PAUL Bogle has always been seen as a highly controversial national figure, and even when the disputes may not be his fault they usually stick with his name.

There has been controversy over the date of his birth; his statue in Morant Bay, St Thomas, his home parish; and even his most used picture, which is the same photograph used by the international press for Thomas L Jennings, an African American inventor, tradesman, entrepreneur, and abolitionist who lived in New York City.

There is no official record of Bogle’s birth, and it is no secret that many people in his home parish of St Thomas feel that the statue of him in Morant Bay, the parish capital, is an offensive memorial which seeks to depict him as an evil person, and not the conscious church deacon which he was supposed to be.

But, despite the contentions, Bogle has stood out as one of the most popular national heroes of Jamaica’s seven, and the one many Jamaicans can easily identify with.

In terms of Bogle’s birth, no one has been brave enough to guess the month and the date. The only thing that is certain is that he was born in 1822. It is absolutely certain, however, that he was hanged on October 24, 1865 in the St Thomas courthouse, one of some 500 people who died in the Morant Bay Rebellion that year.

Bogle was hanged at the command of then Governor Edward John Eyre, following his capture and alleged beating by Maroons before they handed him over to the authorities, which is the best recalled story of the Morant Bay Rebellion of October, 1865.

However, his great-grandson, Constantine Bogle, a former councillor in the St Thomas Municipal Corporation, believes that not only does he deserve more respect from post-Independent Jamaica, but the incident, which drew so much international attention and even divided the British House of Commons for its brutality, could hold the key to uniting children of slaves in the African Diaspora as well as create a vehicle for their economic and social development, in the eastern parishes of St Thomas, Portland, St Mary and Kingston and St Andrew.

So, Constantine has decided to not only seek to have the authorities make October 24 officially recognised and celebrated in Jamaica as Bogle’s day, but he also has plans to resume an annual candlelight vigil he had started some years ago but had to put on hold for various reasons, including the raging novel coronavirus pandemic.

“For 22 years now, I have organised to have 1,000 candles lit every year at that time. Each candle represents a family whose house had been destroyed or burnt during the rebellion,” he stated.

“In June 2019, when Ghanaian President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo came to Jamaica for a two-day official working visit, in addition to a visa waiver, he and Prime Minister Holness agreed on commemorating the anniversaries of Jamaicans, including Paul Bogle, who made crucial contributions towards the emancipation of the African people,” he noted.

Constantine noted his 1999 memorial service for the national hero in St Thomas as the first such engagement in the Africa Diaspora, and which was followed by the first candlelight vigil in 2000, after which it became a feature of memorials.

“Since then we have lit 1,000 candles in Atlanta, Georgia, in front of the United Nations building in New York and on October 24 in St Thomas, and I am sure people across the world would be willing to join in and light candles commemorating Paul Bogle,” he suggested.

Constantine, who heads the Paul Bogle Foundation in St Thomas, explained that the candles would be lit at exactly 6:00 pm in the homes of people supporting the event, and left in a window for others to view until they are burnt out.

“We are asking that the prime minister and the leader of the Opposition come together and declare October 24 as a commemoration day — not necessarily as a public holiday — and we believe across the world people will join with us,” he said.

“At the end of the candlelight[ing activity] there will be people from all over the world who will want to know about the place where Paul Bogle is from, and millions of people from around the world will eventually be willing to join the pilgrimage to this site,” he insisted..

“It is an event that can transform the economy of Kingston and break the cycle of poverty in other parishes like St Thomas, Portland and St Mary. I believe it will help to eradicate poverty, help to reduce crime and increase unity among the African Diaspora,” he added.