St Ann municipality taking Garvey legacy seriously

MICHAEL BELNAVIS, mayor of St Ann’s Bay, Garvey’s birthplace, hailed the national hero, noting the impact he had on the world.

“When we look at Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr, and the influence Garvey has had on these people, who are national and international icons, it shows us the impact that he has made worldwide,” Belnavis said.

He also agreed that not enough was being done in Jamaica to honour Garvey but said that his municipality was taking Garvey’s legacy seriously.

“No, we’re not doing enough. The home site is an issue to be sorted out. But the fact that he’s a national hero, his legacy will always be here, and we, as a municipality, have to embrace him because he’s right here, his home site is just minutes from here, so it is something that we’re taking very seriously. His legacy will live on.”

On Saturday, the Civic Affairs and Community Relations Committee of the St Ann Municipal Corporation held its annual civic ceremony to honour Garvey, this year being the 132nd anniversary of his birth and the 50th anniversary of him being proclaimed Jamaica’s first national hero.

Floral tributes were laid at the foot of Garvey’s statue at Lawrence Park in St Ann’s Bay by justice of the peace Pixley Irons, who represented the custos, Norma Walters; Belnavis; and councillor for the Beecher Town division Ian Bell, who represented Lisa Hanna, member of parliament for South East St Ann.

Garvey was born on August 17, 1887, in St Ann’s Bay. He was a political activist, publisher, journalist, entrepreneur and orator who influenced black people across the world. He died in June 1940 in England, and his remains were returned to Jamaica in 1964 and buried at National Heroes Park in Kingston. Five years later, in 1969, he was proclaimed national hero of Jamaica, the first person to be so honoured.