Alfred Dawes | Thomas Jennings or Paul Bogle?

Thomas Jennings was an American inventor, abolitionist and entrepreneur. He was born a free man in 1791 and became the first black patent holder in history. Jennings was a tailor by profession who later developed a dry-cleaning process called dry scouring. This was in essence the discovery of the process of dry cleaning. He used his fortune amassed from his invention and his job to support the abolitionist cause. Jennings is honoured in the United States as a pioneer and human rights activist and possibly in Jamaica by using his photograph to represent National Hero Paul Bogle.

It is bad enough that the drawing of Sam Sharpe bears very little resemblance to the historical description of the young man who led the Christmas Rebellion of 1831-1832. The drawing of a middle-aged man does not match the description of a Sam Sharpe who was 28 years old when he died. We also have the added stress of having to argue with Americans over the true identity of the man figured on our two-dollar note. The evidence put forth to support the notion that the portrait is that of Bogle is flimsy. Research into its authenticity is non-existent even while Americans, such as Steve Harvey, educate their audience about Thomas Jennings, using the picture of ‘Paul Bogle’.

TOOK UP THE PLIGHT

Paul Bogle was a Baptist deacon who took up the plight of the poor blacks who were cast out of society by poor social spending, very little opportunities and oppressive laws. His leadership in what later became known as the Morant Bay Rebellion led to him being marked for death under the cruel retaliatory measures to quash the rebellion. The photograph in question was discovered by a member of the Jamaica Historical Society, W.G. Ogilvie. Supposedly, it was owned by one Reuben Ewen of Spring Garden, a village near Stony Gut from whence Bogle came. Ewen was told that the picture was that of Paul Bogle by his grandmother and grand-uncle, close relatives of Bogle.

Bogle was described in a newspaper article following the march on Morant Bay as: “A very black man, with a shiny skin, bearing heavy marks of smallpox on his face, and more especially on his nose. Teeth good, large mouth with red, thick lips; about five feet eight inches in height, broad across the shoulders, carries himself indolently and has no whiskers.” The testimony by Ewen that the picture was that of Bogle forms the basis on which we used the image to represent our national hero. In summary, man finds picture, tells historian that it is his restive the deacon, picture ends up on Jamaican money. To add to the mystery, the original photograph went missing from the Institute of Jamaica where it was deposited.

It doesn’t seem as if much work went into the verification process and to date nothing has officially been said of the controversy. The image has become attached to our sense of national pride and it is now difficult to address the notion that we were worshipping the wrong man all this time. To replace the image with that of an artist’s impression is to invite further controversy. Such was the case when Edna Manley used a descendant of Bogle to pose for her famous statue. The attacks on the statue became attacks on the whiteness of its creator. It did not look like the picture we held up to be the handsome, confident Baptist preacher. In 2009, Manley’s statue was removed from its location from in front of the Morant Bay Courthouse to be restored. Its return has been resisted by some who prefer that a new statue created in the likeness of ‘Thomas Jennings’ be mounted in its place.

ELDERLY MAN

Supporters of the Paul Bogle image say Jennings was an elderly man by the time the tin-type photograph used to capture the image was invented. The younger man seen in the photo matches Bogle who died at age 43. Not much is said of the source of the Jennings photo that has crept into mainstream American media. If the original photo was discovered in Jamaica, albeit lost in our archives, then the likelihood of it being Bogle is greater than the claim from the Jennings camp. Either way, Paul Bogle is far too important to our history for his legacy to be tainted by a squabble over what he looked like.

A better divider is to discuss the role of the Maroons in the Stony Gut genocide that resulted in the deaths of 3,000 people in the aftermath of the fiery protests.

The role of the Maroons as slave catchers and a militia that put down every slave revolt since the treaty of 1739 has been downplayed by apologists who state that cooperation with the masters was necessary for their survival. However, with the end of slavery in 1838, there was no need to honour a treaty intended to preserve their status as free blacks. The brutality of the Maroons in putting down the rebellion serves as a reminder that they considered themselves superior to the recently freed blacks which they hunted like animals.

The Stony Gut massacre has never been covered by our history texts because it never supported the narrative of solely white oppression and brutality without the cooperation of Maroons, free blacks and coloureds. In fact, the more one delves into our history, the more uncomfortable the truth becomes. We might as well keep that photograph, and bury the truth.

- Dr Alfred Dawes is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and CEO of Windsor Wellness Centre. Follow him on Twitter @dr_aldawes. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and alfred.dawes@gmail.com