Jamaican British

• Raymond Antrobus


  Contemporary mixed-race writer
• Raymond Antrobus was born in 1986 to an English mother and a Jamaican father
• Raymond Antrobus grew up in Hackney, East London
• The poem 'Jamaican British' was published in 2018
• Duality


  Straddling different identities and belonging to two different worlds
• The anthology 'Edexcel Belonging' explores the theme of identity and belonging, especially for mixed-race poets
• Jamaica was colonized by England and there is a history of violent oppression and a slave trade
• There is also a richness of Jamaican and English culture that has been exchanged between the two countries
• Raymond Antrobus was born deaf and did not have his deafness diagnosed until the age of 7
• Antrobus learned to 'pass' as a hearing person in his early years
• Antrobus uses poetry to channel his interior emotions as a deaf writer
• Antrobus states that 'poetry was a way for me just to write what my truth was'
• Jamaican British


  Reflects the speaker's mixed-race identity and heritage, straddling between Jamaican and British cultures
• The speaker is annoyed that people deny his Jamaican British identity


  They try to force stereotypical labels onto him based on his appearance
• The repetition of 'Jamaican British' shows the speaker's constant preoccupation with understanding their mixed-race identity
• The speaker is mixed race and finds it difficult to be placed in one identity versus another
• The speaker is annoyed


  Because people are saying they're not Jamaican British, they're denying this
• The verb 'deny' highlights the ignorance of these people who try to define and label the speaker by stating what they're not
• The repetition of the poem's title 'Jamaican British' shows the speaker's constant obsession and preoccupation with understanding their mixed race identity and heritage
• People rely on racist stereotypical labels to judge the speaker, like having an 'English nose' and 'straight hair'
• The speaker finds these restrictive labels denying one half of their identity
• The short sentences represent the ignorant blunt manner in which people speak to the speaker and define them
• The speaker is trying to reclaim their identity and have autonomy, but people aren't listening
• The speaker is contrasting their two different racial identities, which live separately but both within them
• The speaker is being forced to choose between their Jamaican or British identity
• The speaker reflects on derogatory racist labels used for mixed race people during slavery, like 'half-caste' and 'house slave'
• The speaker feels conflicted, as they don't completely embody all the ideals associated with their more privileged white side
• Jamaican dishes


  • jerk chicken
  • plantain
• The speaker is proud of their Jamaican identity, especially the food
• There is a history of conflict between the British colonial masters and the Jamaican slaves, which is woven into the speaker's identity
• The speaker went through a phase of rejecting their Jamaican side and only wanting to be seen as British
• The speaker's Jamaican father understands the complexity of grappling with two sides of one's identity
• The speaker's father tells them they can't love one side and hate the other, as that's impossible
• When the speaker goes to Jamaica with a British passport, they can't escape their dual identity
• The speaker's Jamaican cousins call them 'jar English', mixing both their Jamaican and English heritage
• The speaker reflects on the sacrifices and service Jamaicans have made to Britain, which is part of their heritage
• The speaker struggles to reconcile their complicated mixed race heritage and identity
• The speaker accepts their mixed race heritage, even if it is painful to reconcile their Jamaican and British sides