'A foo fa pikni dem ya?'

Carolyn Cooper, Contributor

Mi heart full. So mi no have no space fi 'prapa-prapa' spelling dis ya week. A pure 'chaka-chaka'. First to begin wid, mi ha fi seh sorry to all a unu weh a practice fi read an write Jamaican proper.

 Mi know unu a go miss unu lesson dis month. Mi a beg unu bear wid mi. A no GSAT. It can wait. Next month, if life spare, mi wi gi unu back di two spelling. So hear wa mi ha fi seh now.

One a mi fren gi mi one good joke. Bout 1998, im deh a Osaka inna Japan a get ready fi one reggae show. Im dida manage one a wi big artist. Im deh a di venue an some lickle pikni a run up an down pon di stage. Im a try run dem off - inna English - an dem naa pay im bad mind. One Japanese Rasta elder see wa a gwaan an im come pon di stage an demands fi know, "A foo fa pikni dem ya?" Same time one Rasta queen come pon di stage an claims her pikni dem.

Yu have some board-head people weh can't understand seh fi wi Jamaica language gone to di world. Dem so shame a di 'bad-breed' talkin, dem cork dem ears. Dem no waan hear nutten bout how Japanese Rasta weh no chat no English a hug up fi wi language. Unu see seh di Japanese elder never even use Japanese fi ask fi di pikni dem owner. A fi wi language. Same like how one time Latin a di language dem use inna Catholic church service, a same so Jamaican a di root language fi Rastafari livity. Wid 'dread talk' pon top a it.

'MORAL DECAY'

Anyhow, hear di piece a ignorance 'bravi120' post pon Gleaner website last week: "Since when has patois become a Jamaican language? why (sic) didn't you write the above article in patois? You can communicate in the universal language anywhere but you would like your own Jamaicans to be locked down in their Country (sic) because they cannot communicate with the rest of the world. You embody moral decay in the society under the guise of culture." Yu see dem 'sic'? Dat a Latin. It mean seh a same so di smaddy write it. An mi naa fix it up.

Anybody ever hear mi seh Jamaica people suppose fi talk so-so Jamaican? Wa mek 'bravil20' a bear false witness gainst mi? A dat a 'moral decay' fi true! Mi write four column, sometime five, fi di month. An a ongle one degeh-degeh one inna Jamaican. An still for all, some people a gwaan like seh mi a diss English. Mi teach English language an literature. Dat a mi bread an butter. Mi love fi write inna English. But mi naa dash weh mi heart language. Dat no hard fi understand.

Inna 2004, mi gi one lecture when mi did promote to professor up a University a di West Indies, Mona. Mi call it, 'Professing Slackness: Language, Authority and Power Within the Academy and Without'. An mi talk inna Jamaican fi most a di lecture. CTV broadcast di lecture fi a good lickle while dis year. Mi go a Bookophilia fi hear Agoni Barrett read im story dem, an a nice lady tell mi seh she always tink a foolishness mi a chat bout dis patwa business. After she listen di lecture, she get fi understand wa mi a seh, an she agree wid me. The Jamaican Language Unit up a UWI a go put up di lecture pon YouTube fi who waan listen weh mi a seh.

An when mi go a foreign fi lecture, mi no leave out mi Jamaica language. No, sah! All mi do, mi translate it inna English. Last week Thursday, mi deh a University a Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras, a gi di keynote lecture fi one conference weh di English Department put on. See di title a mi lecture ya: 'Mek Wi Talk Bout De Bottom A De Sea': Submerged Narratives in Caribbean Literature and Popular Culture'. Di first part a di title come from one a Mutabaruka poem.

GLOBAL REGGAE

Friday gone, mi gi one next lecture at di conference bout di 'Global Reggae' book weh mi edit. Di said same talk mi gi inna Mexico. Diffran set a people. Pon Tuesday, mi get one nice-nice email from David Katz, one music journalist weh write three book bout reggae an nuff-nuff article. Im send di review im write bout 'Global Reggae' weh just come out inna Caribbean Airlines magazine.

See one piece a it ya: "This timely compendium explores the myriad ways reggae has impacted the world, teasing out the complex and often contradictory manner in which other cultures have engaged with the music ... . Highlights include Erna Brodber's exploration of reggae's impact at home during the 1960s, Amon Saba Saakana on reggae in Britain, Samuel Fure Davis on Cuban reggae, and Teddy Isimat on French-Caribbean dancehall. There are also chapters examining reggae's impact in Europe, Oceania, Japan, and Africa, making the book required reading."

Reggae and dancehall music tek Jamaica culture all over di world. Member weh Shabba Ranks seh: A di music mek im "fly off Jamaica map". An di language fly out wid di artist dem. Plenty yute who never reach far inna school get a chance fi get education pon tour a foreign. All who never pass geography a high school a fly up an down an a learn bout di country dem inna dem school book. Dem deh pon stage all bout. A foo fa pikni dem ya? Dem a fi wi. An wi better claims dem. Good, bad an indifferent.

Carolyn Cooper is professor of literary and cultural studies at the University of the West Indies, Mona. Visit her bilingual blog at http://carolynjoycooper.wordpress.com. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and karokupa@gmail.com.