Today is Independence Day – a day of celebration.
The chief symbol of our independent state is still a shameful relic of an unresolved past. I speak not of flag or anthem and such; no, but something much more substantial and personal. (I know there will be much denial and debate about this, but there is no higher symbolism or iconography affecting the psyche than the representation of a human being, precisely because the influence is stark and direct, unmitigated by anthropomorphic metaphor.
No Jamaican today will celebrate King Charles, monarch of the Jamaican state, the person to whom all state leaders and state agencies pledge their allegiance and make obeisance. We try to hide that fact. … to ignore it … pretend as if it is not our truth. Why? Because it is a truth of which we are truly deeply ashamed.
Which makes today a national disgrace, and our ostentations a parade of hypcorisy.
Jamaica! Finish this!
YeKengalé 