Colin Garvey, a grandson of Jamaica’s first National Hero Marcus Garvey, is among Jamaicans now living in the diaspora who have expressed the view that the time is ripe for returning home to live in Jamaica, their native land.
Garvey, who now calls Austin, Texas home, was among the over 1,200 delegates in attendance at the 10th Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in St James from June 17 to 19.
“I want to move back here. I came down with my mom who is now with her aunt out in Whitehouse,[Westmoreland]. So I want to see if I can build a house for her down here and then she come down here and then at least I can come,” Garvey said.
A motorcycle sporting enthusiasts, Garvey joked that the only factor which would deter him from returning back home was if he could find no track to facilitate riding his sports motorcycle.
“I am a very active individual (who is) used to race bikes and all of that. The only thing (I) am worried about is, do I have space where I can ride my sports motorcycle? We have a F1 track in Austin. If somebody can find a track that I can ride my motorcycle, it’s a done deal,” he quipped.
For Charmaine Dixon, another delegate at the conference, the current stable state of the Jamaican economy is among the factors why she is ready to return to her homeland.
Charmaine Dixon
“We no longer have to run away to find something good. Like Mr Holness says, Wakanda right here and we see it and the economy is growing, so do not let the other-non Jamaicans profit off Jamaica.
“I am glad that they are building roads, I am glad that they we are learning to speak Español and all of that languages. We have to remember that it’s Jamaica first,” Dixon argued.
Additionally, Dixon highlighted that she feels safer to live in Jamaica even with reports of a high crime rate, rather than in America where she now resides.
“I feel safer in Jamaica than I do in the (United) States, specifically (because of) the political tension, January 6th. Right now it is kind of tense and I have children, I have young black boys and I just see things in my particular community where they hanging the flag upside down or they getting very aggressive with people of colour.
“So I would come back to Jamaica. I am making moves right now to come back to Jamaica. I love the prosperity that’s here, even with the bad news that people are putting out on YouTube.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Security, Dr Horace Chang (right), enjoying a game of dominoes with members of the diaspora at the Ministry of National Security booth at the exhibition hall during the 10th Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference at Montego Bay Convention Centre on Wednesday. Among those engaged is Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Kamina Johnson Smith (second right).
“But social media is wonderful down here in Jamaica. You have the opportunity to invest, you have the opportunity to be an entrepreneur, and I think that is what a lot of people and myself are seeing.
“We bringing back what we learn a foreign and we are bringing it back a yard. So I want to come back home very, very much seeing the progress here. If we work together, the prime minister said we can break that cycle if we are positive, if we are productive, if we feed the youths and we take care of the elderly, we will be extra ‘criss’, extra nice,” she stated.
Dixon expressed that even the younger generation wants to return home now.
“My generation, the Generation X, there is a need now to come back home. In the 70s, everybody was running here (America), running to Canada, running to England. But I notice that the younger generation. And more and more people in their 30s are looking to come back to Jamaica because they see the opportunities,” she said.
