Students getting exposed to Miss Lou’s life, works at St James Parish Library
Published:Tuesday | September 10, 2024 | 12:08 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Students from several schools across St James were given a chance to learn more about the life and work of Jamaica’s cultural icon, Dr the Honourable Louise ‘Miss Lou’ Bennett Coverley, thanks to Monday’s unveiling of the Miss Lou Exhibition 2024 at the St James Parish Library, in Montego Bay.
The exhibition, which will run until September 30, is providing the students with an opportunity to examine a display area filled with storyboard trivia and looping audio-visual information about the internationally recognised folklorist, poet, and educator.
Some of the students participated in poetry-writing activities and also watched as their peers presented renditions of some of Miss Lou’s most well-known works such as, ‘No Lickle Twang’ and ‘Dutty Tuff’.
Zoe Smith, a grade-11 student of the Spot Valley High School, was happy to get the chance to learn how Miss Lou helped in the development of Jamaican culture.
“It is my first time coming to this kind of exhibition, and I feel so excited to learn new things, and to honour Louise Bennett, and to learn more about her and how she has contributed to our culture. More students should have this exposure, because it is awesome and you get to learn new things, things that you did not know or that you knew but did not understand,” Smith told The Gleaner.
Hayleigh Dixon, a grade-five student of the Barracks Road Primary School, was equally excited that she and her schoolmates got to learn about Miss Lou, who was born on September 7, 1919 and passed away on July 26, 2006.
“This exhibition was definitely a memorable journey of our past and about what is to come, to remember about the things that have happened and to know that our culture is being remembered by all of us today. Who would not want to know about their culture, especially Miss Lou’s beauty and talent? It is good to learn about your culture,” said Dixon.
The exhibition is part of a series of activities being held across Jamaica by the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) to celebrate the 105th anniversary of Miss Lou’s birth. Similar exhibitions are being held at other parish libraries.
Miss Lou, who is buried at National Heroes Park, is highly revered for her work in promoting Jamaican patois as a unique language both locally and overseas.
Collel Blake, parish manager of the JCDC’s St James parish office, said the exhibition will help to keep Miss Lou’s legacy alive.
“We know that patois is a huge part of what makes us Jamaican, a huge part of our ‘Jamaicanness’. We speak patois more than we speak English, and Miss Lou is the one who championed the cause,” said Blake. “When visitors come here, it is what they try to do first, to speak the language, and we have Miss Lou to thank for all that. Every year around her birthday we celebrate her life and works to keep it alive and for persons to understand the history of patois, and the person who championed that cause.”