Queen of Kumina: Imogene Kennedy - 'Queenie' II, St. Thomas, Jamaica [date unknown]

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Imogene Kennedy

Queen of Kumina: Imogene Kennedy - 'Queenie' II [date unknown]

Image from the National Library of Jamaica Photograph Collection. Permission to reproduce this image must be obtained from the National Library of Jamaica
Photograph credit Keith Morrison

Further information - Biography

Imogene Kennedy

Imogene ‘Queenie’ Kennedy was born in Dalvey, St. Thomas sometime, it is believed, in the late 1920s, raised by her mother and grandmother. Her grandmother was an African and it was through her that Queenie was first made aware of her African ancestry and culture.
She was introduced to Kumina by neighbours, Man Parker and his father Ole Parker: “…the most highly respected forebears of the Kumina nation, famous for their deep knowledge of ancestral values and practices.” (Lewin, Olive. Rock It Come Over: p. 259) It was common for Queenie to steal away to the Kumina sessions held next door as her interest increased. Queenie’s ascendance as Kumina Queen was a result of a life-changing experience [The full account can be read in Rock It Come Over by Olive Lewin]. Queenie said that one day, while searching for coconuts in a gully, the spirits took her to a large, hollow cotton tree (In Africa and the West Indies, the cotton tree is seen as the traditional home of spirits). There she spent twenty one days without food or water,  communicating with the ancestral spirits who taught her prayers and songs in the African language, Kikongo. From this spiritual experience Queenie emerged as a full African Kumina Queen. 
Queenie has received many awards from various organizations at home and abroad including awards from L’Acadco and the Jamaica Folk Singers. She has received several gold medals for traditional dances in Jamaica’s Festival events and, in 1983, she received the Order of Distinction for services in the development of African heritage.

Sources:
Lewin, Olive. "Rock It Come Over": The Folk Music of Jamaica with Special Reference to Kumina and the Work of Mrs. Imogene "Queenie" Kennedy. Kingston: University of the West Indies Press, 2000.
"Queenie's Kumina Reborn in Exhibition Now On." The Jamaica Observer. Tuesday, May 21, 2002: p. 8
   

Taken on: November 22, 2018

Tags:

Kennedy, Imogene Dance - Folk - Kumina - Jamaica 'St. Thomas Parish

Jamaica“ Morrison, Keith - photographer

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Sets appears in: • St.Thomas, Jamaica

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