West Indies Cricket Fans

Nice one, Gils....

Here's another great Jamaican woman:

'Louise Simone Bennett-Coverley or Miss Lou, OM, OJ, MBE (7 September 1919 – 26 July 2006), was a Jamaican poet, folklorist, writer, and educator. Writing and performing her poems in Jamaican Patois or Creole, she worked to preserve the practice of performing poetry and folk songs and stories in patois ("nation language"). She is located at the heart of the Jamaican poetic tradition, and has influenced other popular Caribbean poets, including Linton Kwesi Johnson and Paul Keens-Douglas.'

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Bennett-Coverley" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

'Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican reggae singer, songwriter, musician, and guitarist who achieved international fame and acclaim. Starting out in 1963 with the group The Wailers, he forged a distinctive songwriting and vocal style that would later resonate with audiences worldwide. The Wailers would go on to release some of the earliest reggae records with producer Lee "Scratch" Perry. After the Wailers disbanded in 1974, Marley pursued a solo career upon his relocation to England that culminated in the release of the album Exodus in 1977, which established his worldwide reputation and produced his status as one of the world's best-selling artists of all time, with sales of more than 75 million records. Exodus stayed on the British album charts for fifty-six consecutive weeks. It included four UK hit singles: "Exodus", "Waiting in Vain", "Jamming", and "One Love". In 1978 he released the album Kaya, which included the hit singles "Is This Love" and "Satisfy My Soul". Diagnosed with a type of malignant melanoma in 1977, Marley died on 11 May 1981 in Miami at the age of 36. He was a committed Rastafari who infused his music with a sense of spirituality. He is considered one of the most influential musicians of all time and credited with popularizing reggae music around the world, as well as serving as a symbol of Jamaican culture and identity. Marley has also evolved into a global symbol, which has been endlessly merchandised through a variety of mediums.'

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Marley" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"Outspoken Jamaican politician who always put people first Rose Leon, who has been murdered in her home in Jamaica at the age of 85, was a businesswoman and former politician. Her career spanned colonial and independent Jamaica; outspoken on the hustings, she was a political personality who inspired many women to enter politics. Affectionately known as Madame Leon, she first made her name as a beautician, succeeding in business at a time in Jamaica when very few women were involved in commerce. Her political career began in the late 1940s, when the Jamaica Labour party and the People's National party, which would grow to dominate Jamaican politics, were both in their infancy. Jamaica's first elections under universal adult suffrage had been held in 1944."

http://www.theguardian.com/news/1999/au ... bituaries1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

'The Hon. Herbert Henry "Herb" McKenley OM (July 10, 1922 – November 26, 2007) was a Jamaican sprint runner. He competed at the 1948 and 1952 Olympics in six events in total, and won one gold and three silver medals. Born in Pleasant Valley, Clarendon, Jamaica, Herb McKenley enrolled at the University of Illinois and won the NCAA championships in 220 yd (200 m) and 440 yd (400 m) in 1946 and 1947. He was also the AAU champion in the 440-yard dash in 1945, 1947 and 1948, and was also the head of the list of world best times in 100 m (10.3), 200 m (20.4) and 400 m (46.2) in 1947. He is the only person to ever have achieved this feat. Just before the 1948 London Olympics, McKenley ran the new world record in 440 yd (400 m) of 46.0, a record he broke again a month later, clocking 45.9. But at the Olympics itself, McKenley finished only second in 400 m, behind teammate Arthur Wint and was fourth in 200 m. He probably lost a gold medal in the 4 × 400 m relay when Wint pulled his muscle in the final. He is the only person to have made the final in all three sprinting events, the 100 m, 200 m and 400 m in the Olympics.'

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herb_McKenley" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This is a lesson to Afro that Jamaica's dominance of track sprinting didn't start with Bolt....

'Dutty Boukman (Boukman Dutty) (died November 1791) was a slave in Haiti who was one of the most visible early leaders of the Haitian Revolution. According to some contemporary accounts, Boukman may have conducted a religious ceremony in which a freedom covenant was affirmed; this ceremony would have been a catalyst to the slave uprising that marked the beginning of the Haitian Revolution. Dutty Boukman may have been a self-educated slave perhaps born on the island of Jamaica. Some sources indicate that he was later sold by his British master to a French plantation owner after he attempted to teach other Jamaican slaves to read, who put him to work as a commandeur (slave driver) and, later, a coach driver. His French name came from his English nickname, "Book Man," which some scholars, despite accounts suggesting that he was a Vodou houngan, have interpreted as meaning that he may have been Muslim, since in many Muslim regions the term "man of the book" is a synonym for an adherent of the Islamic faith. One scholar suggests that it is likely that Boukman "was a Jamaican Muslim who had a Quran, and that he got his nickname from this." Other scholars suggest that Boukman may have practiced a syncretic blend of traditional African religion and a form of Christianity.'

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutty_Boukman" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"Jamaica Hope, Jamaica Red, Jamaica Brahman, and Jamaica Black are a few phrases that should come to mind when you hear the name TP Lecky. Born Thomas Lecky in 1904, the brilliant Jamaican scientist revolutionised the Jamaican Dairy Industry through is love for animal husbandry. Dr Lecky spent his childhood days on a small family farm in the hills of Portland. After completing elementary school, he went on to attend the Jamaica School of Agriculture at Hope, where he developed a passion for agricultural science. His academic career later took him to the McGill University and the University of Toronto in Canada. In 1925, Dr Lecky returned to Jamaica to work at Hope where at the time, there was an issue with the cattle -- a mix of early Spanish and British imports from India. They were resistant to the tick fever disease and could pull the weight of the carts, but they were lacking as producers of milk and quality beef. As a result, it was necessary to produce a new breed of cattle that could produce sufficient amounts of milk and a high standard of beef for consumption; in addition to their strength and immunity to the tick fever. This was necessary to support the livelihood of the Jamaican farmer and his family."

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/Thomas-P-Lecky_8044348" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

'Do you remember Isaac Barrant? His appointment as minister of agriculture and lands in 1950 was surely the embodiment of Garvey's message that "people of African descent have a responsibility to define their own place in the world and the realisation that this is possible". Barrant was born in 1907 in Bath, St Thomas. He was forced to leave school early owing to the death of his father. He started his career as a labourer on parochial roads in St Thomas. It was also said that he was a truck sideman, whether true or untrue. He also worked as a linesman on a sugar estate and eventually a banana dealer for the United Fruit Company. With limited education, his only criterion for recognition, according to journalist Vivian Durham, was a profound faith in the common man and a devotion to the cause of helping to lift poor people out of the clutches of their degrading existence; this during the early part of the 20th century. For his trade union militancy, his strength of character, and his humble roots, Bustamante chose him to run for the Eastern St Thomas constituency in 1944 against a background of the pride and prejudices of the reactionaries of the day. His grass roots connection whipped up support for the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union and the Jamaica Labour Party, and he beat the colonial stigma to become a member of the House of Representatives and then, shock after shock across the society, a government minister -- appointed by Bustamante in 1950.'

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/ ... d_19121832" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

'Paul Bogle (1822 – 24 October 1865) was a Jamaican Baptist deacon and is a National Hero of Jamaica. He was a leader of the 1865 Morant Bay Protesters, who agitated for justice and fair treatment for all the people in Jamaica. After leading the Morant Bay rebellion, Bogle was captured and hanged on 24 October 1865 in the Morant Bay Court House by the British authorities. Bogle had become a friend of landowner and politician and fellow Baptist George William Gordon, who was instrumental in Bogle being appointed deacon of Stony Gut Baptist Church in 1864. In August 1865, Gordon attacked the British governor, Edward John Eyre, for sanctioning "everything done by the higher class to the oppression of the negroes". Bogle concentrated his activity on improving the conditions of the poor. As awareness of social injustices and people's grievances grew, Bogle led a group of small farmers 45 miles to Spanish Town where they hoped to discuss their grievances with Governor Eyre, but they were denied an audience. This left the people of Stony Gut with a lack of confidence and trust in the Government, and Bogle’s supporters grew in number.'

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Bogle" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

'As a member of the House of Assembly, Gordon acquired a reputation as a critic of the colonial government, especially Governor Edward John Eyre, in the mid-1860s. He maintained a correspondence with English evangelical critics of colonial policy. He also established his own Native Baptist church, where Paul Bogle was a deacon. Unbeknownst to all at the time of the events, in May 1865 Gordon had attempted to purchase an ex-Confederate schooner with a view to ferrying arms and ammunition from the United States of America. In October 1865, following the Morant Bay Rebellion led by Bogle, Gordon was taken from Kingston, where martial law was not in force, to Morant Bay, where it was. He was tried for high treason by court martial, without due process of law, sentenced to death and executed on 23 October. Gordon's death and the brutality of Eyre's suppression of the revolt made the affair a cause célèbre in Britain. John Stuart Mill and other liberals sought unsuccessfully to have Eyre (and others) prosecuted, and when those attempts failed, to bring civil proceedings against him.'

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_William_Gordon" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The 70 honorable ancestors who, on 21st August 1861, took the 1st opportunity available to return home and set sail headed for Sierra Leone.

I also make extra special recognition of the 26 male & 18 female kidnap victims who also boarded the Clarendon on its way to the West coast of Africa but were simply recorded on the ships log as being - carried over.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/cari ... script.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;"

Many of the names on the list are still in use in Jamaica today, how many can you recognise ?.