I struggle from time to time with this thought. Being an immigrant I have to assimilate into my adopted home. But, does that mean I have to give up aspects of the things that I know and am familiar with? Am I supposed to defrock myself of all things Jamaican? The fact is that I don’t have mannish water immediately available or that I don’t get to play cricket in the street. If I speak of Brian Lara in my office nobody knows what I am talking about. My speech pattern has already changed along with terminology and general attitudes toward a variety of situations along with it. For example, I still think homosexuality is wrong but I am now accepting of the fact that some people may choose to engage in this lifestyle. So while I don’t subscribe to the old Buju Banton “Boom Bye Bye” and think “all batty man fe dead”, I don’t agree with this course of life. You make your choice and I make mine. I choose to stay straight.
But the more I reflect the more I can realize and appreciate my upbringing and the way I grew up. I am realizing more and more that being Jamaican is more that identifying with reggae music or knowing who Bob Marley was. It is more than just rice and peas and fried chicken at Sunday dinner. It is more than just jerk chicken or white sandy beaches. It is more of an inward thing, a state of being sometimes something you can’t even explain. It is more than just patios. It is knowing you can escape to your island home with a single thought. The food, music and the dialect are tangible and obvious manifestation of the state of mind known as “Jamaica” which is part of the mental framework known as the “Caribbean”.
So while living here has brought with it a physical and sometimes cultural distance from my homeland, when a salesperson stops me at the mall in Palm Beach and tries to get me to buy something I don’t really want I can escape to Jamaica inwardly as I calmly say “no thanks” but inside I am thinking “but onnu si ya, im tek me fe eediat nuh” kiss mi teet an walk off!
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2 comments:
I can't say I understand the process of assimilation very well. The only place I've lived outside of Jamaica is Barbados for a brief stint.
Funny enough, the one thing I find sad about the process is when Jamaicans lose their accent when living in another country.
What a great post. We all struggled with this in some form or other as we live in America. I can honestly identify with literally everything you're saying here.
I found myself extremely defensive and standoff-ish whenever I was approached about my Jamaicaness. I guess it's because I've always been challenged about it. I was able to "Assimilate" by having the opportunity to go back to Jamaica every single summer between the age of 10 & 16...the most crucial time where you can lose your identity. I slip in and out of accents all the time and honestly, I think of it as more about utility than losing my Jamaican identity. The fact is, it is just an expansion of all that is me instead of the me losing something. Mi can chat patois wid di bessa dem. It's just that it has no function working for an American financial institution. Everyone still knows that I am Jamaican and I represent & do everything Jamaican to the max. So at the end of the day, if I spoke 5 different languages and spoke patios, would you think that I lost my Jamaicaness or is it just a perception about American culture?
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