Acclaimed Jamaican poet Safiya Sinclair’s sumptuous memoir, How to Say Babylon (Bookshop|Amazon) tells the story of her struggle to break free from a rigid Rastafarian upbringing, and how her discovery of poetry, both memorizing it and writing it...
A New York City listener enjoys the music played between segments of our show, particularly the reggae tunes, and wonders about the origin of the word reggae. This musical form was popularized by the Jamaican band Toots and the Mayfield, and may be...
Jamrocks
n.— «Jamrocks (the word is Jamaican patois slang for the island country) is a funky little place.» —“It’s ’Marley and me’ at Jamrocks Grill” by Mary K. Means Bradenton Herald (Florida) June 18, 2009. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
okada rider n.— «In the main square of Makeni, a couple of hours’ drive into the jungle from Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown, young men sit around on their motorbikes, chatting, joking and swapping cigarettes. These are the town’s taxi...
browning n.— «Some students once met a radio personality and marvelled that she was a “browning.” This host speaks the real Jamaican patois and they thought she would be “jet black.” Why? Because brownings don’t talk like that of course.» —“ If it...