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Jamaican American

Jamaica Americans Documentary


320px-Gallery_of_jamaican_americansNotable Jamaican AmericansColin Powell · Sheryl Lee Ralph · Louis Farrakhan · Sanya Richards-Ross · Kamala Harris · Harry Belafonte · Renée Cox · Patrick Ewing Anthony Brown · Yvette Clarke · Shaggy · Susan Rice Sharissa · Tyson Beckford · Olivia · Stephen Marley

Jamaican Americans are Americans of Jamaican heritage or Jamaican-born people who live in the United States of America. American citizenship is not a prerequisite of being a Jamaican American as permanent residents are also given this title. The largest proportion of Jamaicans live in New York City which has various of other Caribbean cultural elements such as food and music. There is also a community of Jamaican Americans residing in PhiladelphiaBostonSouth FloridaLos AngelesOrlandoBaltimoreWashington, D.C.AtlantaClevelandWestern New YorkConnecticut, and New Jersey.

After 1838, European colonies in the Caribbean with expanding sugar industries imported large numbers of immigrants to meet their acute labor shortage. Large numbers of Jamaicans were recruited to work in Panama and Costa Rica in the 1850s. After slavery was abolished in the United States in 1865, American planters imported temporary workers, called “swallow migrants,” to harvest crops on an annual basis. These workers, many of them Jamaicans, returned to their countries after harvest. Between 1881 and the beginning of World War I, the United States recruited over 250,000 workers from the Caribbean, 90,000 of whom were Jamaicans, to work on the Panama Canal. During both world wars, the United States again recruited Jamaican men for service on various American bases in the region.

Significant immigration waves

Apart from Canada, the US houses the majority of Jamaican émigrés in the world. Jamaican immigration to the US increased during the 1960’s civil rights era. As many other sources of Caribbean immigration, the geographical nearness of Jamaica to the US increased the likelihood of migration. The economic attractiveness, as well as general Jamaican perceptions of the US as a land of opportunity, explains continued migration flows despite economic downturn in America. Traditionally, America has experienced increased migration through means of family preference, in which US citizens sponsor their immediate family. Through this category a substantial amount of Jamaican immigrants were able to enter mainly urban cities within the U.S that provided blue-collar work opportunities. Jamaican immigrants utilized employment opportunities despite the discriminatory policies that affected some Caribbean émigrés.

At present, Jamaicans are the largest group of American immigrants from the English-speaking Caribbean. However, it is difficult to verify the exact number of Jamaican Americans in this country because most of them assimilate into the wider African-American communities. The 1990 census placed the total number of documented Jamaican Americans at 435,025.

Settlement

twoupAccording to the text of Immigrant America (p. 69), there were 554,897 Jamaican-born people living in the US in 2000. This represents 61% of the approximate 911,000 Americans of Jamaican ancestry. Many Jamaicans are second, third and descend from even older generations as there have been Jamaicans in the US as early as the early twentieth Century. The regional composition is as follows: 59 percent live in the Northeast mainly in New York; 4.8 percent in the Midwest; 30.6 percent in the Southern United States, particularly South Florida; and 5.6 percent on the West. The New York metropolitan area and South Florida have the largest number of Jamaican immigrants in the United States and Florida are home to the highest number of illegal Jamaicans whereas most Legal immigrants tend to reside in Brooklyn. Jamaicans refer to Miami metropolitan area and Brooklyn colloquially as “Kingston 21″ and “Little Jamaica” respectively. Large communities of Jamaican immigrants have formed in New York City and the New York Metro Area, which includes Long Island and much of New Jersey and Connecticut, along with South Florida (centered in and around Miami and Fort Lauderdale) and Philadelphia, which has the second largest Jamaican community in the US. In recent years, many Jamaicans have left New York City for its suburbs, and large Jamaican communities have also formed in AtlantaBaltimoreWashington D.C.BostonClevelandBuffaloRochester, New YorkLos Angeles, and Providence, Rhode Island.

US communities with high percentages of people of Jamaican ancestry

gema_02_img0139The top 25 US communities with the highest percentage of people claiming Jamaican ancestry are:

  1. Blue Hills, Connecticut (neighborhood) 23.9%
  2. Lauderdale Lakes, Florida 18.8%
  3. Lauderhill, Florida 17.6%
  4. South Floral Park, New York 15.5%
  5. Miramar, Florida 15.40%
  6. Bloomfield, Connecticut and Mount Vernon, New York 12.9%
  7. Lakeview, New York 12.7%
  8. North Lauderdale, Florida 11.1%
  9. Uniondale, New York 11.0%
  10. El Portal, Florida 8.5%
  11. Roosevelt, New York 8.2%
  12. Pembroke Park, Florida 8.0%
  13. North Valley Stream, New York and Hartford, Connecticut 7.90%
  14. Sunrise, Florida 7.60%
  15. Miami Gardens, Florida 6.3%
  16. North Amityville, New York 6.1%
  17. South Miami Heights, Florida 6.0%
  18. Hempstead, New York and Elmont, New York 5.9%
  19. Lake Park, Florida and Carol City, Florida 5.8%
  20. East Orange, New JerseyGordon Heights, New YorkIves Estates, Florida, and Golden Glades, Florida 5.7%
  21. North Miami Beach, Florida 5.5%
  22. New Cassel, New York 5.30%
  23. Bronx, New York and Chillum, Maryland 5.2%
  24. Pembroke Pines, Florida and Wheatley Heights, New York 5.1%
  25. Bridgeport, Connecticut 4.5%
  26. Brooklyn, New York 3.8%

U.S. communities with the most residents born in Jamaica

Jamaican-Culture-People-And-MusicTop 50 U.S. communities with the most residents born in Jamaica are:

  1. Melrose Park, FL 19.6%
  2. Norland, FL 18.5%
  3. Blue Hills, CT 18.3%
  4. Lauderdale Lakes, FL 16.9%
  5. Andover, FL 15.0%
  6. Lauderhill, FL 14.8%
  7. Utopia, FL 13.1%
  8. Palmetto Estates, FL 12.6%
  9. Miramar, FL 12.5%
  10. Scott Lake, FL 12.3%
  11. South Floral Park, NY 12.1%
  12. Mount Vernon, NY 11.2%
  13. Bloomfield, CT 11.1%
  14. North Lauderdale, FL 9.7%
  15. Fort Devens, MA 9.3%
  16. Northwest Dade, FL 8.5%
  17. Uniondale, NY 8.2%
  18. St. George, FL 8.1%
  19. East Garden City, NY 7.7%
  20. El Portal, FL 7.5%
  21. Silver Springs Shores, FL 7.5%
  22. Washington Park, FL 7.2%
  23. North Valley Stream, NY 6.7%
  24. Sunrise, FL 6.6%
  25. Harlem, FL 6.4%
  26. Lakeview, NY 6.2%
  27. Opa-locka North, FL 6.1%
  28. Hartford, CT 6.0%
  29. Roosevelt, NY 5.9%
  30. Westview, FL 5.7%
  31. Tangelo Park, FL 5.5%
  32. Miami Gardens, Broward County, FL 5.5%
  33. Pembroke Park, FL 5.3%
  34. Lake Park, FL 5.2%
  35. Ives Estates, FL 5.1%
  36. North Amityville, NY 5.1%
  37. Canal Point, FL 5.1%
  38. Rock Island, FL 5.1%
  39. Boulevard Gardens, FL 5.0%
  40. North Miami Beach, FL 5.0%
  41. Lake Lucerne, FL 4.9%
  42. Golden Glades, FL 4.9%
  43. Broadview-Pompano Park, FL 4.8%
  44. Carol City, FL 4.7%
  45. East Orange, NJ 4.7%
  46. Pembroke Pines, FL 4.4%
  47. Stacey Street, FL 4.3%
  48. Mangonia Park, FL 4.3%
  49. Three Lakes, FL 4.2%
  50. Elmont, NY 4.2%

Cultue – Music

200px-Harry_Belafonte_singing_1954Belafonte in John Murray Anderson’s Almanac on Broadway, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1954

Many cultural events in Jamaica are also observed by Jamaican Americans in local public celebrations or in the privacy of their homes.

Many Jamaican Americans have also been very influential and successful in rap music. Famous rappers and DJ’s such as DJ Kool HercBusta RhymesNotorious B.I.G.CanibusSlick Rick, and KRS-ONE are all of Jamaican heritage.

Dances and songs

Jamaica’s most popular musical forms are Reggae and Dancehall. There is also others such as “dub poetry” or chanted verses, Ska, and Rocksteady, with its emotionally charged, celebrative beat. Jamaican Americans also listen to a great variety of other music such as:jazzcalypsosocaskarapclassical musicgospel, and “high-church” choirs.

Cuisine: Jamaican cuisine

220px-Jerk_chicken_plateA plate of Jerk chicken.

In Miami and Brooklyn, especially in the neighborhood of Flatbush along Flatbush, Nostrand, Utica, and Church Avenues, one sees groceries filled with a variety of Caribbean cuisines, including sugar cane, jelly coconut, and yams.

Traditional costumes

In New York City, Jamaican Americans participate in the Caribbean Labor day parade in Brooklyn annually and dress in lavish and colorful costumes during the Brooklyn celebration along Eastern Parkway.

Sports

A number of Jamaican Americans have excelled in international competition and carried home many trophies. Donald Quarrie won the 200 and the 4×100 meters relay Olympic Gold Medal. Merlene Ottey won the 200 and the 4×100 meters relay. George Headley, who was born in Panama in 1909, transported to Cuba, grew up in Jamaica. and lived in the United States.

Several Jamaican Americans, including Jeff CunninghamRobin Fraser and Mark Chung, have played for the United States national soccer team.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaican_American

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