Jamaicans in Diaspora reflect on Christmas back home
Published:Monday | December 25, 2023 | 12:34 AMLester Hinds/Gleaner Writer -
Ahead of Christmas Day, Jamaicans in the Diaspora have been reflecting on what it is like celebrating the season back home on the island in comparison to in the United States (US).
“Christmas in Jamaica is much more religious and offers more opportunity for camaraderie with family and friends while here the emphasis is on commercial activities,” said Rupert Green, a retired Jamaican teacher in New York who has been living in the US for nearly 40 years.
According to Green, Christmas in Jamaica sees more people attending church on Christmas morning and family members gathering later in the evening for the usual Christmas dinner.
“Christmas in the United States does not have the same feel. In Jamaica it has a joyous feel while here its impact is different,” he said, noting that while in Jamaica businesses shut down for the holiday, commercial activities in the US do not take a break.
Green further recalled the joy of Christmas dinner, where family and friends gather to feast on ham, roast beef, chicken, sorrel and rum cake.
“The tradition of things like Grand Market on Christmas Eve into Christmas morning do not exist here like in Jamaica,” he said.
Burchell Cummings said Christmas in the US is not nearly as enjoyable as it is in Jamaica.
Cummings, who is now retired and has been living in the US for over 30 years, said he misses spending Christmas in Jamaica where there is a more distinct feel to the holiday compared to the US.
“I miss the camaraderie and socialising with friends and family that takes place in Jamaica at Christmas time,” he said.
Cummings noted that, apart from the religious aspect of the holiday celebration in Jamaica, there were specific activities built around the holidays that people were able to attend.
He recalled such activities as Grand Market, Pantomime and visiting the homes of relatives and friends to collect toys.
“Christmas is way more enjoyable in Jamaica compared to here. It is too commercial here with not the same sense of family. The religious aspect is also missing,” he said.
To him, Christmas has a different feel in Jamaica compared to Christmas here.
“I miss having my authentic ginger beer, sorrel and rum cake as well as my ham and chicken at Christmas,” he said.
He also noted that, even with snow, Christmas here does not have the same feel as in Jamaica.
Franklyn 'Caddy' Dunn believes that Christmas in Jamaica has more of a holiday feel compared to here in the US.
The Mount Vernon businessman, who has been living in the US for some 25 years, noted that the holiday feel was not only religious but a sense of family.
“Christmas here is more commercial. The religious aspect of the holiday seems to be missing here compared to Jamaica. We had specific activities that were associated with Christmas in Jamaica which do not exist here,” he told The Gleaner.
He misses the spectable of people singing carols on Christmas Eve outside the doors of homes as well as junkanoo marching bands.
Byron Parkes recalled Christmas as his going to the Woolworth store to buy a cowboy outfit to go with his paper shot gun toy.
“Christmas was a joyous time for family and friends in Jamaica. Here it is commercial and devoid of the family get-together that is now common in Jamaica,” he said.
Parkes, who has been living in the United States for some 35 years, noted that Christmas for him was split between Kingston and Irish Town.
“Even as a kid we had fun. If we did not help with cooking and cleaning, we would link up with our friends to do fun things,” he said.
Saying that he misses the feel of Christmas as experienced in Jamaica, Parkes noted that in the US he tries to recreate the feel but it is not the same.
“There is no place like Jamaica during Christmas. [I] miss that experience,” he told The Gleaner.