One island, two Jamaicas and a whole heap of difference

Jamaican society can be divided along class, language and culture lines. Its rich vs. poor, English vs. Patois and uptown vs. downtown.

Correspondent Lisa Biagiotti, producer Micah Fink and director of photography Gabrielle Weiss examine the public debate that erupted earlier this year when graphic Dancehall music lyrics and images were banned from Jamaicas airwaves. The public responses reveal the legacy of two Jamaicas dating back to the countrys slave history.


http://worldfocus.org/blog/2009/10/01/one-island-two-jamaicas-and-a-whole-hea...

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Dancehall music
• Esther Tyson
• Gabrielle Weiss
• Grace Hamilton
• homophobia
• Karen Carpenter
• Lisa Biagiotti
• Micah Fink
• music
• Pulitzer Center
• Ragashanti
• slavery
• Spice
• The Glass Closet
• violence
• Vybz Kartel

[THECOUNTYRANCH]

I TRAVEL ALL OVER THE WORLD AND ANYWHERE I GO I TALK PATOIS BECAUSE EVERYONE ELSE TALK LIKE THE COUNTRY THAT THEY ARE FROM.

[THECOUNTYRANCH]

WHY DR DR KAREN SAY PATOIS IS TALKING BAD, NOT SPEAKING ENGLISH DON'T MEAN YOU TALK BAD WHAT ABOUT PEOPLE THAT LIVE IN JAMAICA AND TALK CHINESE.

[Gehrehh]

Timmy Lambie Big up u self

[xXCuBaNzXx]

SHUT UP MS TYSON

[xXCuBaNzXx]

LAMMMMBIIEEEEEEE TIMMMMMYYYYYY

[SwaggaWestbanxdon]

LAAAAAAAAAAAMBIE!!!!! 

[jamaicandonj]

that principal fi suck her madda uptown is a small portion of jamaica but seem to fight out our jamaican roots

[elintee]

so nobody makes music like the legendary bob marley & the wailers, toots & the maytals, peter tosh, jimmy cliff??? that's the real crime...music where you are encouraged to think outside the square box your physical environment confines you in...now i'm not saying dancehall is evil, people need an outlet to express themselves, if dancehall is it then so be it. but now your either in the red corner or blue corner taking potshots at each other. you can't change nothing unless you change yourself.

[kenyianFiasco]

The only reason why dance hall music is being controlled by the government, if that is the case, is due to the power that lies in dancehall. Dancehall allows Jamaican to talk openly about sexulity, such open discussion will only lead to the downfall of the political and religious world views that seeks to control my people's way of thinking about their sexualities and self. If you can control the way people about their sexualites, you can control the way how the view other people.

[ZJSIMPLEWHITE]

dem can sey wat dem want but wi nah sell out

[jmcnmam1]

While I have my strong misgivings about the explicit lyrics, I know that no matter what Jamaicans do, the world has a love/hate response to us. There are some who love us no matter what; and those who hate us no matter what we do. I do wish more people would take our motto to heart: Out Of Many, We Are One....

[flenny]

the truth hurts