Jamaica-born Shirley Nathan-Pulliam, a former Maryland state senator, has been honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Jamaica Association of Maryland.

Nathan-Pulliam was recognized for 20 years of service in the Maryland House of Delegates and five years in the Maryland Senate. Elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 1994, Nathan-Pulliam was the first Jamaica-born and first Caribbean person to ascend to the Maryland General Assembly in its over 300-year history.

A Democratic member of the House of Delegates, she represented District 10, Baltimore County, from January 1995 to January 2015. In 2014, she was elected to the Senate of Maryland.

Born in southern Trelawny, Nathan-Pulliam, a nurse by profession, grew up in Kingston, where she attended Mico Teachers’ College, now The Mico University College. She emigrated to the United States, where she distinguished herself in the field of healthcare, before turning to representational politics in 1994.

Dr Basil Buchanan recognised

Also recognized by the Jamaica Association of Maryland was Dr. Basil Buchanan, who was presented with the prestigious Marcus Garvey Award for his over 42 years of providing invaluable support to the Jamaican community in the Washington DC-Maryland-Virginia (DMV) and the Jamaican Embassy.

Among his list of accomplishments is successfully working to get legislation passed for the establishment of a permanent office of Caribbean Affairs in the government of the District of Columbia, a first in the nation.

The two awardees were feted and recognized during a gala celebrating Jamaica’s 60th year of Independence held in Baltimore last Saturday (August 13).

Jamaica’s Ambassador to the United States, Audrey Marks, in a message delivered by community relations officer at the Embassy of Jamaica, Emile Wallace Weddell, paid tribute to the Jamaican Diaspora in America while highlighting the myriad successes by Jamaica in the spheres of diplomacy, arts, sports, academia, and entertainment.

Ambassador Marks wrote, “the past 60 years have not gone without challenges and thus this occasion also affords an opportunity to reflect and take stock of our progress and chart our way forward. Despite our setbacks, Jamaica remains strong, resilient, and democratic, with vast potential and opportunities to build our peace and prosperity. In this vein, we must take hold of our future.”