Jamaican community celebrates independence day
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/08/2024 (409 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Wearing green, gold and black clothes and waving flags, members of Brandon’s Jamaican community celebrated the 62nd Jamaican Independence Day on Tuesday.
Around 30 people of various ages as well as dignitaries such as Mayor Jeff Fawcett and Brandon West Progressive Conservative MLA Wayne Balcaen gathered in front of city hall in the mid-afternoon to raise the Jamaican flag.
Fawcett himself raised the flag with the help of young Zurik Henlon, who was sporting dreadlocks and a shirt bearing the Jamaican flag.
The crowd sang the anthem “Jamaica, Land We Love” as the flag was hoisted.
Rushana Newman, the executive director of the Brandon Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation and a member of Brandon’s Jamaican community, said independence means Jamaica now controls its own affairs after having previously been colonized by the Spanish and English.
“On a day like today, Aug. 6, it’s a big celebration in Jamaica,” Newman said. “We have street parties going on, we have a big event at the national stadium. With us being away from home, we try to carry on that tradition of celebration.”
Last Saturday, Newman said, the local Jamaican community held a potluck celebration featuring traditional foods like jerk chicken, rice and peas and traditional Christmas cake as a precursor to independence day.
“We’re trying to make it now into a yearly event,” she said. “We look forward to this next year and in the years to come. Even this ceremony, it’s actually the second year that our flag is being raised.”
She estimated that the turnout for the flag-raising represented around one-tenth of the local Jamaican community. When a new Jamaican comes to town, Newman said they are very quickly brought into the loop for event planning and WhatsApp group chats.
Newman first came to Brandon in 2015 as an international student at Brandon University.
“There were five of us at the time, and now I don’t think I can count that number,” she said.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a Jamaican pavilion at the Westman Multicultural Celebration. With the event having been revived earlier this year, Newman said the aim is for the Jamaican community to return in winter 2025.
“We are already starting the planning, trying to look at different locations and venues that we can host,” she said. “We really want to showcase our culture and continue that tradition of excellence.”
Fawcett said after the event that he thinks Jamaica’s national motto, “Out of many, one people,” also describes Brandon.
“People always say they’re really proud of being in Brandon,” Fawcett said. “But they also like where they’re from and who they are. They like that Brandon allows them to remember and continue to support and share their culture and heritage.”
» cslark@brandonsun.com
» X: @ColinSlark