According to the Oxford dictionary the process of integration involves combining a part or parts into one whole and this process can be used to refer to a number of things. We can integrate baking ingredients and the final product would be a cake, we can integrate car parts and the end result will be a car or we can integrate people, however the end result will still be people. Confused? Let me explain. We can integrate not the parts of different people to make one person, but we can integrate different kinds of people, more specifically different cultures, different races, overall different backgrounds and still make one people. One people may not sound like proper English to everyone but to me it makes a lot of sense. The title of this article says ‘Out of many one people’; this is the motto of Jamaica, my country. Out of many one people means that despite the fact that Jamaica is an island of many different races and cultures we are still Jamaican, thus we are one people.
Here in my country we are all mixed people, however our backgrounds and our ancestors are from Africa, Asia (mostly China [especially Hong Kong] and India) and Europe. The cultures are often kept alive by the older generation, however the younger generation, although they are aware of their background, still practice the usual customs because it is tradition, or they were just grown that way. Otherwise they see themselves as Jamaican and nothing more.
My experience of integration has also extended beyond my homeland to a country thousands of miles away on the Continent of Africa. That country is Morocco. In August, between the 16th and the 28th, 2003, Kingdom of Morocco hosted 1000 young people between the ages of 16 and 35 from over 140 different countries at the Second World Congress of Youth. The theme was ‘Tolerance, solidarity and sustainable development’ with the motto being ‘Be the Change’. The one thousand young people were supposed to work on action projects in over 40 provinces of Morocco. The end result was varied, however, my experience was enriching. I have gained tremendous knowledge, insight and experience. I have a greater appreciation of my race and culture. One of the most important lessons I learnt was that regardless of one’s race, ethnicity, religion, nationality or culture we all think and feel the same. The fact that so many young people from so different backgrounds could come together and work in solidarity was a rewarding experience for me. We were truly ‘Out of many one people’.
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