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THE WEEKLY GLEANER | DECEMBER 13 - DECEMBER 19, 2021 | www.jamaica-gleaner.com | NEWS 12 Allan’s Pastry Shop Ltd. Great Taste Sensations! Merry Christmas 3447 Kennedy Rd., Unit 3,Scarborough, ON M1V 3S1 (416) 292-3909 3056 Don Mills Rd., Peanut Plaza, Willowdale, ON M2J 3C1 (416) 494-5438 THE W EKLY GLEAN R | DECEMBER 13, 2021 - JANUARY 2 2 THE UNITED Kingdom’s only or- ganisation that installs plaques to celebrate black history icons will be taking their initiative abroad for the very first time. The Nubian Jak Community Trust (NJCT) will put up two plaques in the United States to celebrate the lives of Marcus Mosiah Garvey and Martin Luther King, Jr in January. The NJCT has so far installed over 60 plaques in Britain to commemorate the lives of black and minority ethnic his- torical icons, but the founder believes that now is the time to go global. Speaking to The Voice , Jak Beula, NJCT founder, said: “I’m going to be honouring Martin Luther King with a plaque that cristalises his first foray into activism. “Everyone knows Martin Luther King, but they don’t know the actual story of his beginnings.” The plaque to the civil rights icon will be unveiled on January 17 as part of annual celebrations for Martin Luther King Day and will be Nubain Jak’s first plaque installation in the US. Five days later, he will be heading to Pennsylvania to unveil a plaque to the Pan-Africanist leader Marcus Mosiah Garvey, who he says is “a secret in the United States – they don’t talk about him”. He added: “We will be putting up a black and gold plaque, not a blue one – Marcus gets a special plaque – on the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) headquarters in Philadelphia.” The father of three, who is originally from Ladbroke grove, west London, says the Jamaican cultural icon will be given a distinctive plaque to symbolise his status as the“founding father”of the Pan-Africanist movement. “Marcus Garvey should be known all over America, and I don’t understand why so many don’t know who he was and what he achieved,” he added. His plaque will be installed at the Philadelphia branch of the UNIA, which is still standing today and is now the organisation’s international headquarters. It is also the organisation’s oldest re- maining building in the United States. The NJCT is a registered charity that is responsible for managing Britain’s only national diverse plaque and sculp- ture scheme. He told The Voice , the first plaque he installed was for Reggae legend Bob Marley in October 2006, which is located at 34 Ridgmount Gardens, in Camden, London – which was the first UK home for the Jamaican music superstar in 1972. - Reprinted from The Voice Marcus Garvey and MLK get Jak plaques Marcus Garvey CONTRIBUTED Karyl Walker/Gleaner Writer FLORIDA: T HE LEGACY of the matriarch of Jamaican culture, Louise Bennett-Coverley, affection- ately called ‘Miss Lou’, is being car- ried on in no small way by a group of Jamaicans based in the city of Miramar in South Florida. Inspired by Bennett-Coverley’s exten- sive body of work, a group of Jamaican nationals formed a non-profit organ- isation in February 2007 – the Louise Bennett-Coverley Heritage Council – after her passing. Now14 years later, the council has embarked on charitable ven- tures aimed at spreading and keeping alive Jamaican culture and vernacular. Council president, Colin Smith, says work on keepingMiss Lou’s legacy alive and kicking has been unceasing. “Miss Lou was a pioneer, a forerun- ner. The council was set up to honour her works and vision and give younger Jamaicanswho share that visiona chance to express it to the world. She was our first dubpoet anduseddubpoetry from the 1940s. She was the first to record Jamaicanmusic,”Smith told TheGleaner . Now, the council has been actively funding scholarships exclusively to stu- dents from the Louise Bennett All Age School in Gordon Town, St Andrew, to matriculate to her almamater Excelsior High School. Miss Lou resided in Gordon Town while she lived in Jamaica, and a statue has been erected in the town square in her honour. The council has so far offered 35 Louise Bennett scholarships to students to attend the Edna Manley College and a college in Broward County, Florida, which is home to perhaps the largest population of Jamaicans in the dias- pora. The council has also donated tab- lets and other educational supplies to needy students in Jamaica. CONTINUING LEGACY “These scholarships will ensure that the works and legacy of Miss Lou are firmly ingrained in the psyche of the recipients, who we know will go for- ward with the vision of exposing the positive effects of the Jamaican culture, language and expressions,”Smith said. In addition to its contribution to edu- cation, the Heritage Council also hosts the Louise Bennett-Coverley Poetry Reading festival in Broward County, Florida, as part of Black History Month celebrations in the US. “Many people do not know that Miss Lou was a Garveyite who performed poetry and gave speeches at Liberty Hall inHarlem. Shewas very big on black culture and empowerment,”he said. The council is also dedicated to providing “‘edutainment’ – education through cultural entertainment” as a way of giving back to the next gener- ation, Smith said. As part of that drive, the council has invited the iconic group, the National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica (NDTC), to perform at ven- ues in the US, as part of Jamaica’s 60th year Independence celebrations. “We are committed to the works of Miss Lou and ensuring that the younger generation of Jamaicans and their chil- dren are aware of themajor impact Miss Lou had on culture, and to be proud of their Jamaican heritage,” Smith said. “Part of Miss Lou’s heritage was to encourage people to use Patois as a means of communication,” he said. The Honourable Louise Bennett- CoverleywasbornonSeptember 7, 1919. She died on July 26, 2006. She was con- ferred with the Order of Jamaica in 1974 anddeclaredambassador-at-largeduring Independence Day celebrations in 2006. ‘Miss Lou’s legacy alive in Miramar