Portal:Jamaica

An illustration of pre-1692 Port Royal

Port Royal (Jamaican Patois: Puot Rayal) was a town located at the end of the Palisadoes, at the mouth of Kingston Harbour, in southeastern Jamaica. Founded in 1494 by the Spanish, it was once the largest and most prosperous city in the Caribbean, functioning as the centre of shipping and commerce in the Caribbean Sea by the latter half of the 17th century. It was destroyed by an earthquake on 7 June 1692 and its accompanying tsunami, leading to the establishment of Kingston, the capital and the most populated and prosperous city in Jamaica. Severe hurricanes have regularly damaged the area. Another severe earthquake occurred in 1907.

Port Royal became home port to English and Dutch government sponsored privateers who were encouraged to attack Spanish vessels, at a time when many European nations were reluctant to attack the powerful Spanish fleet directly. As a port city, it was notorious for its gaudy displays of wealth and loose morals, with the privateer crews spending their treasure in the many taverns, gambling houses and brothels which catered for the sailors. When the British and Dutch governments officially abandoned the practice of issuing letters of marque to privateers against the Spanish treasure fleets and possessions in South America in the later 16th century, many of the crews turned pirate to allow themselves to maintain their plundering illegally. Port Royal effectively became a pirate republic, and they continued to use the city as their main base during the 17th century. Pirates from around the world congregated at Port Royal, coming from waters as far away as Madagascar. The town became notorious in folklore as 'the wickedest city on Earth'. (Full article...)

• ... that footballer Kameron Simmonds, who plays for Jamaica, only took up the sport after a gymnastics injury?
• ... that Swedish naval officer Axel Lagerbielke was imprisoned in Lima for over a year, held in Callao and eventually escaped from Panama on an English packet boat to Jamaica?
• ... that Jamaican-Welsh noblewoman Justina Jeffreys was the inspiration for the character of Anthelia in the 1817 novel Melincourt?
• ... that Gloria Cameron was the first native Jamaican in the UK to appear on the British television programme This Is Your Life?
• ... that Antoinette Tidjani Alou wrote a work of autofiction that traces the journey of a Jamaican woman who moved to Niger for love?

Cliff performing in 2012

James Chambers, OM (born 30 July 1944), known professionally as Jimmy Cliff, is a Jamaican ska, rocksteady, reggae and soul musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer, and actor. He is the only living reggae musician to hold the Order of Merit, the highest honour that can be granted by the Jamaican government for achievements in the arts and sciences.

Cliff is best known among mainstream audiences for songs such as "Many Rivers to Cross", "You Can Get It If You Really Want", "The Harder They Come", "Reggae Night", and "Hakuna Matata", and his covers of Cat Stevens's "Wild World" and Johnny Nash's "I Can See Clearly Now" from the film Cool Runnings. He starred in the film The Harder They Come, which helped popularize reggae around the world, and Club Paradise. Cliff was one of five performers inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010. (Full article...)

Brian Williamson (4 September 1945 – 9 June 2004) was a Jamaican gay rights activist who co-founded the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays (J-FLAG). He was known for being one of the earliest openly gay men in Jamaican society and one of its best known gay rights activists.

Born to an upper-middle-class family in Saint Ann Parish, Williamson initially considered a life in the Roman Catholic clergy before deciding to devote himself to the cause of gay rights in Jamaica. In the 1990s, he purchased an apartment building in the New Kingston area of Kingston, in which he established a gay nightclub, which remained open for two years despite opposition from police. In 1998, he co-founded J-FLAG with other lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights activists, soon becoming the public face of the organisation. As J-FLAG's representative, he argued in favour of LGBT rights during appearances on Jamaican television and radio programs. This attracted great hostility within Jamaica – a country with particularly high rates of anti-gay prejudice – with J-FLAG members receiving death threats and Williamson surviving a knife attack. For a time he left Jamaica, living in Canada and England for several years, before returning to Kingston in 2002. (Full article...)

Bulla cakes in Jamaica

Bulla cake, usually referred to as bulla, is a rich Jamaican cake made with molasses, brown sugar and spiced with ginger and nutmeg. It is eaten as a snack. (Full article...)

• ...that Jamaican artist Carl Abrahams served in the Royal Air Force in England before becoming a painter of religious subjects.