By Basil Walters—
MINISTER of Youth and Culture Lisa Hanna says Jamaica owes a lot to Rastafari for helping to put the country on the map.
Hanna was speaking at the opening of the National Museum of Jamaica at Duke Street, on Sunday.
“Jamaica owes a lot to Rastafari. One of our foremost cultural icons, Bob Marley, had his life and works anchored in Rastafari. His works involved one of our foremost creations, reggae music…” said Hanna.
Her statement drew shouts of ‘Jah Rastafari!’ from Rastafarians in the audience.
Hanna began her address by quoting from Marley’s song, Natty Dread Rise Again.
“….I learned the words very early in life because it symbolises to me what I felt that I needed to do as well,” she said.
Hanna noted that the Jamaica National Museum “heralds a new dawn in our history and a reawakening of the cultural consciousness of the Jamaican people and our society”.
The exhibition, which runs until year end, showcases Rastafari culture. On display were Rasta paraphernalia as well as information on His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia.
Literature on visionaries including Marcus Garvey, Mortimer Planno, Prince Emmanuel, Archibald Dunkley, and Leonard Howell were available.
“We are advancing a cultural revolution through the expansion and rebranding of the Jamaica Museum of History and Ethnography to include the network of museum involving the Fort Charles Museum in Port Royal, the People’s Museum in Spanish Town, the National Museum of western Jamaica in Montego Bay, and the National Museum of Jamaica right here in Kingston.”
“Commitment to the preservation of that history, ” she added, is evident in the opening of the Roxborough Museum three weeks ago, and the Seville Museum last week.
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