D.K. Duncan TWO PUBLIC holidays within days of each other. Both days celebrate and commemorate separate but related historical dates and events of major significance in Jamaica's history.
An attempt to resolve the contradictions arising from our pre-independence history seems to have influenced the choice of one public holiday in 1962 - Independence Day. In recent times elements of those same contradictions led to the reinstatement of Emancipation Day - August 1 - as a public holiday. The physical liberation of black people from slavery has yet to maintain a secure place in the attempt at the synthesis implied in the 1962 Independence motto, 'Out of Many, One People'. The previous celebration of Independence Day on the first Monday in August as distinct from August 6 was probably an attempt at a compromise.
The early spirit of the Independence Day festivities in the '60s and '70s seem to have waned in the '80s and '90s. However, with the resumption of the Emancipation Day holiday the celebrations of early August seem to have taken on a new spirit
Somewhere in these four decades of Independence there may be lessons to assist and guide the interpretations of our rich and contradictory if not antagonistic history. As we move towards a better understanding of our history there is a greater possibility of removing these antagonisms and resolving some of the contradictions. While disagreements on significant elements of the period of Jamaica's modern political history remain (1938 to the present), there ought to be less disagreements over the pre-1938 period. This period has been characterised by others including the Participatory Research Group (PRG 1982-1986) as 'A PROUD TRADITION OF STRUGGLE'.
CENTURIES OF RAGE
Jamaica's first contact with the Europeans was bloody and brutal.
When Columbus invaded Jamaica, historians tell us, he found approximately 60,000 Tainos. By the time the British captured Jamaica from the Spanish 160 years later, the entire Taino population had been wiped out. In 1655 the population was approximately 1,500 people when Penn and Venables et al squatted on captured lands.
As the slave population increased "a dynamic and powerful social force" emerged according to Eric Williams. They waged a consistent struggle on several fronts with Jamaica standing out as the colony with the highest amount of slave "rebellions". The Jamaican slaves were never docile and accepting of their lot. They were warlike and resorted to several means to obtain a better way of life. Two of these were through Racial Pride and Revolutionary Violence.
RACIAL PRIDE
As they struggled for human dignity, the slaves recognised that their African Culture was being destroyed by the white coloniser. Elements of their culture had disappeared in the seas of the Middle Passage. This left them dispossessed and alienated. The memory of Africa was strong. They had come from civilisations where they had their own culture, their Kings and Queens - so one of the first struggles was to preserve that culture.
Elements of these retentions are seen in the daily lives of some as well as in the Emancipation and Indepen-dence Day festivities.
REVOLUTIONARY VIOLENCE
The physical revolutionary struggle escalated with the British capture. Maroon resistance started immediately. They resisted initially from 1655-1677 followed by the first of two Maroon Wars over the course of the next 100 years. Separately between 1673 and 1694 there was a slave revolt or threat of one every year. These were met with swift and brutal responses. The Tacky Rebel-lion of 1760 in St. Mary and the Trelawny slave revolt in 1798 led by Kofe highlighted some of these struggles.
Nanny, Sharpe, Bogle and Gordon stand out as representatives of this period.
FULL FREE
The ten decades between "Full Free" of August 1, 1838 and the EXPLOSION of May-June, 1938 witnessed a continuation of this proud tradition of struggle. The previous "CENTURIES OF RAGE" set the stage for the early beginnings of the Trade Union Movement in the first three decades of the 20th century. Rastafarianism emerged in the early 1930s underscoring the struggle for racial dignity and the African Heritage. Marcus Garvey was to be the finest representative of that struggle in the first three decades of the 20th century.
There are many unsung heroes of that period. Alexander Bustamante and Norman Manley would be among those completing that era while dominating the first 30 years of Jamaica's modern political history.
This modern period has been distinguished by a turning in of our people against ourselves. A far cry from that long period of a proud tradition of struggle when that social force found common cause.
A challenge therefore could be the identification of a common cause. A cause, grounded in a shared vision informed by a common understanding of our history. This could resolve the need for two separate holidays for essentially the culmination of one process.
One Love, One Heart.
A dental surgeon, Dr. D.K. Duncan is a former General Secretary and Minister of Government in the PNP Administration of the 1970s.
