A monument to Jamaica’s cultural icon, the Honourable Louise Bennett Coverley is to be erected inside Emancipation Park in St Andrew, Minister of Culture and Entertainment Olivia Grange, has announced.

Louise Bennett, who was born on September 7, 1919, was a Jamaican poet and activist. Through her poems in Jamaican patois, she raised the dialect of the Jamaican folk to an art level that is acceptable to and appreciated by all in Jamaica.

In her poems, she was able to capture all the spontaneity of the expression of Jamaicans’ joys and sorrows, their ready, poignant and even wicked wit, their religion and their philosophy of life. Her first dialect poem was written when she was 14 years old.

Later in life, she hosted the popular Ring Ding children’s show at the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation (JBC).

Minister Grange made the announcement as she marked the 102nd anniversary of the birth of Miss Lou on Tuesday.

“Miss Lou Corner will feature a life-size statue of our mother of culture, but it will be a statue with a difference,” said Minister Grange.

“It will depict the love and care Miss Lou had for children. She will be in a sitting position with children having the opportunity to literally sit in her lap, while listening to her reciting poems and telling stories.”

The ‘Miss Lou Corner’, to be established by the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport in partnership with the National Housing Trust and Fontana Pharmacy, will be a Jamaica 60 Legacy Project.

During Tuesday’s tribute, Minister Grange said that Miss Lou, “really sensitized successive generations of Jamaicans to the beauty and richness of their mother tongue, music, dance, folklore and heritage; and helped to remove the stigma associated with celebrating Jamaican cultural forms.” 

The minister also revealed that the Government was working to “ensure that current and future generations are aware of and develop an appreciation for Miss Lou’s significant contribution to Jamaica and our culture.”

In keeping with that commitment, the Government in 2018 established Miss Lou Square in Gordon Town, St Andrew, featuring a life-sized bronze statue of the author, poet, playwright, comedienne, performer, folklorist, social commentator, and children’s champion.

It also established the Miss Lou Archive at the National Library of Jamaica in 2019 with information on her life and work.  And recently, a mural in her honour was completed at the Public Broadcasting Corporation of Jamaica complex in Half Way Tree, St Andrew where Miss Lou hosted her pioneering children’s television programme ‘Ring Ding’ between 1970 and 1982.

The mural is part of a series being done across Jamaica to mark the Diamond Jubilee.