JAMAICA, INNOCENT

Published June 30, 2012 | By

JAMAICA INNOCENT!

Jamaica Land of Beauty

Words by A.L. Hendricks/Music by Lloyd Hall

Jamaica land of beauty,
We promise faithfully
To serve thee with our talents
And bring our gifts to thee.
Jamaica we will always
In honour of thy name,
Work steadfastly and wisely
And never bring thee shame.

From riverside to mountain
From cane field to the sea,
Our hearts salute Jamaica,
Triumphant, proud and free.

Together in our country,
In love and brotherhood.
We’ll work and play in freedom,
As all God’s children should,
With hearts and hands united
In thanks for everything,
That God has given unto us,
Together let us sing,

From riverside to mountain
From cane field to the sea,
Our hearts salute Jamaica,
Triumphant, proud and free.

In the early eighties while America was grappling with the Aids epidemic, Jamaica was put on the alert for this debilitating disease. Before, we were on the lookout for the ‘’Blackheart man’’. The Blackheart man was the name given to a serial rapist who would pounce on women and children at any given time. A faceless man who made families who had to use outside bathrooms, equip each room they were living in with what we now call a bedpan , but was called chimmey back then. It is now after being much older that I have realized what a blackheart man was, the word rape was never mentioned but then again the word sex was never part of our audible vocabulary.

When the Aids epidemic first took flight it was said in America that it was a gay disease, in Jamaica we heard the same. These men were called queers. People who wanted to know about this killer disease also wanted to know who these men were. They were told that these were men who had sex with other men in their buttocks (bottom). The name ‘’Battyman’’ made its name into our vocabulary. This was around the middle of the 1980ties, when we had more than two aids cases on record . Many Jamaicans did not know how to recognize these men as culturally we were ignorant to their existence , Aids was what it took to bring awareness to this type of sexuality. The very few individuals with knowledge of batteymen, were plagued with questions as to how they were readily recognized. They were told that these men wore earrings in their right ear.

Many pastors began preaching about these men and that Aids was a curse sent from God because it was forbidden for men to have sex with men as per the bible the bible.

“‘Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable.

“Do not practice homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman. It is a detestable sin.

You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.

‘You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.

King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)

Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.

Never have sexual intercourse with a man as with a woman. It is disgusting.

You shall not lie with a man, as with a woman: it is abomination.

American King James Version

You shall not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.

American Standard Version

Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.

Douay-Rheims Bible

Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind, because it is an abomination.

Darby Bible Translation

And thou shalt not lie with mankind as one lieth with a woman: it is an abomination.

English Revised Version

Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.

Webster’s Bible Translation

Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.

World English Bible

“‘You shall not lie with a man, as with a woman. That is detestable.

Young’s Literal Translation

And with a male thou dost not lie as one lieth with a woman; abomination it is.

LEVITICUS 20:13

“‘If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.

“If a man practices homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman, both men have committed a detestable act. They must both be put to death, for they are guilty of a capital offense.

If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.

If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them.

King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)

If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

When a man has sexual intercourse with another man as with a woman, both men are doing something disgusting and must be put to death. They deserve to die.

If a man also lies with a man, as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

American King James Version

If a man also lie with mankind, as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be on them.

American Standard Version

And if a man lie with mankind, as with womankind, both of them have committed abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

Douay-Rheims Bible

If any one lie with a man se with a woman, both have committed an abomination, let them be put to death: their blood be upon them.

Darby Bible Translation

And if a man lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall certainly be put to death; their blood is upon them.

English Revised Version

And if a man lie with mankind, as with womankind, both of them have committed abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

Webster’s Bible Translation

If a man also shall lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

World English Bible

“‘If a man lies with a male, as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

Young’s Literal Translation

And a man who lieth with a male as one lieth with a woman; abomination both of them have done; they are certainly put to death; their blood is on them.

These verses were the ones we heard the most.

Aids was scary, people who hardly drank from straws were using them earnestly. We were also told not to touch or hug someone with Aids. It took quite a bit of education and years of public campaigning for people to have more knowledge of Aids and that it took more than a hug to cause infection, and what you could do to prevent it. Even in hospitals, Aids victims were scorned and abhorred. It is still year 2012 and the stigma of Aids still exists in Jamaica.

Dancehall music is a by-product of Reggae which is product of Ska which evolved from rhythm and blues. Reggae, was poor people’s music, our everyday lamentations put into song. With the first Aids death in America, around 1981, 1982 brought Jamaica its own reality, as we were introduced to Aids. And although the number of Aids cases were pretty low, word of the ‘’battyman disease’’ spread like wild fire. 1988 brought the wicked and wild hurricane Gilbert along with STING, a now annual Reggae and Dancehall showcase. Jamaican artists began to sing about gay men, who were first thought to be the cause of the deadly disease that had the nation paranoid. The more HIV grew, the more they sang about these men. To date, almost 33 out of every 100 Jamaican homosexuals are infected with HIV. In my opinion this is where the disdain and scorn of gay men started from.

Where we had ‘’Blackheart men’’ we did not have ‘’Blackheart women’’, women were always the ‘’safer sex’’ as many played the role of mother and father. Rape was only thought to be carried out by men and in many communities this was punishable by death. Many young women were not given the psychological counseling and treatment that many rape victims would need . To date the facilities are still inadequate. With the rapid growth of dancehall, and the exposure of the music, sex became a staple of its lyrics. Jamaicans who were once very private about sex, felt the freedom to speak about it and show sexual moves in dances. (Very early 90ties)

Source Christopher Coke’s transcript Page 40 Line 6, Page 47 Line 13, Page 103 Line 13, Page 124 Line 16.

Before this period, we were in what I would like to call ‘’The period of our innocence’’. Television was on only for a few hours in the day and more than 80% of Jamaicans had no telephones. Letters were written in order to keep in touch. Kingstonians with family abroad flocked to Jamin-tel in order to telephone their relatives abroad. Jamaicans had no choice but to spend their times cleaning their homes , socialize with their neighbors and if you had to travel out of your area, it was advised to be home before the street lights came on, if there were any on your street. Children were afforded one or two pieces of small toys per year , which were played with every day. Wear and tear were hardly shown on clothes, toys furniture etc., the little that was acquired , were kept in sparkling condition. Because of this, many Jamaicans were unaware of lesbians who thrived in their communities.

Looking back there were many women who lived together as couples unbeknownst to members of their communities. ‘’Butch’’ lesbians thrived because many of them were looked upon as just women who loved to wear their hair bald. The word sodomites was popular but it was a word used to curse out your enemy , people were innocent to its meaning and existence. Today, Jamaicans are more accepting of lesbians, because many already regarded them as normal people, because they were always around and they were not at fault for the deadly epidemic.

Sex in the lyrics , brought sex to the table . Jamaicans were introduced to what was called back then a VCR. Sex was interesting to talk about, many wanted to see more of it. They started off with what they called ‘’lemon popsicles’’ and eventually graduated to ‘’blue movies’’. These movies are what gradually opened the eyes of many a Jamaican as to what oral sex was, anal sex and even bestiality was. Oral sex which was done by both male and female in these movies was abhorred. The reason is that many Jamaican males proved their masculinity (to themselves) by being somewhat emotionally disconnected from a woman’s vagina. To touch or even wash a woman’s panty back then was taboo. Men who did it would not admit it to their friends or allowed themselves to be seen, removing it from the line after being washed.

Oral sex looked pleasurable on tape, many tried it but would not admit it. More importantly, many now knew what ‘’sodomites’’ did. It was then the disdain made it into the music. It emasculated the self-proclaimed , Jamaican alpha-male and became a part of society’s lamentation. The tendency to speak negatively of homosexuality and oral sex became the latest fad. Lesbians were essentially left alone because they were always there and did not pose a threat to emasculating the Jamaican alpha-male.

Demeaning or feminine actions by males were abhorred , maybe because the Jamaican female held herself more responsible for the wrongs committed by males and idolized them. It was and is acceptable for a man to father more than one child without taking responsibility. The ability to impregnate proved he was a ‘’real man’’. The Jamaican male juggling females made him ‘’king of his harem’’, the more women a man would have, the more women would want to be with that man. He was the ultimate alpha-male and anything less than that made him a sissy, but after the realization of Aids. It made him a batteyman.

PART II TOMORROW

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JAMAICA, INNOCENT

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