Johnny cakes (fried dumplings) were originally called 'Journey cakes' because they were packed as lunches or snacks to sustain enslaved Africans in Jamaica on their long journeys. Now, they're a traditional Jamaican breakfast side dish.

#Food
#Jamaica
#JamaicanHistory
#Caribbean
#CaribbeanHistory

On July 7, 1918, Fong Sue, a Chinese shopkeeper in Jamaica, discovered his lover in bed with her lover, a policeman. It’s said that Fong Sue and his friends killed the policeman, which incited the anti-Chinese riots.

#Jamaica
#JamaicanHistory
#Caribbean
#OnThisDay

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On the morning of June 7, 1692, an earthquake devastated Port Royal, then the capital of #Jamaica. Two-thirds of it sank into the sea and remained preserved in situ. In the 1950s, divers found a pocket watch that had stopped at 11:43.

In 1996, the Jamaica National Heritage Trust designated Port Royal a Protected National Heritage. UNESCO WHC describes it as “one of the most important archaeological sites in the Caribbean and a unique site worldwide.”

#JamaicanHistory
#Caribbean
#OnThisDay

On the morning of June 7, 1962, an earthquake devastated Port Royal, then the capital of #Jamaica. Two-thirds of it sank into the sea and remained preserved in situ. In the 1950s, divers found a pocket watch that had stopped at 11:43.

In 1996, the Jamaica National Heritage Trust designated Port Royal a Protected National Heritage. UNESCO WHC describes it as “one of the most important archaeological sites in the Caribbean and a unique site worldwide.”

#JamaicanHistory
#Caribbean
#OnThisDay

On this day in 1494, the mass murderer and colonizer Christopher Columbus (may he wander the wastelands forever) landed in Jamaica. The Spanish changed the Taíno name Xaymaca to Jamaica.

A historical inaccuracy is that he exterminated the Taíno. Their descendants are alive and well in Jamaica and throughout the Caribbean and Americas.

#Jamaica
#JamaicanHistory
#Caribbean
#OnThisDay

Listen to this radio interview with Professor Leo Douglas on the Reimagining Nanny documentary he produced: the story of Queen Nanny, a wise woman, healer, and protector of the springs, forests and watersheds of the Blue and John Crow Mountains of Jamaica.

https://jis.gov.jm/radio_programs/reimagining-nanny-her-sword-a-seed/

#Jamaica
#ReimaginingNanny
#JamaicanHistory
#Caribbean
#CaribbeanHistory

In Jamaica, the Strangler Fig is known as a Banyan tree. It's mentioned in "Moonshine Tonight", a Jamaican folk song. Enslaved Africans would dance under the Banyan tree in the moonlight on significant occasions. It's no surprise that the Jamaican folklore surrounding it is similar to that of the Silk Cotton tree.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8fs5fNYXnkA

#ThickTrunkTuesday
#Trees
#Jamaica
#JamaicanFolklore
#JamaicanHistory
#Caribbean
#CaribbeanFolklore
#Folklore

For Women’s History Month, “Reimagining Queen Nanny of the Maroons” will provide an opportunity to learn more about Jamaica’s National Heroine, the Maroons, and their Afro-Indigenous legacy. The Zoom webinar event is free and open to the public.

Details and Zoom registration: https://events.nyu.edu/event/313190-1

#WomensHistoryMonth
#Jamaica
#JamaicanMaroons
#JamaicanHistory
#Caribbean
#CaribbeanHistory
#AfricanDiaspora
#BlackMastodon
#BlackFediverse

@blackmastodon@a.gup.pe
@BlackMastodon@chirp.social

Una Marson—a trailblazing Jamaican writer, activist, feminist, publisher, and broadcaster—was born on February 6, 1905. In 1942, she was the first Black woman to be employed by the BBC as a producer and presenter of Caribbean Voices, which provided a vital platform for Caribbean culture, writers and their works.

More about Marson, her advocacy, and pioneering work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqKGUUp1tAE

#UnaMarson
#Jamaica
#CaribbeanLiterature
#JamaicanHistory
#Caribbean
#BlackWomen
#OnThisDay

#OnThisDay, 5 Jan 2012, Portia Simpson Miller is sworn in as Prime Minister of Jamaica, having been re-elected in the December elections.

#WomenInPolitics
#WomenInHistory #Histodons #JamaicanHistory #History