Minister Grange Commends Louise Bennett Coverley Festival Committee

The Louise Bennett Coverley Festival Committee has been commended for promoting the life and work of cultural icon, Dr. the Hon. Louise Bennett Coverley, affectionately called “Miss Lou”.

The praise came from Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Hon. Olivia Grange, during a birthday celebration on September 7 in honour of Miss Lou.

The event, organised by the Committee in collaboration with Excelsior High School and the Excelsior Community College School of the Performing Arts in Kingston, was held in the tertiary institution’s lecture theatre.

Miss Lou, who was born on September 7, 1919, died on July 26, 2006, in Canada. She was buried at National Heroes Park, in a section reserved for cultural icons.

In a speech read by cultural expert, Sydney Bartley, Minister Grange lauded Committee Chair, Professor Opal Palmer Adisa; Acting Head of Excelsior’s School of the Performing Arts, Kenny Salmon, and other members for the “excellent work they continue to do in celebration of Miss Lou”.

She noted the Committee’s dedication to praising a cultural icon who deserves to be celebrated and reflected on.

“It is, indeed, an endearing moment and an act of sheer devotion and love that a nation should still, 105 years and four generations after the birth of any individual, pause and reflect and celebrate that individual as one of iconic proportion, anchored in the individual’s continued influence on the society,” Ms. Grange said.

The Minister pointed out that the real measure of the value of any individual is the space that his/her absence creates.

“Today, there still is, in Jamaican culture and ethos, a space of monumental proportion dedicated to the Honourable Miss Lou,” she stated.

Ms. Grange highlighted Miss Lou’s commitment to and love for the ordinary Jamaican people and the language referred to as patois or the dialect.

She said the patois language contained a whole world view with proverbs, sayings and musings that assisted the people to live above the foray of discrimination and outright rejection on the part of those who ruled and decided the pathways to mobility within the society.

Miss Lou, who is a graduate of Excelsior High School and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, England, showcased Jamaica’s culture and language to the world.

For her work and contribution to Jamaican literature, language and culture, Miss Lou was awarded the Order of Merit (OM) and the Order of Jamaica (OJ) by the Government of Jamaica and was made a Member of the British Empire (MBE).