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Blackness, Monkey and Mawga Dawg
Grace Virtue
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
In 1988, the government of Jamaica bestowed a signal honor on me, then a young student heading to the University of the West Indies (UWI). It was the 100th anniversary of the birth of Marcus Garvey, our first national hero. The government commemorated the anniversary with a single academic scholarship which was awarded to me. It remains one of my proudest moments.
Among the reasons I was selected from the final eight candidates, I learned, was that my profile closely resembled Garvey's-rural, a commitment to service, a passion for social justice, a love of the arts, and a facility with both the written and spoken word. Most importantly, I was one of two candidates who did not seem to have a problem with my race. I was comfortably black and spoke of "us"-black people-in the first person; I included myself in every reference to the race. The other candidates had difficulty with that, some even refusing to be called black even though that's what they were.
(L-R) GREEN ... was being real about race/colour issue. NICHOLSON ... restructuring moves ahead
Fast forward approximately 18 years. I was an employee at Howard University and received a communiqué from one of our leading universities. I was mildly surprised because it was not UWI - my alma mater.
It didn't matter. I indicated that I would honour the request, which was to receive a senior member of the institution's administration who wanted to talk to me about my work in higher education, how my division (university advancement) was organised, and how it might translate back home.
We had a collegial few hours at the designated time. I answered all his questions and analysed, as we went along, the difference between the institutions.
I was due a visit home shortly after and I said as much. He asked if I could meet his boss - the university president - and continue the conversation. I agreed, still without indicating that this was serious consulting work. I met with the president and again answered all his questions while he took notes.
The staff member walked me to the door.
"You make so much sense," he said almost wistfully, as a follow up to a discussion on whether I would be invited back to speak to the staff. "But you are black. You look like one of us and you sound like us. I don't think they want to hear it from you..."
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...#ixzz2Kk0YM7ga
Grace Virtue
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
In 1988, the government of Jamaica bestowed a signal honor on me, then a young student heading to the University of the West Indies (UWI). It was the 100th anniversary of the birth of Marcus Garvey, our first national hero. The government commemorated the anniversary with a single academic scholarship which was awarded to me. It remains one of my proudest moments.
Among the reasons I was selected from the final eight candidates, I learned, was that my profile closely resembled Garvey's-rural, a commitment to service, a passion for social justice, a love of the arts, and a facility with both the written and spoken word. Most importantly, I was one of two candidates who did not seem to have a problem with my race. I was comfortably black and spoke of "us"-black people-in the first person; I included myself in every reference to the race. The other candidates had difficulty with that, some even refusing to be called black even though that's what they were.
(L-R) GREEN ... was being real about race/colour issue. NICHOLSON ... restructuring moves ahead
Fast forward approximately 18 years. I was an employee at Howard University and received a communiqué from one of our leading universities. I was mildly surprised because it was not UWI - my alma mater.
It didn't matter. I indicated that I would honour the request, which was to receive a senior member of the institution's administration who wanted to talk to me about my work in higher education, how my division (university advancement) was organised, and how it might translate back home.
We had a collegial few hours at the designated time. I answered all his questions and analysed, as we went along, the difference between the institutions.
I was due a visit home shortly after and I said as much. He asked if I could meet his boss - the university president - and continue the conversation. I agreed, still without indicating that this was serious consulting work. I met with the president and again answered all his questions while he took notes.
The staff member walked me to the door.
"You make so much sense," he said almost wistfully, as a follow up to a discussion on whether I would be invited back to speak to the staff. "But you are black. You look like one of us and you sound like us. I don't think they want to hear it from you..."
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...#ixzz2Kk0YM7ga
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