Meaning
A poor, downtrodden person who bears the daily hardship of ghetto life — one of the 'sufferers'. Far from a put-down, in Rastafari and reggae the suffera is spoken of with dignity and solidarity: the struggling masses whose 'sufferation' the music voices and whose upliftment it demands.
Examples
-
Di music speak fi di suffera dem.
The music speaks for the sufferers.
-
Him neva forget di suffera pon di street.
He never forgot the poor people on the street.
-
A suffera me a, but me nuh beg.
I'm a struggling man, but I don't beg.
-
Di music speak fi di sufferer dem.
The music speaks for the poor and struggling.
-
Him a sufferer, a scrape by from day to day.
He's a poor man, scraping by day to day.
Origin
From 'sufferer' (one who suffers) plus the Patois '-a' ending; a keyword of Rastafari and roots-reggae solidarity with the poor. See Sufferation.
How it’s used
The downtrodden poor, spoken of with dignity in reggae. See Sufferation, Ghetto, Downpression.