Parliamentarian Lisa Hanna has once again resurrected the argument for naming reggae legend Bob Marley a Jamaican National Hero, a move which has been met with an outpouring of support from the public via social media.

Speaking in the House of Representatives yesterday (April 5), Hanna bolstered her stance on the issue after explaining, in an Instagram post on Sunday (April 3), that, if the country is serious in its effort to become a republic, its first act should be “embracing our own”.

After Parliament yesterday, Hanna uploaded a snippet of her moving the resolution in Parliament on both her Instagram and Twitter accounts, with the caption: “Today I moved a resolution in Parliament for Jamaica to take the necessary steps for the national honour of the Order of National Hero to be conferred on the international crusader for peace, love, equality and global superstar, the Hon. Robert Nesta ‘Bob’ Marley, ON.”

Dubbing the reggae legend as the “international crusader for peace, love, equality”, Hanna, during her move in Parliament, listed several contributions the reggae icon has made to the island and worldwide.

Instagram

Garnering over 9,000 views on Instagram, many persons took to the comment section to thank her, noting that the move was long overdue.

Former beauty queen Cindy Breakspeare, who is also the mother of Bob’s youngest son, Damian ‘Junior Gong’ Marley, said: “THANK YOU MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT LISA HANNA. This is SO LONG OVERDUE… AS I HAVE SAID BEFORE PEOPLE WILL BE DANCING, SINGING AND TURNING TO HIS MUSIC FOR COMFORT LONG AFTER THE STARS HAVE GONE OUT!!! ❤️💛💚 .”

Instagram user @jamaicannationalheroes, also shared a perspective on the matter, posting: “Action. Not a bag a mouth. 🔥🔥🔥❤️❤️❤️👏👏👏 .”

One commenter, @franco_marlando, said: “❤️ I am embarrassed at the fact that this is so late in coming,” while another, @michaelanthonychang, said: “Hon. Lisa Hanna ❤️❤️ thank you🙏 .”

While many others shared fire emojis and several Jamaican flags, some beckoned for the same to be done for Miss Lou, another popular Jamaican figure who, like Marley, has been a part of the conversation of who should be named a National Hero for many years.

User @drdpsuejam said: “What about Miss Lou. She was a pathfinder. He [Bob] stood on her shoulders. We need to pay better tribute to our women. Not taking anything from him but why do we ignore her.”

The move also appeared to have garnered for Hanna ‘three points’ as some, in response to her gesture, praised her by dubbing her ‘the future Prime Minister’.

Twitter

Many commenters on Twitter shared identical sentiments to those on Instagram. The post received almost 3,000 views, 35 retweets and 121 likes.

Like @drdpsuejam, @Troycol31782703 highlighted other Jamaican public figures, such as Dennis Brown, who he said should be honoured with the title of National Hero as well.

“Why not for Peter Tosh, Toots, Dennis Brown, Gregory Isaac, etc??? Or the resolution you move in Parliament is a career thing, it’s to advance your career??” he said.

User @foremnan_madge, however, disagreed with Hanna’s move, arguing that some other award with different criteria ought to be formulated instead.

“National Icon Designation need to be formed for those who have made Ja proud not Necessarily a National Hero which have certain criterion.”