I’m in Jamaica with a troubled family in the grip of a religious father

How to Say Babylon is a memoir by Safiya Sinclair of her upbringing in Jamaica. It’s a book that I bought, I am sure, because I enjoy reading memoirs and I know very little about Jamaica as a country. The author is a poet and the book reflects this in its rich language and descriptions of the country that she obviously loves.

The author’s parents were followers of Rastafarianism, something about which I also know very little, and she grew up aware that she belonged to a minority community within Jamaica. Having won a scholarship to an elite school she was also disadvantaged by her appearance, her diet and the perception that she was somehow “dirty”. Her father was a singer whose career had stalled and who embraced the harshest form of Rastafarianism which meant that he regarded himself as a god within the home and that he needed to keep his family, especially his daughters, pure. His life was engaged in battling against the influence of “Babylon” which is the immoral world, especially that of the white imperialists, and he restricted the lives of his children to keep them “safe” from its influence. The author’s mother was also a believer who encouraged her daughters to gain academic success but who effectively enabled her husband in his cruelty.

This book is not always an easy read. The author’s childhood was marred and dominated by her father’s beliefs and his certainty that he had the right to impose them on his children and to punish them when they did not adhere to his standards. The author tries to treat him sympathetically but it is obvious that, to be her own person, she will need to escape from her daily abuse – this is not easy for her and she makes a number of catastrophic mistakes.

I found this book fascinating because I knew nothing about the religion and I found that the author explained its belief system and tenets very well – I obviously don’t think that all adherents of Rastafarianism behave in the way that her father did and I am aware that other religions and belief systems also abuse their children and blight their childhoods. The author kept me engaged and showed me what she loved about her home and people. It’s a book worth reading but some of the issues in it could be difficult for some readers. My copy of this book will now take its place alongside some other memoirs on my shelf written by people with similar childhood experiences.