My thoughts on…Miss Lou’s legacy

August 15th 2006 -

Louise “Miss Lou” Bennett-Coverley was buried last week at National Heroes park. Her funeral had all the pomp and ceremony that would usually accompany a statesman’s. Scores of people attended to pay their respects to the cultural icon, despite the rainy weather. People are saying that she should be made a National Hero. I disagree. Though she has done a lot for Jamaican culture, national heroes are mainly those that aid in the struggle for independence, and she does not fall into that category. Now that she has been laid to rest, I am left to contemplate what will happen to her legacy. Her children’s show “Ring Ding” was not preserved by JBC, robbing future generations of an important piece of their culture. And I can’t tell when last I saw a children’s textbook with a Miss Lou poem in it. In the days after her death, TV and radio were airing selected pieces of her work. But as life returns to normal, they have all vanished.

I was confronted by a lady the other day about my “Jamaicaness.” Since I speak mostly proper English, she assumed that I was ashamed of my native patois and was rejecting my culture. I corrected her, saying that though I am well acquainted with the Queen’s English, mi can still chat patois, and I am not ashamed of my heritage. In fact, I am very proud of the impact our small island has made on the world. I simply choose to speak English. Once that was clear, we both shared our dismay at the “cable culture” our people have embraced. Walking around with their tattoos, goth cuffs, excessive bling and exposed buttcracks, today Jamaicans look like wannabe Americans. The same is true on the inside, as they are extremely foreign minded and have internalized American norms and values. Cable television seems to have destroyed most of what Miss Lou has built, and we seem to have returned to the same linguistic snobbery that she tried so hard to eradicate. And now her works are left to gather dust in a vault somewhere, laid to rest like the woman herself. Shame.

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6 Responses on “My thoughts on…Miss Lou’s legacy”

Abeni Says:
August 15th, 2006 at 6:46 pm
That’s the way it is now-cable has shaped most of our values.On another note the first poem I learnt in secondary school was one hers and I still remember it
Melody Says:
August 15th, 2006 at 8:14 pm
Blog it nuh, Kami–pretty please:). Leon, to me, Miss Lou is a heroine–in that de most difficult battles are often de ‘invisible’ ones. She made serious progress (for us as a people) in her time; J.A. might’ve retrogressed far more markedly had it not been for her work.
Leon Says:
August 15th, 2006 at 8:43 pm
True Melody. If only we could have remained at the height of cultural pride that she carried us to. Maybe then the country would be better off.
Stunner Says:
August 16th, 2006 at 12:38 am
Miss lou did have a part in shaping our culture and some of that contribution is still present. It’s true, however, that most jamaicans seem to be embracing the North americal culture and choosing it over our own. It’s all in the packaging, we need to make our culture seem more attractive to us…it’s attractive to the world!
Scratchie Says:
August 16th, 2006 at 3:35 pm
I will agree to a point. reality though is that if we choose to embrace a particular lifestyle then there is going to be cultural dilution. We trade, travel and aspire towards the US market and we watch their television. What I will ask is “Are we ready for the alternative?” It goes far beyond just tv…we need to look at advertising, internet, products, education, books……
Ricardo Says:
August 23rd, 2006 at 5:50 pm
I’m not familiar with this woman’s work but it sounds like she made an impact. I’d love to see some of it. I too have been ridiculed by my cultural peers for speaking proper English as well. It has nothing to do with shame however and I don’t know why people think that. I was very close friends with 2 women from Jamaica in college. They would speak that way once in a while but preferred the Queens English also. We also found out that my native island of Puerto Rico and theirs of Jamaica shared many of the same foods. This is a good thing Leon. You can’t beat the Islands when it comes to food.