Kimberly Pageau has written her dispatch on Mr. Grizzle, the owner of the Charela Inn, our current abode. We happened to choose the rare place owned by a Black Jamaican, on Negril beach. This lovely little place is marked by quality with a staff that is warm and unfailingly hospitable. Kimberly will graduate next year with a BA degree in Afroamerican and African Studies. She plans to study law. Her dispatch is of course called Mr. Grizzle.
Enjoy,
Nesha Z. Haniff
Director, Pedagogy of Action
Mr. Grizzle
By Kimberly Pageau
On Monday we arrived at our beautiful new location in Negril, the Charela Inn. Mr. Grizzle, was incredibly helpful to us when we arrived and after engaging him in a conversation and being taken by his life story, Dr. Haniff arranged for him to meet with us the next day and hear his thoughts on being a business owner, and more specifically, his experience as a Black Jamaican owner.
Mr. Grizzle faced many challenges in procuring the Charela Inn but none of those travails can take away from the satisfaction of owning something for himself. Only Twenty five percent of the rooms in Negril are owned by Black Jamaicans. He told us about the pride he derives from ownership that cannot be reached through working for someone else. Even if he were to make more money otherwise, he said, nothing can compare to the pride that stems from doing something you love on your own terms. He expressed his disappointment that the next generation, our generation, seems to be motivated primarily by working for corporations and salaries paid by others. He hopes that we can understand that the gratification that comes from working with self-determination is of greater value than monetary value, regardless of income.
Knowing the social and political history of Jamaica, Mr. Grizzle’s experiences are of profound significance to us as students, as well as to all Jamaicans. The impact of Jamaica’s long history of slavery and colonialism is still felt in various contexts throughout the country. Even though today it is a country of blacks and primarily driven by black politics, there is nevertheless a residing colonial complex that isn’t easy to shake. Jamaica’s primary export is tourism, which means there is a constant influx of tourists. He said that when he started in Negril most of the beach front was owned by locals and once you gave up the beach front it is difficult to get it back. For Charela Inn to reside on a beach next to so many resorts run by large companies and those from abroad, it is quite a feat for this charming place to be run by an empowered, confident black man who started from the bottom. this is a profoundly important cultural and political statement.
Being able to listen to Mr. Grizzle was inspiring for all of us. He provided us with great advice on doing business and what making a living should mean to the individual. But to take away only those words of advice is to disregard the larger significance his work means to the country of Jamaica. Mr. Grizzle and the Charela Inn are important symbols of black empowerment in a country still struggling with it’s identity in a world still controlled by the colonizer.
