Monthly Archives: December 2008

The Jamaican Society Scout Troop

Posted on December 31, 2008 by | 5 Comments

The infectious enthusiasm of the cub scouts.

Learning to work together in the cub scouts.

The infectious energy and enthusiasm of the Cub Scouts.

When my Scout chaperon and I finally arrived at the Jamaican Society Hall I couldn’t believe my eyes. Before me stood a group of boys much older than myself neatly grouped by aged. Before I was placed in the group to which I would be assigned I’d find out that I was the youngest child amongst all the troops since there were some baby boys there who were a little older than I was. Continue reading →

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Posted in Silver People of Panama, West Indian Panamanians

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His Soul Was Not Present

Posted on December 28, 2008 by | 3 Comments
This image of a Boy Scout Troupe in Trinidad,
circ 1929 represents the original organizations
of the Boy Scout Movement from the U.K. in
the West Indies.

Even as early as the age of six I had detected the emotional dissolution of my father, a man child directly descended from one of the first Silver Men, Joshua Austin Reid. It seemed to me that the man was reaching into his Soul to find the strength he once thought he had at such a time in his young life. He, I still think, had given his all, just as did all his Jamaican ancestors before him to the Yankee Dollar, and that, perhaps, was precisely what was ailing him. Continue reading →

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Posted in Silver People of Panama, West Indian Panamanians

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A God Given Task

Posted on December 23, 2008 by | 5 Comments




During this Christmas season, a time for reflection and thanksgiving, we fervently pray that we will see a real emotional outcry regarding the issue of our forefathers’ resting places. These historic sites are where our real cultural heritage lies. There they lie crumbling about to be disinterred and ignominiously vanished from the face of the earth never to be remembered for their glorious deeds. Continue reading →

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Posted in West Indian Panamanians

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The Making of Urban History

Posted on December 19, 2008 by | 4 Comments

Top and bottom images are of the Nance berry which is used to make a sweet, refreshing beverage, icecream and filling for baked goods. In the center is the stinkin toe fruitwhich comes from a tree that offers many remarkable remedies.

 

While the country was in a political uproar our neighbors down on Mariano Arosemena Street knew little about the issues of citizenship that was affecting their Westindian neighbors or of the Canal Zone, which was not too far away, and its labor problems. For most of the barrio youngsters the Olympic Stadium, just blocks away, had become the nearest getaway. Continue reading →

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Posted in West Indian Panamanians

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No Privacy But Lots of Kids

Posted on December 16, 2008 by | 2 Comments

Top: Our one-room on Mariano Arosemena Street
is the one with the white arrow pointing to it.
Bottom: 29-47 Mariano Arosemena Street,
a typical renter’s building in Calidonia of the
early years.

The neighborhood at old 29-47 Mariano Arosemena Street seemed to remain quiescent for a while, as we the smallest of the Westindian kids growing up as Spanish speaking children thought that things would remain idyllic just for our sakes. In fact, it would be so as we started to take our place amongst the herd of kids who were not yet school aged and who stayed at home all day in the neighborhood. Continue reading →

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Posted in Calidonia, West Indian Panamanians

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No One Spoke to Us

Posted on December 13, 2008 by | 4 Comments

The Panama Tribune masthead.

For me becoming literate would come during those times of feeling really isolated as a child, as I have mentioned in previous posts. It was also during these moments in my life that I’d lie in bed in the early mornings intently listening to the neighbors’ boys, all Panamanian Westindian, above our little room on Mariano Arosemena Street leave for their Canal Zone Silver School wishing I were one of them. We had known this particular family since arriving in Panama from the home of our grandparents in the City of Colon after the fire of 1940 which destroyed most of the Atlantic coast city. Continue reading →

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Posted in Panama Tribune, West Indian Panamanians

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