It’s all about the dress
The first black woman — a Jamaican — to be elected president of the 100-year-old Broward County Bar Association in Florida, Alison Smith, paid tribute to Jamaica’s celebration of its 60th anniversary by wearing a special dress designed for her installation ceremony Saturday night at the upscale Ritz-Carlton Hotel.
The grand ballroom, crowded with some of Broward’s top judges and attorneys, cheered heartily when Smith disclosed she had gone to Jamaica to have the dress designed by Carla Roberts, her personal dressmaker for the occasion, to mark the Independence of her home country. She said it was extremely important for her to showcase the talent of her little island. Smith, who hails from Mandeville, Manchester, was elected by her peers last year May, smashing Broward tradition as the first woman of colour to head the 4,000-strong Association.