A float parade in Festival celebrations of former years. -File photoRobert Buddan
IN MAY, Edward Seaga advised the Government to reduce the amount of money being spent on Independence and other celebrations as one way of stopping the slide of the Jamaican dollar.
Independence is the greatest political event in Jamaica's history and Emancipation is the greatest watershed event in human freedom in the Caribbean. We must be careful that we do not regard these occasions as only ones for drinking and feasting. They symbolise something deep in our tradition.
Our Independence Park and Emancipation Park hold pride of place among the symbols of our political and cultural history. The great Jamaican and West Indian cultural icon, Miss Lou, is the guest of Jamaica, herself a symbol of our courage to be culturally independent and mentally emancipated.
Jamaicans value their freedom and want to celebrate it. The Stone Organisation's poll of September 2002 showed how important Independence and Emancipation celebrations were to Jamaicans.
Almost 80 per cent of Jamaicans said they were very proud or felt very good about the Independence and Emancipation celebrations last year.
RECOGNISING EMANCIPATION
Jamaicans have always valued Emancipation and sought to win recognition of it when others were not inclined to appreciate it.
Out of a population of 340,000 in 1838, 311,000 people were set free by emancipation. Ex-slaves immediately recognised Emancipation in 1838 with lavish celebrations. They stopped working on August 1, forcing the day to be recognised as a public holiday. They celebrated it without benefit of state support.
On August 1, 1839, some communities celebrated Emancipation with the help of missionaries. They began the practice of planting a coconut tree as their symbolic 'tree of liberty'. On one such occasion, planters pulled down their tree, but Jamaicans replanted saying, "They pull up we tree but they can't take away we August."
By August 1840, Jamaicans were using August 1 celebrations to promote anti-slavery ideas and movements against the slave trade in places where they were still being practised, including the United States.
From at least 1842, Emancipation Day celebrations were being used in some parts of the island to spread consciousness of Africa and ideas of reparations. The seeds of early Rastafarian consciousness go as far back as this period when ex-slaves began to refer to themselves as 'Sons of Africa' and 'children of Ethiopia'.
Jamaicans had to fight to celebrate their Emancipation and then to secure it. Facing a crisis of the plantation economy, the Jamaican Assembly began passing very restrictive laws on labour, voting rights (of blacks), and a range of new taxes. Many felt that there was a serious attempt afoot to restore
slavery.
The Assembly began to speak openly of making Jamaica a colony of the United States in which case, slavery would be reintroduced to Jamaica since it continued to exist in the U.S.
The Governor was forced to issue a statement that freedom had been given without recall in the Empire in order to reassure the population. But political historian, Clinton Hutton, has shown that the threat to restore slavery was taken to be real.
Emancipation was not just about celebrating freedom. Movements arose to place Emancipation in the context of justice and political rights. Jamaicans were not sure that the Governor and the ruling class appreciated and valued their freedom.
After Christmas riots in Kingston in 1842, the Mayor banned Jonkunnu festivities. The wealthy became very distrustful of activities that brought Jamaicans together. It was in this context that people requested that the August 1 be commemorated as Emancipation Day.
A petition sent to the Governor in 1859 laid out complaints about the rights of Jamaicans that were being infringed and even requested that the Governor attend the August 1 Jubilee on behalf of the Queen.
A second petition the same year made the same request. The Governor did not attend. The sanctity of Emancipation was not shared by many whites in Jamaica or by the Governor. Jamaicans of all races and classes today must show sensitivity to freedom celebrations because of the struggles to win freedom and the value freedom has been to all of us.
FREEDOM AND CULTURE
Freedom meant that there was space for Jamaican culture to grow. The growth of a Jamaican culture did not come by accident. It did not emerge out of any natural creolisation without organisation. It was formed out of sponsored and organised competitions and festivals that were a part of Emancipation and Independence celebrations.
In 1897, the first creative arts competition was promoted by the Institute of Jamaica although it was put on to celebrate Queen Victoria's 60th year on the Throne.
In 1910, a young Marcus Garvey placed third representing St. Ann in the elocution (speech) competition. But the judges were English promoting 'correct' English speech.
In the 1930s, competitions began to take on a nationalist form. Jamaican Welfare Limited, created by Norman Manley, promoted village competitions. Following this, parishes other than Kingston and St. Andrew started to organise their own competitions. After 1955, islandwide celebrations began and in 1963, Mr. Seaga was instrumental in providing a festival office for central co-ordination of the islandwide
festivals.
Thousands of Jamaicans have benefited from Jamaica's festival competition namely, Bob Marley, Mervyn Morris, Kapo, David Boxer, Barrington Watson, David Little-White, 'Cat' Coore, Joan Andrea Hutchinson, Fae Ellington and Susan Alexander.
These celebrations are a welcome relief from the daily humdrum of politics and bring out the diverse sides of Jamaicans in art and photography, literary arts, crafts, traditional music, dance, games, and food.
The investments are well worth it in the human talents produced and the tourism value since many Jamaicans return home to celebrate their culture where that culture is richest right here at home.
Who can forget the great Jamaican Festival songs that came from Toots and the Maytals, Desmond Dekker and the Aces, Roy Rayon, Eric Donaldson, The Jamaicans and others.
Last year's Festival was the best for many years, highlighted by the opening of Emancipation Park. We must continue to uphold the highest standards of celebrations.
SEAGA AND CULTURE
Mr. Seaga himself, as Minister of Welfare and Development, created a Long-Term Development Plan (1963-68) for Jamaica to celebrate festival as an integral part of development to give Jamaicans a sense of who they are and what their history and culture was all about.
The Festival, he said, was "something to mobilise the spirit of the people". Mr. Seaga helped to co-ordinate the first Festival celebrations. In 1968, he institutionalised the Festival by an Act that established The Festival Commission (now the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission.)
We all share in the sentiment that we must restore our fiscal balance. But we cannot subject everything to economic rationality. There is wealth in our culture and traditions of freedom that we must continue to invest in.
I can't say if the Government has reduced spending on this year's celebrations. But it makes better sense to call upon our citizens and business sectors to show restraint in their consumption and import habits to support the dollar rather than emasculate our celebrations of freedom.
As we well know, the dollar comes under greatest pressure after September each year when stocks are built up for the Christmas season. It is to Christmas spending that we should turn our attention to support the dollar.
Mr. Seaga's contribution to our cultural development is well established in the records. So have the contributions of Hugh Shearer, Michael Manley and P. J. Patterson. It would be ironic if our leaders detract from the recognition of freedom that Jamaicans have fought for over many years.
Spending on our freedom and culture is not foolish or wasteful. But I can think of a lot of Christmas spending that is purely commercial and does nothing for our development at all.
Robert Buddan lectures in the Department of Government, UWI, Mona. E-mail: rbuddan@uwimona.edu.jm.
