The Black History Truth Jamaica

Reviewed by Astrid Lustulin for Readers' Favourite: It is time to learn the stories of some nations in a more equitable way - not from the point of view of the conquerors but of the oppressed. This is why books like The Black History Truth: Jamaica by Pamela Gayle arouse great interest in a conscious reader. This book tells the story of 'The Sharpest Thorn in Britain's Caribbean Colonies,' focusing on the 16th to 19th centuries. Through extensive use of sources and images, Gayle sheds light on the injustices perpetrated by the British and analyses the stigmatization of Eurocentric historiography, which portrayed unfavourable behaviours and customs of groups of people it could not understand. Although the subject is complex, this book is clear and precise. Gayle tackles so many topics that she arouses the admiration of readers with her profound knowledge of Jamaica. She is very direct when she blames the British, but the evidence she brings is overwhelming. In The Black History Truth: Jamaica, you will not only find descriptions of struggles and injustices but also valuable information on local heroes and heroines, such as Nana Yaa Asantewaa and Queen Nanny, as well as customs that Europeans have misunderstood. Aft er reading this book, readers will understand why Jamaica was actually (as the subtitle describes it) "the sharpest thorn in Britain's Caribbean Colonies." I recommend this book to all those who want to see the history of humanity from a new perspective.

Reviewed by Daniel D Staats for Readers' Favorite - Five Stars. If you like history and/or geography, you will love The Black History Truth: Argentina by Pamela Gayle. The first part of this book is a great introduction to the land of Argentina and its history. Pamela covers the history of this South American country from before the Conquistadors came and destroyed the land as it was. Pamela goes back in history and explains the foundations of chattel slavery. She gives the common beliefs that are espoused by historians, then gives the darker side of the truth. She exposes the fallacies often found in Eurocentric history. Since whites were in charge, they wrote the history and shaded the facts to give credit to the whites instead of natives and Africans. Pamela makes sure to correct many fallacies and give a true accounting of history. In The Black History Truth: Argentina by Pamela Gayle, one learns the heretofore untold stories of the contributions of Africans to Argentina. Pamela wants to boost the usefulness of this book and does so by giving assignments at the end of each chapter. These assignments help the newly learned information to stick in the mind. Pamela does an excellent job of presenting a volatile subject calmly and respectfully. The facts in this book are backed up with the truth behind the myths that have been taught for centuries. One needs to have an open mind as one reads this book. Many of the facts presented by Pamela will be new to most readers. Remember, just because the information is new to you does not mean it is not correct. One refrain you will find in this book is: "Yet, the truth is..."

To the young child holding this book in your hand. Do you believe someone just like you could become a history maker? I believe you can. Read this story and discover how Devon, a little boy from Jamaica, became a Canadian history maker. You will see that anything is possible and that dreams can come true. For Parents, Teachers and Everyone who cares for a Child There’s nothing like the inspiration to be drawn from a story of someone overcoming challenges and achieving the impossible, especially when that story involves a child. And no example sings so loudly as this one, about a little black boy growing up in rural Jamaica without electricity or indoor plumbing who would go on to become Canada’s first-ever black Chief of Police. In Devon Clunis’s inspiring tale, we find a shining illustration of how hope can lift a person above their conditions to the very height of their dreams. In the simple, welcoming language that ushers along this moving narrative, we learn about the simplicity of the life that marked Devon’s early years. When he was a little boy, Devon had no lights or power or running water in his house. Today, that same boy — now a man — holds an impressively prominent position in Canada’s law enforcement community and history. Through Devon’s story, readers will learn that hard work, help from others, and a powerful belief in yourself, are all essential elements in achieving truly spectacular things. The potential for greatness resides in all of us, just as they did little Devon. If we can each capitalize on this immense gift to the best of our abilities, think how far we can go toward making our world a better place.

History was written—England captured Jamaica from the Spaniards under Oliver Cromwell in 1655. Much of this history has been retold by Edward Long, best known for his first socio-economic and political study The History of Jamaica. His polemic supported the enslavement of African and Caribbean people and the monopolies and monocultures played out through the natural environment. These testimonies address some of Long's claims. A slave woman tells of the naming of Catherine's Peak and the erasure of the achievements of Black Jamaicans in the field of natural history. A mystic takes us back to the Spanish occupation. The maroons Juan de Bolas and Juan de Serras grieve their fate and the tragic future that came with sugarcane. These are imaginings of what the people who lived through this wrestling of Jamaica might have said, given the chance.

Popular references to the Rose Hall Great House in Jamaica often focus on the legend of the “White Witch of Rose Hall.” Over one hundred thousand people visit this plantation every year, many hoping to catch a glimpse of Annie Palmer’s ghost. After experiencing this tour with her daughter in 2013 and leaving Jamaica haunted by the silences of the tour, Celia E. Naylor resolved to write a history of Rose Hall about those people who actually had a right to haunt this place of terror and trauma—the enslaved. Naylor deftly guides us through a strikingly different Rose Hall. She introduces readers to the silences of the archives and unearths the names and experiences of the enslaved at Rose Hall in the decades immediately before the abolition of slavery in Jamaica. She then offers a careful reading of Herbert G. de Lisser’s 1929 novel, The White Witch of Rosehall—which gave rise to the myth of the “White Witch”—and a critical analysis of the current tours at Rose Hall Great House. Naylor’s interdisciplinary examination engages different modes of history making, history telling, and truth telling to excavate the lives of enslaved people, highlighting enslaved women as they navigated the violences of the Jamaican slavocracy and plantationscape. Moving beyond the legend, she examines iterations of the afterlives of slavery in the ongoing construction of slavery museums, memorializations, and movements for Black lives and the enduring case for Black humanity. Alongside her book, she has created a website as another way for readers to explore the truths of Rose Hall: rosehallproject.columbia.edu.

Dead Woman Pickney chronicles Yvonne Shorter Brown’s life growing up in Jamaica between 1943 and 1965 and teaching in Canada from 1969. Told with stridency and humour, the stories include both personal experience and history. Taking up the haunting memories of childhood, along with persistent racial marginalization of Black people, both globally and in Canada, the author sets out to construct a narrative that at once explains her own origins in the former slave society of Jamaica and traces the outsider status of Africa and its peoples. The author’s quest to understand the absence of her mother and her mother’s people from her life is at the heart of the narrative. The author struggles through life to discover the identity of her mother in the face of silence from her father’s brutal family. In this updated edition she adds a coda, “finding mother”, constructed from archives, genealogy, letters, and journals. Initially published in 2010, this second edition includes expanded text and a foreword by Sonja Boon, author of What the Oceans Remember.