Dalea Bean | HERstory is OURstory

We celebrated International Women’s Day on March 8 and March is HERstory month, I am reminded of experiences in classrooms at various schools learning the history of our country. The subject was taught with a blind eye to gender - either little attention to the ways in which gender impacted past events or it was assumed that history was just that, HIS story: a chronicle and analysis of the work of great men with little attention paid to the ways in which women’s lives were the very fabric of the country. I learned about very few heroines outside of Nanny of the Maroons. I could count on one small hand the names of women that laid literal and metaphoric bricks that built the nation.

Thankfully, with increased attention to the national curriculum, modern resources that deliberately pay attention to gendered imaging and language, the hard work of revisionist HERstorians and gender scholars, and courses in gender from our tertiary institutions such as at our 30 year-old Institute for Gender and Development Studies at The University of the West Indies, Jamaicans of all ages have far more opportunities to understand that Jamaica has just as much rich HERstory as HIStory. The publication, Jamaican Women of Distinction: Holding up more than Half the Sky, which I was honoured to author, researched lives of over 60 Jamaican women from various sectors and was life-changing. Their resplendent images and glowing biographies gave evidence of lives lived in the service of others.

'Every mickle mek a muckle' and the efforts from the private and public sectors, as well as non-governmental organisations, to do thankless but meaningful work towards gender equality, should be celebrated. While there are many miles to go before we reach the promised land of peace, security and equality of opportunity for all, we should pause to recognise that the tide is slowly (though perhaps too slowly) shifting away from acceptance of violence against women and inequalities based on colour, (dis)ability, class, sexual orientation and gender.

LACK OF UNDERSTANDING

But, as we look forward to wide futures of inclusivity and gender justice, many of the issues in our society are rooted in a lack of an understanding of our rich identity. Too few of us know and value our HIStory, and even fewer know our HERstory. Our past, while brutal and harrowing, is equally triumphant and liberating. Extraordinarily ordinary women thrived in unthinkable circumstances and gave us breath - the least we can do is keep their stories alive.

Indigenous women resisted erasure by European contact, passing on sustainable ways of life to communities still in existence today in communities such as the Yukayeke Yamaye Guani (Jamaican Humming-Bird Taino People). European women resisted second-class citizenship to carve out spaces for earning and socio-political status. African women birthed the nation, resisting torture and chaos to give us the tune for songs of redemption. Chinese and Indian women resisted invisibility to bring new life to ancient traditions.

Over 40 women fought in Sam Sharpe’s army, with martyrs like Eliza and Jane Whittingham from Cowpark Estate in Westmoreland being hanged for their fight for freedom. Rosanna Finlayson, Caroline Grant and Sara Johnson were leading rebels in the Morant Bay Rebellion. Mary Seacole travelled alone to the Crimea and set up the 'British Hotel' in 1855 to give medical care to soldiers after being rejected by Florence Nightingale. Jamaican women were the main recruiters of men for World War I and were active military members in World War II. Amy Ashwood Garvey formed the United Negro Improvement Association alongside Rt Excellent Marcus Garvey, while Amy Jacques Garvey worked assiduously to keep his legacy alive, even while he was imprisoned and after his death. Lady Gladys Bustamante distinguished herself as a trade unionist and women’s rights activist while Aggie Bernard and artist extraordinaire Edna Manley fed those who participated in the watershed 1930s protest movements for workers’ rights.

LEGITIMISED LANGUAGE

Louise Bennett legitimised the nation's language while Una Marson became the first black woman radio producer and presenter at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Dr Cicely Williams and Dr Hoashoo were among the first female Jamaican doctors and impacted global medical standards, while Ena Collymore-Woodstock was Jamaica’s first woman judge (resident magistrate). Mary Morris-Knibb, Iris Collins, Iris King and Madam Rose Leon were architects of women’s place in formal politics in the country. Barbara Makeda Blake-Hannah was the first Rastafarian to sit in the Parliament of Jamaica, while pioneer of the money market Joan Duncan opened Jamaica’s first money market firm, Jamaica Money Market Brokers Ltd, in 1992. Cynthia Thompson became the first Jamaican woman to qualify for the final of an Olympic event in 1948. Mary Jane Seivwright was the first nurse to be appointed to the Senate, while Mother of Jamaican dance, Ivy Baxter, developed creative dance in Jamaica, pioneering the ‘bare foot movement’. And while Olive Lewin, was becoming one of our leading musicologists, Millie Small’s My Boy Lollipop became the first million-selling Jamaican song.

The effort of our women goes on for ages, and contemporary women are adding to the pages. Jamaican women are indomitable and have given much to keep our flag flying high. Big up to our women, on women’s day and every day! There is no Jamaican HIStory without HERstory, and the survival of OURstory will be dependent on the acknowledgement, celebration and preservation of every aspect of our triumphant and glorious past.

Dalea Bean, PhD, is a senior lecturer at the Institute for Gender and Development Studies, Regional Coordinating Unit, UWI. Send feedback to dalea.bean02@uwimona.edu.jm