Donna P. Hope

Chicken Back Gravy and Such Delights is an attractive and highly inspiring, motivational book written from a Jamaican-Caribbean perspective by well-known academic and author, Professor Donna P. Hope. Speaking with the voice of a poor, black woman from Jamaica's rural working classes Chicken Back Gravy uses a series of autobiographical stories that span her multi-faceted life from early childhood to adulthood, to drive the eight (8) Life Lessons that are delivered with raw frankness, and seasoned with discussions that are at some points funny and at others full of pain. In looking back at the depths from which she has climbed, Professor Hope provides readers with hope, inspries them to be brave, and challenges them to frankly assess their individual life-situations and plot their way to success, with clarity and a keen focus. This first volume in Professor Hope's Chicken Back Gravy Series is a must-read for anyone who desires hard-hitting and easily accessible material that cuts directly to the core.

This work provides an accessible account of a poorly understood aspect of Jamaican popular culture. It explores the socio-political meanings of Jamaica’s dancehall culture. In particular, the book gives an account of the power relations within the dancehall and between the dancehall and the wider Jamaican society. Hope gives the reader an unmatched insider’s view and explanation of power, violence and gender relations in Jamaica as seen through the prism of the dancehall.