Carolyn Cooper | Giving Governor Musgrave his due

“So yu not telling dem fi tek di white man offa di medal?” That was the spirit, if not the exact words, of the question one of my mischievous friends asked when she heard I’d been awarded a Musgrave medal. Another friend, from a former British colony in Asia, asked even more pointed questions. Why did you accept the award? Aren’t you a strong defender of the movement to make Jamaica a republic? Why do you want to celebrate one of the legacies of colonialism?

My friends not easy. But the one asking those seemingly transparent questions did acknowledge the complexity of cultural politics. He conceded that if the inventor of dynamite, Alfred Nobel, could leave his massive fortune to establish a prize for peace, then it must be OK for me to accept a Musgrave medal. Mi nearly dead wid laugh. My friend had answered his own questions: I was an explosive force that could make peace with our dread history.

It is true that I’m a disruptor who does not readily bow to convention. Me don’t follow crowd. I often take an unexpected route away from what others see as the right direction. I blame this waywardness on my Seventh-Day Adventist upbringing. Though I’m a backslider, or, as I prefer, a post-Adventist, my DNA bears the indelible imprint of my religious past. As sabbath keepers, we were on the narrow path that led to salvation. Sunday worshippers were on the broad road to destruction.

MORANT BAY UPRISING

The Musgave medal is, unquestionably, stamped with the history of exploitation. In fact, the first medal was awarded in 1897, as part of Jamaica’s celebration of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. That is the very same Missis Queen whose contempt for Jamaicans resulted in the Morant Bay uprising. Times were hard in 1865 and an appeal was made to the Queen for help. Her response was deadly:

“. . . the prosperity of the Labouring Classes, as well as of all other Classes, depends, in Jamaica, and in other countries, upon their working for Wages, not uncertainly, or capriciously, but steadily and continuously, at times when their labour is wanted, and for so long as it is wanted; and that if they would use their industry, and thereby render the Plantations productive, they would enable the Planters to pay them higher Wages ... .” Black people were not destined to work for ourselves. We were supposed to be chained to the plantation forever.

Paul Bogle and George William Gordon, murdered at the command of the brutal Governor Eyre, are now national heroes. Gordon’s valiant fight for the full freedom of emancipated Jamaicans is also celebrated in the naming of our Parliament building. Paul Bogle ought to be similarly honoured by having the St Thomas highway named after him. Both Bogle’s and Gordon’s duppies must be alarmed at the way in which the business of Parliament is being conducted by the ruling government.

The attempted humiliation of the Clerk to Houses of Parliament Valrie Curtis by Speaker of the House Juliet Holness – simply for doing her job efficiently – is a classic example of inappropriate behaviour. It is most unfortunate that in the month when we celebrate the accomplishments of women, I am forced to call out both the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Speaker of the House for letting down the side.

ADVANCEMENT OF BLACK PEOPLE

The first Musgrave medal awarded in 1897 may have marked vicious Victoria’s jubilee. But the medal was conceived to honour the exceptional Anthony Musgrave, Governor of Jamaica from 1877-1883. Musgrave was no Edward Eyre. Born in Antigua in 1828 to a family who enslaved Africans, Musgrave, nevertheless, contributed substantially to the advancement of black Jamaicans.

Governor Musgrave founded the Institute of Jamaica in 1879 to promote literature, science and the arts. He also established the Jamaica Scholarship, of which I’m a proud beneficiary. I suppose my politically correct friends would also ask why I accepted that award, given its origins. For a black girl growing up in a racist and classist Jamaica in the 1950s, that scholarship allowed me to embark on a journey of academic exploration of incalculable value.

Last Wednesday, the Institute of Jamaica hosted a stellar award ceremony at which the recipients of the 2023 Musgrave medals were celebrated. Mr Vivian Crawford (Arts), Professor Marcia Rowe (Science) and I (Literature) were awarded gold medals. Mrs Barbara Blake Hannah (Literature), Dr Conrad Douglas (Science) and Dr L’Antoinette Stines (Arts) received silver medals. Mrs Merline Bardowell (Science), Mr Carlton ‘Santa’ Davis (Arts), Mr George ‘Fully’ Fullwood (Arts) and Dr Sharma Taylor (Literature) were awarded bronze medals.

Whatever the category, we were all honoured to have received a Musgrave Medal. In the vignettes so skilfully produced by Mr Kirk Buchanan, a recurring theme was surprise. We simply didn’t expect this affirmation of our work. I did wonder about the criteria used to determine the level of award. For instance, Santa and Fully are legends of Jamaican music. In my book, they are pure gold.

Jamaican culture was on magnificent display at the award ceremony held at the Philip Sherlock Centre for the Creative Arts at The University of the West Indies, Mona. The Rhumbaka Mento Band, the L’Acadco Drum Xplosion, the Tivoli Dance Troupe, vocalist Ellan Neil, accompanied by Dr Kathy Brown, all performed brilliantly. An eloquent Griot, weaving a web of creativity, vibrantly reminded us of ancestral wisdom. The engaging Mrs Andrea Hinds-McCurdy expertly guided us through the programme. The Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, led by the Honourable Olivia Grange, is certainly keeping alive the legacy of visionary Governor Musgrave. His duppy must be well pleased.

Carolyn Cooper, PhD, is a teacher of English language and literature and a specialist on culture and development. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and karokupa@gmail.com.