FROM THE Catholics to the Baptists to the other denominations, Christians from Europe and American came to the West Indies to Christianise and save the souls of the Tainos (the natives) and enslaved people on the plantations in Jamaica. It is a...
DURING THE American War of Independence, enslaved black people were promised their freedom if they fought for the British against the separatists. When the British lost the war, these enslaved people who fought for them were offered free passage...
THE TAINOS who inhabited Jamaica before the Europeans arrived in the late 15th century had their own political hierarchies, economic and social systems, and religious beliefs. It was an idyllic life that they led, living in harmony with the...
FOR YEARS, there has been the saying that Jamaica has the highest number of churches per square mile, according to The Guinness Book of World Records. I am yet to see for myself that record. A quick search of the Internet, including the Guinness...
THE SERIES started with, among other things, the question of how a formerly enslaved African, Aniaso, renamed Archibald John Monteath, came to be buried in the Carmel Moravian Churchyard in Westmoreland when during his time, deceased enslaved...
IN AN April 6, 2016 article, I said, “The burial grounds of enslaved Africans are very hard to find in Jamaica. They were buried in arbitrary places in unmarked graves”. And, in some parts of Jamaica, the narrative is that, wherever there are piles...
IT WAS always going to be much drumming, singing, dancing, trumping, preaching and exalting, because that is the nature of worship in Revivalism, a Jamaican folk religion that evolved from the ‘Great Revival’ of 1860/1861. And, on Wednesday, May 28...
LAST WEEK Sunday, the Clarke brothers – Reneil, Clifton Jr, Kenneth-Roy and Devaun – were highlighted because of the reasons in the above headline. This week, The Sunday Gleaner speaks with their parents, Bishop Clifton Clarke Sr and Sophia Henry-...
IN THE days of slavery, enslaved people were forbidden to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to one another. They were also taught to obey their masters, and the Bible was referenced by some Christian holders of enslaved people to support that...
Some people find Revival rituals entertaining and dramatic even though this is not their purpose. The caution is that they must not be imitated and staged for entertainment purposes as importantly, these rituals are purposeful and spiritual, and,...
THE FOLK religion known as Revivalism in Jamaica came out of the ‘Great Revival’ of the early 1860s. It is a syncretism of African spirituality and European religious beliefs and practices. It is called folk because it came from the psychology of...
MEMBERS OF Christian denominations in Jamaica participated in the transatlantic trade of Africans, and were holders of them on their plantations where they were subjugated to unspeakable human suffering until August 1, 1838, when the institution of...
MARVIN G. HALL has four children, the last three, girls, are with his wife, Sarah Hsia, and his son, 24 year-old Jared, is with Shakira Walton. It’s a blended relationship, full of love, laughter, camaraderie, commitment, and whatever else that...
The audience, which included tourism stakeholders and media practitioners from all over the world, listened in rapt attention as Jamaica’s tourism minister, Edmund Bartlett, talked about the state of tourism in Jamaica. This was during the Jamaica...
FLOWING NORTH into the Mediterranean Sea, the River Nile is widely regarded as the longest river in the world. And Nile Anderson’s mother, a geography teacher, and now principal of Savanna-la-Mar Primary School in Westmoreland, named him after that...
The great majority of the patrons who turned up at the recent ‘Fun in the Son’ free concert at the National Stadium went to see and hear Kirk Franklin more than any of the other artistes. His reputation for giving scintillating performances...
THE EASTER story is principally about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, be it fact or fiction, set in a real place. The moments before and after the impalement is what is mostly written and spoken about. But why was the man who claimed to...
MOSES BAKER, a coloured man, believed he was better than an old enslaved African named Cupid Wilkin, who was a Christian. Baker was converted himself after much encouragement and persistence by Wilkin. But, before the conversion, Baker became...
THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN preacher George Liele (Lisle) established the first Baptist church in Jamaica, along Windward Road in Kingston. He and some of his own converts were to establish more church across the island, mainly in the east and north of...
IN 1789, THE African-American Baptist George Liele (Lisle) acquired three acres of land at the corner of Elletson Road and Windward Road/Victoria Avenue in Kingston. In 1791, he built and started the first church in Jamaica to be led by a black man...
JAMAICA’S HISTORY and heritage are replete with notable men and women, some of whom had been elevated to the status of national hero, the highest national honour in the land. Others have been colourful folk heroes and heroines, from the people and...
Boston Bay in Portland is one of Jamaica’s more popular surfing spaces, and there are many local surfers who make use of this opportunity literally in their backyard. It is also a place where some people travelled across the world to experience. “...
THE PURPOSE of this series is to clarify the misconceptions that many Jamaicans have about Revivalism, a Jamaican folk religion that emerged from the Great Revival of 1860/1861. Revivalism is a confluence of African spirituality and European...
A REVIVAL worship session is a very active and energetic occasion. It is replete with loud supplications, ardent prayers, fervent preaching, fiery exaltation, personal testimonies, soulful singing, hypnotic drumming, spirited dancing (trumping,...
A HUMAN being is conceived when a sperm fertilises an egg, whether in or outside of a woman’s womb. It is not possible outside of these two situations, except if the woman is the Virgin Mary. Her baby, Jesus, it is written, was conceived...
