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Engaging Origins, Tradition and Sovereignty Claims of Jamaican Maroon Communities

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Engaging Origins, Tradition and Sovereignty Claims of Jamaican Maroon Communities The Work of Diaspora: Engaging Origins, Tradition and Sovereignty Claims of Jamaican Maroon Communities By Mario Nisbett A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in African American Studies in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Percy C. Hintzen, Chair Professor Na’ilah Suad Nasir Professor Laurie A. Wilkie Summer 2015 © 2015 by Mario Nisbett All Rights Reserved Abstract The Work of Diaspora: Engaging Origins, Tradition and Sovereignty Claims of Jamaican Maroon Communities by Mario Nisbett Doctor of Philosophy in African American Studies University of California, Berkeley Professor Percy C. Hintzen, Chair This dissertation examines the concept of the African Diaspora by focusing on four post-colonial Maroon communities of Jamaica, the oldest autonomous Black polities in the Caribbean, which were established by escapees from slave-holding authorities during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In exploring the Maroons as a Black community, the work looks at how they employ diaspora in making linkages to other communities of African descent and for what purposes. Maroons are being positioned in relation to the amorphous concept of diaspora, which is normally used to refer to people who have been dispersed from their place of origins but maintain tradition and connections with kin in other countries. However, I complicate the definition, arguing that diaspora, specifically the African Diaspora, is the condition that produces the collective consciousness of sameness rooted in the idea of common African origins based on a common experience of Black abjection. This understanding of diaspora opens the way to see that the uses of the concept are varied. This approach to diaspora challenges conventional debates in the humanities and social sciences on whether the concept is either a grouping of peoples, a process, or a method, making it possible to simultaneously engage all three modes along with their conceptual and theoretical contributions to the field of Diaspora Studies. Most importantly, the study permits us to see how the critical practice of diaspora is articulated in communities of African descent. Here, “critical practice” refers to acts or utterances that critique, challenge, and re-position distorted understandings of particular peoples and communities. The African Diaspora seen as a critical practice ultimately challenges Western understandings of Black people. Another important concept is “articulation,” as in enunciation and making linkages, which highlights the significance, aim, and utility of the critical practice of diaspora for different Black communities. This approach to diaspora as a critical practice that explores articulation is crucial for understanding the varying responses of Black peoples to global inequality and exclusion. It creates a nuanced approach to diaspora and shows how different Black communities may engage it in their own way. 1 In addition, this study demonstrates how diaspora, not race, as a unit of analysis for understanding the connection of peoples who are considered Black. I view race here to be a social construct that has no biological basis. Thus, in its articulations, diaspora is not a matter of subscribing to an essentialist racial agenda, but incorporates significant differences across diverse Black peoples to fully understand their lived realities and experiences. Furthermore, this view of diaspora permits an interdisciplinary approach to engage the fields of history, anthropology, literature, and political philosophy in the study. Such a comparative and interdisciplinary approach helps to explore systematically the significance of diaspora to Black peoples in general and at site-specific locations. In this case, it de-centers Americo-centric analysis by focusing on the Caribbean. Overall, the dissertation, through an innovative approach, explores how Black communities, particularly Jamaican Maroons, engage diaspora. Undeniably, diaspora, as a critical practice, has contributed much from its earliest articulation and will undoubtedly continue to contribute to an enhanced understanding of Black peoples. Arguably, exploration of the critical practice and articulation of diaspora demonstrates the significance of communities of African descent engaging in endeavors for Black autonomy and sovereignty against the discourse of Black inhumanity. 2 DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my parents, Ernest and Merriss Nisbett. i TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION………………………………………………………………………...………….i TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………………………………………..ii LIST OF FIGURES………………………………………………………………………..……iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT……………………………………………………………………...iv CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION…………………………….…….……..………………..1 Diaspora……………………………….……………………..…………...………….…................1 Significance of Study……………..……………………………….………….………..………….6 Interdisciplinarity…………………..…………………………………………………………...…7 Overview of the Main Chapters………………………………………………………………….11 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………….………....11 CHAPTER TWO: HISTORY, POLITICS, AND CULTURE………………..………..……12 Introduction…………………………………...…………………………………….………...….12 Maroons and the Colonial Era…………………..………………………....…...………………..13 Maroons and Post-Colonial Era………………………………………………...………………..25 Then and Now: Meaning of “Maroon”………………………………………...………...............34 Conclusion……………………………………………….............................................................36 CHAPTER THREE: ORIGINS………………………………….…………………………....37 Introduction………………………….…………………………….……….………………….....37 Maroons’ Origins……………………..…………………………….……...…………………….37 Deployment of Originary Claims…….…………………………….……...………………….….48 Conclusion…………………………….…………………………….……...………..………..…55 CHAPTER FOUR: TRADITIONS………………………………..…………..……………....56 Introduction…………………………………………………..…………………………………..56 Maroon Traditions…………………………………………………….……………………................…..56 Claimed African Traditions…………………………..……………….………………..………..57 Diaspora as Articulation…………………………………..……………….…………….............72 Conclusion……………………………………………..……………….………………………..79 CHAPER FIVE: SOVEREIGNTY CLAIMS………………………….……….…………….80 Introduction……………………………...……………………………….……………............…80 Maroon Sphere/Realm……………………………………………………..………………....….80 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………..…………………...92 CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSION……..……………………………………..………………...93 BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………….………………………………….……….….98 ii LIST OF FIGURES Maps 1 Map of Jamaican Maroon Communities 22 iii AKNOWLEDGEMENTS My journey in writing the dissertation and obtaining the Ph.D. would not have been possible without the support and encouragement of so many people. Most importantly, I would like to thank my family. In particular, I cannot express in word the significance of the unwavering support in this endeavor from my parents, Ernest and Merriss Nisbett. In addition, I greatly appreciate the guidance through the Ph.D. program here at Cal from Percy Hintzen who continues to inspire me with his thought provoking understanding and ideas about our world. Moreover, I would like to thank G. Ugo Nwokeji for his encouragement and support as well. I sincerely appreciate all of the support in one way or another from loved ones, colleagues, faculty and staff at UC Berkeley, and beyond which include Robert Allen, Alexia Anderson, Johannis Aziz, Isaac Barnard, Lia Bascomb, La Toya Beck, Charisse Burden, Harris Cawley, James Chambers, Oral Chambers, Patanjali Chary, Eric Cleveland, Ayanna Cole, Larissa Cole, Venetta Cole, Rob Connell, Catilda Conner, Melville Currie, Andre Daniel, Sarah Daniels, Kelley Deetz, Mamadou Diouf, Marcia Douglas, Clive Downer, J. Finley, Cam Foster, Constant Foster, Hardy Frye, Justin Gomer, Millicent Graham, Horace Grant, Shauntay Grant, Rashida Hanif, Sharon Harris, Derick Hendricks, Charles Henry, Lindsey Herbert, Dorcie Higgins, George Higgins, Jerry Howard, Ann-Marie Hutchinson, Stephanie Jackson, Bernard Jankee (at the African Caribbean Institute of Jamaica), Henrietta Jones, Jasminder Kaur, Leece Lee, Kerima Lewis, Malgorzata Kurjanska, Marcia Lobban-Martin (at the African Caribbean Institute of Jamaica), Ameer Loggins, Frank Lumsden, Selina Makana, Leonora Maloney, Rohan Maloney, Vincia Maloney, Bryan Mason, Michael McGee, Kim McNair, Carmen Mitchell, Na’ilah Nasir, Akasemi Newsome, Kwame Nimako, Merger Nisbett-Ottley, Ernestina Ohenewaah, Amaka Ohia, Ianna Owens, Keerthi Potluri, Noel Prehay, Leigh Raiford, Ankur Rastogi, Hanley Reid, Lance Ricketts, Alaine Rowe, Ann-Marie Rowe, Garfield Rowe, Jerel Rowe, Kevin Rowe, Lawrence Rowe, Patrice Rowe, Shelly-Ann Rowe, Norma Rowe-Edwards, Maxine Royston, Reggie Royston, Alisa Sanchez, Keith Sandiford, David Scott, Kwaku Sarpong, Stephen Small, Kathy Smith, Juliana Sofoa, Wallace Sterling, Krystal Strong, Ula Taylor, Sheldon Wallace, Oral White, Laurie Wilkie, Ferron Williams, Gabrielle Williams, Ron Williams, Veta Williams, Amy Wolfson, and Tyshan Wright. iv CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION This dissertation examines how “Black” communities engage diaspora.1 In particular, the project focuses on four post-colonial Maroon communities of Jamaica, the oldest autonomous polities in the Caribbean, which were established by escapees from slave-holding authorities during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Here, Maroons, as a Black community, are being positioned next to the amorphous concept of diaspora. The term “diaspora” is normally used to refer to people who have been dispersed from their place of origins but maintain tradition
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