Cardi B and Keyshia Cole Join National Stadium’s Long History of Major International Acts
For generations of Jamaicans, the National Stadium has been the backdrop to some of the country’s biggest moments, from historic sporting events and state occasions to performances by international superstars. Stevie Wonder and The Jackson 5 are among the legendary acts who have graced its stage, and on October 18th, another global superstar will join […]
Jabari’s People Turns a Familiar Cultural Premise Into a Deeper Story About Connectedness
For generations, Jamaican families living overseas have turned to a familiar solution when a young person needs a change of environment. They send them back home. Sometimes it is about discipline or getting a young person away from influences that have the adults in their lives worried. Sometimes it is about perspective, reconnecting them with […]
Jamaicans.com Live: Are You a ‘Real’ Jamaican If Yuh Bawn a Farrin?
Ask a Jamaican what makes someone Jamaican and you are likely to get plenty of answers. Maybe it is where you were born. Maybe it is who your parents are. Maybe it is the food, the music, the language, the culture or simply that unmistakable feeling of knowing Jamaica is home. But for Jamaicans born […]
A Jamaican Rom-Com Set in Jamaica? Why Not?
Jamaica is no stranger to the romantic comedy. The island has provided the backdrop for several love stories on screen, perhaps most famously How Stella Got Her Groove Back, which sent its American heroine to Jamaica in search of rest and ultimately romance. But what happens when Jamaica isn’t simply the destination for somebody else’s […]
From Crime Noir to Duppies: Jamaican Stories Are Having a Moment on Screen
Something interesting has been happening on our screens over the past two years. Across television series, feature films, pilots and shorts, Jamaican stories are showing up in greater variety and in unexpected places. There is crime noir on the streets of Kingston, Jamaican immigrants fighting their way through Victorian London and Marcus Garvey returning as […]
Two Jamaicans Among 12 Selected for Prestigious Yale Cultural Heritage Fellowship
Two Jamaican cultural heritage leaders from the Institute of Jamaica are among just 12 people selected for the second cohort of the Yale Directors Forum (YDF), a highly selective fellowship for executive leaders responsible for preserving and managing cultural heritage. Dr. Kirt Henry, director of the African Caribbean Institute of Jamaica/Jamaica Memory Bank, and Faith […]
4 Jamaican Game Developers Putting Culture in Play
Earlier this year, Jamaicans.com featured Derryk MacGregor, Jordan Thompson Pamba and Chad Wilson, the team behind Kingston-based indie game developer BChaotic, following the launch of their first commercial video game, Bubblexity, on Steam. Their story made us curious about what else was happening in Jamaica’s game development community. We reached out to the Jamaica Game […]
Why More Diaspora Jamaicans Are Claiming Citizenship by Descent
More Jamaicans in the diaspora are making their connection to the island official. Applications for Jamaican citizenship have surged in the United States, driven in large part by people born overseas who are claiming citizenship by descent. Figures from the Jamaican Embassy in Washington, DC, show that citizenship applications increased by 25 per cent in […]
Stew Peas and the Uncomfortable Taboos Jamaican Filmmaker Sosiessia Nixon-Kelly Forces Us to Confront
Jamaican stories are moving beyond the familiar images of beaches, music and crime to examine the beliefs, prejudices and uncomfortable realities shaping life on the island. Storm Saulter’s Possession has been attracting international attention with a story rooted in Obeah, Jonkonnu, slavery, inheritance and reparations, while Get Millie Black confronted colonialism, sexism, homophobia and the […]
Alexander Bedward: The Jamaican Leader Whose Story Is Coming to the Stage
Alexander Bedward was one of the most influential Black religious and social leaders in Jamaica during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A preacher, healer and leader of the Jamaica Native Baptist Free Church, Bedward built a large following from his base in August Town and spoke openly about the treatment of Black Jamaicans […]