This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!
The Schoolmaster and the Black Caribbean Awakening
The narrator recalls Black churchgoers and extemporized prayers as signs of awakening after abolition. He describes old Africans teaching reading, writing, and catechism during breaks, the rise of Black chapels like Killick’s in Kingston, and the transformative power of schooling in shaping language, dignity, and faith. The piece ends praising the patient schoolmaster’s quiet progress toward enlightenment.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Buckra
Macarthur
Ashantee
Devil
Cadmus
West
Bell and Lancaster
Kingston
Morant Bay
Killick
Hook
Crook
Adam
Jonah
Henry Brougham
Achillia