Jamaicans Quotes

“She knew that for people to be people, they have to be believe in something. They had to believe that something was worth believing in. And they had to carry that thing in their hearts and guard it , for once you believed in something , in anything at all, Babylon would try its damnedest to find out what that thing was, and they would try to take it from you.”
― Kei Miller, Augustown

“They were both comparative mirrors of each other. It was clear to her now more than he had used her and she was outraged that she had someone allowed it if not instigated it. Kitty retreated; she bit her lips to hold back the tears. She was a strong woman. The car purred to life and the tall shadowy figure of the boy she had the most earthshaking sex with a few nights ago gaped at her with contempt from behind the glass.
She raced into traffic and a push cart man swung his arms at her motor car belting out expletives, scolding Kitty for her reckless driving. She wanted to go home but first she wanted to be at one with the wind. She listened to the sound of the cars whooshing by and the bubbly nature of the people heading into the Chinese owned supermarkets and knew she was finally home. It always found her. It found her in the men she fell in love with. Tom was a good man but he was safe and Kitty never liked safe, she was reckless and risqué like the malefactor blood that ran in her veins. She could not run from it. The Ghetto was not just a place; it was a state of mind. She always thought she was running from the Ghetto but the Ghetto was with her even to the deepest corners of the earth for the Ghetto was her. You could not run away from yourself.”
― Crystal Evans, Ghetto Slam

“The story of Bedward is not the one they been telling you. Is it not the story of some fool-fool man who get it into him head that him could fly. And neither is it the story of a clumsy baff-hand man who fall out of a tree. You hearing me child? The story of Bedward is something completely different -is the story of a man who try his best to do something big-and to reach higher than any of we did think a man like him could ever had reach….. Then again, is probably just the everyday story of this goddamn island- just another striving man that this blasted country decide to pull down”
― Kei Miller, Augustown

“In Jamaica, we live largely in the present, forgetting our history and our heroes. We think we can escape history. But our history haunts us, casts a shadow over the present, and daily reminds us to stop and take stock of it.”
― Hume JOHNSON, Brand Jamaica: Reimagining a National Image and Identity