Put to Patterson that there existed a school of thought that Buju, as a convict, was being glorified by vast sections of the Jamaican landscape, the former president of the People’s National Party, chanted dissimilar sentiments. The 45-year-old will be hosting his first major concert on March 16, controversially dubbed Long Walk To Freedom - a direct relation to the title of South African great Nelson Mandela’s autobiography Long Walk to Freedom published in December 1994, which highlighted, among other things, Mandela’s early life and his 27 years spent in prison on treason charges. In a wide-ranging interview with the Jamaica Observer last week, Patterson, who launched the book My Political Journey, which chronicles his life up to when he retired as Jamaica’s sixth prime minister in 2006 following a 13-year unbroken stretch as Jamaica’s number one policymaker, said that Buju Banton had committed the crime, served the time, and should now be encouraged to prepare for life afterwards.īuju (registered name Mark Anthony Myrie) returned to Jamaica last December 7 after serving almost seven years and five months of a 10-year and one-month sentence in a Georgia, USA prison for cocaine trafficking.
Edwin Kessie, Director, Agriculture and Commodities Division, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Professor Verene A Shepherd, Director of the UWI’s Centre for Reparation Research Sir George Alleyne, Former Chancellor of the UWI and former Executive Director of The Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO).Īmbassador Dr Richard Bernal is to be the moderator.PJ … people found Buju’s message both compelling and alluring (Photo: Joseph Wellington)-įREED reggae artiste Buju Banton has been given a resounding vote of confidence by retired Jamaica Prime Minister PJ Patterson. The presenters are to include: PJ Patterson Vice Chancellor of the UWI, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, former President of Nigeria Inés Fors Fernández, Ambassador of Cuba to Jamaica Dr. Produced by UWItv, the seminar is to be premiered on the channel’s website and social media pages on May 24 at 4pm EST, and will be rebroadcast at selected intervals. PJ Patterson, a former Prime Minister of Jamaica, the centre’s first Statesman in Residence, said “presenters at the seminar will be discussing a common approach between the centres of Africa and the Caribbean to combat the current global pandemics: COVID-19, racism and poverty.” Monday’s seminar is being hosted under the auspices of the PJ CAFRICARA, which was established within the Vice Chancellery of the University of the West Indies (UWI) to provide a framework to enable leaders and academics from the Caribbean and Africa to engage in strategies to provide public advocacy around major issues affecting both regions.
Titled ‘Building Africa – Caribbean Solidarity in the Age of the Global Pandemic’, the virtual seminar is scheduled for Monday, May 24 ahead of the May 25 celebration of Africa Day in commemoration of the founding in 1963 of the Organisation of African Unity (African Union).Īfrica Day is intended to celebrate and acknowledge African solidarity, unity in diversity, creativity, challenges and successes. The PJ Patterson Centre for Africa-Caribbean Advocacy (PJ CAFRICARA) is to host a seminar dedicated to acknowledging historical, cultural, ethical and experiential ties between Africa and the Caribbean in recognition of Africa Day 2021.
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