News Briefs

Marks hails appointment of Jewel Scott as Clayton County judge

Jamaica’s ambassador to the United States Audrey Marks has praised the appointment of Jewel Scott, former honorary consul for Georgia, as superior court judge for the Clayton County Circuit in the Atlanta Metro area.

Marks says the assignment marked a historic moment, making Justice Scott the first Jamaican person so elected in the state of Georgia.

“We salute you as an outstanding example in both your personal life and in your professional life, creating history in so many of your endeavours, including as the first woman and first Caribbean-American district attorney for Clayton County,” Ambassador Marks said in a release.

What makes this latest rise all the more special is that it is the result of an election, which you won resoundingly, having defeated a formidable incumbent with 59 per cent of the votes. That is a powerful statement about the regard and esteem with which you are held in your county,” Marks noted.

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Former Jamaican consul general to Miami, John P. Atkins is dead

Jamaica’s former consul general to Miami, John P. Atkins passed peacefully on June 14 at his home in Miami, after a long period of illness. He was 78 years of age.

Atkins served as Jamaica’s consul general for the Southern USA for eight years before his retirement from the diplomatic service in August 2002. Described as one of the longest serving Jamaican consuls general, Atkins joined the Foreign Service in 1989, when he assumed duties at the Miami Consulate as deputy to former Consul General Marie Wray, now deceased.

Consul General R. Oliver Mair paid tribute to Atkins for his kind and encouraging words of advice during a recent visit with him. Mair praised him for his years of service and commitment to Jamaica.

During his tenure, Atkins focused primarily on the immigration and deportation area of his consular duties. Along with other Caribbean diplomats of the Florida Consular Corps, he was instrumental in giving recognition to the Consular Notification System, which obligates municipal police offices in South Florida to immediately report to the respective consulates the arrest and detention of nationals of those respective counties. This became increasingly topical since the passing of the US Immigration Bill 1994, in which immigrants with resident status would be deported, if found guilty following arrests on varying counts of misdemeanour charges.

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Jamaica Diaspora Day is celebrated online

The Jamaica Diaspora Taskforce Action Network (JDTAN), in association with Jamaicans.com, recently hosted Jamaica Diaspora Day Live Online – its first-ever virtual and global all-day event of this nature.

It featured 11 sessions over 13 hours delivered by the diaspora task forces, along with several diaspora organisations and partners in Jamaica. Several projects are earmarked for this year:

• The Education Taskforce will host the annual Advancement in Education Summit virtually in July. This will be led by Chair, Dwayne Dyce and Lesleyann Samuel.

• The Learning and Development Taskforce will hold a repeat session of the Future Ready Educators JAMINAR held on Diaspora Day because of the session reaching capacity as a result of the overwhelming interest. JAMINARS are led by Chair, Ortavia Manning-Dixon.

• The LASCO Chin Foundation COVID Care package project, supported by JDTAN, has now distributed more than 14,000 packages. The project will expand to support back-to- school activities in a few weeks. This effort is led by COVID Response Taskforce Chair, Sherie Davis.

•The Environment and Climate Resilience Taskforce is co-organising a Caribbean tree-planting competition in collaboration with the Caribbean Philanthropic Alliance. This effort is led by Co-Chair, Stephen Snider.

•The Youth Policy and Advocacy Leader Taskforce held a successful Diplomacy Day event with the Institute of Caribbean Studies, during Diaspora Week. The team is focused on diplomacy recommendations, to shape policy around Caribbean engagement as part of H.R. 4939. This effort is led by Chair, Scherie Murray.