Why I Supported the Jamaican Language Unit and the Push to Make Jamaican an Official Language

In 2019, Amashika Lorne reflects on engaging with the Jamaican Language Unit at UWI and supporting the national push to make Jamaican an official language alongside English.

There are moments in your work that don’t feel performative—they feel aligned.

For me, one of those moments was in 2019, when I stood at the sign for the Jamaican Language Unit at the University of the West Indies.

But what I remember more clearly is what that space represented.

This wasn’t just an academic department. It was a centre of language advocacy, research, and long-term work around how Jamaica sees and defines itself.

Amashika Lorne, while doing research for her book entitled Chat Tu Mi & Colour, did a sit-down with Professor Hubert Devonish of the Jamaican Language Unit.

Professor Hubert Devonish of the Jamaican Language Unit (left) poses with Jamaican cultural and language advocate Amashika Lorne as they gear up to support the push Jamaican to become a national language alongside English is Jamaica.

2019: Engaging the Work at the Jamaican Language Unit

In 2019, I had the opportunity to meet and speak with Hubert Devonish.

At that time, he was one of the key voices leading the push for Jamaican to be recognized as an official language alongside English.

That conversation stayed with me—not because it was theoretical, but because it was practical.

We spoke about language, access, education, and what it actually means when a population speaks one language in daily life, but is governed and educated in another.

And I made it clear where I stood.

I supported the work being done to elevate Jamaican into official recognition—not just as culture, but as language.

During that same period, I appeared in an interview with the Jamaica Information Service alongside Professor Devonish.

We discussed Jamaican language, identity, and the broader advocacy work happening at the time.

Jamaican language advocate and author Amashika Lorne, joined Professor Hubert Deonish of the JLU to discuss the need to make Jamaican a national language alongside English at the JIS Studios in Kingston, Jamaica.

One of the biggest misunderstandings about Jamaican is that it is “broken English.”

It isn’t.

Jamaican has a standardized writing system that traces back to the work of Frederic Cassidy, who documented it in Jamaica Talk.

That work later evolved into what is now known as the Cassidy–JLU Writing System, refined by the Jamaican Language Unit.

So this conversation was never about whether Jamaican can be written or studied.

That foundation already exists.

Why the Advocacy Matters

In 2019, research shared through the Jamaican Language Unit showed strong public support for the recognition of Jamaican as an official language.

Approximately:

• 70% supported Jamaican being made official alongside English

• 70% supported its use in education and literacy

• Many supported its use in Parliament, including national budget presentations

  
  

Earlier studies also showed that members of the Jamaican Parliament had expressed willingness to support such legislation.

So the reality is simple:

This is not a fringe idea.

It reflects how Jamaicans already live, speak, and communicate.

This Has Been Done in Other Countries

Jamaica is not the first country to formalize a Creole or local language.

Other examples include:

• Seychelles — Seychellois Creole

• Curaçao — Papiamentu

• Haiti — Haitian Creole

These countries made a deliberate decision to validate language as identity.

Jamaica is part of that same global conversation.

Amashika Lorne has her book reaching students across the globe as they learn about the Jamaican language and culture.

Where I Stand

As a communicator, a writer, and someone who works deeply in storytelling and culture, I understand that language is not just expression—it is access. It determines how people engage with education, government, healthcare, and opportunity.

So in 2019, my support for the Jamaican Language Unit and their advocacy to make Jamaican an official language alongside English was intentional.

And it still is.

Because Jamaican is not waiting to become a language.

It already is one.

The question has always been recognition.