conditions that create them to a chronic black Jamaican disunity inherited from slavery. In this context, vendors reconcile their limited prospects and normative expectation of failure through the rationale of “sufferation,” a notion broadly availed within Jamaican society, to contextualize and rationalize economic adversity. What emerges is an ethnicized framing of the market as a construct through which inferences of citizenship and racial discourses are produced.

Attitudes towards mental illness of nursing students in a Baccalaureate programme in Jamaica: a questionnaire survey.

There is longstanding evidence of nurses demonstrating negative attitudes towards people with mental illness. Student nurses' fear or discomfort with mentally ill patients results in poorer outcomes for patients and students' dissatisfaction with their experience of mental health nursing. There is evidence of negative attitudes towards mental illness in the Jamaican society; however, no studies have explored whether these attitudes are held by nursing students. The aim of the study was to examine the attitudes of nursing students towards mental illness. A questionnaire survey was conducted with a convenience sample of 143 third-year nursing students who were enrolled in a baccalaureate programme. Data were collected using the Attitudes Towards Acute Mental Health Scale (ATAMHS). A response rate of 71% was achieved for the survey. The findings indicated that the student nurses held an overall negative attitude towards mental illness, with a general perception that mentally ill people are dangerous. The student nurses were divided in their opinions in a number of areas, suggesting a possible conflict of opinions. Negative attitudes towards mental illness impact client outcomes and the career choices made by nurses. This study provides baseline data within the Jamaican context that adds to the evidence on nursing students' attitude to mental illness. Further research is needed to explore whether nursing education and clinical experience enables student nurses in Jamaica to develop a more positive attitude towards mental illness and mental health nursing and whether cultural factors contribute to negative attitudes.