Jamaicans in Toronto Get Set to Celebrate Miss Lou's 100th Birthday

By Neil Armstrong
 

Photo credit: Carl Henry     Louise Bennett-Coverley "Miss Lou"

Jamaicans in Toronto will celebrate the 100^th anniversary of the birthday of cultural icon Louise Bennett-Coverley, affectionately known as Miss Lou, in several ways including a book launch, panel discussion, a cultural celebration on Toronto’s waterfront, and a trip to Jamaica for the opening of a public square in her honour.

Bennett-Coverley was born on Sunday, September 7, 1919 in Kingston and died in Toronto, Canada on July 26, 2006. She was buried on August 9, 2006 in the National Heroes Park in Kingston.

From September 5-12, over 50 Jamaican-Canadians will fly to the island to attend the renaming of “Gordon Town Square” to “Miss Lou Square” on September 8, part of the nation’s 100 days of celebrating Miss Lou events.

" The Jamaican Canadian Association's pilgrimage to Jamaica to attend the opening of the Miss Lou Square is truly a historic occasion for our members. As the trip coordinators, Michelle Mckenzie-Dolly, JCA director-at-large, and I have seen first hand the joy and excitement as we draw closer to our departure date of September 5. In JCA's 57-year history, this is the first time that we have undertaken a trip of this magnitude,” says Audrey Campbell, past president of the Jamaican Canadian Association.

They will arrive in Montego Bay in unison decked out in their red t-shirts with the slogan, "Miss Lou 100th...JCA... We Deh Yah!”

 While there, they will visit Gordon House as well as the Marcus Garvey Museum
at Liberty Hall on September 10. 

“Miss Lou spent her final days in Canada and performed in the halls of JCA on numerous occasions. Jamaicans in Canada, similarly to those at home and in the rest of the diaspora, continue to honour and cherish Miss Lou, the 'Mother of Jamaican Culture.' This is a fitting way for the JCA members to honour her memory," says Campbell.

Photo contributed     Group of Jamaican Canadian Association members going to Jamaica for the renaming of Gordon Town Square to 'Miss Lou Square.' The renaming ceremony takes place on September 8 in Gordon Town, St. Andrew

Angella Bennett, regional director of the Jamaica Tourist Board, provided the travellers with some swag and luggage tags for their trip.


Meanwhile, teacher and author Nadia Hohn, who is of Jamaican heritage, will launch her picture book, “A Likkle Miss Lou: How Jamaican Poet Louise Bennett Coverley Found Her Voice,” on September 14 at A Different Booklist Cultural Centre in Toronto.

The book, which took Hohn over seven years to write, tells the story of Miss Lou’s early years, “when she was a young girl who loved poetry but felt caught between writing “lines of words like tight cornrows” or words that beat “in time with her heart.” Despite criticism from one teacher, Louise finds a way to weave the influence of the music, voices, and rhythms of her surroundings into her poems.”


Illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes, it is a vibrant, colorful, and immersive look at “an important figure in Jamaica’s cultural history, and also a universal story of a child finding and trusting her own voice.”

Hohn pulls from her research of Miss Lou and the milieu of her childhood to include poems a young Louise wrote and folksongs she would have heard around her. She includes a glossary of Jamaican patois terms, a note about the author’s “own voice” perspective, and a brief biography of Miss Lou and her connection to Canada, where she spent 20 years of her life.

“Before she became a Jamaican icon, Miss Lou was a girl who just wanted to be heard in the language she loved,” reads the blurb on the back cover of the book.

In 1998, Miss Lou received an honorary degree from York University and to celebrate her life and legacy the university will hold a film screening and panel discussion on September 17.

Organized by the Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community and Diaspora, the event will be held at Founders College where the film “Miss Lou at Bathurst Heights Secondary School” capturing her visit to the school in 1984 will be shown.

There will also be a panel discussion with authors, academics and cultural advocates including Honor Ford-Smith, Olive Senior, Clive Forrester, Lillian Allen, and Pamela Appelt.

At the Harbourfront Centre where “Miss Lou’s Room” is located there will be a celebration of her life on September 19.

“Miss Lou’s Room” is a multi-purposed space which is home to an exhibit honouring Miss Lou and her achievements. The space features photographs and recordings of her storytelling and many performances, and is heavily used for children's programs.

Miss Lou's Room at the Harboufront Centre

Miss Lou's Room at the Harboufront Centre

Hosted by McMaster University Library in partnership with Harbourfront Centre and the Jamaican Canadian Association, the evening of remarks and entertainment will examine her legacy and centenary. 

McMaster University Library houses the Miss Lou Archive, which contains correspondence, published and printed materials, personal and professional documents, awards, photographs, and more from Miss Lou’s life in Canada. 

The archive is used regularly by scholars from around the world. A selection of materials from the archive will be on display at the event.

This story has been published in the North American Weekly Gleaner, September 5-11, 2019.

Nadia Hohn's book launch at A Different Booklist Cultural Centre, 777-779 Bathurst Street will be on Saturday, Sept. 14, 3:00-5:00 p.m.

"Celebrating Miss Lou: The Life and Legacy of Louise Bennett-Coverley" will be held on  Tuesday, Sept. 17, 6:00-9:00 p.m. at Founders College, Senior Common Room, (305 Founders College) and will feature the screening of the film, "Miss Lou at Bathurst Heights Secondary School" at 6:00-7:00 p.m. and the panel discussion/Q&A from 7:00-8:30 p.m.

Please RSVP by Friday, September 13^th at  
http://bit.ly/30KxWoC

McMaster University Library in partnership with Harbourfront Centre and the Jamaican Canadian Association presents "Celebrating Miss Lou" on Thursday, September 19, 7:00-9:00 p.m. at Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay West, Toronto.

In Jamaica, Miss Lou's centenary celebration "Miss Lou 100!" takes place from September 1 to December 10, 2019 including "Miss Lou's Labrish" at the UWI Undercroft on Sept. 6; a gathering at Patriot's Corner, National Heroes Park on Sept. 7; Miss Lou 100th Birthday cake cutting at Gordon Town Community Centre; Auntie Roachy Festival & Ring Concert at Emancipation Park; and the renaming of "Gordon Town Square" to "Miss Lou Square" on Sept. 8. There will be exhibitions, public consultations on language rights in Jamaica, a poetry clash, island-wide flash mobs, 16 days of activism against gender-based violence, the publication of the 100 years, 100 voices anthology, among other events.