Editorial | Honouring Tony Hart and Jeanette Grant-Woodham

Jamaica lost two outstanding citizens recently, one a futurist entrepreneur and the other a trailblazer in education and politics. Both the Hon Tony Hart, OJ, and Jeanette Grant-Woodham, OD, served this nation well.

It is unfortunate that in retirement, many of our nation builders are consigned to oblivion. Young Jamaicans do not get to learn how these persons helped to move the country forward and the challenges they overcame to build a nation in its infancy.

Someone once remarked that “the dead receive more flowers than the living because regret is more powerful than gratitude”.

Branded an oral society, much is said, but precious little is written about many of our nation builders. Indeed, Jamaica lives with many regrets for failing to record and teach students about these outstanding personalities. It is often left up to media to give its summary of their accomplishments. But is that really enough? Our historians and academicians should be encouraged to write about these outstanding personalities.

TOWERING STATESMAN

A towering statesman, Tony Hart, son of St James, was appreciated by persons across the business and political spectrum. Citizens of his ilk, possessed with a sense of nationalism, were called on to fill the vacuum left by the departing colonial powers. They helped to frame a national vision for the new Jamaica.

Described as a serial entrepreneur, the Hon Tony Hart was said to have started more than 50 companies in areas as diverse as commerce, construction, agriculture, and tourism. His legacy includes monuments like the Montego Bay Freeport, which transformed Montego Bay into a commercial hub and where thousands of people are now employed. Other famous landmarks bearing his footprints include Bogue Lands and Pye River Bridge, which are testaments to the grand vision he had for the Second City.

DEDICATED TO EDUCATION

Educated at Westwood High School, that beacon atop the Stewart Town hills in Trelawny, Jeanette Grant moved from serving as head girl into a teaching position. That event set in motion a lifelong dedication to education, which she avidly cherished as the fundamental right of every child.

Jeanette Grant-Woodham was a builder, too, as teacher, administrator, gender specialist, and politician. The founding principal of Tivoli Gardens Comprehensive School in 1970, she created an exceptional institution where art and culture were nurtured and the student body received many kudos and awards for embracing the arts, particularly in dance. She went on to build many other lives at The University of the West Indies, the University of Technology, the Council of Community Colleges, and the Jeanette Grant-Woodham Education Foundation.

One of her crowning achievements was her appointment as president of the Jamaican Senate in 1984. She had done something no other woman had ever done. She also served in Government as a junior minister for trade and represented Jamaica in various international fora.

Grant-Woodham was an active member of the Jamaica Women’s Political Caucus, which encouraged women to find pathways to political office. She believed so much in the effectiveness of women political leadership that she became a certified political trainer for women.

Educational transformation is the current buzzword. We imagine that the work of the recently formed high-power commission will look into the curriculum being taught in schools as part of its work.

We urge the team to consider whether teaching our students about the exploits of a murderous marauder like Henry Morgan, albeit governor of Jamaica, would do more to inspire a young Jamaican than accounts of the exceptional vision of persons like Tony Hart and Jeanette Grant-Woodham.