NAME OF FEATURE | THE GLEANER | MONDAY, MAY 30, 2022 4 Paul H. Williams/Gleaner Writer WITH A carpet of magenta apple blossoms forming the backdrop, leaves rustling in the cool south Trelawny breeze, and blackbirds cawing raucously in the background, Jennifer Hewitt sat in the same yard in which she grew up and unreeled her memories of August 6, 1962, including that of when an older schoolmate stole her bag of sweets. And it was not pretty. Born in the former Ulster Spring Hospital, Hewitt livedatWilsonValley until thedaywhen she said her now-deceased father“kidnapped” her and brought her to his parents in Warsop. She was two years old. Four years after, Independence came around. To prepare them for the big day, students were taught the new national anthem. Itwas thebeginningof theend of‘Rule, Britannia, rule thewaves’in the Jamaican classroom. Hewitt did not care for it, anyway. With her modulating voice, dramatic facial expressions, and flailing hands, Hewitt, the awarding-winning retired literacy educator, went back to the daywhen she sat went to the celebrations atWarsop School. When shewas askedabout theday, her initial reaction was: “I was a bright-eyed six-year-old.” At the school, amid the jubilation, everybody got a Jamaican flag. Children received a little, greenmetal cupwith the coat of arms and the Independence date emblazoned on it. Hewitt still has hers, minus the prints. The adults got white porcelain cups with the same things printed on them in red. They were also given a sheet of paper containing thenational anthem and the national pledge for school. And while Hewitt was going around in the merry-making, her joywas bitterly interrupted. An older girl had snatched her bag of sweets from her hand. But, she lived to regret it. Someone gave chase, grabbed her, gave her twobigwhacks, and retrieved thebagof sweets, which Hewitt kept in her bosom for the rest of the time. Later, in the village square, Hewitt said,“They had thisbigstreet dance, and the floatsout there, and thegirls cameup in their bandana, and they weredancing. And thenDerrickMorgan’s song, Forward March ... . And Lord Creator had this song, Independent Jamaica, wherehe told the whole storyof how Independence came about.” The significance of Independence was not lost on the inquisitive and precocious Jennifer Hewitt, who could read from she was four. She was always in the know. Her grandparentswere the only ones on her street who had a radio, “a bigone that usedabigbattery, likea car battery”. Andso, everySaturdaypeople wouldgather to listen to, and discuss, whatwas happening. They were also the only ones in her vicinity who bought The Gleaner regularly. That, too, would pull neighbours into her yard. LEARNED BY LISTENING “As a child, I was not allowed to be in the conversations, but I have to listen. So, I learned a lot. By age six I could pick up a Gleaner and read anything from it. Mama used to sit on the step ... and I would sit in her lap, and shewould hold the newspaper, and I would read for her,” Hewitt recalled. Shewas awareof theFederation and Independence debate, and the Jamaica Labour Party’s election campaign slogan of ‘Independence, yes; federation, no’. “I never forgot it, for whenBustamante came toWarsop andhad themeeting out there, they gave us the sticker, and I shook his hand. And Norman Manley came, and had the meeting. And I never washedmy hand,”Hewitt narrated. Her face lit up as she stretched out her arms, the hands of which had shaken Bustamante’s andNormanManley’s. For days, she said, she did not was them, even upon the instruction of her grandmother. “And nobody could touchmy hand”. There was much hope for the future, and the people believed that better days would come. “They were trying to tell us colonisation was not good for us ... whatever ... and with us being independent, we wouldhavegone forward to great things,” Hewitt recollected. But, 60 years after, she is having mixed feelings. She said, “I have seen some great things, but I have seen a lot of backward steps ... .Yes, yes, yes. I’m disappointed with a lot of things. I am happy for some, because I amaproduct of the freeing up of education.” JAMAICA T 60: TR LAWNY FOND MEMORIES JENNIFER HEWITT HAS BUT ... Above: Jennifer Hewitt shows the 1962 Independence tin cup she got as a student, symbolising Jamaica’s Independence, which she has kept as a souvenir at home on Mount Happy Road in Warsop, Trelawny. PHOTOS BY NICHOLAS NUNES/ PHOTOGRAPHER Jennifer Hewittwith the PrimeMinister’sMedal of Appreciation for service to education and her Golden Torch Award. jamaica at
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