We suspect that there is hardly any Jamaican who would object to the appointment of our beloved Louise 'Miss Lou' Bennett-Coverley as a National Hero.

As we go through the last rites of burial and pay final tribute to her today, it is fitting that we reflect on the yeoman contribution that Miss Lou has made to the Jamaica we know today.

And no time could be more fitting for such an announcement to be made than in the week we marked our 44th anniversary of Independence, although we are quite aware that there is an official process to be undergone before she could be declared a National Hero.

Miss Lou, perhaps more than anyone else, essentially represents that which is good and true and warm in all of us. Even now, it is difficult to accept that she is no longer with us in life, so attached have we become to the genius, laughter and wisdom of this national treasure of a woman.

In death, she added a special glow to the Independence celebrations, similar to what Sir Alexander Bustamante did in 1977. That must be what a national hero or heroine is all about. That must be the impact that a national hero has on a nation's heart and soul.

Of course, we are aware that there are already two other great Jamaicans whose names have been put on the table for consideration as national heroes: Robert Nesta Marley, the late international reggae superstar, and Michael Manley, the late former prime minister and international statesman.

In both cases, there has been much controversy and division around their suitability to be declared national heroes: Marley mainly because of his support for Rastafarianism which holds the late Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie to be God and with which some segments of our society are not yet comfortable; and Manley because of his espousal of Democratic Socialism which, however well meant, was a source of deep and painful division in the 1970s.

We have no wish to join this debate at this time, although we have very clear views about whether one or both should be appointed National Hero.

But we believe that Miss Lou will generate no such divisions. Whatever controversy may have been attached to the name of Louise Bennett - about the social acceptability of our dialect in a time best forgotten - has long been expunged from our national consciousness.

Instead, our nation has embraced Miss Lou's work with the dialect as an example of the sheer genius, clarity of vision and creativity of this great Jamaican woman.

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, who has now herself been provided with a glorious opportunity to secure her place in Jamaican history, if she can grasp it, could strike a blow for the female sex and for Jamaican culture by setting in motion the process of declaring Miss Lou our eighth National Hero.

Trousers in Denim

Cream of the 'Crop'

Cheeky's World