Thanks President Biden 🙏🏼. Jamaican history and the people will forever remember this day.

We never asked for the rape and kidnapping and slavery tho. Should victims pay their rapists for giving them good buddy?

I’m trying to educate myself on Jamaicas history and culture. Although I wasn’t born in the Caribbean, I feel like i’m obligated to at least learn about Jamaica since I’m of the Jamaican diaspora.

So far I know how Africans, Europeans, Indians and Tainos have left their mark on our culture, but I still have no clue how Chinese or Lebanese Jamaicans impacted us, or if they even did.

Hey y'all . I'm a girl from America , and I'm half-Jamaican through my maternal side . I just want to know some cool things in Jamaican history . 🫂🫂🫂🫂

“The first dying that is to be done by the Black man in the future will be done to make himself free."

“Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds.”-Marcus Garvey

Today mek Marcus's 52 year anniversary wen Marcus pass on. Wah yuh tink bout deh mon an di impact him have pon Jamaicans?

Those who know our history and the interference of the CIA in our existence will find Trump's actions in re that agency rather positive.

Those who are unaware of the actions are advised to do their own research.

I felt bored today and i decided that i wanted search up random things on chatgpt, one of those things were if their were Jamaicans during the American civil war, and surprising enough chatgpt came up with an answer, it said that yes their were Jamaican union soldiers that fought during civil war. does anybody know more about this ?

In December of 1981, Johnny Cash and his family were robbed at gunpoint at their Jamaican mansion in the Caribbean while sitting down for Christmas dinner. Three men broke into the Cinnamon Hill estate, where Cash, along with June, their son John Carter Cash (who was 11), and a few other friends and family members were celebrating the holidays. Cash purchased the home in 1972, and used it as an escape from the hustle and bustle of Nashville and his busy music career. In his book Anchored In Love, John Carter recalled that the family were ordered to lie on the floor by three men carrying an axe, a knife, and a gun. They didn’t lock their doors then, and didn’t have any private security on-site, either: “One of the bandits said they were going to take us, one at a time, all around the house and to our rooms so we could give them all our money and valuables. We were completely at their mercy, not that they seemed to have any.”

One held a gun to the head of John Carter, telling him:

“Say you will die if they do not give us three million dollars!”

They looted the home for a few hours, though Johnny said he was never really that scared, only “uneasy” when the men held a gun to his young son’s head. Eventually, when the robbers were ready to leave, they ordered the family to go to the basement, where they blocked them in but slid some turkey in so their celebrations weren’t entirely ruined… I mean, I don’t think that makes up for anything or makes the situation better in the slightest, but I digress…

In a 1997 interview with Al Weisel for US Weekly, Cash recalled that all three men died after being caught by the police not long after the robbery happened, though there are different stories as to specifically how:

“We were sitting down to Christmas dinner, and suddenly three robbers came in ‑ one with a gun, one with a knife and one with a hatchet‑ and told us to hit the floor. As it turns out, all three of those men are dead now. They were put in prison. I don’t know how they died. It’s not easy for a convict to stay alive long in Jamaica. We were terrorized for three hours. They searched the house and locked us down in the cellar. I took a two‑by-four after they left and broke the door down.” - Johnny Cash

“But the police caught them. I really wasn’t scared. Except, I was uneasy when the one with the gun held it on my son. I guess I was scared, but I couldn’t let myself show it.”

They got away with over $35,000 worth of items during the robbery, though luckily no one was harmed in the ordeal, which I’m sure had lasting mental and emotional impacts on the family.

A few points to clarify:

1) By better I mean : Infrastructure, Safety, Education, Family Values & Basic Healthcare Access

2) I am not referring to slavery, so please dont bring it to that. I'm talking about the period between the early 1900s to when Jamaica got its independence

Note: I'm asking as I had a conversation with an elderly Jamaican woman who said things were better under the British

This is probably the biggest longshot in the world, but maybe someone here will have a lead. I'm trying to track down a man named Tyrone who visited New Brunswick, Canada way back in 1964.

He worked as an apprentice with my grandfather (possibly in a paper products or plastics industry, but I don't know that for sure). I believe he lived with them at their home for a number of months. He would have been quite young back then, probably late teens or early 20s.

This was so long ago that he may have passed by now, but in the event that he's still with us I'd love to meet him given the strong connection I have to Jamaica in my own life.

Again, in the million to one chance anyone recognizes him, thank you!

When my son wasn't even 1-year-old, I lived in Trinidad in a small area that was close to a place called Bobo Hill. This area was notoriously known for the Rastafarians that lived there. Someone started teaching me about rastafarianism, and I ended up buying a book called the restafarians. This was 14 years ago if not more. In the book they talked about, a group of people called the maroons. They said that they were a group of people who refused to listen to slave masters or slave owners or the British in general... That they held up in a mountain pass And took advantage of it very similar to the 300 Spartans. No white man or slave driver could come into this mountain pass without feeling their wrath. The slave owners couldnt find a way to overcome them because the past was too narrow which gave them the advantage. I know it's a true story and I've seen some interviews about the maroons but never about the OLD maroons from back then. The only things I can find are about the maroons that are still living today (basically the descendants of the old maroons). But no matter how hard I try, I cannot find any stories outside of the story that was in this book. Was it a true story? And where can I read more about that particular point in time? I'm sorry if it's a silly question. I've just always wondered why it's not more talked about. As a matter of fact, one of the things I found most recently calls it forgotten history.. as are so many things from black people's past.

Did the maroons exist in this way? And we're they really that fierce? And what other reading can I find on them??

I recall watching the movie "Alien" there as a child, and have a distinct memory of being under the stars while watching a movie about space. I suspect it was 1980 since we used to get movies about a year late IIRC. Is my memory accurate? Was this how the theater always was or did it lose the roof after hurricane Allen?

EDIT: I have confirmed my memory to be accurate. I found this reference in a book:

"watching movies in the roofless Cove Theater in Ocho Rios while planes flew overhead" (in regards to the authors visits there in the 1980s)

https://www.everand.com/book/739076599/Jamaica-Tourism-History-of-an-Island-Paradise

The question remains if it was always like this or due to damage from hurricane Allen.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyj30leq75o

First time I've heard about it

As I reflect on what our ancestors went through, I remember Nanny of the Maroons, our national heroine. What an awesome woman she was. Coming from our motherland Ghana, she fought boldly against the British and managed to free over 1000 enslaved Africans on the plantation. And ofc, we have those crazy stories of her catching bullets in her bum, etc. 😂 Nevertheless, she was an interesting and courageous woman.

Let us take the time today to remember the blood, sweat and tears that were shed so we could walk free today. Let’s remember and honour our ancestors 🇯🇲

Share your favourite stories about freedom fighters during slavery whether it was taught to you or passed down to you from previous generations. Happy Emancipation Day Jamaica! 🇯🇲

LikkleButWiTallawah

ive never posted in here before, but I'm wondering if someone knew the answers to these questions. does anyone know of the origin of the last name "thomas"? I know it's super common back home so I've never been able to narrow down who/where it originated.

edit to add: I'm aware that Thomas is an English last name. I was looking for where I could look for more specific information than just "England"

My great grand father is said to have been a Syrian Jew. I want to find out more about the history and maybe access records to learn about relatives and possible the original surname given it’s my family’s current last name. This is a man my mother knew but he pasted long ago and my grandfather pasted last summer and he didn’t talk to his siblings.