Trenchtown

Trenchtown

"Not to be confused with Trenton."

Trenchtown is a neighbourhood located in Kingston, the capital and largest city of Jamaica. The area gets its name from its previous designation as Trench Pen, thirty-three acres of agricultural land once used for livestock by James Trench, an Irish immigrant. The Trench Family abandoned the land in the late nineteenth century. It is a common misconception that the name comes from the large open sewer that runs through the neighborhood in the middle of Collie Smith Drive.

History

During the 1930s, Trenchtown, in West Kingston, was a residential area. Squatters lived in the Dungle (city dump) area near the waterfront. Trench Town was re-developed when a housing project was built, replacing squatter camps that were destroyed by Hurricane Charlie in 1951. Many who came from rural Jamaica to find work settled there as it was a desirable location.

Most of the new development consisted of one- or two-story concrete buildings, built around a central courtyard with communal cooking facilities and a standpipe for water. Due to lack of funds no sewage system was planned for Trenchtown. Before the hurricane, the squatter camps had emerged around Kingston’s landfill and had become the home of one of Kingston’s Rastafarian communities. The neighborhood became unstable and dangerous from the early 1970s onwards. Two major rival Jamaican political parties — the People's National Party and the Jamaica Labour Party, had emerged in Kingston and enforced code that ensured only their party’s supporters had access to jobs and services. They sponsored "dons" to enforce their authority in the so-called "garrison communities" and gun down any opponents. Trenchtown was controlled by the PNP, which put it at war with neighboring Rema, a JLP stronghold. The road connecting the two became the front-line in an all-out war. After a while the "dons" outgrew their masters and turned to drug trafficking and extortion, and Trenchtown, like other parts of downtown Kingston, was carved up into warring gang territories.

Community projects such as The Trenchtown Reading Association [http://www.trenchtownreadingcentre.com/] , set up in 1993, and The Trenchtown Development Association, set up in 1996, were formed to increase literacy and encourage government spending in the area. Crime in the neighborhood has recently declined; the murder rate in west Kingston has dropped sharply since the mid-1990scite news | last=Pressly | first=Linda | title=One Love in Trenchtown? | date=2 December 1999 | publisher=BBC| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/crossing_continents/545301.stm] .

Trenchtown is known in popular culture due to numerous Reggae musicians, including Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer, but most notably Bob Marley, who spent much of his youth in a "government yard" (housing project) on First Street. His song "Trenchtown Rock" makes reference to it, and he also mentions it in "No Woman, No Cry".

References

Further reading


* Helene Lee. 2004. "Voir Trenchtown et mourir". Flammarion, France. ISBN 2-08-068405-1.

External links

* [http://www.trenchtownreadingcentre.com/ TrenchTown Reading Centre]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Trenchtown — Trenchtown …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Trenchtown — 17°59′05.65″N 76°47′48.35″O / 17.9849028, 76.7967639 Trenchtown est un des quartiers sud de la ville de …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Trenchtown — Este artículo o sección necesita referencias que aparezcan en una publicación acreditada, como revistas especializadas, monografías, prensa diaria o páginas de Internet fidedignas. Puedes añadirlas así o avisar …   Wikipedia Español

  • Trenchtown Rock (Anthology '69 - '78) — Album par The Wailers Sortie 28 janvier 2002 Enregistrement de 1969 à 1978 Genre(s) Reggae Producteur(s) …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Trenchtown Rock — ist ein von Bob Marley komponierter und von den Wailers produzierter Song aus den späten 1960er Jahren. Es ist eines der wenigen Lieder, die Marley vor seinen Major Label Alben bei Island Records komponierte und aufnahm, aber gleichzeitig auch… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Trenchtown Rock (Anthology '69 — 78) Album par The Wailers Sortie 28 janvier 2002 Enregistrement de 1969 à 1978 Genre Reggae Producteur Le …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Bob Marley and The Wailers: Trenchtown Rock (Anthology '69 - '78) — Trenchtown Rock (Anthology 69 78) Trenchtown Rock (Anthology 69 78) Album par The Wailers Sortie 28 janvier 2002 Enregistrement de 1969 à 1978 Genre(s) Reggae Producteur(s) …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Trench Town — Trenchtown ist ein Stadtteil von Kingston, Jamaika. Er wird überwiegend von Armen bewohnt und kann als Slumviertel bezeichnet werden. Trenchtown ist besonders bekannt für zahlreiche Reggae Musiker, die in den Armenvierteln des Stadtteils… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Knowledge — Sommaire 1 Biographie 2 Discographie 2.1 Albums 2.2 Compilations Biographie Knowledge est un groupe de reggae …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Rastaman Vibration Tour — infobox concert tour concert tour name = Rastaman Vibration Tour 1976 artist = Bob Marley The Wailers start date = April 23, 1976 end date = June 27, 1976 number of legs = 2 number of shows = 27 in North America 19 in Europe 46 in total last tour …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”