RECOMMENDATIONS as to whether folklorist Louise “Miss Lou” Bennett Coverley should become a national hero is currently being considered by Prime Minister Andrew Holness and the Cabinet. A decision will be taken at its completion, according to Minister of Culture and Entertainment Olivia “Babsy” Grange.

Grange, who also has ministerial portfolios of sport and gender, spoke with the Jamaica Observer at the unveiling of a Miss Lou maquette and 20th anniversary of The University of the West Indies’ (UWI’s) Jamaica Language Unit at The UWI, Mona campus, on Wednesday. Miss Lou would have celebrated her 103rd birthday on September 7.

“Well, because I’m part of the executive that would have been part of that consideration I don’t think it is fair for me to express a direct answer, except to say that there is a review that was done by a committee, headed by Professor Rex Nettleford, and some recommendations were made and those recommendations are now actively looked at by the Cabinet and by the prime minister. So, at the appropriate time, there will be an announcement about the recommendations and what have been accepted,” Grange disclosed.

The Order of National Hero is Jamaica’s highest honour. The current national heroes are pan-Africanist Marcus Garvey, Jamaica’s first Prime Minister Alexander Bustamante, Jamaica’s first premier Norman Manley, Sam Sharpe, Paul Bogle, George William Gordon, and Nanny of the Maroons.

Miss Lou was conferred with the Order of Merit by the Jamaican Government for her contribution to the country’s culture in 2001. The Order of Merit is Jamaica’s fourth-highest honour. She died on July 26, 2006 in Canada at age 87.

Grange was elated at Google‘s salute to Miss Lou by posting a doodle of her on their home page on Wednesday.

“I am so proud. Google has been displaying an appreciation of Jamaican culture from time to time. So the acknowledgement of Miss Lou today just shows that we have impacted the world and that we continue to be recognised by the world for how powerful our culture has impacted people’s lives throughout the world,” she said.

Meanwhile, Wednesday’s event was punctuated with musical and speech performances in honour of Miss Lou. The bronze maquette was done by master sculptor Basil Watson. It is a replica of the life-size statue unveiled in Gordon Town, St Andrew, in 2018.

“Today, we celebrate Miss Lou’s impact on our Jamaican society and life. Her work is built on the love she had for the ordinary Jamaican. As such, every movement, every pronouncement, every jab at our society’s often hypocritical norms, was delivered with the kind of truth and bravado that allowed us to find love and laugh at ourselves through her work,” Grange said in her address.

The legendary folklorist and actress is often cited as the fore-runner of dub poetry, an idiom that emerged during the 1970s when a wave of black consciousness swept Jamaica. She also had a massive influence on Jamaican theatre, appearing in numerous pantomimes.

From 1968 until 1980 Miss Lou hosted Ring Ding, a weekly television variety show on the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation (JBC).

Her poems, expressed in Jamaican patois, include Colonisation in Reverse, No Lickle Twang, and Mout-amassi. Her books include Anancy Stories And Poems In Dialect, Laugh With Louise: A Pot-pourri of Jamaican Folklore, Jamaica Labrish, and Auntie Roachy Seh.

Earlier in the day, a wreath was laid at Miss Lou’s tomb at National Heroes’ Park in Kingston.