Jamaican Culture

Jamaican culture is so exotic, contagious and endearing, that the world just doesn’t seem able to get enough of it.

This includes our language, so now many typical Jamaican words like irie, dem, nevva etc are now in dictionaries on line.

Our language also sports many other expressive and catchy words which successive iidiat Jamaican governments have continued to censor and fine persons for using them.

This is a hangover from the actions of oppressive British colonialists, who had banned their use, as they thought they were being used to curse them. 

They probably were but we have been independent for 60 years and have seen these words become part of our normal language, not to curse but because they are so descriptive.

Parsons use them, police use them, judges use them etc. But they remain banned in our law books.

You can journey to Guyana, Antigua etc. where every second adjective you hear being used is the harmless Raass. Yet in your own country you can still be dragged off to court and fined by a judge for saying it.😡

The same applies to my favorite word to express surprise. That is bumbo.

Many years ago, when my grandson was in prep school I heard him saying bumbo. Horrified, I inquired how he learnt the word only to have him present me with his school book entitled; “ Bumbo the Elephant.”

We have always known the elephant to be Dumbo in kid’s books, so I immediately realized it was probably a misprint. I therefore went to his teacher the next day to point out that if a police heard him talking about Bumbo, he could be in trouble. 

She however informed me that all their books were sanctioned by the Ministry of Education so she could do nothing.

This was over twenty years ago, yet Bumbo still remains a tool of oppression by police.

In fact, it was probably twenty years before that incident that the late, great Peter Tosh (singer/musician,) recorded the classic chant; ‘Oh bumbo claat, oh raass claat.’ (Listen to it on you tube at; https://youtu.be/tYDfqIhPxCw.) 

He however probably suffered the most oppression in Jamaica under what he appropriately described as the shitstem!

Now, while aspects of our precious language are designated bad and censored by iidiat governments, the rest of the world embraces and profits from them.

How stupid can that be?

So, now if you want a shirt to explain the meaning of bumboclaat, you have to enrich the foreign-owned Amazon, while poor people in my bumboclaat country are being oppressed for using it.

Tell me I am dreaming!