Maroon Magazine 2018_266

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June 2018 Charles Town Maroon International Conference Magazine many religions that significantly came into being after people all across Africa were already engaging with, and worshiping, the Divine. Furthermore, there is no evidence that these altars and sacrifices had anything to do with ‘criminals’? They could just as well be used by ordinary people in that community. After all, Obeah is practiced not only in remote and impoverished communities, it is also practiced in middle-class society. Many Caribbean people of all backgrounds visit Obeah-men—to be protected by their blessings, beads, necklaces, and other good luck charms. Politicians discreetly visit them during their political campaigns; business people and other professionals, some of whom are Christians, seek their spiritual baths for protection. Finally, it is the case that the idea of our Afrikan Spiritual practices being evil, was savagely beaten into the bodies and minds of our Ancestors, in order to get them to convert to Christianity and abandon their original African Spiritual practices. We need to stop perpetuating these attacks and respect the ways of our Ancestors whose resilience and refusal to die, whose deep spiritual understandings resulted in us being here today. Debon Panton is a Management and IT Consultant, music producer, independent musician, traditional Yoruba Spiritualist and Nature lover. He is currently undertaking post-grad studies in the Faculty of Humanities and Education UWI Mona in their Cultural Studies program. Debon serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the Jamaica Association of Composers, Authors and Publishers (JACAP). Works Cited “Eucharist.” Wikipedia, 9 Mar. 2018. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eucharist &oldid=829520783. IQRAA International :: The Ritual Sacrifice of Eid Al-Adha. http://iqraa.com/en/news/1567/The-ritualsacrifice-of-Eid-alAdha. Accessed 8 Mar. 2018. The Kaparot Ceremony - High Holidays. https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/9895 85/jewish/Kaparot.htm. Accessed 8 Mar. 2018. 57
Charles Town Maroon International Conference Magazine June 2018 In traditional Jamaica many people from the rural communities throughout the island and particularly in the Maroon Villages, grew up owning and occupying “ A bench” There were always a long bench upon which all the older siblings would sit in age arrangement, starting with the eldest to the child next to the smallest. The smallest child within the family would now sit by him/herself on the smallest bench, which is an inheritance from the very first child, this bench serves all the children in the home, and is passed on to the youngest child in the family. The Bench: a Jamaican tradition “Bench” made from saw tree (wood) such as cedar or gungo, it has two legs ( shape like a cloven ) two strip of wood on each side for support and a small plank with a flat surface on top for sitting. Roughly prepared but get very smooth after a few months and years of frequent usages. Most time the “ Bench” is the oldest furniture in the home as it is sometime inherited from Parents and grandparents, especially mothers and grandmothers, as the bench they sat on as a child. The “bench” is a symbolic seat of discipline, order, restoration of order, justice and workmanship, it is also the equivalent of African Stool or Throne and the protocol that goes with it, Within modern law and order, the Justice System consider the bench an office and dignity of a judge, a place where the judges sit in court, individually and collectively, it is the place or object of justice. In observing modern day Jamaica I recognized that like many more of our traditional values, and/or symbols of Gaama Mama G values, primarily family values has been lost, replaced or is going, not slowly anymore but rapidly. One of these is the “bench”, replaced with the now plastic chairs from oriental countries. This new seating is only temporary and so is its philosophy, which we can easily identified as “ quick cash”, as their only interest in providing this “seating service”. As Maroon Women we can now restore the “ bench” to its original status, in a time when discipline, law, order and justice is required perhaps more than ever. We can use this to help in restoring order and discipline. As a Sovereign Nation, “the bench “ will direct us towards our own court of justice within our communities, somewhere where the women will able to perform their roles and responsibilities that are universal. Back in those days our parents, our mother would put our bench near to her bench as she performed her daily duties, she would teach us domestic chores such as washing clothes while sitting on the bench, our mother would take one look at us and we would resort to our bench immediately if we ever step out of line. Sometime they would lift you from where you wander to and place you firmly back on the bench. Maroon women will facilitate participatory\experiential workshops based on “The Bench” Principles, Philosophy and Protocol through discussions, reasonings/conversations, skill training, subjects such as peace keeping, peace-making and peace building. As Sovereign Taino and African peoples we have to acknowledge and preserve our ancestors legacy that they pass on to us, however insignificant it may seem, they are the pinnacle of the highest protocol 58
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