Montague to table motion to declare Chief Takyi a national hero
Activist sees declaration as platform for further development in St Mary
Published:Monday | April 10, 2023 | 12:55 AMAsha Wilks/Gleaner Writer
After years of calls for Chief Takyi (also known as Tacky) to be declared a national hero, St Mary Western Member of Parliament Robert Montague has hinted that such a change in status might soon be a reality.
Speaking at a civic ceremony to mark the second observance of National Chief Takyi Day in Port Maria, St Mary, on Saturday, Montague said the proposal could soon make its way to Gordon House.
“I am in the final touches of bringing a private member’s motion to the floor of Parliament, asking that Takyi be declared a national hero,” he told the gathering.
Montague said that the initial resolution was drafted in 2016, after he, Senate President Thomas Tavares-Finson and Cultural Minister Olivia Grange took to Parliament a resolution asking for the National Hero Marcus Garvey’s criminal record to be expunged.
Montague pointed out that now was a more suitable time to get things off the ground as previously, the time “was not right”.
“But Black X and his walking has brought a new level of consciousness in St Mary and it has to start at home. If St Mary persons are not behind it, [then] it don’t make no sense, and Black X’s contribution cannot be devalued and it cannot be praised enough that a simple St Mary man, just like Takyi, rose up to change the course of time,” he said.
Derrick ‘Black X’ Robinson is a local advocate famed for his annual marches in which he walks for several miles barefooted and occasionally in chains while advocating for hero status for Chief Takyi.
He told The Gleaner on Saturday that after 17 years of advocacy, the occasion was “really touching”.
“St Mary people want Takyi to be a national hero,” he said, adding that such a declaration would not only put St Mary on the global map but would also help to get the parish’s need for development highlighted.
“It’s not about making him a national hero and that’s it. It’s a platform for the vision of further [rapid] development for St Mary,” he said.
Chief Takyi led the 1760 Easter Rebellion in Port Maria, which was a revolutionary anti-slavery insurgency that proved to be the catalyst for Emancipation 74 years later.
Takyi, who was an African man from the Fante ethnic group in Ghana who was enslaved on the Frontier Plantation in St Mary, organised a war now known as Takyi’s War, in which he led 400 enslaved warriors to confront the British military in the Battle of Rocky Valley, with the goal of taking control of the island and making it a free and independent nation. He was later betrayed and shot by the British.
During her remarks, Grange announced that during next year’s commemoration of National Takyi Day, a bust would be unveiled in remembrance of his fierce resolve to never accept his enslavement and for fighting daily against injustice and oppression.
“Let us resolve to take on the spirit of Takyi in our daily lives, in our homes, in our communities, and in our schools. Like Chief Takyi, let us stand up for justice, brotherhood and peace, and work diligently and creatively, think generously and honestly and reject violence in all its forms, demonstrate respect for all, and always strive to do what is right,” she said.
STILL INSPIRING J’CANS
Omar Newell, former president of the People’s National Party’s youth affiliates group, The Patriots, who brought remarks in the absence of St Mary Central Member of Parliament Dr Morais Guy, stated that Takyi’s bravery, determination and unwavering belief in the fight for freedom continue to inspire Jamaicans today.
“In a time when you never had cell phone coverage, yet alone to be able to bawl say the signal breaking up, Takyi was able to organise a rebellion that spread across the entire Jamaica ... . To me, that speaks to a giant of a man,” Newell said.
One of Takyi’s most important lessons, according to Newell, is that “everything starts with a vision”.
“And so, when I reflect on areas of my life, whether growing up as a young boy in Islington and then Highgate, growing up poor, I had my Takyi moment when I decided to leave and pursue tertiary studies and try to reach my economic independence ... , where I dreamt that I could be a change in family and I could inspire some change in my family, in a small way, but drawing on the legacy of Takyi,” he said.
Newell encouraged Jamaicans to honour Takyi not only through words, but also through action, by committing to live a life of excellence and to exceed the expectations that society has of them.