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Under the theme “One Love, One People, One Heritage,” Jamaicans celebrated their Heritage Week from October 14 to 21. It's an annual observance that precedes National Heroes Day, where numerous celebratory events — culminating with the National Honours and Awards Ceremony — centre around the lives and legacy of the island’s seven National Heroes.
Speaking from Morant Bay in eastern Jamaica, where National Hero Paul Bogle led a rebellion in 1865, Prime Minister Andrew Holness’ message stressed the need to build on the legacy of Jamaica’s forebears. Soon afterwards, he took to social media to make the announcement that Jamaican poet and cultural activist Louise Bennett-Coverley, and revered reggae musician Bob Marley would be the first recipients of a new national honour:
This Heroes Day, I am pleased to announce the government’s plans to introduce a new national honour, the “Order of National Icon.” Once the legal process is complete, this honour will be conferred on the Honourable Louise Bennett-Coverley (“Miss Lou”) and the Honourable Robert… pic.twitter.com/GpOoahlAKe
— Andrew Holness (@AndrewHolnessJM) October 21, 2024
The “Order of National Icon,” Holness noted, was a “most well-deserved and long overdue recognition of Marley and Bennett Coverley's legendary contributions” to Jamaica’s cultural heritage. He described them as “towering figures” with an “immeasurable” global impact.
In an interview at the premiere of the Marley biopic “One Love” in January, the prime minister had noted the long-running public discussion about making Marley a national hero, hinting: “The conversation has so far evolved to have a category that identifies iconic personalities — people who have added great value to our country — so there may be a designation.”
Opposition leader Mark Golding held a different view. In his National Heroes Day message, Golding advocated for Marley to be named a national hero:
I continue to call for Robert Nesta Marley, who more than any other has made our music an inspirational force of liberation, justice and equality for all the peoples of the world, to be recognised as the National Hero he is. His greatness is embraced in all corners of the earth. He gave us the enduring power of One Love, which is drawn on by the theme of National Heroes Day 2024. Time come for his status as a Hero to be formalised here at home.
The concept of another national honour was first raised in 2007 when then Prime Minister Bruce Golding (who had himself refused the Order of the Nation award automatically awarded to prime ministers) appointed a committee to review the system of national honours and awards. The committee, chaired by the late cultural powerhouse Professor Rex Nettleford,recommended a new honour, the “Order of Jamaican Heritage,” suggesting Marley and Bennett-Coverley as examples of “individuals who made significant contributions to Jamaica's heritage over an extended period of time.”
A subsequent sessional committee of Parliament, appointed by a new political administration in 2008, “strongly recommended that, as far as possible, individuals must be awarded or honoured during their lifetime once they meet the relevant criteria.” Despite these deliberations, no action was taken until Culture Minister Olivia Grange noted, in 2019, that she would be reviewing the Rex Nettleford Committee report.
In 2021, Opposition senator Floyd Morris presented a motion for four new national heroes to be announced for the island's 60th anniversary the following year — Bob Marley, Louise Bennett-Coverley, Usain Bolt, and Jimmy Cliff. This took place just a few weeks after singing sensation Rihanna had been made a national hero in Barbados on the occasion of the island becoming a republic.
Now that the “National Icon” process is in train, however, many academic and cultural commentators are not sold on the idea. Influential Garvey scholar and professor emeritus at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Rupert Lewis, asserted that both Marley and Bennett-Coverley should be National Heroes since the basis of Jamaican cultural identity “has been the contribution from the grassroots like Bob Marley through the establishment [of] a global presence.” He went on to suggest that if the prime minister was “seeking a compromise … this is not a compromise that is acceptable.”
Meanwhile, popular storyteller Amina Blackwood Meeks observed that both Marley and Bennett-Coverley are already icons and wondered what contemporary Jamaicans understood by the term “national hero,” a question that came up during several media conversations.
Professor Emerita in History and Gender Studies Verene Shepherd, who also chairs the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, was terse in her commentary:
Why not National Hero status for both Ms. Lou and Bob Marley? Why National Icons? Are there not other forms of decolonization apart from fighting for freedom from chattel enslavement and for independence? What more should they have done?
— Verene A. Shepherd (@VereneAShep) October 22, 2024
University lecturer and women's activist Opal Palmer Adisa stressed:
It's an important step but it is not the step. We need to look at and review who are our national heroes, what is the criteria and do Bob Marley and Louise Bennett qualify. Well, I am unequivocally affirming that they do qualify for national heroes because yes, we have cultural icons who inspire us and who spread our cultures. A national hero does more, and I think both Louise Bennett and Bob Marley have done more…They not only inspire, they empower, which I think is an important thing.
In a radio interview, lecturer in Reggae Studies at the University of the West Indies, Dr. Dennis Howard, called the new national honour “absolutely ridiculous.” He suggested that while “Miss Lou” has been misrepresented as an entertainer, she was much more — “anti-colonial, in a sense” — not to mention, a scholar, researcher and the first Black person to attend the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.
In the same interview, Director of the Jamaica Music Museum Herbie Miller asserted that Bob Marley was as courageous as any hero, risking his life in a highly volatile political atmosphere. Two days after he was shot and injured in a failed assassination attempt in 1976, he performed at the Smile Jamaica concert. Returning from self-imposed exile in London in 1978, Marley went on to organise and headline the historic “One Love” peace concert in Kingston in 1978, where he brought political opponents Michael Manley and Edward Seaga on stage to join hands in a gesture of unity. “His music goes beyond sheer entertainment,” observed Miller, noting that to this day, people around the world view Marley as a beacon for human rights.
While concerns abound that the decision was made without adequate public consultation, Jamaicans remain somewhat divided on the issue. A local opinion poll conducted in 2022 on whether the two should be named national heroes was quite evenly split, with about one-third of Jamaicans in favour of national hero status for both Marley and Bennett-Coverley equally.
Broadcaster Dionne Jackson Miller, who conducted the interview with Dr. Howard, asked listeners for their views. Comments on X (formerly Twitter) poured in, with some fully supporting the national icon concept:
National Icon. This is a brilliant idea, especially considering the meaning of each (hero & icon). Hero is more associated with outstanding courage & bravery, while an icon is recognized for his/her contribution or exceptional work/achievement in a particular sphere/area of note.
— Collette Smith, PhD (@DrCJASmith) October 23, 2024
One commenter wondered about the difference between a hero and an icon:
Wow sounds like a dis. Giving an award for being popular not an award for bringing upliftment to the people? What is the difference between being a hero and being an icon? Let’s speak to that.
— virginia burke (@giaburke) October 23, 2024
Many social media users felt that both Marley and Miss Lou, as anti-colonial champions of Jamaica's independence, qualified as national heroes:
No issue with the category. Just not for Miss Lou & Bob Marley. Both contributed immeasurably to awakening the consciousness of the masses causing a deeper belief in self & self-determination at a time when it wasn’t favoured by the ruling class. National Hero is more fitting.
— Trevino Young (@tafyou) October 24, 2024
In response to whether or not the designation of “national icon” was a hasty decision, Minister Dana Morris Dixon insisted that it was “well thought out,” while commentator Kevin O'Brien Chang tweeted a 2020 opinion poll:
In 2020 Don Anderson poll
82% wanted Miss Lou & Bob Marley as National Icons
Don called it
‘almost universal approval’.
Time come for media & politicians & public figures to listen to the people
And not try to push personal opinions on Jamaicans against our wishes. https://t.co/NEdXIzJLGI pic.twitter.com/XcmzJRBf0t
— kevin o'brien chang (@kevinobriencha1) October 21, 2024
Perhaps when all is said and done, Jamaicans’ opinions on the matter have not changed much. Was the inauguration of a national icon honour well-intentioned but short of the mark? Don't qualities like courage, risk and sacrifice come in different forms in these modern times? One thing is for sure: the question of “What makes a hero?” is still up for debate.
