Golding renews calls for Bob Marley, Miss Lou to be made National Heroes

 

Opposition Leader Mark Golding has reiterated his call for the widening of the list of National Heroes to include two of the country's most celebrated cultural icons. 

 

In his at National Heroes' Day message, Mr. Golding said, as the country celebrates the heroes who transformed struggle into triumph and dreams into nationhood, Robert Nesta Marley and Louise Bennett-Coverley deserve higher recognition.

 

"I continue to advocate for the expansion of this list of heroic Jamaicans by the addition of Robert Nesta Marley - whose music and message have internationalised Jamaica's culture and brand and provide inspiration to people struggling against oppression across the world - and Louise Bennett-Coverley, 'Miss Lou', whose poetry and performances in the Jamaican language have provided self affirmation of who we are as a people and uplifted our national confidence and consciousness," he noted.

 

Marley and Bennett-Coverley have both received Jamaica's third highest national honour, the Order of Merit. 

 

In 2024, they were announced as the first recipients of the new, yet to be legally established, Order of National Icon.

 

Meanwhile, Mr. Golding also lamented the recent spate of deaths in the country. 

 

"As we celebrate the greatness of our heroes, we must also recognise the recent tragic loss of lives through violence and suicide. In the face of these challenges, let us choose empathy over anger, unity over division and hope over despair," he urged.