Garvey Institute awards first scholarship
Published:Tuesday | August 25, 2020 | 12:00 AMShereita Grizzle/Staff Reporter
Recently appointed CEO of the Garvey Institute for Human Development, Michael Dawson, says the organisation has set up a scholarship fund for the daughter of Dale and Sherine Virgo to assist with back-to-school efforts. The Virgos story captured local and international attention earlier this month when the Supreme Court ruled that Kensington Primary School did not violate their child’s constitutional rights by refusing her entry because of her dreadlocked hair. The entertainment industry expressed outrage following the court’s ruling, causing many to reach out to the Virgos to lend their support. Dawson was one such person. He told The Gleaner that when he first heard the Virgos story, it resonated with him so much, he knew he had to do something to assist the family.
“We identified with what this little girl was going through. I am a businessman and I market a spring water that has the Africa map on it, called Strictly Roots Spring Water, and we were told by a lot of the store that even though it was Blue Mountain water and thing they can’t push the product unless we remove the African symbol from it. Maybe they don’t want to identify Africa with anything clean, I don’t know, but when I heard the little girl’s story and that she was told to cut her hair before being admitted to school, the synergy was there,” he said. “We were determined that just as we refused to remove our symbols from our water, she wouldn’t have to cut her hair to go to school. After discussing with Marcus Garvey’s son, it was a natural thing for us.”
Dawson said although Virgo’s daughter will be the first recipient of the scholarship, the fund was something he and his team wanted to start long before her story came to his attention. He expressed that when he was appointed CEO of the Garvey Institute for Human Development, he started putting plans in place to start the scholarship programme he said would be geared towards students who were being unjustly treated by the system. “Our scholarship programme wasn’t supposed to start until October but we just had to push it forward to assist this child. Based on our mandate at the Garvey Institute and my personal beliefs as a businessman, this is exactly the type of stuff we stand for, the type of persons we want to help. Last year when the UWI law students had lost their sponsorship for supporting dancehall during their Mr and Ms UWI thing, we came up and gave both winners scholarships to assist them. Our company identifies with the marginalised, and that’s why we set up the Strictly Roots Garvey Institute scholarship.”
“Everything was all too coincidental for us to ignore. It was almost like the ancestors spoke to us,” Dawson continued. “The incident happened exactly 100 years since Marcus Garvey had his biggest conference in Madison Square Gardens about African pride. This had to happen. The funds were handed over to the Virgos on Marcus Garvey’s birthday.”
FULL RIDE
Dawson said the scholarship is renewable as the organisation wants to see the Virgos daughter through all stages of the formal education system. “The scholarship covers tuition, books and other school supplies and it’s renewable under certain terms. We want to follow it up and support her throughout all stages of the education system,” he said, indicating that her parents are very grateful. “They didn’t come knocking or begging. We approached them because we saw this little girl’s fight as our fight. This wasn’t something they (her parents) envisioned, and I think they were a little surprised but they were grateful and accepted the assistance.” In addition to the scholarship their daughter received, Dawson revealed that another fund will be set up in her name to assist children who find themselves in situations similar to hers. “We have set up another scholarship in her name for anybody who for some reason we feel is unjust, can’t get to go to school. Through this scholarship, this little girl will now be a figure that rights the wrongs done by society.”
In a statement sent to The Gleaner, the Virgos expressed gratitude to the Garvey Institute for Human Development and Strictly Roots Spring Water for affording them the ability to change schools for their daughter. They pledged to continue the fight against hair discrimination and discrimination against black identity.