Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jamaica’s first National Hero was born in St. Ann’s Bay on August 17, 1887. He was the youngest of eleven children born to Marcus Garvey, Sr., and Sarah Jane Richards. Garvey’s father, whom he described as “severe, firm, determined, bold and strong, refusing to yield even to superior forces if he believed he was right” influenced him greatly. The elder Garvey had an extensive library where young...

Before Millie Small was catapulted to fame in 1964 with the hit song, My Boy Lollipop, she had been part of a duo in Jamaica that had some minor success. She went to London in 1963 to record My Boy Lollipop, the song that put both her and Island Record on the map internationally. My Boy Lollipop reached number on the UK and US charts and was the first hit...

A Jamaican breakfast is usually a pretty substantial meal. It can consist of any of the following: boiled green banana, fried plantain, dumplings, Johnny Cakes, roasted breadfruit (when in season), Festival  (a Johnny Cake made of flour and cornmeal), avocado (when in season) and yam with either steamed fish, ackee and saltfish, callaloo or callaloo and saltfish, corned beef, sardines, etc. Sometimes, there might be porridge made from oats, cornmeal, banana,...

George William Gordon was born in 1819 to a slave mother and a planter father. In 1834, the year slavery was abolished (on August 1st), he was elected to the House of Assembly for the parish of St. Thomas. He was 23 years old. Gordon was also a leader of the Native Baptist Movement. The termination of slavery brought freedom and the right to vote but the majority of the...

Firefly was the name British author, Sir Noel Coward gave to his vacation home in Jamaica. Located on the north east coast of the island in the parish of St. Mary, Firefly was once owned by the pirate and former Lieutenant-Governor of Jamaica, Sir Henry Morgan, who is said to have used it as a lookout — the property has a commanding view of the harbor. Coward hosted many dignitaries...

Paul Bogle was born free about 1822 in Stony Gut, near Morant Bay in St. Thomas. He was a Baptist deacon and landowner. On October 11, 1865, thirty-one years following the abolition of slavery in Jamaica, Bogle led about 300 men and women to Morant Bay Courthouse, in protest against poverty and injustice and a lack of confidence in the authorities. The community had a number of grievances. Small farmers...

Much of what is known about Nanny, or Granny Nanny as she’s also called, has been gained from oral history. One thing, however, is clear: Nanny was an outstanding military leader who was a thorn in the side of the British in their battles with the Maroons, communities of defiant slaves who escaped plantation life for the nearly impenetrable hills in the interior of Jamaica. She outsmarted, out-planned and out-manouvered...

Born in 1801 in St. James, Samuel Sharpe was a deacon in the Baptist church. Although he was a slave, he was also an educated man. Since religious meetings were the only forms of organized activities permissible for the slaves, Sharpe travelled widely teaching other slaves about Christianity and encouraging discussions about the fight for freedom. Sharpe became a highly regarded of the native Baptists in Montego Bay and was...

As I write about Desmond Dekker, a Gregory Isaacs song (Love is Overdue) is coming to me from across the way. I’m thrilled to see that the music popularized by artists such as Dekker, Isaacs, Marley, Dennis Brown, etc., is holding its own against dancehall. Desmond Dekker and his backup band, the Aces, won the Jamaica Festival Song Competition in 1968 with Music Like Dirt and had a string of...

My grandmother Doris (Dor Dor) left us ten years ago today; thirty-three years and one day after we lost my Aunt Joyce. It’s a bit ironic that the dates of their deaths follow so closely as of the three women in my family – my grandmother, mother and aunt – my grandmother and aunt were most alike in temperament. Both were born under the same zodiac sign, Capricorn, only 9...