May is “National Child Month” in Jamaica. As a child, May was bigger than Christmas as it meant 31 days of complete parental exploitation. I’m the youngest of three, so this was a walk in the park. No punishment (unless you were really bad), “parties” every weekend, school fairs, field trips, family outings, special treats and what seemed like an endless shower of love and attention. So much that the first May after my family moved to New York, our mom reminded us that it was “Mother’s Day” and my older sister responded, “Mummy, it’s also Child Month.” She was 21 at the time.
Yes, we also recognize Mother’s Day, Nurses’ Day, Teacher’s day and our National Holiday, Labor Day all in the month of May, but there is no question about it, May is for us, the future.
In hindsight I believe the intention of “National Child Month,” was the politically correct way of saying or not saying, “Child Abuse Prevention/Awareness Month.” Until most recently, corporal punishment was still widely accepted and thus, in an effort to address the needs and desires of children without handing over the weapon of hypocrisy, we dressed up the elephant in the room in the spirit of love and tradition.
Jamoji’s images of children (m/f preschool and adolescents) are reflections of what I saw and how I see myself. The adolescents are represented as “fass” (nosy), but today I call them curious, and rightfully so, because that’s the way we learn.
May 2020 is different for us all, but let our intentions be the same, looking ahead and nourishing our childhood spirit.