Author: Mak Spence
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When yuh house deh pon fiyah, yuh nuh chase rat
On Priorities, Crises, and the Art of Knowing What Actually Matters Somewhere, right now, someone is in a meeting about the font on the newsletter while the company is losing its best people. Somewhere, a couple is arguing about the dishes while the real conversation, the one about what they are both feeling, does not…
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Chicken merry, hawk deh near
Why Your Best Moments Deserve Your Sharpest Attention There is a particular kind of joy that Jamaicans know how to inhabit fully. You may have seen it at a lyme or session when the bass from the sound system is deep enough to feel in your chest. You may have sensed it as curried goat,…
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Not because puss have long tail mek him dog
On Seeing People and Situations for What They Actually Are There’s a quiet kind of mistake that causes more trouble than most people expect. It happens when we look at someone or a situation and fill in the gaps with what we hope is true instead of what’s actually there. A cat with a long tail…
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Every Day Bucket Go a Well, One Day Di Bottom Drop Out
Change Is Coming even When It Feels Like It Isn’t A colleague of mine likes to boast that he has a healthy play ethic. For some, that means the privilege of taking long trips abroad, engaging in expensive hobbies or taking time out to savor life. For many years, I treated play and rest as…
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Mout’ Mek Fi Talk
Speak Your Truth before Silence Starts Speaking For You Before microphones and megaphones, podcasts and press conferences, Instagram captions and Whatsapp messages, there was always the simplest technology of all: the mouth. Jamaican wisdom does names its purpose plainly: “Mout mek fi talk.” Literally, the mouth is made for talking. Figuratively, your voice is not…
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Jackass Say Di Worl’ Nuh Level
Life Isn’t Always Fair…So We Choose Compassion This past Christmas and New Year’s unfolded in the shadow of Hurricane Melissa. For many Jamaicans, the aftermath was devastating: some were left staring at the sky where their roofs once stood, surrounded by the soaked wreckage of their homes. Others saw their farming livelihoods wiped out, and…
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Honoring Jamaican Taínos
Why I Don’t Recognize Columbus Day. I remember being taught as a young child about the fearless adventurer Christopher Columbus who traversed the unknown to “discover” the “New World”, including Jamaica. He was celebrated for: By the time I got to high school, our education system had started to shed the residues of our colonial…
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Cock Mout’ Kill Cock
When Your Words Become Your Worst Enemy There’s something magnificent about a rooster at dawn. The way he stands tall, throws back his head, and announces to the world that a new day has arrived. His crow carries confidence, authority, the unmistakable sound of someone who believes he rules his domain. But in Jamaica, there’s…
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Ef fish deh a river bottom an’ tell yuh seh alligator deh deh, believe him
When Someone Who Lives the Reality Gives You a Warning Imagine you’re standing by a pristine river on a hot summer day, ready to dive into the cool, inviting water. Suddenly, a little fish surfaces and says, “Friend, I wouldn’t go down there if I were you. There’s an alligator resting on the bottom.” What…
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Mi throw mi corn, mi nuh call nuh fowl
The Art of Speaking Truth Without Starting Wars Picture this: You’re in a team meeting, and everyone knows someone dropped the ball on the big client presentation. The tension is thick enough to cut with a knife. Your manager takes a breath and says, “Moving forward, let’s all make sure we’re double-checking our work before…