Sonjah Stanley Niaah | |
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| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | University of the West Indies |
| Thesis | Kingston's dancehall : a story of space and celebration (2004) |
Sonjah Stanley Niaah is a Jamaican scholar, cultural activist, and writer. She is known for her work on dancehall, old and new Black Atlantic performance geographies, ritual, dance, festivals, cultural and creative industries, as well as popular culture and the sacred.
Stanley Niaah has a B.S. from the University of the West Indies (1991) and received her diploma in sociology in 1997 from the University of the West Indies. In 2004, she earned a Ph.D. in cultural studies from the University of the West Indies, [1] which made her the first Ph.D. cultural studies graduate from the University of the West Indies. [2] She was also the first to be appointed lecturer, and senior lecturer in Cultural Studies, [2] and in 2015, Stanley Niaah was named director of the Institute of Caribbean Studies and the Reggae Studies Unit.[ citation needed ] She is also the inaugural Rhodes Trust Rex Nettleford Fellow in Cultural Studies. [3]
Stanley Niaah is a Jamaican nationalist and Caribbean regionalist at heart, she is involved in efforts to promote cultural and creative industries, [4] and speaks up for respect for all cultures. [5] [6] She is an advocate for connecting education and music in Jamaica. [7] and has spoken on the actions taken by women to improve their presentation to the public. [8] Her 2010 book on Dancehall was reviewed by multiple venues, [9] [10] including Caribbean Quarterly [11] and Caribbean Studies. [12] More recently, her commentary can be viewed in documentary films or film series such as Samuel L. Jackson's Enslaved and Move (Netflix).
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s. In the mid-1980s, digital instrumentation became more prevalent, changing the sound considerably, with digital dancehall becoming increasingly characterized by faster rhythms. Key elements of dancehall music include its extensive use of Jamaican Patois rather than Jamaican standard English and a focus on the track instrumentals.
Jamaican culture consists of the religion, norms, values, and lifestyle that define the people of Jamaica. The culture is mixed, with an ethnically diverse society, stemming from a history of inhabitants beginning with the original inhabitants of Jamaica. The Spaniards originally brought slavery to Jamaica. Then they were overthrown by the English. Jamaica later gained emancipation on 1 August 1838, and independence from the British on 6 August 1962. Black slaves became the dominant cultural force as they suffered and resisted the harsh conditions of forced labour. After the abolition of slavery, Chinese and Indian migrants were transported to the island as indentured workers, bringing with them ideas from their country.
A shebeen was originally an illicit bar or club where accessible alcoholic beverages were sold without a license. The term has spread far from its origins in Ireland, to Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Zimbabwe, the English-speaking Caribbean, Namibia, Malawi, and South Africa. In modern South Africa, many shebeens are now fully legal.
Ralston Milton "Rex" Nettleford OM FIJ OCC was a Jamaican scholar, social critic, choreographer, and Vice-Chancellor Emeritus of the University of the West Indies (UWI), the leading research university in the Commonwealth Caribbean.
Carolyn Cooper CD is a Jamaican author, essayist and literary scholar. She is a former professor of Literary and Cultural Studies at the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica. From 1975 to 1980, she was an assistant professor at Atlantic Union College in South Lancaster, Massachusetts. In 1980, she was appointed as a lecturer in the Department of Literatures in English at the University of the West Indies (UWI), where she continued to work until her retirement as a professor in 2017. Also a newspaper journalist, Cooper writes a weekly column for the Sunday Gleaner.
The Dutty Wine is a Jamaican dance, typically performed by young women. The dance originated in Jamaica as with many other dances like "Log on" and "Screechie". There are several dancers in Jamaica who claim they were its creator, among them a dancehall queen named Mad Michelle who refers to a video recording from 2003. The Dutty Wine was popularized in 2006 via a #1 song of the same name by dancehall artist Tony Matterhorn recorded on the album Smash riddim. The name was created in Jamaica.
Boom Shaka was a pioneering South African kwaito music group consisting of Junior Sokhela, Lebo Mathosa, Theo Nhlengethwa and Thembi Seete. They released their first single "It's About Time" in 1993, and subsequently released their debut LP, titled "Kwere Kwere" in 1994. Boom Shaka was one of the most successful bands of the mid-1990s in South Africa. Their music was the soundtrack for many young people in the newly democratic South Africa. The group was viewed as representing "the hopes and dreams of a people after liberation". Boom Shaka also achieved international success in London, among other places.
Kimberly-Ann Robinson-Walcott is a Jamaican poet and editor. She has been the editor-in-chief of the Jamaica Journal since 2004 and editor-in-chief of the Caribbean Quarterly since 2010. Robinson-Walcott is the author of a study of the white Jamaican novelist Anthony Winkler, called Out of Order! (2006).
Indo-Jamaicans are the descendants of people who came from the Indian subcontinent to Jamaica. Indians form the third largest ethnic group in Jamaica after Africans and Multiracials.
Gerald Levy, better known as Bogle and also as Bogle Dancer, Mr Bogle, Father Bogle and Mr Wacky, was a Jamaican dancehall dancer and choreographer. Beenie Man called Bogle "the greatest dancer of all time" and he is recognised as "part of the foundation and as an icon inside of dancehall culture." Bogle created more dancehall moves than any other figure; he is best known for creating the Bogle dance which is named after him. His stage name, Bogle, is a reference to Paul Bogle a National Hero of Jamaica.
A Dancehall Queen is a female celebrity in the musical genre called dancehall. She is known for her charisma, latest dance moves, and sexy fashion sense. The tradition originated in Jamaican dancehall parties in the ghettos, seeking the best local female dancer. Each Jamaican parish holds a local dancehall queen competition annually, the most popular being the Dancehall Queen competition in Montego Bay.
Stone Love Movement, commonly referred to as simply Stone Love, is one of the major Jamaican sound systems.
Nyabinghi, also Nyahbinghi, Niyabinghi, Niyahbinghi, is the gathering of Rastafari people to celebrate and commemorate key dates significant to Rastafari throughout the year. It is essentially an opportunity for the Rastafari to congregate and engage in praise and worship. For example, on July 23 of each year, a Nyabinghi is held to celebrate the birth of Emperor Haille Selassie I. During a Nyabinghi celebration men and women have different roles and expectations. Men are expected to remove any hair coverings, whilst women must keep their hair covered. A group of men typically organise themselves in a line or semi-circle and are assigned to beat the drums throughout. The remaining congregation continue to sing well known songs or 'chants', some of which are Hebraic scriptural verses that evidence the divinity of Haile Sellassie. For example, 'I have a little light in I and I'm going to make it shine, Rastafariiii, shine' and 'Holy Mount Zion is a holy place and no sinners can enter there, so let the words of my mouth and the mediation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, of Rastafari'. Nyabinghi is a Rastafari tradition that promotes Rastafari unity, strengthens the Rastafari spirit with fellowship and raises the consciousness and presence of Rastafafari in the heart of those in attendance. At some points passages of the bible are read. Rastafari recognise the significance of Jesus Christ, due to Haile Sellassie I fulfilling the teachings and prophecy of scripture.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Kingston, Jamaica.
Today's Jamaican broadcasting, such as the cable television and radio, is governed by the Jamaica Broadcasting Commission (JBC). JBC aims to regulate and monitor the media industry; more importantly, it runs with full power of the regulation making and the control of the programming’s standard and technical quality. However, broadcasting regulation contains some very vague clauses, like Regulation 30(d) and Regulation 30(l)... which causes more difficult for JBC of dealing with the related issues. Censorship in Jamaica has been reported extensively on the issues of dancehall culture, film, and street art. Broadcasting in Jamaica has been characterized by increased imported foreign media, mostly from United Kingdom or United States.
Elsa Goveia was born in British Guiana and became a foremost scholar and historian of the Caribbean. She was the first woman to become a professor at the newly created University College of the West Indies (UCWI) and first professor of West Indian studies in the UCWI History Department. Her seminal work, Slave Society in the British Leeward Islands at the End of the Eighteenth Century (1965), was a pioneering study of the institution of slavery and the first to put forth the concept of a "slave society" encompassing not just the slaves but the entire community. She was one of the pioneers of historical research on slavery and the Caribbean and is considered the "premier social historian" from the 1960s to her death.
Kid Harold was a dancer, singer, and vaudeville comedy routine performer in Jamaica. He was part of vaudeville performances including as part of the Harold and Trim duo in the 1920s.
Lenora Antoinette Stines, better known as L'Antoinette Ọṣun Awade Wemo Stines is a Jamaican director, choreographer, author, actor and dancer. She is the founder and artistic director of L'Acadco: A United Caribbean Dance Force, an industry-leading contemporary dance company based in Jamaica. Stines is also the creator of the first Anglo Caribbean Modern Contemporary training procedure called L'Antech. L'Antech is an eclectic Caribbean contemporary technique that synthesizes African influences, Caribbean folklore, and is dominated by Jamaican Afro-Caribbean forms.
Maureen Warner-Lewis is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian academic whose career focused on the linguistic heritage and unique cultural traditions of the African diaspora of the Caribbean. Her area of focus has been to recover the links between African cultures and Caribbean cultures. She has been awarded multiple prizes for her works, including two Gordon K. and Sybil Lewis Awards, the Gold Musgrave Medal of the Institute of Jamaica, and she was inducted into the Literary Hall of Fame of Tobago.
Patricia Noxolo is a British geographer who is a professor at the University of Birmingham. She is the Chair of the Society for Caribbean Studies.