Happy 50th Independence Day, Jamaica!

Like me and many of my friends, 1962 is a special year for the island nation of Jamaica..  It was 50 years ago on this date that a ceremony occurred signaling that the Jamaican Independence Act was now in force, it was no longer a British colony after 307 years of British rule and from this day forward Jamaica would handle its business as an independent nation.
 
At a few moments before midnight on August 5, 1962 at the National Stadium in Kingston the Union Jack was lowered for the last time and replaced with the brand new black, gold and green flag of a newly independent nation.  .

It triggered several joyous days of celebration across the island before the day to day business of running their nation began with the August 7 opening of the first Jamaican parliament.

Like all nations in their post-independence day phase Jamaica has had their good times and bad times, but the 2.8 million people who live in the third largest Anglophone country in the Western Hemisphere and their people across the Jamaican Diaspora love their country, are proud of its accomplishments, and proud of their Jamaican heritage.

They wish to use this 50th Anniversary year to reflect on Jamaica's past half century, learn the lessons from them, dream of a better Jamaica and get to work building that nation for future generations. 

The people of Jamaica are also determined to imagine a better future for themselves and their country and work hard to achieve it.


And now, please rise for the Jamaican national anthem, a song we US track fans got way too familiar with during the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008 and are hearing again during these London Games.






Seriously, to all my TransGriot readers there, happy 50th Independence Day, Jamaica!.