Check yourself, Jamaica

Keith Noel, Contributor

As a people, we do not have much regard for our cultural heritage. Of course, we pay a lot of lip service to the idea and successive governments have, on occasion, made the correct sounds, but when a serious look is taken, the Government, corporate Jamaica, and most private citizens do not care two hoots about this vital part of our society.

True, there have been individuals and groups who have made serious contributions to the preservation and spread of our cultural artefacts, but this does not negate the point, rather, it fortifies it. The magnificent work of Professor Rex Nettleford still has not been able to make the impact it could because the national will is not there for it to be taken to all parts of this country. The brilliant 'Hill and Gully Ride' is still not prime-time fare.

Our Language

Let us look at our language. Despite the work of persons like Cassidy, 50 years on we still have a great many persons of influence still insisting that our Patwa (to use the name some of our intellectuals have chosen for it) is nothing but 'broken English' and should not be given any recognition as a language. Some still argue that this language form is one which does not allow deep thought - years after poets like Denis Scott and Louise Bennett have proven otherwise,

The name Louise Bennett reminds us that many teachers still refer to her work as 'dialect' and not as poetry! We hear at school concerts, "little Kenisha will now recite a dialect"! Some years ago, in a fit of nationalistic enthusiasm, the Government built 'The Louise Bennett Theatre' . I invite you to go now and look at this 'theatre' and draw conclusions about our national attitudes to the pioneering work of that woman!

Annual Festival

There is an annual festival of the arts which is organised by the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission which 'unearths and showcases' less and less talent and is not much of a vehicle through which the our ancestral culture is passed on. And this is not the fault of the commission itself. Creative persons with ideas have sat on the commission's board, but its structure, terms of reference and, most of all its funding (if you could call it that) have made them unable to make the kind of impact that is so sorely needed. It is now a political football and the Festival of the Arts has become largely a 'pickney sinting' and operates in a way that does not foster a deeper knowledge of our culture.

Indigenous Music

Our attitudes to our indigenous music is also curious. There is little that is done to truly pass on the rich legacy of folk music which we have. Although there are persons in the commission and in the Ministry of Education who work tirelessly, the general feeling is not one of pride in its richness. When last has corporate Jamaica really contributed to this area? Our modern popular music has its roots here, true, and there is some interest in it but our popular music has always had a rather adversarial relationship with some of those in our society who wield political, social and economic power. Even today, the major concern is to control what the lyricists write to ensure that it is not offensive.

Powerful Storytelling

Storytelling is a powerful art form. It has strong African roots and, in most of the diaspora, it has developed. Our storytellers have survived because of their own grit and determination and not because of the help they have got from the powers that be to develop their art and to market their skills.

Indigenous Religions

Spiritually, we suffer most. The education we received led us to believe that our indigenous religious forms were evil and our ancestral gods were actually the devil. So persons involved in the festival would tell you that, through the work of the churches, less and less children are allowed to even learn the traditional folk songs and dances that have anything to do with ancestral religion.

Our language is bad, our ancestral religion is deviltry, our dances are too lewd, even our popular foods are not good for us! This is what our youth are told. And we wonder why we are losing them!

Keith Noel is a retired educator. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com