DURING Black History Month TEENage wishes to highlight the work of black people, who have gone, by and large, unrecognised.

AMY JACQUES GARVEY

THE second wife of Marcus Garvey, compiler of the much-celebrated The Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey, Amy Jacques Garvey is not frequently mentioned.

Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Amy migrated to New York in 1918 where she met the eccentric Garvey and learned about the United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA).

A spark was ignited immediately, and Amy became very active in the UNIA. That same year, she became the secretary of the Negro Factories Corporation, and just two years after became the general secretary of the entire movement; a post she held for over 50 years.

She embodied the ideals of black consciousness and empowerment and married Garvey in July 1922.

Her marriage to Garvey was never an easy one, as it often required acts of courage and resilience in the face of public scrutiny. During her husband’s imprisonment, she was the main person who rallied in her husband’s defence, making speeches and lobbying for his release. Her role, however, took on more importance after Garvey’s death in 1940.

She became the primary information co-ordinator and resource person in the UNIA. Between 1924 and 1927 she was the associate editor of the UNIA’s newspaper. She also became a principal source for the writing of many books on Garveyism and in 1963 had written her book Garvey and Garveyism.

In her latter years, her house, on 12 Mona Road, became the information hub for researchers of Garvey’s life and his work.

It is for all these acts that we can declare Amy Jacques Garvey among The Unsung.

— Sharlene Hendricks

DWIGHT YORKE

DWIGHT Yorke from Canaan, Tobago, is known as arguably the greatest football player that the Caribbean has ever produced. He is fondly remembered for his spell at Manchester United, where he won the treble in the 1998-1999 season, winning the League Title, FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League.

His nickname is ‘The Smiling Assassin’ as whenever he scored he always had a smile on his face. He gave opponent a hard time throughout his career as a professional footballer. He was a role model on and off the pitch.

He enjoyed vivacious spells at Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers. Sunderland, Birmingham City and Sydney FC in the Australian League.

The cherry on the pie for Yorke was helping his country become the fourth Caribbean nation to Qualify for the FIFA World Cup.

He came out of international retirement in 2005. Not playing for Trinidad & Tobago (T&T) in four years and he decided to give it one last go. Yorke was the captain of the T&T team in the World Cup and he is remembered for a brave performance against the impressive Swedish team, which ended in a 0-0 draw and getting Trinidad’s first point at the World Cup.

Unfortunately the opposition got tougher and T&T left the tournament with one point. Yorke stated that his team played well and he has bright hopes for the future. Today Dwight Yorke is a commentator for Sky Sports.

Dwight Yorke is a tribute not only to footballers across the globe, but to black people. He has left his mark on society.

— Simon Preston

KENNETH ‘KEN’ GORDON

TRINIDADIAN Kenneth ‘Ken’ Gordon’s legacy began when black people were encouraged to remain in the shadows. It was unheard of to aspire for a job in media when one did not have light skin. So, it brought much surprise when he walked into the office of Radio Trinidad for an interview.

Thereon out, it seemed that success and Gordon were inseparable. In 1957, he became a member of the Junior Chamber of Commerce and in 1960, he was elected president. Gordon later assumed the position of managing director of Trinidad Express in 1969, which was later transformed into Caribbean Communications Network Limited (CCN). In 1991, CCN TV 6 and CCN TV 18 became the first independently owned station in the Caribbean and in 2006, CCN joined with Barbados’s Nation Corporation Group to create One Caribbean Media Limited.

This was what Gordon had set out to achieve, because he found it ridiculous that the Caribbean did not own its media entities. Thus, he set out to establish and help newspapers in the Caribbean, in order to teach Caribbean men that they could rely on themselves.

In Grenada and Trinidad, he offered financial assistance to the Torchlight and Nation respectively, as although they were established, they were barely afloat. He and his team also assisted St Lucia’s Voice and Dominica’s Dominica Chronicle. In 1985, Tobago News was launched as a result of their efforts, along with Guyana’s Starbroek News. The final creation was in 1993 with The Jamaica Observer, when Gordon joined forces with Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart, who according to Gordon, believed there is no substitute for quality service.

Today, Gordon stands as the Chairman of the Trinidad and Tobago Integrity Commission, having been appointed in 2011, and bears the title of the man who changed the history of media communications by breaking the unfounded belief that blacks should not be seen or heard.

— Shantayaé Grant

PAUL ROBESON

PAUL Robeson (April 9, 1898 to January 23, 1976) was an American concert singer, and recording artiste, who was an advocate for the Civil Rights Movement in the first half of the 20th century. He preceded well-known names like Martin Luther King Jnr and Malcolm X.

Robeson won a scholarship to Rutgers College and there he became an All-American football player, and valedictorian of his class. He stated that he did not see football as simply a sport, but yet another way of teaching and learning. He graduated from law school with honours and upon applying for jobs he was told that he would not be considered when there were also white applicants.

Robeson, however, would not be stopped. He strategically refocused his career on the arts. He made extensive singing tours across the United States and Europe, made nine films, and became an international star of stage, screen, radio and film.

He was the first major concert star to popularise the performance of Negro spirituals and was the first black actor to portray Shakespeare’s Othello with an otherwise all-white cast.

His daughter, Susan Robeson has said the following of her father’s 1948 visit to Jamaica on several occasions: “When my grandfather was here in 1948, Jamaica was a balm for him, a respite from the apartheid-like state that was America where segregation was still legal. The dignity and pride of the Jamaican people fortified Paul and inspired him to say, ‘I feel now as if I have drawn my first breath of fresh air in many years; and if I never hear another kind word again, what I received from my people in the West Indies will be enough for me’.”

— Yakum Fitz-Henley

BARRINGTON WATSON

ON December 9, 1931 in Lucea, Hanover a famous Jamaican painter was born. He and his family later moved to Kingston in 1939. While in Kingston, Watson attended Kingston College, where instead of being known as an artist, he was known for his talent on the football field.

At the end of Kingston College, he left Jamaica for London, where he perfected the art of painting with oil and water-based paints. He also liked painting art that depicts landscape and the human form, both of which make up his collections at various galleries.

His parents wanted Watson to become a lawyer, but he instead he enrolled at the London School of Printing and Graphic Art. He was then accepted in the Royal College of Art.

Having excelled, gradually and beautifully, in painting which allowed him to seek further training, he enrolled himself in many art academies in popular European cities, such as Paris, Amsterdam and Madrid, just to name a few. While at these academies he expanded his knowledge base in painting African, Oriental and American art, with the main intent of creating a new art peculiar to the Caribbean. He spent his early adult life in other countries up until 1961, when he returned to Jamaica.

He then began teaching at the University of the West Indies, in the Department of Education, where he taught art appreciation. In 1962, after witnessing Jamaica’s Independence, he became the first Director of Studies at the Jamaican School of Art, where he put in place the certification structure at the school.

National Gallery of Jamaica is currently presenting Barrington: A Retrospective, an exhibition of more than 250 paintings, drawings and original prints from Watson, which closes on April 14.

— Christopher Laylor

WINNIE MANDELA

MOST people know Winnie Mandela as the ex-wife of South African political activist, and past president, Nelson Mandela. But she was much more than just the woman behind the man.

Winnie is herself an anti-apartheid activist and politician, who has held several government positions and headed the African National Congress Women’s League (ANCWL).

Though popular amongst her supporters, who refer to her as the ‘Mother of the Nation’, she has been surrounded by controversy during her political career, mostly due to her alleged involvement in several human rights abuses.

Born September 26, 1936 in Bizana, Transkei on the Eastern Cape of South Africa, Winnie received a diploma in social work at the Jan Hofmeyer School in Johannesburg, then moved on to complete a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations, at the University of Witwatersrand, in Johannesburg, one of the leading universities in South Africa. This was a notable feat for someone both black and female during apartheid.

Winnie married Nelson Mandela 1958, and at the start of her husband’s long imprisonment (1962-90), she was banned or restricted in travel, association, and speech for many years, and was continually harassed by the South African government. She spent 17 months in jail from 1969-1970 and lived in internal exile from 1977 to 1985 where she continued the anti-apartheid movement.

She endorsed the controversial practice of “necklacing” (burning people alive using tyres and petrol) in the struggle to end apartheid, and in 1989 she was linked with the beating and kidnapping of four black youths, one of whom was murdered by her chief bodyguard.

Despite this controversy, Winnie became president of the ANCWL in 1993, and was elected to Parliament in 1994 in South Africa’s first multi-racial government, headed by her husband. But due to continued controversy, Mandela expelled her from his cabinet in 1995. She and Mandela had been separated from 1992 and were finally divorced in 1996.

Winnie was reelected to Parliament in 1999, but she resigned in 2003 after later being convicted of fraud and theft.

— Kristen Laing

MICHAEL HOLDING

MICHAEL Anthony Holding has without doubt significantly contributed to nationhood. Born on the 16th of February 1954, the speedy Jamaican is one of the fastest bowlers to ever play the game of cricket.

Holding made his Test debut for West Indies against Australia on November 28, 1975 and went on to play in 153 games. Holding went on to take 249 Test wickets and 142 One day Internationals earning himself the nickname ‘Whispering Death’.

While Holding is famous for his performance with the ball, he was also explosive at times with the bat and still holds the record for the most sixes (36) by a player with less than a 1000 runs.

In 1981, Holding is said to have bowled the greatest over in the history of Test cricket when he bowled five devastating balls to English batsman Geoffrey Boycott with each increasing in pace, then the sixth and final ball, which was the fastest of the over, knocked Boycott’s stumps out of the ground.

At 6 ft 3 and 1/2 inches Holding was a natural athlete and still holds the record for the fastest 400m run at Kingston College.

Holding remained an instrumental player for West Indies throughout his career up to his retirement in 1987. Holding went on to become a member of the International Cricket Council committee before he resigned in 2008.

Holding’s expertise and analysis of the game landed him a job as commentator and he is currently one of the world’s most respected commentators.

— Ian Williams