Mel Tennant came to Jamaica in 2003, purchasing a home overlooking Oracabessa’s Gibraltar Beach, and expecting to enjoy his retirement in tropical quiet. The following year, Tennant observed turtle tracks on Gibraltar Beach for the first time. Further investigation led him to find that most of the adult turtles were either killed and their nests dug up. The destruction of a critically endangered species would […]
What it Means to be a Rasta in the 21st Century
Ras Malekot is a local personality in Kingston: He’s a devout Rasta, poet, writer, craft maker and recording artist. At the foot of the Blue Mountains, he owns a tiny shop where he sells old records, knitted hats, souvenirs and root tonics (a wellness drink made herbs and roots, blended with honey or molasses). Outpostings is a big fan of the Rasta movement, and so […]
Inside Jamaica’s Juilliard
You may not have heard of The Alpha Boys’ School in Kingston, but you’ve probably heard music that wouldn’t exist without it. Many great Reggae and Ska artists (such as reggae deejay Yellowman and legendary Ska group, the Skatalites) went to the esteemed music school. Another name you need to know? Sister Mary Ignatius Davis—the beloved nun who helped turn The Alpha Boys’ School (established […]
How Jamaican Songs Catch Fire
World’s biggest reggae fan? If you’ve never heard the term “sound system,” then we are sorry to break it to you, but you really don’t know Jamaican music at all. Not at its core. A sound system is, first of all, an object: a massive set of speakers stacked in the corner at just about every party in Jamaica. A good system will have the […]