A 7 year old girl and her parents were told by the Supreme Court of Jamaica that her rights were not being breached when she was denied access to Kensington Primary School in Portmore for her locs. This ruling sets a national precedent that can allow schools to bar students from coming in if they have locs as well. The mere cultural hypocrisy, anti blackness and white colonialist mentality that oozes from the decision in this case is abhorrent. For too long, our identity, anatomy and characteristics have been deemed as "untidy, "unprofessional", "inappropriate" and "unsuitable" for public and private spaces, while the characteristics of non-black people are considered just fine, even if our very same features are present within their characteristics. It is decisions like these made by our so called "leaders" in power that allow white supremacy to thrive even in black nations like ours.

Jamaica, the land that birthed Bob Marley, gave rise to Rastafari and help put Jamaica on the map has historically persecuted these very same people to near extinction; but now today, that very same culture and its identity is used to advertise and promote this country's tourism. It has been commodified through merchandise and other products for ages now after Rastafarians took their message of pan-africanism, spirituality and blackness to the world, but yet, in 2020, a little black girl can't even wear her natural hair to school without being sent home.

To be black does not mean you are awarded with the right to be human. To be black, in the scope of white supremacist and white colonial thinking is merely an aesthetic, an accessory, a vibe that is for sale, an idea that you all are so willing capitalize and reproduce for everyone else in the world to consume and enjoy. Expect us....

I am sitting here writing this petition on our Emancipation Day, feeling like it's still 1834. Since the Supreme Court said that the little girls constitutional rights were not breached, clearly there is something lacking in it that gave way for this to happen. With that being said, we are asking with this petition for the ruling of the high court to be over turned and for the constitution to be reviewed and amended if necessary so we never have to contemplate our own identity on another Emancipation Day ever again.