Caribbean American Heritage Month Celebration

Great Minds Are Made in the Caribbean Part II:
A Conversation with Distinguished Thought Leaders on
the Contribution of the Caribbean to the USA

On November 12, the President of Ghana, His Excellency Nana Akufo-Addo, announced that it was with great sadness the Nation of Ghana had to be advised that the 1^st President of the 4^th Republic, His Excellency Jerry John Rawlings had joined his ancestors.   He died at The Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Ghana after a very short illness.

The news hit me with great dismay and shock because I have been in regular touch with President Rawlings and knew him to be a person who enjoyed good health.

Only three weeks before, he had arranged and attended his Mother’s funeral.

Jerry Rawlings made an outstanding contribution to the Government of Ghana in two distinct eras.  The first was when he twice took military action to remove the stench of corruption which he regarded as inimical to the foundation of accountability and good governance.

He eventually surrendered the reins of military rule to launch the National Democratic Party and was elected twice to serve as President of Ghana.  His tenure served as a cornerstone for democracy in a modern state.

We in Jamaica will always remember him with great pride and affection.  So many people from Western Africa were brought across the Atlantic against their will.   When we took the decision to restore Emancipation Day as a separate holiday in its own right to celebrate the freedom of our people from slavery, he was our Guest of Honour.

Jerry Rawlings was an active partner in connecting the peoples of Africa and its descendants in the Caribbean. So too his deep commitment to champion the cause of the developing world is well known. He was a champion for the full liberation of Africa which has for so long been denied.

He was a militant Nationalist who fought relentlessly to preserve and promote the African identity.  He was a strong Pan Africanist.  In the Commonwealth, he was a powerful voice for small developing countries.    In the international arena he will never be forgotten for plain speaking against imperialism.      In every forum he championed the cause of upliftment for the people from the developing world.

The Republic of Ghana joined with the Caribbean in our struggle to abandon the inequities of a global system.

No one, irrespective of Party, can question the powerful leadership he gave to Ghana, his beloved country.  He did not shirk from taking decisions which stirred controversy in a multi-party society once he perceived them to be essential for the advance of the country’s citizens.

As a mark of respect, Ghana has ordered seven days of national mourning from

Friday, November 13 to Friday, November  20.   In addition to that, despite pending national elections, the President has declared a suspension of  political campaigns, in honour of the memory of former President Rawlings, for a period of seven days.  Those Presidential orders reflect the high esteem he earned in spite of the ideological differences in a plural democracy.

I have already spoken to Nana his wife and the four children and conveyed to them my regret and sympathy at the loss of her husband and their father.

His death will deprive me of a Brother and our University Centre of one who we had identified to engage in discharging our mandate.  We will seek to build on the energy and dedication he provided in our quest for a better world where all humankind will treasure and share the abundant resources of Mother Earth.

Owen Seymour Arthur:

A Caribbean Intellectual Giant Who Passionately Worked to Create Wealth and High Standards for People of Barbados and the Caribbean Region

Caribbean Advertising and Marketing Law Seminar
21^st Century Legal Challenges for Advertising and Marketing in The Caribbean:
The Impact of Intellectual Property Rights,
Social Media and Privacy

SPEAKING NOTES FOR
MOST HON. P. J. PATTERSON, ON, OCC, PC, QC
LAUNCH OF BOOK
“THE INFLUENCE OF SMALL STATES ON SUPERPOWERS:
JAMAICA AND U.S. FOREIGN POLICY”

Dinner And Awards Ceremony 40th Anniversary – José Martí School
Jamaica Pegasus Hotel
Saturday, January 14, 2017
7.00 P.M.

“Down Memory Lane”

Launch of Book “N.W.Manley and The Making of Modern Jamaica” By Arnold Bertram

The Most Hon. P. J. Patterson, ON, OCC, PC, QC

Commemorative Ceremony

Address at the Conference of the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Investments and Capital Markets

Address to the Second Forum of the Club de Madrid

Lecture at the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies

Address at the Diaspora Conference

Address to the CARICOM/Japan Joint Economic Mission

Interview with the Jamaica Observer on the Fiftieth Anniversary of Jamaica’s Independence

G. Arthur Brown Commemorative Lecture

Lecture at the Institute for Global Dialogue

Address at the African Union Anniversary Summit

Address at RJR Foundation Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year (2014)

Cameron, Hon David – OPEN LETTER

Address by The Most Hon. P. J. Patterson, ON, OCC, PC, QC 

at Launch of Book “History of Caribbean Examinations Council – CXC”