PHOTO CREDITS TO Cameron Spencer/ Getty Images
Simply watching the Olympics – particularly the track and field segments- with Jamaicans is an event in and of itself.
Skimming through facebook recently, I saw this spoof of how we celebrate and couldn’t help but laugh because it was relatively accurate.
Jamaicans are those people banging pot covers and whatever else we get our hands on, jumping, screaming, crying, laughing, goading the other athletes from other countries, making up songs and within 5 minutes of the race, we have created at least a handful of memes to make sure the world is aware of how proud we are of our fellow Jamaicans.
My mother came to visit during Olympics season and bemoaned how passively the games were watched in the US, where our friends were content with a small fist bump or high five and a muted celebration when national teams won. Meanwhile, in Jamaica, this was the scene when Bolt won his race. It was more like an area-wide party than anything else.
As with all cultures, there are great points and bad points about the Jamaican culture that we can have lengthy discussions about. Whatever your views are on reggae, jerk chicken, our dances or any other aspect of our culture, when it comes to Olympics, you want to be seated at our table if you want to have a fun and loud time – Jamaican style.
Walk good!