Lisa Hanna Calls For Bob Marley To Be Named ‘National Hero’

Lisa Hanna, Miss World 1993 titleholder turned politician is the latest public figure to add her voice to the call for Reggae legend Bob Marley to be named a National Hero.  In an op-ed in the Sunday Observer, the opposition spokesperson on Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade said that the move would be a step in the right direction, amidst talks of Jamaica transitioning to a Republic.

“When I look back now at how Bob’s lyrics and rhythms gave willing abandonment to the social mores expected of women from that generation whom British Victorian ideals of ‘respectability’ would have indoctrinated, I give thanks for his direct influence on them, which ultimately impacted me and so many others around the world,” she said in part.

“Forty years after his death, in our 60th year of independence from Britain, Bob Marley continues to frame the reference of Jamaica, reverberating with conscious noise, haunting the world with hopeful calls to action amid despair. How come? And what should this mean for us as a country seeking Republicanism from our colonial vestiges?” Hanna added.

Hanna, who created a stir in 2014 with a photo of herself in a two-piece orange bikini and Bob Marley tee, noted that much of her respect and appreciation for the Stir It Up singer was birthed after touring extensively to honor her Miss World duties.

“…From Columbia to Mauritius, Swaziland to Israel, or Scotland to Turkey, there was always one constant that framed someone’s reference to Jamaica, no matter their race, colour, language, or gender; it was our king of reggae, the Robert Nesta “Bob” Marley.”

Hanna, 46, who also served as Jamaica’s Minister of Youth and Culture from 2012 to 2016, added that Marley’s music was an integral part of her upbringing—and had helped to mold her.

“As a child, the framing of my understanding of growing up in 1970s Jamaica was inspired by listening to songs from the Exodus, Natty Dread, Uprising, and Survival albums. It was hard to escape, mainly because my Aunt Donna McIntosh would come over with my godmother, Winsome Miller-Harvey, to dance in our living room, singing with my mother at the top of their voices,” she continued.

Hanna chastised the government and other authoritative entities for their inability to be proactive in naming a man who has contributed significantly to Jamaica’s culture, as a National Hero.

“He is a global hero for many nationalities, yet Jamaica has never found it fitting to bestow him with the honour of national hero. It’s time to ditch the attitudes of the miseducated Jamaican elite who continue to adamantly oppose such a designation based on their Victorian-era old colonial values against the lifestyle of Rastafari.”

During the recent visit of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to Jamaica, Prime Minister Andrew Holness declared that Jamaica would be “moving on” from the monarchy.  “We’re moving on and we intend to attain in short order … to fulfil our true ambitions as an independent, developed and prosperous country,” Holness said, according to the Jamaica Gleaner.

Hanna believes the first step toward achieving this goal would be to pay dues to those who have earned them.  “If we are serious about becoming republic, let us first demonstrate it by embracing our own, recognising the monumental impact they’ve made on our lives and the global village. It’s time to make Bob Marley our eighth national hero,” she said.

The discourse about bestowing the high honor of National Hero on the Reggae King was rejuvenated after Bajan pop star Rihanna was named a hero in her home country in November 2021.

Rihanna, 33, was the first person to be conferred with the title of National Hero of Barbados, since 1998.  She is also the second woman to be given the honor after she was recommended by Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley during the official ceremony to mark the island’s transition to a Republic.  Coincidentally, shortly after this prestigious award, one of the Fenty Beauty Billionaire’s 2012 tweets re-surfaced, in which she hailed Marley as being her hero.

Last year, Jack It Up artist Spragga Benz was among those who called for Bob Marley to be declared a National Hero on his Instagram page, under an Instagram photo of Rihanna at the Barbados ceremony.

“While Jamaica seem to await the Queen’s approval to honor Bob Marley as a National Hero … Barbadian singer Rihanna joins in the celebration of Barbados becoming a Republic and will be appointed National Hero,” Spragga had said.

In February 2020, music industry veteran Tommy Cowan, who was once marketing manager for Marley, had argued that no other person, including the seven National Heroes, had the impact of the Exodus singer, but that there were people in Jamaica who cannot “get beyond the fact that they see this man with a spliff that he can’t be a National Hero.”

However, Professor of Culture, Gender, and Society at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Professor Donna P. Hope, had told the Jamacia Gleaner in a August 2017 article that, for a small nation, Jamaica already had “way too many national heroes.”

“I think we really have to be very careful as to how we go about apportioning that notion of heroine or hero status to individuals,” Hope had said.  The Professor, who is the publisher of several books on Jamaican music including Inna Di Dancehall and Reggae Stories, had also pointed out that some persons “want to incorrectly impose hero status on individuals based on achievements in their careers and the recognition they have gained internationally”.

In December 2021, Opposition Senator Floyd Morris served notice in the Upper House of the Jamaican Parliament that he would be moving a motion for Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff, Usain Bolt and Louise Bennett Coverly to be all made National Heroes, no later than Independence Day (August 6, 2022).