P.A. Benjamin launches 145th anniversary celebration, honours Garvey legacy

P.A. Benjamin Manufacturing Company Limited is this year celebrating its 145th anniversary, and last Friday launched its year-long celebration project.

The company said it intends to commission a series of activities in the upcoming months, geared towards engaging and captivating its customers.

Of its earlier days, company chairman Errol Powell, during his address at the launch event, said, “In the late 19th century, Perceval Austin Benjamin, a true Jamaican visionary, recognised the intrinsic value of our nation’s products and culture. He embarked on a pioneering journey by establishing the Jamaica Healing Oil Factory, now known today as P.A. Benjamin. He introduced the first product, Jamaican Healing Oil, that has stood the test of time and is proudly retailed by P.A. Benjamin to this very day.”

Powell added, “Our journey has not been without challenges, as exemplified by the fire and earthquake that struck both our beloved nation and P.A. Benjamin in 1907.

“True to the spirit of resilience, however, we rose from the ashes and reconstructed a new state-of-the-art factory – a testament to P.A. Benjamin’s unwavering commitment to innovation and progress.”

Continuous evolution

Powell said P.A. Benjamin’s legacy is not merely one of endurance but of continuous evolution. These values, he posited, continue to be evident by the consistent generation of some 15-20 innovative ideas in P.A. Benjamin pipeline, ensuring sustained growth.

In the meantime, Dr Kirt Henry, director of the African Caribbean Institute of Jamaica, who brought remarks on behalf of Olivia Grange, minister of culture, gender, entertainment and sport, in her absence, sought to provide a close assessment of the journey of P.A. Benjamin, whose emergence in 1879 reclaimed and honed some of the cultural practices of Jamaica, which, just 41 years earlier, were threatened by enslavement and racism.

“P.A. Benjamin stepped stridently 145 years ago in the year 1879 – 41 years after full emancipation, 41 years after close to 400 years of enslavement and racist colonial practices, bent on devaluing and undermining the very culture, spirit, and self-worth of the Jamaican people,” Henry shared.

“That a company would not only emerge, but also determine to manufacture products aligned with the history, culture, and pharmaceutical heritage of the Jamaican people is no small achievement.”

The launch event, held at Liberty Hall: The Legacy of Marcus Garvey, celebrated the life of Jamaica’s first national hero and past employee at P.A. Benjamin, National Hero Marcus Garvey, whose impact Mr Powell described as extraordinary.

“The Right Excellent Marcus Garvey, a national hero, worked with us from 1905 to 1909, becoming the first Afro-Jamaican foreman,” Powell shared.

Powell added that Garvey’s penchant for activism was evident and undeniable from his various grassroots encounters while at Benjamin – an ardency that would later become the fuel of his global legacy.

In recognition of the late hero’s contribution to P.A. Benjamin, billboards have been erected on Marcus Garvey Drive, and at the Seaview Avenue and Lady Musgrave Road intersection in Kingston. Framed memorabilia of the billboards were handed over to the Garvey-founded Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), and Liberty Hall: The Legacy of Marcus Garvey’s Museum.

While he was not able to physically attend the occasion, Garvey’s son, Dr Julius Garvey, was represented by Professor Rupert Lewis, who expressed Garvey’s appreciation for the continued recognition and celebration of his father’s legacy.