"One UWI, One Alumni Family" 

Rose Spencer Gibbs, Ph.D., has published her first book, Island of Plantations: A Jamaican Reflection. She is currently an independent researcher and writer and lives in Markham, Ontario, Canada. 

In this captivating memoir, family history and historical reflection, Rose Spencer Gibbs takes a step back into the history of Jamaican villages and towns that are a part of her family’s past. This is more than a memoir, as the book uses historical material to envisage the lived experience of Black Jamaicans like her ancestors. The link between contemporary Jamaica and the legacy of slavery is the underlying thesis. The author shares with us the realization that the legacy of slavery runs deep through every nook and cranny of Jamaica, literally through all the spaces and the most loved institutions. 

This book gives us an insight into the colonial period on the island from a personal perspective. The author describes her coming of age during the sixties with its emerging sense of hope, self-confidence and limitless possibility. The author tries to answer the questions: What was here before us? How does the experience of slavery affect our lives now? The question of identity and the need to understand who we are and where we come from resonate throughout the book. Rose Spencer Gibbs connects her experience in Jamaica with her work with high school students from minority groups in Ontario, Canada. 

Available from Amazon. See link below. 

Island of Plantations