Homeland: The Jamaican Diaspora, Where Do We Go and How far is Home?
I am a first-generation American, something not at all unique living in South Florida. Almost everyone I know is an immigrant or a child of immigrants. People from South America and the Caribbean surround me always. Pockets of community for people who can’t go back home and may never see their island or country again. We find community here in our melting pot, a gumbo soup of people from everywhere.
I haven’t always lived in Miami though, and still, everywhere I have ever lived my mom and family have been able to find the Jamaicans in the area. Growing up I thought Jamaica was a much larger island than it actually is, purely because of the large ratio of Jamaican adults in my life. It wasn’t until I was much older that I learned the small island in the Caribbean is about the size of Connecticut (Florida is 13x the size of it) with 2.8 million people living on it. Instead, my mother, no matter where she lived, seemed to be a Jamaican beacon.
This is seen all over the country, in pocket areas or neighborhoods, entirely filled with immigrants from a similar home. Even when removed, we all crave where we came from, the only remedy being found in similar displaced peoples. And so too was my mother’s story. She is a living embodiment of how far and wide immigrants will move in hopes of a better future for themselves and their children. She has lived in many states across America, from the West to the East Coast, calling them a temporary home, and always making at least one new Jamaican friend.
Jamaicans are everywhere. The Jamaican diaspora in America alone is large. There are more than one million Jamaicans living in US territories. A decent portion of them were born in America, while others are from the Homeland. As far as where they reside, the tristate area has the largest population, with South Florida coming in second. Data on this is not full or conclusive, but outside of America, Jamaicans can be seen on virtually every continent.
My mom is truly the best person I know. She has never had much, but is always giving and caring for someone. Born fifth out of eight, she grew up in a large family, headed by my grandfather Aubrey and grandmother Millicent. Her dad built the house they grew up in. He had fish shops, selling the fish that was caught on trollers from deep sea fishing to the local community.
When she was 12, their family world shifted forever, her father, and breadwinner of the family had a stroke, making him unable to work. My mother’s mom had to step up as the main provider, taking care of her husband and eight children. She went to America to nanny and housekeeper for a wealthy family living in California. She worked with them for four years, and was able to acquire papers for all her children through the sponsorship of her employer.
When my mom first came to America, she was 18. It was a culture shock to her; everything was so different. The food especially she says was so nasty. The chicken to the fruit tasted inedible. In Jamaica everything is fresh, and in America, it’s so industrialized and artificial. Even decades later she says this is one the things that made the transition so hard.
From there my mother moved a lot. This map doesn’t fully do justice to all the places she has lived but encompasses the biggest and most life-impacting moves she faced.
It’s not just Jamaicans that have gone worldwide, but our culture too has touched every corner of the earth. Reggae is a music genre that originated out of Jamaica in the 1960s. One of the most famous global artists in the world and the most known reggae artist is Bob Marley. Marley was a singer-songwriter, Rastafarian. He is known for his music against war and for peace, speaking on the internal turmoil happening in Jamaica at the time, and the general instability seen in many parts of the world. His soothing voice is being listened to and adored decades after his death, ensuring his legacy will live on forever.
The hope is one day Jamaica will grow out of its impoverished state, so no child of Jamaica ever has to leave against their will. But for now, if they have to leave, we will bring a little of home with us, whether it is the music, food, or fellow yardies, and create a community.
