Britain, take note. A post-Elizabethan era is taking shape here in Jamaica. And it looks like a republic. “The government will be moving with haste and alacrity towards transforming Jamaica into a republic,” said our prime minister, Andrew Holness, on Monday. “Please move ahead with speed,” he urged his minister of constitutional affairs. If there are obstacles, the government will do whatever it takes.
But then, the signs have long been there. Little or no notice was taken in Jamaica of the Queen’s jubilee last year. There was no bunting, no official party at King’s House. The main celebration was a big party celebrating a different jubilee – the 50th anniversary of The Harder They Come, the Jamaican feature film that introduced reggae and Rastafari culture to the world. But our most notable celebrations in 2022 honoured the year in which Jamaica also celebrated 60 years of independence from British colonial rule, with many activities, memorials and galas honouring that national history.
The visit to Jamaica by Prince William and his wife, Kate, last March was designed to generate a swell of pride in the Caribbean’s ties to the “mother country” and the Queen’s rule over the colonies of the British empire. Instead, it merely highlighted Jamaica’s longstanding call for slavery reparations, and reawakened calls to end Jamaica’s history as a British colony ruled by the Queen.
Anti-jubilee anger was also apparent in Belize – the first stop on the royal tour – when indigenous citizens also told William “not on our land”, protesting against the “colonial legacy of theft” when he planned to land his helicopter on a football field in their community. That same month, Belize had hosted a meeting of heads of government of Caricom, the political and economic union of 15 Caribbean member states; and after the royal visit, ministers signalled their intention to remove the Queen as head of state.
The reparations fire became a volcano in November 2021, when Barbados became a republic. Barbados! The “small island” we in Jamaica referred to with a sneer as “Little England” took the big step ahead of us. To rub it in, the prime minister of Barbardos, Mia Mottley, declared her country’s music superstar Rihanna a national hero, thumbing her nose at Jamaica, which has yet to truly honour its even greater superstar Bob Marley. The then Prince Charles stood solemnly as the union jack was lowered.
That did it for Jamaica. If Barbados could do it, so could we! Removing the Queen as head of state immediately became Jamaica’s most popular topic of discussion. This was not about her colour and race (though neither is immaterial): it was about her role as inheritor and keeper of Britain’s history of slavery and colonialism, the fundamental and continuing reason for Jamaica’s poverty and its associated ills.
Monarchists will oppose any effort to cut ties, but they contend with a social media debate suggesting an overwhelming majority of Jamaicans have been angered by the treatment of Prince Harry and Meghan. Meghan is biracial, like so many of us, and that anger cannot help but speed the decisions of many colonial nations to step away from having a British monarch as head of state.
For 70 long years, God saved gracious Queen Elizabeth to reign over us, happy and glorious. But the familiar words don’t fall from our lips as easily for Charles. The prospect of him and his former mistress Camilla being crowned king and queen of Jamaica is not relished by many, while Harry’s book, Spare, opens a window on the dysfunctional nature of a monarchy ruled by the “men in suits” who set the agenda and make the decisions. The view is not pretty.
The Jamaican government has created a new ministry with a specific mandate to lead Jamaica along the steps to becoming a republic – and promises that it can be accomplished within a year. When the monarch is replaced as head of state, it looks likely from current discussions that a president will be appointed by the prime minister in consultation with the leader of the opposition and confirmed by a two-thirds majority of both houses of parliament, with a term of office of six years, and limited to two terms. Much needs to be done, but now there’s “haste and alacrity”: Jamaica is ready to build a future of its own.
Barbara Blake-Hannah is an anti-racism activist and a former TV broadcaster in Britain
