It’s not just a holiday, it’s supporting your roots.
Are you considered an ethnic minority in the UK? If so, how frequently do you visit your home country? Do you contribute to their economy in any way? Do you catch up on their news? Do you know who the main political parties are? Do you know what life is really like there?
I won’t lie, for me those answers were no, no, no, no, and hell no up until a few weeks ago.
I had no idea how beautiful my island truly is, that the food had so much more flavour when fresh ingredients are involved, that the dance culture was so vibrant, and the ‘herbs’ were so abundant.
Similarly, I did not know that Jamaica is a third world country, that minimum wage is $7,000 per week (£41.71 or $52.22 US dollars) and that people sometimes have to wait up to two days to be seen by A&E…
Like many descendants of the Windrush generation, I considered myself to be more Jamaican than English or British. This was until I met a bunch of people who were my age-mates and actually from the island.
For me, it was when I studied abroad in America.
The first time I attended a Caribbean Society meeting (yes, they have separate societies for Caribbeans, Africans etc) I was confronted with Jamaican political banter, celebrity gossip and phrases which truly made it clear to me that culturally, I am very much British.
Yes, I eat patties from time to time, have rice and peas and chicken on a Sunday, understand my grandparent’s patois, fish on Good Friday, and I can recite a moderate history of the country and not embarrass myself at a Jamaican party. But all in all, I knew very little about the island my grandparents left when they were around my age now. I had been in denial for a while, but there are just some things which I cannot deny:
- If you apologise for everything, like when someone bumps into YOU; or you say “sorry” at a restaurant when you have to return an incorrect order; or you apologise when someone asks you for a lighter and you don’t have one, as if it is a bad thing that you don’t smoke, then you are British
- If you go to the hairdresser or barber and they mess up your hair and you don’t rant or refuse to pay until they fix it because you don’t want to make a fuss, then you are British
- If you then say “thank you” for that bad haircut, or “thank you” for most things in your day to day life as a general automatic response, you’re probs British
- If queue jumping makes you want to bitch-slap someone, then you are British
- If you started tweeting things such as “IT’S FUCKING COMING HOME” last summer, you are most probs British
- If small talk is always awkward, and you hate when some stranger starts up conversation at a bus stop when you have headphones in because you believe they should just catch the hint though you still nod and smile, then you are British
- If personal space is of the upmost importance to you, unless you are in a club or on public transport – you’re British
This identity crisis at age 19, along with a greater interest in my ancestry due to a DNA test and reading more into the area, made my trip to Jamaica in June 2019 so much more valuable.
It was weird (in a good way) being in a country where you are the majority. Seeing police officers, bank workers, news presenters etc, all look like you!
It was also weird (in a good way) hearing accents which you had associated with one (older) generation being used by all. Although unfamiliar, it felt comfortable being there, knowing that you all have the same ancestral history, some shared cultural norms, and knowing that my grandparents and ancestors before them worked, loved, turnt up, and died on this land.
But as I walked around this beautiful island seeing these people work so hard to maintain their version of the norm, I was shocked to see so many young people working so hard, all the while with a smile on their face.
It wasn’t like when you go into a Jamaican take-away in the UK and they’re looking at you some type of way (those people just miss the heat). They were genuinely happy to do these manual jobs in 33-degree heat. They were happy to make $7-8 per day. They appeared to be happy to get up at 5am and catch a bus for an hour to work an 8-hour shift.
And all the while, I am here complaining about my daily inconveniences such as the coffee machine not working in my office, road works briefly delaying my bus journey into work, or not finding my favourite sandwich over lunch break. You know, all the first world problems.
The trip really put things into perspective for me. If my grandparents had made different decisions back in the 60s, I could have been one of these people. I may have had to walk for ten minutes every day to collect water for my home. I would have to wait up to two days to be seen by a doctor. I may have had to drop-out of school at age ten to support my family.
Presently, the economy is largely based on services, generating around 70 percent of GD. This is mostly associated with tourism and accommodation on the island. We in ‘first world’ countries often forget what our parents/grandparents left behind in order to give us a better life.
But was any of it worth it if we aren’t giving back to the lands from which we came? Is it worth it if all we do is try to prove our worth and climb corporate ladders in our new countries if we aren’t trying to pick up the descendants of the people who helped our grandparents get to a stage where they could move abroad?
When looking at travel destinations, do you take into account that you visiting is contributing to the economy of that country? If not, then begin to. We often display outrage on the TL at the position of black people in the modern world, but there are things we can do to actively help change it. Visiting such countries rather than automatically checking RyanAir for cheap flights into Europe, finding charities in such countries to send monetary support to on a regular basis, and finding businesses to buy from can all help.
All in all, I genuinely believe that black people need to start taking their annual leave and money more seriously. Visiting your home countries is not just about a holiday, it’s about supporting your own, because at the end of the day, the people you are supporting could have easily been yourself.
@CillaHope_
cillahope 