Caribbean diaspora grapples with feelings of exclusion

Jamaicans in the Caribbean have mixed views about their role in diaspora matters as they try to come to terms with feelings of exclusion from the decision-making process, when compared with their counterparts in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Expressing concerns on the eve of the ‘Jamaica 60’ Diaspora Conference which commenced on Tuesday, Jamaican expats in Grenada, Barbados, the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands and St Lucia argue that it is as though a Caribbean diaspora does not exist.

“Inclusion brings diversity; diversity fuels innovations. I am a firm believer that no one should be left behind. I feel excluded from everything and always have to follow my colleagues in North America and the UK to know what is happening,” Barbados-based Marcia Brandon, who has spent the last 25 years outside of Jamaica, told The Gleaner.

Jasper Pryce, who lives in Grenada concurs, adding that from where he sits, he has not seen where Jamaicans in the region are acknowledged or any focus is placed on them like those residing in first-world countries.

And although admitting the Caribbean diaspora is much smaller in numbers, he still feels that it plays an integral part in flying the Jamaican flag high.

“Apart from regular remittances to relatives and charities back home, the Jamaican community here usually rally the calls to assist Jamaica in times of disasters by sending cash and kind to a recognised and reputable organisation,” Pryce stated.

Attorney-at-law Richard Rowe, who resides in the British Virgin Islands, was even more pointed with his concerns, noting that for years several attempts to appoint an honorary consul in the Eastern Caribbean island were rebuffed.

“We feel left out. There is a huge contingent of Jamaicans in the BVI, especially coming out of Clarendon. We are the largest number of expats from any one Caribbean territory in the BVI,” he stated.

According to Rowe, apart from Portia Simpson Miller who visited them some years ago, there is no contact with Jamaicans in the BVI.

There is an active Jamaican association that seeks to maintain links with the island, and a great number of them eventually return home, where they have invested in land and housing.

But Pryce, Rowe, Brandon and Elaine George, who recently returned to Jamaica from Grenada, are convinced that their voices can be amplified through the local consulate and the high commissioner’s office in Trinidad and Tobago, as well as in Jamaica, using social media platforms.

“Social media has transformed the world into a global village,” said Pryce, who is retired after working many years in a foreign consulate. He has lived outside of Jamaica for almost 35 years.

Brandon wants to be included in the diaspora movement in a more strategic way, owing to the value that she brings.

For the past 25 years, she has worked in Jamaica physically and virtually through partners to fund (from savings and grants) youth and women entrepreneurs with seed capital, mentoring, training as well as mental and emotional support.

She also works with primary and high schools and designs programmes to help communities.

“And at present, I am implementing a number of entrepreneurship programmes which include Jamaicans. I am more focused on what I can do for the people of my country, to affect mindset change, to help hone the entrepreneurial class, whether intrapreneurship or entrepreneurship,” she stated.

George is convinced, though, that for her voice and that of Jamaicans in the Caribbean to be amplified, they first need a regional platform where all Caribbean interests can converge and disseminate information.

“Many Jamaicans are retiring from the UK and North America to other Caribbean countries. When will we have a diaspora conference for Jamaicans in the Caribbean?” she asked.

Lloyd Barker Jr, a Jamaican now living in the Cayman Islands, said with the hybrid approach to the Jamaican diaspora conference this year, he does not feel left out due to online access. However, he wants the opportunity to be more involved and to feel included in Jamaican diaspora conferences.

“I think that as a born Jamaican and someone who has family members in Jamaica that my roots, no matter how long I’ve been gone, remain. I still think of Jamaica as home. It really is home. I lived in Jamaica for a good number of years before I moved away, and identify as Jamaican, and I will continue to do so, no matter what,” Barker Jr said.

“The opportunities, in terms of conferences, even recognitions and awards, for someone who don’t live there, I think it [being involved] would be a nice feeling to be represented, to be included in various conferences, decision-making and so forth to a certain extent … I think that there needs to be more opportunities for international people who are from Jamaica and people who no longer lives there, to be involved; to be included,” he added.

Nateisha Campbell, another Jamaican who now lives and works in St Lucia, said she feels a part of this year’s diaspora conference because it is hybrid and she can register to watch it online.

“Diaspora by definition means dispersion of any people from their original homeland, and this would include me, as I am Jamaican living in another Caribbean country,” Campbell told The Gleaner.

She continued: “Remittances contribution for 2021 significantly increased well over US$2.9 billion, according to the honourable senator at the Global Diaspora Summit in Dublin, Ireland, who represented the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade. I am a part of that fold, as I send monthly remittances to my family. He stated that we are partners and key collaborators with the Government of Jamaica, as such we should be included in the Jamaica 60 Diaspora Conference.”

She said oftentimes, as members of the diaspora, they help to promote the economic development of the nation outside of remittances by opening businesses, funding entrepreneurial endeavours of other family members, foster trade and direct investments and assist greatly without being physically present.

“We need to have a seat at the table when conversations about diaspora are being had,” she said.

Janet.silvera@gleanerjm.comAinsworth.morris@gleanerjm.com