Bleeding Black, Green and Gold

On most days I bleed red, today however, I bleed black, green and gold.

August 6, 2011 marks 49 years since the island of Jamaica gained her independence. Though, born and raised in Jamaica, I have been living in the United States for almost 9 years, and like many Jamaicans from the diaspora, I consider Jamaica home. Never mind that my entire immediate family and quite a bit of my extended now lives in the States, Jamaica is still my home.  

There is just something about the place. Something that goes beyond the fabulous tropical weather, or the beaches--which are also FABULOUS by the way. It has more to do with what we Jamaicans call the "live-ity" [LIVI-TEE].  It's the way of life, the idiosyncrasies, the little things that bring a smile to my face like a boy in Kingston pushing a wooden cart on wheels made from old car tires, a man pssssting at a sexy girl and asking her to be his wife, "Nutsy" selling roasted peanuts and asham on the side of the highway, and the mini buses bursting at the seams, blazing at the speed of light across the island "letting off" and picking up passengers. These simple things make up the soothing ditty that plays in my head when winter days are long and cold, and a brash encounter with unfamiliar culture remind me that I'm not "from around here."   

When an American discovers that I am Jamaican the next words out of their mouths are typically, "So why would you move here?" Tony Rebel said it best in his song Sweet Jamaica "What a nice place fi live, Sweet Jam dung, Di only problem is, Dollars nah run." Truth be told in Jamaica, like many countries in the world, the stories of opportunity, the possibility of unlimited success, or the chance to "do better" are very attractive. The Jamaican economy is in shambles, poverty and violent crime is on the rise, educated college graduates frustrated with the system move abroad to further their education, and from an infrastructure and organization standpoint the country is far from perfect. As Caribbean natives living abroad, we each have our story of what motivated our Exodus.  The song "Jamdown" by Ruth Ann Brown (a Jamaican expatriate like myself) perfectly captures the sentiments of many.

Reasons for leaving, and problems aside, if you ask many Jamaicans where they plan to retire the response is often "Jamaica of course!" They have a "plan" to save, buy a piece of land, build a house and go back to Jamaica to live out the rest of their days (my grandmother included). How many people actually carry out that plan? I don't have the exact figure, but some something tells me the research would show a significant disparity between the number of people with the "plan" and those who actually do it. 

I believe the "plan" is a comforting story that makes the distance from home and all the memories it represents more bearable. The "plan" is an expression of our fierce loyalty and the reality that no matter where in the world we are we will always be "Proud to be Jamaican."  Happy Independence Day Jamaica!