It’s so sad and almost embarrassing that it took me moving to New York to realize how beautiful and dynamic Jamaican patois, which I will be referring to as Patwah, is.
Growing up in Jamaica I went to a private school from kindergarten right until 6th grade. After 6th grade Jamaican students move onto high school. Yes our high school journey begins at 7th grade. This could easily turn into a history lesson on Jamaican culture, i but maybe in another blog post.
My private school was very small and somewhat elitist, as most private institutions in Jamaica tend to be. They made a big emphasis on ensuring that the students spoke proper english and not patwah because patwah is “equivalent to speaking poorly”. I remember my second year kindergarten teacher, an older woman named Ms. Pinnock, being the most “proper” human being I had ever encountered. She even spoke with a slight british accent because she lived in England for a while before coming back to Jamaica?
Also, I need you to remember this was the late 90’s and she was most certainly alive when the British still had rule over the island. Jamaica got its independence in 1962. So you know you couldn’t ever talk patwah around her. OH! And I also have this memory of a class lesson in, 1st, 2nd or 3rd grade, where the teacher stopped the class because someone gave an answer to a math problem, which was “3”. But instead of pronouncing it the "proper" english way which is “three” the student pronounced it “tree”. I just remember the teacher making the entire class recite “Three is the number and Trees grow outside” until she was certain no one would make that mistake again. Which makes sense because these are two different things but I’m trying to paint a picture for you--and not an abstract one.
Ok, lets get back on track.
Now, don’t get me wrong english is Jamaica’s national language, so of course students should be learning how to speak it in school. What bothers me today is how we are made to believe that patwah is the language of poverty. It ALL, like most problems in small Caribbean islands, goes back to the colonization of the island and how everything british and white was right and anything else was wrong. It breaks my heart when I hear someone speaking patwah only to hear another Jamaican around them say “Stop chat bad! Speak english”.
MEK MI TELL UNU SUMN (Let me tell you something) There is nothing bad, lesser or lackadaisical about patwah. In fact, it’s the complete opposite. It’s a rich language, though based in english the tongue of our African ancestors reign supreme. It provides more heightened language than any verse in a shakespeare or greek play and that is a hill I am prepared to die on.
English is cute but Patwah is the language of our people! It is our culture or connection to the ancestors we never met. It’s a pulse, with an undeniably infectious rhythm. It’s unique and sounds different depending on what part of the island you are from. It speaks to the entire world through reggae and dancehall. Everybody wants to learn how to speak it and most people think they already know how. Have you heard those horrible Jamaican accents on these recent TV Shows and movies? I mean honestly, as actors, we have to take time to perfect our American accents but they can't perfect their Jamaican accents? And then they try to serve us these subpar Jamaican accents on national TV thinking that's supposed to make us feel good or represented?
Anyways...my people. My beautiful Jamaican people, especially the ones back home who think that everything outside of Jamaica is nice and sweet. Please embrace our language. It's BEAUTIFUL. Love up yuh accent! Don’t try to lose it. Work with it and let it work for you. Patwah is not “chatting bad” it’s Communicating with style. And style a style and style cya, wah? Spoil!
Below is a video of me performing one of my favorite poems by Louise Bennett- Coverley/ Miss Lou. Along with being one of my biggest artistic inspirations she was a Jamaican folklorist, writer and poet who believed in preserving our beautiful language.
For more, click here.
Comentarios