Cultural and Literary links between Panama and Jamaica and their presence in the “ Anthology of Poetry from Colón 1900- 2012” Lecture by Dr. Luis Wong Vega, Panamanian poet (from Colón) University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Kingston, Jamaica October 25th, 2012.
Panamá is physically located in Central America, between Costa Rica and Colombia, although historically and culturally, Panamá has always been closer to the Caribbean and South America.
Panama is a multicultural country with distinct communities, each with a historical role in the country's development.
The culture and traditions of Panama's indigenous people, Colonial African slaves and Spanish settlers and the immigrants that helped to build the isthmian railroad first and the canal after (Chinese, West Indians, Europeans) co-exist within each region of Panama.
Panamá is the gathering point for different cultures and ethniae. It has been and it still is an actual and fluid racial melting pot, with around 3.3 million inhabitants.
Of these, about 10% have declared themselves to be Afrodescendats (2010 Census), most likely an underestimated figure. Our of that percentage, more than a half are of West Indian ancestry.
Afrodescendants came to Panama in three main waves: the first one, during the Spanish colonization of the Isthmus (from 1502 to 1821) due to slavery.
The second one, along the 1800’s ( early and late), as work force for the banana and sugar plantations. This human mass was integrated by West Indians (mostly by Jamaicans and Barbadians)
• The third (and the larger one), during the construction of the Panamanian railroad (mid 1850’s) and, mostly, during the construction of the Panama Canal (1903-1914).
Cultural influence of Jamaica in Panama
Many West Indians and their descendants remained after completion of the Canal as workers in the Canal Zone. Many stayed in the country and added their culture to that of Panama while others returned to the islands or emigrated to the United States.
During the construction of the Panama Canal, West Indians created their own institutions in the Canal Zone from community associations to businesses, publishing houses, and schools in addition to the public school provided by the Canal authorities.
West Indian schools were renowned in the area and better than the Zone operated public schools. So much so that many local Panamanian pupils paid to attend them.
Jamaican National Hero Marcus Garvey lived and worked in Panama for a newspaper in Colón and later played a part in helping the labor organization in the area via the United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) in the late 1910s and 1920s.
Examples of Jamaican presence in Panama’s culture are many, but one of the most notorious is the impact of the Jamaican Creole language on both the Spanish and the English languages spoken in the Caribbean part of Panama, up to date.
The shift from homogeneity to variety in the study of language has contributed to the development of sociolinguistics. This shift has also fomented the ranks of specialists in Creóle languages, a confirmed province of this science… Of these, the Jamaican dialect extended to Panamá has been a poor relation, despite its vigorous presence and special characteristics: it has thrived on the Isthmus of Panamá since 1820 where, over the years, fresh waves of West Indian native speakers have contributed to give rise to Isthmian dialects. These offshoots of Jamaican Creóle have been in close contact with other Caribbean Creóles (whether English- or French-based); with Spanish, the dominant and official language, and with American English. Scientific interest in Panamanian Creóle English has dawned late and there is still much to be done. The English Creóle Spoken in Panamá, by Martin Jamieson. Revista Alicantina de Estudios Ingleses 6 (1993): 219-221
West Indian cuisine is very present in the cities of Colón, Bocas and Panamá. Much of this cuisine is Jamaican and, in a lesser degree, Barbadian and Trinidadian.
Religion in the Panamanian Caribbean coast has strong presence of the religions brought by West Indians (i.e. The Anglican faith). And specifically from Jamaica, Panamá has had the permanent presence of the Rastafarian religion.
Panamanian Caribbean popular music is very much West Indian. Both Calypso and Reggae music have strong followers in Panamá. Spanish Reggaeton (or Reggae in Spanish) was born in Colón, Panama.
Poetry is another area where we can find the presence of Jamaica in Panamá (and viceversa), especially in my hometown, Colón. We can find several examples in our book, the “ Anthology of Colonense Poetry 1900- 2012”.
Colón and our Anthology
Colón is a province of Panama, in the Caribbean side of the country. The capital is the city of Colón. This province has traditionally been focused in commerce (through the Colón Free Zone, Panama Canal and its banking activities), but also has natural resources that are being developed as tourist attraction, such as coral reefs and rainforests.
Most of the black population in Panama is centered in the Province of Colón.
We are a group of poets from Colón, named “ Contemporary Colonense Poetry ”. We have been active for more than 30 years and the members of our group have published about 20 poetry books, booklets, pamphlets, etc. We even have some of our books listed in the Library of Congress collection.
Our website has had almost one million hits so far. Our web address is: http://poesiacolonensecontemporanea.webnode.es
This book has been prepared by three colonense poets: Luis Wong Vega, Orlando Segura Johnson and Winston Churchill James Jordan. Mr. James is a West Indian descendant. Mr. Segura is of Afro-colonial background.
This book has been published by the Universidad Católica Santa María La Antigua (USMA, the Catholic University of Panamá), trough its publishing house, the Editorial La Antigua, directed by Prof. Ariel Barría.
After almost a year of research, analyses and editing, the product of this effort is a book that contains works of 43 colonense poets, more than150 poems, with most poems in Spanish but also five poets writing in English.
Technical fiche…
List of Poets selected …
Out of the 43 in total, 7 are Spanish teachers, 2 English teachers and 1 a French language teacher. These poets come from very different professional backgrounds: we have a Jesuit priest, a Ship’s Captain, Biologists, Sociologists, Mathematicians, Nurses, Lawyers, Accountants, Engineers, Painters, Actors and so on … Only 5 of them could be considered as professional writers.
11 out of 43 are women. Most of them are over 40 y/o. 11 have passed away. Only 11 out of the 32 alive, still live in Colón permanently. 6 live abroad. 16 out of 43 consider themselves as Afrodescendants (Blacks).
The first documented poets who lived and wrote poetry in Colón, were all foreigners: - Tracy Robinson, an american who arrived to the city in 1861, to work in the construction of the railroad; - Antonio Olivo Pino, colombian, who arrived by mid 1880’s and - James Stanley Gilbert, american, who arrived to Colón by mid 1890’s y died in the city in 1906.
Tracy Robinson published what we belive was the first poetry book ever written in Colón: “ Songs of the Palm and other tropical poems …”, published by The Star & Herald Company in 1866.. The photo shows a copy of this book, preserved at the library of the University of California at Irvine.
Antonio Olivo Pino authored what we believe was the first poetry book published in Spanish in Colón: “La Musa Colombiana” ( the Colombian Muse). Was printed at the “El Istmo” printing house, in Colón, in 1888. We show here a photo of this book, from the Biblioteca Nacional de Colombia.
In 1905, The Star & Herald Company published in Colón the first edition of the book by James Stanley Gilbert: “Panama’s Patchwork ”. Gilbert was a full time poet, who held regular literary meetings in his residence (Gilbert House). Here’s a photo of this book, furnished by the library of Princeton University.
Afro-Panamanian and Colonense poets of Afro-colonial descent …
The first black colonense poet listed in this book was Mr. José María Vásquez, a self- thaugt poet, born in 1900. He wrote two books, both in Spanish.
Father Luis Carlos Toro, S.J. lives in El Salvador. His poetry is centered on social justice issues since he was a member of the Theology of Liberation movement. He writes in Spanish.
Ubaldo del Cid is a Spanish language teacher. He wirtes short stories, drama plays and he is a song writer. He has published two poetry books, both in Spanish.
Emérito Rodríguez Ayarza is a Geological Engineer, who studied in the former Soviet Union. He has written about six poetry books, in Spanish.
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