With 2.8 million people,0 Jamaica is the third most populous Anglophone country in the Americas (after the United States and Canada), and the fourth most populous country in the Caribbean. Kingston is the country's capital and largest city. Most Jamaicans are of Sub-Saharan African ancestry, with significant European, East Asian (primarily Chinese), Indian, Lebanese, and mixed-race minorities. Because of a high rate of emigration for work since the 1960s, there is a large Jamaican diaspora, particularly in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The country has a global influence that belies its small size; it was the birthplace of the Rastafari religion, reggae music (and such associated genres as dub, ska and dancehall), and it is internationally prominent in sports, including cricket, sprinting, and athletics. Jamaica has sometimes been considered the world's least populous cultural superpower. (Full article...)
The Rastafari movement developed out of the legacy of the Atlantic slave trade, in which over ten million Africans were enslaved and transported to the Americas between the 16th and 19th centuries. Once there, they were sold to European planters and forced to work on the plantations. Around a third of these transported Africans were relocated in the Caribbean, with under 700,000 being settled in Jamaica. In 1834, slavery in Jamaica was abolished after the British government passed the Slavery Abolition Act 1833. Racial prejudice nevertheless remained prevalent across Jamaican society. The overwhelming majority of Jamaica's legislative council was white throughout the 19th century, and those of African descent were treated as second-class citizens.
Christian revivalism was a key influence on Rastafari. Many Afro-Jamaicans joined Christian churches during the Great Revival of 1860–61. They brought with them many inherited African beliefs and rituals, which they syncretised with Christianity in various ways. Some of the new religions that emerged, such as Kumina, remained heavily based on traditional African religion, while others, such as Revival Zion, were more fully Christian. The majority of these groups practiced spiritual healing and incorporated drumming and chanting, counselling, and spirit possession into their structures. Increasing numbers of Pentecostal missionaries from the United States arrived in Jamaica during the early 20th century, this migration reaching a climax in the 1920s. They provided a way for Afro-Jamaicans—who continued to live with the social memory of enslavement and who were denied any substantial participation in Jamaica's political institutions—to express their hopes, fears, and aspirations. (Full article...)
... that Swedish naval officer Axel Lagerbielke was imprisoned in Lima for over a year, held in Callao and eventually escaped from Panama on an English packet boat to Jamaica?
... that Gloria Cameron was the first native Jamaican in the UK to appear on the British television programme This Is Your Life?
While serving as prime minister, Simpson-Miller retained the positions of Minister of Defence, Development, Information and Sports. She has also served as Minister of Labour, Social Security and Sport, Minister of Tourism and Sports and Minister of Local Government throughout her political career. Following her election win in December 2011, when her party defeated the Jamaica Labour Party, she became the second individual since independence to have served non-consecutive terms as prime minister, the first having been Michael Manley. The People's National Party under her leadership lost the 25 February 2016 general election by only one seat to the Andrew Holness-led Jamaica Labour Party. One political commentator described the poll as "the closest election Jamaica has ever had". Following this defeat, Simpson-Miller stepped down in 2017. (Full article...)
Born to an upper-middle-class family in Saint Ann Parish, Williamson initially considered a life in the Roman Catholic clergy before deciding to devote himself to the cause of gay rights in Jamaica. In the 1990s, he purchased an apartment building in the New Kingston area of Kingston, in which he established a gay nightclub, which remained open for two years despite opposition from police. In 1998, he co-founded J-FLAG with other lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights activists, soon becoming the public face of the organisation. As J-FLAG's representative, he argued in favour of LGBT rights during appearances on Jamaican television and radio programs. This attracted great hostility within Jamaica – a country with particularly high rates of anti-gay prejudice – with J-FLAG members receiving death threats and Williamson surviving a knife attack. For a time he left Jamaica, living in Canada and England for several years, before returning to Kingston in 2002. (Full article...)
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Roots wine more commonly known as "roots drink" or "herbal drink" is a type of medicinal beverage popular in Jamaica. It is believed to have healthful and aphrodisiacal qualities for men.
Roots wine is made from a variety of herbs and roots, often blended with honey or molasses. It is naturally fermented and slightly effervescent, typically containing less than 5% alcohol. (Full article...)
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