Jamaican Independence Day Must Include Black Women and Trans and Non-Binary Folks

The Blue Mountains of Jamaica are the longest mountain range in the country, standing at an insurmountable 7,402 feet and stretching across the island for over 30 miles. The mountain terrain boasts a steep incline that once provided sanctuary to Black people fleeing slavery, recapture, and colonialism. It is home to beautiful fauna and cascading waterfalls, expensive coffee farmed by working-class Jamaicans, and the legacy of a woman who led hundreds of enslaved Africans to freedom within its jungles. 

As Jamaica celebrates 59 years of independence from British colonial rule, I am compelled to revisit the legacy of Black women on the frontlines of revolution, specifically the only woman to be honored as one of Jamaica’s seven National Heroes: Nanny of the Maroons. A formerly enslaved woman believed to be stolen from the Ashante people of Ghana, she escaped from slavery to the Blue Mountains where she and other freed Black people settled into what’s known as a Maroon society. There, they relied on farming and agriculture to survive, finding protection from the British army deep within the hard-to-navigate topography of their new homes. As leader of the Maroons, Nanny made several trips back and forth to plantations to free hundreds of slaves, trained her people in the art of guerrilla warfare, and led a years-long rebellion against the British army. 

Nanny’s story is deeply embedded into the fabric of Jamaican history because it represents to Jamaicans what Harriet Tubman represents to Black Americans, what Queen Mother Yaa Asantewaa represents to Ghanaians: the history of rebellion and defense led by Black women in Africa and across the entire diaspora. That these names are so lonely in their representation is an indication of areas where we still need to grow as a movement today. Queen Nanny also embodies Black feminisms and what it means to lead, navigate and center freedom. From leading tactical strategies to performing rituals, she was willing to risk death for freedom. When I think of this intersection, I feel like my queer and trans siblings are having to embody that same resistance to merely survive each day. Homophobia and transmisogynoir are as much a legacy of our colonial past as racism and the enslavement of Africans brought to work and cultivate the land throughout our beloved country.

What does Independence Day mean to Jamaican women, trans and non-binary people? When we honor the legacy of rebellion and resistance on our island, shouldn’t all of us be able to join in on the celebration of freedom, unity, and joy? Yet, communities like TransWave Jamaica that live on the margins of the marginalized are still experiencing extreme barriers to doing their work as freedom fighters. TransWave is the only transgender-led organization in Jamaica working to promote the inclusion and protection of the transgender and gender non-conforming community. They face barriers like lack of funding and the threat of violence from both community members and police. Why are trans, queer & gender expansive Jamaicans having to live in gullies? Why are their families having to prepare for the possibility of them not coming home after work because of violent attacks and constant threats? How is this possible in a country that reveres the radical Black feminist work of Queen Nanny? 

Women and gender expansive people have always been at the forefront of radical movements, whether they’ve been acknowledged or invisibilized. Queen Nanny and organizations like Transwave exist at so many of the same intersections, and through resistance, confront the state and patriarchal violence head on. As we celebrate our country’s independence, we must lift up and protect the Black feminist legacy of Jamaica and support our transgender siblings. I’m so honored  to partner with The South in honor of Queen Nanny’s legacy to support the work of TransWave Jamaica with a $3,000 donation. 

As leaders in our communities, it is our responsibility to take the legacy of women like Nanny beyond faces on our currency and names in our history books. We must fight for and protect Black trans women and queer and non-binary people, and ensure to center them in our politics, decisions and values.