This past Monday, January 16th we celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday and the legacy left by this powerful man. MLK had visited Jamaica three times during his lifetime. Former Prime Minister Hugh Shearer paid tribute to MLK in December, 1968 when he presented the Marcus Garvey Prize for Human Rights to MLK’s widow, Mrs. Coretta Scott King at the National Arena. Shearer told the assembled crowd, “Three times in. his short public life he found time to visit Jamaica. He came here to rest and to write; and he told us he was happy here. Addressing, and here I quote him, ‘his brothers and sisters of this wonderful island’, unquote, we heard him say that in the light of many unpleasant and humiliating experiences with which he had to live, he was always glad to feel like somebody, and here I quote him: ‘in Jamaica I really feel like a human being.’ unquote. (Applause). He was proud to say ‘I am a Jamaican’.
The following is an excerpt of a speech delivered at the University of the West Indies, Mona during one of those visits. This university is the site of the 5th annual Global Reggae Conference which will take place next month, February 9-11th. Below that is a clip of Max Romeo’s Martin Luther King.
Heather Augustyn 
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