The Jamaican Diaspora: A People of Pain and Purpose

By CB Peter Morgan

The true value of the immigrant to the larger industrialized communities has never really been appreciated by Great Britain, Canada and the U.S.A. The pain of separation in the hope of finding greater pastures has left behind families and whole nations within the developing countries struggling with something of an orphan spirit.

This book is written as a tribute to the life, accomplishments and legacy of the distinguished clergyman Dr. Joel Edwards. It shows how the diaspora experience, exemplified by Jamaicans scattered across the major cities of Great Britain, can produce a unique breed with a purpose divinely sanctioned by God to benefit their adopted home as well as to liberate the land of their fathers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Oct 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9780966873092

Book preview

There is little doubt that Dr. Joel Edwards was one of the greatest social-justice advocates and Missionary statesmen of Jamaican descent the world has seen in the twenty-first century. Those who have had the privilege of hearing him speak about the debilitating challenges of extreme poverty worldwide, caused by corruption or poor governance, will not easily forget the passion with which he urgently articulated his case on behalf of the poor and marginalized. Yet it was not the man with whom we necessarily became enamored, nor was it the lasting impression of his enormous intellectual ability or personal magnetism. Instead, it was his uncanny ability to articulate truths based on the authority of the Holy Scripture which left an indelible mark on his hearers.

The publishing of this book on the Jamaica Diaspora, focusing on who Joel was, to honor his legacy, must therefore be a cause of gratitude throughout the Christian community worldwide.

The book is partly a personal reflection on Joel's life and ministry by Dr. C.B. Peter Morgan, Joel's dear friend and colleague, and a series of messages on the Diaspora Joel shared at a conference in Jamaica in 1997. The publication masterfully portrays the life and ministry of Joel as one of the most successful stories in modern missionary history.

Two things make this publication extremely relevant to our times. First was Joel's fantastic approach to the fight against the social injustices of our times. He possessed a unique understanding of the plight of the poor and advocated on their behalf with zeal, tenacity, and passion. But his theology was founded on the love of God and rooted in the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the only answer, spiritually and socially, to the ills of our sinful world. Therefore, his fight for social justice was, first and foremost, a call to prayer. The entire strategy of his activism was always undergirded by prayer. It is an approach that is woefully lacking within the Christian community today, to the anger and frustration of perceived injustices emanating within western societies.

The second was Edwards' unique preaching style, which utilized a combination of passionate eloquence and logical reasoning on which the most matured hearer had to ponder. Still, it was with such simplicity that it was easily understood. These characteristics are all clearly illustrated in the series of messages he delivered at the 1997 Diaspora Conference. The messages focused on the growth and development of the African Caribbean church in the United Kingdom during the past four decades. They cast a vision for the future of the Black church in North America and in Europe, during this time of great need for racial reconciliation and at a time of decline in powerful biblical preaching.

May God abundantly use the reading of these pages to stimulate our thinking about the power and relevance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to our times.

Newton Gabbidon

President & Founder

Intercessory Prayer Ministry International

General Colin Powell (former Joint Chief of Staff of the USA Military); Deon Burton (star of the Reggae Boyz World Cup team in France); Donovan Bailey (Olympic 100 meter gold medalist); Patrick Ewing (basketball superstar of the New York Knicks); Huntley Brown (distinguished world-renowned pianist); Jacqueline McCullough (Bishop and benevolent sojourner to Africa); Mike The Body Snatcher McCallum (three-time world boxing champion) – what do these international super-achievers have in common? They are all first- or second-generation Jamaicans who have excelled in the great nations of Great Britain, the U.S.A., or Canada. In a real sense, they are distinguished residents of the Jamaican Diaspora.

Up until a few years ago, the word diaspora was hardly a part of the Jamaican vocabulary. Its use was more familiarly associated within the religious academic circles to describe the dispersed Jews after the Babylonian exile or the Jewish Christians of the first century who fled from Palestine to live among neighboring peoples.

It is no secret that even before our Independence, Jamaicans had been traveling across the globe to almost every corner of the earth. Notably, in the post-World War II period, literally thousands of migrants from the Caribbean were transported on the Empire Windrush to Great Britain to help rebuild the economy. They were welcomed there to boost the workforce, especially in the sectors of transport, health, manufacturing, and mining. The U.K. received thousands of Jamaicans from the Windrush generation in the 1950s, and their arrival impacted the resurgence of church-going in several of the major cities, including Birmingham, Brixton, and London.

Other major migrations also occurred throughout that period up until recently in the U.S.A. and Canada. Large populations of Jamaicans settled in U.S. cities such as New York, Chicago and Atlanta, and in southern Florida. Many of them went to join the workforce, while a large number of youngsters took advantage of educational opportunities in the thriving economies of the First World. The Jamaican diaspora community in Canada saw large migrant settlements mainly in the Toronto (Ontario) and Québec (Montreal) provinces. The farmworkers program also attracted a number of unskilled migrants from Jamaica to both Canada and the U.S.A.; however, the majority of immigrants were professional, business, and educational migrants.

This movement of Jamaicans creating large overseas communities has been gaining significance in both the local home environment and several other spheres over the past 60 years. Former Prime Minister Most Hon. Portia