The mural at UWI Mona.
Sonia Morgan, Staff Reporter
LONG BEFORE CARICOM and its talks about regional integration, Caribbean nationals have found their way to the islands surrounding them. For years the peoples of the Caribbean have played hopscotch with the islands, whether for work or fun. Some move in search of better jobs, a better life, to study and sometimes end up with a partner. Initially, some move with the intention to return, but set up home and family, and begin to call another Caribbean country home.
This regional migration has become part of the lifeblood of West Indians. Many leave especially the smaller islands in search of opportunities in the larger ones. In the English-speaking Caribbean, Jamaica has been a target country.
Although the grass seems greener in first world countries such as England, Canada and the USA, especially for Jamaicans who tend to gravitate to the north, it has never stopped inter-Caribbean migration. CARICOM heads of government have often convened to speak of regional integration which should help to unite the Caribbean countries to ensure survival in the globalised world. We have integrated socially, but we have not yet quite grasped economic integration. Having a single market economy should have some positives. Of course, we would have to wade through the negatives and the disagreements which have delayed the move thus far.
MUSIC AND CULTURE
THE CARIBBEAN, although relatively small, is diverse. It is a fact that within this network of countries, there is a myriad of cultures, economies, belief systems and other aspects which make each unique.
Many people end up in Jamaica also out of curiosity because Jamaica presents a distinct culture from the other Caribbean countries. Maybe it's that we're not close to any other English-speaking country, but it is so. Our music, by virtue of that fact, is different from the other Caribbean countries. Soca can be seen as Caribbean music, unlike Reggae which is distinctly Jamaican. And, it is far more popular worldwide than soca. However, in the social regional integration the music is fast becoming everybody's music.
This year, Jamaica will embark upon its 11th Jamaica Carnival. Many Jamaicans were introduced to Carnival because of the Carnival held on the Mona Campus where a myriad of other Caribbean nationals especially from Trinidad and Barbados were. As the Fab Five said they'll be 'jumping carnival here on ring road'. Other Caribbean islands have somewhat adopted Reggae and have collaborated with reggae artistes especially for Carnival to perform soca-reggae music.
Trinidad is still the carnival capital of the Caribbean and even if they jump, wave and misbehave at Jamaica carnival, there are some die-hard soca fans who still make it Trinidad each year. Professor Maureen Warner-Lewis, lecturer at UWI, Mona, said her husband Professor Rupert Lewis has been to Trinidad Carnival and is more astounded by it than she is. "It means more to him because of what it does to the integration of some sectors of society," she explained. Some prefer Crop Over in Barbados! But the music brings together different cultures in the melting pot of the West Indies.
Professor Warner-Lewis acknowledges Jamaica as "a cultural force to reckon with in the world." The music now dominates the Eastern Caribbean and it took Byron Lee, a Jamaican, to take soca and carnival to Jamaica, she told Outlook. Jamaica, she said, has its attractions if you want to get things done in an organised way over a long period. "Carnival has dominated the cultural space in Trinidad, it is ephemeral, it happens once a year, whereas Jamaica has ongoing cultural activities." Jamaica she said boasts cultural diversity in terms of institutions, for example, the Institute of Jamaica, the National Dance Company and the Jamaican Folk Singers. "Jamaica has a tradition of long unbroken cultural institutions which are envied in other territories," she told Outlook.
In sports, the West Indies Cricket Team has been an example of the regional unification. However, peoples from all over the Caribbean support the teams from the Caribbean. In 1997 when Jamaica made it to France there was some regional backing for us.
UWI FOSTERS INTEGRATION
THE UNIVERSITY of the West Indies, all three Campuses: Cave Hill, Barbados, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Mona, Jamaica, is a melting pot for Caribbean culture. Regular interaction among students gives an eye into the psyche of other Caribbean cultures. And, in a more organised way, events such as 'Culturama', showcase the cultures and aid in the integration process. The 2000/1 Mona Campus registration shows that he highest numbers of non-Jamaicans attending the university are from Trinidad and Tobago, and Barbados. T&T has 101, Barbados, 99; the Bahamas, 79; Belize, 44; St. Lucia 42; and the others under 30.
The Universities have played such a vital role in the integration process, especially for Jamaicans who are not surrounded by any English-speaking islands. The Eastern islands which are closer and have easier access to each other have more experiences with the cultures of that region.
Some courses at the Universities remain fixed to one country. For example, Law students have studied a part of their course in Barbados and Engineering students, in Trinidad. Currently on the Mona campus, the general consensus is that the non-Jamaican students, especially from the Eastern Caribbean, are clannish. But, they say they are not clannish, they just stick to those with whom they have commonalties. As for the men, some said they find the Trinidadian accent sexy! Perhaps that has not changed since 1972 when Professors Maureen Warner-Lewis, Trinidadian, and Rupert Lewis, Jamaican, met on the Mona Campus. She said, "I think he was intrigued by the accents, especially the Trinidad and Tobago accent." Of course, UWI is where a lot of friendships are formed. Professor Warner-Lewis met her husband while she was a lecturer at UWI, Mona in the early 70s. She told Outlook that they were involved in putting on a conference at the University.
However, she told Outlook that her major experience of Caribbean integration was as a student at Mona in 1962. Coming from the Eastern Caribbean, she said she would have been familiar with the other islands close by. Her mother was Bajan and she would often holiday in Barbados. Her paternal great-grandparents were also Bajan. She met Guyanese and Belizeans at Mona, and understood that they came from geographically very different areas. For example what are rivers to islands, are creeks to them.
