Leone Ross: What does it mean to me? Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.
Posted by ZoeWare - 07/08/09 at 05:08 pmRead Jamaican novelist Leone Ross’s article about how little the Commonwealth means to her.
The Guardian, Friday 19 July 2002
When I was asked to write this article, I rang up friends and family and did a quick vox pop: “What did it mean to you to grow up in the Commonwealth?” There were lots of silences. Then: “The Commonwealth? You mean Jamaica/Australia/Barbados/Kenya/India/Canada?” The question seemed bizarre to all of us. I dug further: “No, the Commonwealth. What does that mean to you?” The words flooded back: archaic, meaningless, colonialism, imperialism. And repeatedly: “What does it mean to me? Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.” I suspect it means very little to a lot of English people as well. . .
But let me provide a definition of my own. A footprint from the past. Yep, that’s right. A footprint in the sand of the island that nurtured me, that taught me who I was and who I always will be. One thing that all members of the Commonwealth have in common is that they all have a particular link with Britain’s imperial past – as trust territories, protectorates and colonies. In short, we once belonged to somebody. Perhaps that is why we don’t try to remember, and why we feel nothing. . .
The fact that many, many residents of the Commonwealth feel no connection with this “strong but elastic link” to an imperial past is, I dare say, not particularly surprising. . .
Click here to read the rest of Leone Ross’s?article on The Guardian website.
And then let us know what you think below?. . .
Category : Historical Legacy, My Commonwealth, homepage items
Tags: colonial, Empire, England, Jamaica
Stay Updated : 
RSS 2.0 feed.
July 27th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
I think it is time for the commonwealth to have a long overdue conversation on the history and image of the British in regard to their role in the commonwealth states before independence. Many of us were not yet born or were too young but the stories we hear have created a sad image which affects the way we relate with the commonwealth today.
I believe that Britain today is different and having this conversation would help clear some of our fears.
We hear presidents like Mugabe speak and shun the British, we hear kingdoms such as Bunyoro in Uganda threaten to take Britain to court over partitions that cost them huge parts of their kingdom while rewarding Buganda. Our entire history classes are tainted with sad stories of ruthless colonial masters and helpless colonies.
Stories like these do not help build a warm relationship with our colonial masters and hence the commonwealth.
Our fathers may not be willing to have such conversations since they lived the reality. But for many of us who represent the future, we need clarity, we need reconciliation, we need to see the commonwealth as it is today(a voluntary association of 53 countries that support each other and work together towards shared goals in democracy and development) rather than what it was (Colonial masters).