What “Jamaica” Really Means — And The Myth Of It Being A Country of Mixed People

Dr. Okunini Talawa Adodo is a Jamaican Pan-Afrikanist scholar who focuses on Afrikan history, Afrocentric theory, and Afrikan language.

In Part 1 of this insightful reasoning, Dr. Okunini Talawa Adodo explores the theory that the name “Jamaica” may not have originated with the Taíno people, but rather from the Akan language—specifically the phrase Gyamere Yaka, meaning “we are stuck.” Dr. Adodo also challenges the popular belief that Jamaica is simply a country of mixed people, instead offering the perspective that it is a land of diverse African ethnic groups who arrived from different regions of the continent.

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