Back-O-Wall

noun BAK-o-WALL bak o wɔːl

Also spelled back-o-wall, back o wall, back a wall

A historic West Kingston shanty settlement — a squatter community of makeshift shacks 'back of the wall' of the May Pen Cemetery — that was an early gathering place for Rastafari and the poor before it was cleared in 1966 and rebuilt as Tivoli Gardens. Back-O-Wall lives on in Rasta and reggae history as a symbol of Babylon's crushing of the sufferers.

  • Rasta did gaddah a Back-O-Wall inna di early days.

    Rastas gathered at Back-O-Wall in the early days.

  • Dem bulldoze Back-O-Wall inna 1966.

    They bulldozed Back-O-Wall in 1966.

  • Back-O-Wall part a di Rasta story.

    Back-O-Wall is part of the Rasta story.

From 'back of the wall' (of May Pen Cemetery); a historic West Kingston shanty and early Rasta site. See [[rasta]], [[dungle]].

Historic West Kingston shanty and early Rasta gathering place, cleared 1966. See [[rasta]], [[trench-town]].