Content Warning: this episode contains sexual content as well as mentions of sexism, ephebophilia, statutory rape, revenge porn and misogyny.
Sidewalk is an upcoming video essay series that explores shifting discourse in Jamaican society through the arts. Lest We Forget is pleased to present the podcast version of their first project - Oral Sex As Told By Dancehall - which looks at the history of oral sex discourse in Jamaican society through dancehall music.
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In conservations around Jamaicans distrust in the island's political system, there is the recurring theme of political corruption. So to understand the root of political corruption on the island, it seems to fit to look at the historic court case involving J.Z. Malcolm, who in 1952 became the first politician in Jamaica to be found guilty on fraud charges.
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Since scholarship on the topic discussed is limited, a large portion of the details heard on this episode was taken from “The Making of ‘The Comrade’: The Political Journey of Ralph Gonsalves" by Ralph Gonsalves
Today, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves is the one of the longest serving head of government in Caribbean history. As of this episode recording, he is the current prime minister of St.Vincent and the Grenadines - a post he has held since 2001. Beloved throughout the region, he has affectionately called Uncle Ralph and Comrade Ralph. But back in the 1970’s, this affection was non-existent as he was persona non-grata throughout the Eastern Caribbean.
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Content Warning: this episode contains profanity
In 2004, Jamaican musician, Damian ‘Jr Gong’ Marley released the lead single off his upcoming third studio album, "Welcome to Jamrock”. Propelled by its music video, it would go to be an international hit. But although it was celebrated abroad, back home in Jamaica, sections of society had a different opinion.
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In the wake of certain events occurring across the region, thousands of West Indians emigrated or sought refugees status to the United States by the 1970’s. Still, it would be the newly arrived Haitians and Haitian refugees that faced the most prejudice. And even though one rap group would emerge in the 1990s to address this anti-immigrant and anti-black discrimination, anti-Haitian rhetoric in the U.S. has never really gone away.
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Content Warning: This episode contains mention of slavery
On August 1st, 1838, Jamaica, alongside the rest of the countries in British West Indies, achieved emancipation and thus all enslaves Black people on the island, gained their freedom. Since then, it has been ongoing debate on the necessity of commemorating the end of one of the most brutal acts of mankind.
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Content Warning: This episode discusses a plane crash as well as injuries and death associated with it.
In the mid 1970’s, the first and only mid-air bombing of a civilian airliner in the Western Hemisphere took place. As such, the 1976 bombing of Cubana Airline 455 which resulted in the killing of 73 persons, became one of the most devastating terrorist attack in Caribbean history.
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Content Warning: This episode contains discussion of homophobia, homophobic language, murder and police brutality. There are also mentions of slavery and rape.
By no stretch, is the Jamaica Constabulary Force the most loved civil servant organisation. However, the organisation colonial roots, anti-black mode of operations and the nation’s homophobia lead to a rumour that the organisation is been overrun by queer male police officers; and despite being untrue, this rumor has lasted for almost a century and at one point, even prompted a government inquiry into the force for their alleged "homosexual behaviours".
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On this episode, we discussed how the colonisation of Barbados by Europeans led to the rise of mosquitoes in the region as well as look at other ecological transformation that have led to other present day problems across the region
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In 1979, a swine virus outbreak occurred in the Dominican Republic. Still, the situation would have far reaching changes in Haiti as a US-Canada-Mexico partnership saw 1.3 million of their Kreyol pigs been slaughtered.
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In 1975, Cuba sent troops to Angola to help them fight against an invasion by apartheid South Africa. Henry Kissinger, the US Secretary of State was angry at this, so he set out to get countries to denounce Cuba’s actions. Jamaica was one of these countries. So, in December 1975, Kissinger met with prime minister Michael Manley on the issue. On this episode, we hear from Manley, himself, how this conversation went and the events that occured in its aftermath - events, that forever changed Jamaica.
-Michael Manley’s account is taken from, Jamaica: A Struggle In The Periphery by Michael Manley. pg 111 to 117
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In Jamaica, there is the famous Devon House. A historical landmark, it is popular for its patties, the Devon House ice-cream and on any given weekend when the weather is suitable, it also serves as a public park for families. However, there’s a popular story that involves Devon House that most Jamaicans grow up hearing. Basically, the story goes that Lady Musgrave, the then governor of Jamaica’s wife, was so angry at seeing Devon House, this grand mansion owned by a black man, that she authorise the building of another road, to avoid driving passed it. And it’s for this reason why the road is known today as Lady Musgrave’s Road. However, as much as the story is popular and accepted by Jamaicans, it’s not true. Entirely debunked by historical facts, on this episode, we outline why the story of Lady Musgrave and George Stiebel, Devon House’s owner, is just a myth. While we are, the story of Annie Palmer, the White Witch of Rose Hall, was all based on a racist novel. That story, too isn’t true.
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Upon the arrival of large numbers of Indians to the Caribbean, through the Indentureship system, they also brought their religion and other aspect of their culture. Their aversion to not assimilating to whiteness, was seen as a problem by the colonial governments. And no other event in the 1800’s would portray this than the 1884 Hosay Massacre in Trinidad which say agents of the colonial state - the police- turn their guns on Indians taking part in the annual Hosay festival.
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On August 1st, 1838, Jamaica, alongside the rest of the countries in the British West Indies, achieved full emancipation and thus all enslaved Black people on the island, gained their freedom. Immediately after, the topic of land became a major issue. For even though freedom day come for all Black persons, a series of laws & taxes were created, effectively blocking Blacks people & in some English speaking - Caribbean countries, Indians, from owning land. A history that countries are still reckoning with today.
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Content Warning: this episode contains mentions of violence, slavery and wider harm.
Most scholarship on Caribbean chattel slavery of enslaved Africans largely covers the the sugar and tobacco plantation systems throughout the region. However, there was another massive industry that was built upon the enslavement of Africans - that was the cultivation of salt. Saltpans, the name given to the areas of salt production, were spread across the region where throughout the 18th and 19th century, the region was one the main supplier of salt to Europe and the United States; and as events unfold, the documentation of the life of one enslaved black woman who worked on a Caribbean saltpan played a major role in the fight for emancipation in the British West Indies. Still, it is the history of salt production in the region that shaped the West Indian diet we know today.
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On March 10, 1979, according to all persons who were personally involved in the documentation of the revolution, the New Jewel Movement leadership got word through their informats at senior levels of the police force, that orders were left for the arrest and assassination of the leading members of the political party i.e - Maurice Bishop, Bernard Coard, Unison Whiteman and Hudson Austin. Thus, all leadership members would go into hiding immediately except for Vincent Noel who did not receive the information in time and was arrested and detained. Then on March 12, when Gairy departed the island on government business to attend a function in New York, he allegedly left orders for the capture and murder of the NJM leadership. Through a pattern of behaviour, NJM leadership knew that if they wanted to live to see another day, they would have to act urgently - they had to move soon and not just soon, they had to move tonight. In one night, Tuesday, March 13, 1979, a group of young persons would attempt an event that has never happen in Caribbean history: a successful revolution in the English - speaking Caribbean.
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Content Warning: This episode contains mentions of police brutality
As Sir Eric Gairy’s tenure as head of government continued throughout the 1970’s, the country was on the brink of economic and social collapse. After Bloody Sunday and Bloody Monday occurred, two of the most brutal cases of police brutality in Caribbean history, Eric Gairy was beginning to face opposition from all sides. However of all the oppositions that formed, one stood out: an organised group of young professionals who called themselves the New Jewel Movement. The New Joint Endeavor for Welfare, Education, and Liberation was founded in 1973 and born out of two organisations: MAPS, Movement for Assembly of the People, founded by UK trained attorneys, Maurice Bishop and Kenrick Radix; and JEWEL, Joint Endeavor for Welfare, Education, and Liberation founded by US educated economist Unison Whiteman and Sebastian Thomas. By the mid 1970’s, the Marxist Leninist political party was now headed by a group of leftist young professionals: Maurice Bishop, Bernard Coard, Unison Whiteman, Kenrick Radix, Vincent Noel, Hudson Austin, George Lousion, Selwyn Strachan and Jacqueline Creft. With a national grassroots approach to political organising, NJM would attract the support of the poor, youth, women and members of the Rastafari community in Grenada; and by 1977, would position themselves as the main opposition party on the island.
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At the beginning of the 1970’s decade, Grenada's representative Jennifer Hosten, won the Miss World pageant and almost four years later, the country achieved one of its greatest fete: independence from the United Kingdom. Still, in the midst of this independence, the country was experiencing islandwide strikes and protests due to its economic deterioration and domestic repression in the hands of its premier now first prime minister, Eric Gairy. These were highlighted by the many cases of Gairy’s alleged bribes and corruption, real estates scams, extortion deals, sex scandals, international partnership for his own self interest, and his now growing obsession with religion and flying saucers. But even most alarming, they would have to wake up everyday and come face to face with the reality of one of the most famous institutions of Gairyism: the Mongoose Gang, Gairy's allegedly secret police which came down on anyone and anything that stood in his way of power.
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After years of societal tension in Grenada, everything would come to a head in 1951 at an event now known as the 1951 Revolution. The person who propelled this event was a former primary school teacher name Eric Matthew Gairy. Due to the success of this 1951 event, Gairy would become Grenada’s leading trade unionist through his organisation, Grenada Manual and Mental Workers Union (GMMWU). Gairy capitalise on this new fame among the locals and register a political party, Grenada People’s Party (GPP) which would ultimately become the Grenada’s United Labour Party (GULP). Soon after, at the age of 29, Gairy would Grenada’s most powerful political leader. Over the next decade and through the 1960’s, Grenada became the setting for Gairyism. Gairyism is defined as the “pride and rebellion Gairy inspired; the self-seeking excesses of the man himself”. Popularism, reports of vast government corruption and lack of policies geared towards the working class, could not deter Grenadians from voting for Gairy. As such by the time Grenada achieved self governance in 1967, Gairy would be ushered in as Premier and Grenadians, unknowlingly, would have to brace themselves for the full force of Gairyism.
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1950 would be one of the most significant years to understand the Grenadian Revolution, however, the events of this year were years in the making. It was years of build up tension arising from the neglect of the country’s majority black and poor population, coupled with the organising influence of Uriah Butler in nearby Trinidad and Tobago and the national black power empowerment movement enhance by of T.A. Marryshow. Grenada, unlike other countries in the anglophone Caribbean region, did not have large scale union backed labour protest in the 1930’s and this would add to this palpable tension. This episode also contains a brief history of the Banda Massacre which exposes the dark history of nutmeg cultivation and European colonisation
The audio that opened this episode is a recording of McGodden Kerensky "Cacademo" Grant, one of the persons who started the Working Men and Women's Association with T. Albert Marryshow. Later, he would become National Chairman of the New JEWEL Movement (NJM) Council of Delegate. At the time of the People's Revolutionary Government (PRG), he worked with the militia until his death in 1982.
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