| Bustamente,
Sir William Alexander
(1884--1977) Jamaican politician and prime minister (1962--7), born near Kingston. He was adopted at the age of 15 by a Spanish seaman, and spent an adventurous youth abroad before returning to become a trade union leader (1932). In 1943 he founded the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) as the political wing of his union, and in 1962, when Jamaica achieved independence, became its first prime minister. He was knighted in 1955. |
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Cassidy, Frederic Gomes
(1907-- ) Linguist, lexicographer; born in Kingston, Jamaica. After immigrating to the U.S.A. with his family in 1919, he attended Oberlin College and the University of Michigan (Ph.D. 1938) and began a long teaching career at the University of Wisconsin (1939). An authority on Jamaican English and pidgin and creole languages, he also served as a fieldworker for the Linguistic Atlas of the U.S. survey. In 1962 he was appointed editor of the American Dialect Society's dictionary project, which has resulted in the monumental and ongoing Dictionary of American Regional English (Vol. 1, A--C, 1985; Vol. 2, D--H, 1991). He is also the editor (with R. B. LePage) of Dictionary of Jamaican English (revised 1980). Image source: polyglot.lss.wisc.edu/dare/dare.html |
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Christie,
Linford
(1960-- ) Sprinter, born in Jamaica, now living in Britain. In 1993 he held the World, Olympic, Commonwealth, and European Cup titles for the 100m, achieving 9.87 seconds at the world championships in Stuttgart, Germany (a European record, and 0ù01 seconds outside the world record). Image source: britain.nyc.ny.us/bis/fsheets/graphics/linford.htm |
| Dallas, Alexander
James
(1759--1817) Lawyer, public official; born on the island of Jamaica. The son of a physician, he attended Edinburgh University, worked as a merchant clerk, returned to the West Indies, and began practicing law there. In 1783 he emigrated to the United States, settling in Philadelphia. A journalist as well as a lawyer of repute, he became U.S. attorney for the eastern district of Pennsylvania in 1801, serving 13 years. From 1814-16 he was secretary of the treasury in the Madison administration. |
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Fagan, Garth
(1941-- ) Choreographer, dance teacher; born in Jamaica. Son of Jamaica's chief education officer, he began dancing with the National Dance Company of Jamaica, went on to the Dance Theater of Detroit, and then began teaching dance at the State University of New York (SUNY): Brockport (near Rochester). Working with mostly disadvantaged African-American students, he formed an amateur ensemble in 1970 that soon became known as the Bucket Dance Theater; in the years following, the troupe gained a widening reputation for its exciting blending of Afro-Caribbean with modern dance styles. He maintained his post at SUNY while giving increasing amounts of time to his now internationally recognized dance company. Griot, his 1992 collaboration with composer and trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, gained Fagan a wider national exposure. Fagan has been chosen to choreograph for the Walt Disney Theatrical Productions new Broadway musical The Lion King. Image source: www.loopside.com/fagan/default.html |
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Flavin, Dan
(1933-- ) Sculptor; born in Jamaica, N.Y. He attended the New School for Social Research, N.Y. (1956), and Columbia University (1957--59). Based in Garrison, N.Y., he became known for his minimalist and architectural installations using electric and fluorescent lights, as in Pink and Gold (1968). The Dan Flavin Art Institute in Bridgehampton, New York honors his name and work. Image source: www.pacewildenstein.com/flavin/select.html |
| Forbes, Robert
Bennet
(1804--89) Merchant, author; born in Jamaica Plain, Mass. (brother of John Murray Forbes). He entered the China-trade business of his uncles James and Thomas H. Perkins at age 13 and stayed with the company when it merged to become Russell & Company (1830). In 1839 he became head of the Company and ignored the British boycott of Canton during the Opium Wars. Owner of several ships, he supported innovations in marine safety and ship design that included the first iron-hulled tugboat. During the terrible famine of 1847, he personally commanded a ship that took food from Boston to Ireland. During the Civil War he organized a short-lived "Coast Guard." A prolific pamphleteer, he wrote about the China trade and marine matters. His memoirs are titled Peronal Reminiscences (1876; 3rd ed., 1892). |
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Garvey, Marcus
Moziah
(1887--1940) Social activist; born in St. Ann's Bay, Jamaica. Largely self-educated, he worked as a printer in Jamaica, edited several short-lived papers in Costa Rica and Panama, then founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) in Jamaica (1914). In 1916 he moved to New York City, where he established UNIA headquarters and started up the Negro World, a popular weekly newspaper that con- veyed his message of black pride. Launching several other African-American capitalist ventures, he presided over an international convention of black people in New York (1920), where he called for freedom from white domination in Africa. His later life, however, was anticlimatic. In 1923 he was convicted of mail fraud when selling stock in his failed Black Star steamship line, which was launched for maritime trade between black nations; he was sentenced (1923) to a five-year prison term. Other ventures also failed, including an attempt to foster black colonization to Liberia. After his release from prison (1927) he was deported to Jamaica; he moved to London in 1934 and never regained prominence. However, in stirring African-Americans with his message of pride in ancestry and prospects of self-sufficiency, he prefigured a later generation of African-American leaders such as Malcolm X. Image source: www.tiac.net/users/hatred/garvey.html |
| Johnson, Ben
(1961-- ) Athlete, born in Falmouth, Jamaica. He moved to Canada in 1976, and in the middle 1980s was the world's fastest sprinter, with Carl Lewis. He was unbeaten in 21 consecutive starts over 100`m, and at the 1988 Seoul Olympics set a new world 100-m record, but was immediately deprived of his gold medal for having taken banned substances in preparation for the Games. |
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McKay, Claude
(1889--1948) (b. Festus Claudius McKay) Writer, poet; born in Sunny Ville, Jamaica. He had already published two volumes in Jamaican dialect before he came to the U.S.A. to study at Tuskegee Institute, Ala. (1912) and Kansas State (1912--14). He moved to New York City, began to publish his poems under the pen name "Eli Edwards," and held several jobs before he went to London (1919--20) where he briefly worked for a communist newspaper. He returned to New York City and published his major work, Harlem Shadows (1922). By this time he was having an influence on the "Harlem Renaissance" and was also widely respected abroad. He lived abroad (1922--34), returned to New York in poor health, but continued to travel and write until the end. In addition to his poetry, his prolific output included novels such as Home to Harlem (1928), short stories (as in the collection Gingertown, 1932), an autobiography, A Long Way from Home (1937), and the sociological study, Harlem: Negro Metropolis (1940). Image source: encarta.msn.com/schoolhouse/harlem/mckay.asp |
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Manley, Michael
Norman
(1923-- ) Jamaican politician and prime minister (1972--80, 1989--92), born in Kingston, Jamaica. He served in the Royal Canadian air force, studied at the London School of Economics, and spent some time as a journalist before returning to Jamaica. In the 1950s he became a leader of the National Workers' Union, sat in the Senate (1962--7), was elected to the House of Representatives, and became leader of the People's National Party in 1969. As prime minister, he embarked on a radical, Socialist programme, cooling relations with the USA. Despite rising unemployment, he was re-elected in 1976, defeated in 1980 and 1983, and returned to power in 1989, but was succeeded in 1992 by Percival Patterson. Image source: www.caribbean-online.com/jamaica/embassy/washdc/manbio.htm |
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Marley, Bob
(1945--81) (Popular name of Robert Nesta Marley) Singer, guitarist, and composer of reggae music, born near Kingston, Jamaica. He made his first record at the age of 19, and in 1965 formed the vocal trio, The Wailers, with Peter Tosh and Bunny Livingstone. Their music developed political themes with an artless lyricism and infectious rhythm, and in the 1970s Marley brought it around the world. He was a disciple of Rastafarianism, and a charismatic spokesman not only for his religion but also his culture and generation. His albums include Catch a Fire (1972), and Uprising (1980), and his most famous songs include "No Woman, No Cry' and "I Shot the Sheriff'. Image source: www.bobmarley.com |
| Raffles, Sir Thomas Stamford
(1781--1826) Colonial adminstrator, born at sea, off Port Morant, Jamaica. He had limited formal schooling, became a clerk in the East India Company, and after studying by himself gained a position as assistant secretary in Penang. He quickly rose to become Lieutenant-Governor of Java (1811--16), where he completely reformed the administration. In 1816 ill health brought him home to England, where he was knighted. As Lieutenant-Governor of Bengkulu (1818--23), he established a settlement at Singapore, and was thus largely responsible for the development of the British empire in the Far East. |
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| Russwurm, John Brown
(1799--1851) Journalist, public official; born in Port Antonio, Jamaica. In 1827, with John Cornish, he published the first U.S. black newspaper, Freedom's Journal, dedicated to promoting black freedom and citizenship. Around 1828 he emigrated to Liberia, where he held public office and edited a newspaper. |
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Seaga, Edward
Philip George
(1930-- ) Jamaican politician and prime minister (1980--9), born in the USA. He went to school in Kingston, Jamaica, then studied at Harvard, and was on the staff of the University of the West Indies before joining the Jamaica Labour Party, becoming its leader in 1974. He entered the House of Representatives in 1962 and held a government post before becoming Leader of the Opposition. In 1980 he had a resounding win over the People's National Party, and became prime minister. Image source: www.colis.com/electionwatch/jlp/members/edward_seaga.htm |
| Valentine, Alfred Lewis
(1930-- ) Cricketer, born in Kingston, Jamaica. A spin bowler of genius, especially in partnership with Sonny Ramadhin, he posed unanswerable problems of spin for the England batsmen during the 1950 tour of England. In 36 Tests he took 139 wickets, twice taking 10 or more in a match, without any previous experience of the English county game. The achievements of the two spinners are immortalized in the famous calypso by Lord Beginner, "Cricket, lovely cricket'. |