1. Working across differences
Presented by: Deborah bailey
Tutor: Michel allard

2. Louise bennett-coverly
Place of Birth: Kingston
Date of Birth: September 07, 1919
Date of Death: July 26, 2007
Alias: Miss Lou
Accomplishments: Jamaican poet and activist.

3. Louise Bennett was born on September 7, 1919
Louise Bennett was born on September 7, She was a Jamaican poet and activist. From Kingston, Jamaica.
Louise Bennett remains a household name in Jamaica, a “Living Legend” and a cultural icon. She received her education from Ebenezer and Calabar Elementary Schools, St. Simon’s College, Excelsior College, Friends College (Highgate).

4. Louise bennett- coverly
She was described as Jamaica’s leading comedienne, as the “only poet who has really hit the truth about her society through its own cultural language”, and as an important contributor to her country of “valid social documents reflecting the way Jamaicans think and feel and live”. Through her poems in Jamaican patois, she raised the dialect of the Jamaican folk to an art level which is acceptable to and appreciated by all in Jamaica.

5. In her poems she was able to capture all the spontaneity of the expression of Jamaicans’ joys and sorrows, religion and their philosophy of life.
Her first dialect poem was written when she was fourteen years old. In the late 1940’s, a British Council Scholarship took her to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art where she studied.

6. INVOLMENT& CONTRIBUTION THROUGH: -Networking -education
Bennett not only had a scholarship to attend the academy but she auditioned and won a scholarship.
After graduation she worked with repertory companies in Coventry, Huddersfield and all over England.
She lectured extensively in the United States and the United Kingdom on Jamaican folklore and music and represented Jamaica all over the world.
INVOLMENT& CONTRIBUTION THROUGH: -Networking -education

7. Louise bennett-coverly
Bennett wedded Eric Winston Coverley in (who died in 2002) and has one stepson and several adopted children.
She enjoys Theatre, Movies and Auction sales. Upon returning to Jamaica, she taught drama to youth and adult groups both in social welfare agencies as well as for the University of the West Indies Extra Mural Department.

8. Involvement through: Art , music & culture
Her contribution to Jamaican cultural life was such that she was honored with the Norman Manley Award for Excellence (in the field of Arts), the Order of Jamaica (1974),
the Institute of Jamaica’s Musgrave Silver and Gold Medals for distinguished accomplishment in the field of Arts and Culture, and the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters from the University of the West Indies 1983.
In September 1988 her composition “You’re going home now”, won a nomination from the Academy of Canadian Cinema ad Television, for the best original song in the movie “Milk and Honey.”
Involvement through: Art , music & culture

9. In 1950, Bennett went to England where she worked with the BBC, as host of another Caribbean show called “West Indian Night.”
While in New York she directed a folk musical called “Day in Jamaica.” The couple returned to Jamaica in 1955.
One of her famous hits “Day Dah Light.” In 1955 the was recorded by Harry Belafonte as “Day O.” It is also known as the “Banana Boat Song.”

10. Communication through song.
The song came straight from Jamaica's banana-growing culture. As banana was the main export crop during and after colonization. It served as the source of income for the families and the community. Louise managed to coin this song in a way that teaches the generation of how things were and also to have an appreciation of where as a people we are coming from and how much we have grown.
The workers would materialize on the docks whenever the boats arrived. Men and women together would hoist the heavy banana stalks onto their heads and walk them to the ships ("Lift six-foot, seven-foot, eight-foot bunch"). At the end of the night, a banana counter, known as a "tally man," would figure out how much each worker would be paid. ("Come, Mr. Tally Man, tally me banana; daylight come and me wan' go home

11. “Day o”, “day dah light”
Day-o, day-ay-ay-o Daylight come and he wan' go home Day, he say day, he say day, he say day, he say day, he say day-ay-ay-o Daylight come and he wan' go home
Work all night on a drink a'rum (Daylight come and he wan' go home) Stack banana till thee morning come (Daylight come and he wan' go home)
Come, Mr. Tally Mon, tally me banana (Daylight come and he wan' go home) Come, Mr. Tally Mon, tally me banana (Daylight come and he wan' go home)
It's six foot, seven foot, eight foot, BUNCH! (Daylight come and he wan' go home) Six foot, seven foot, eight foot, BUNCH! (Daylight come and he wan' go home)

12. In 1998, Louise received the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters from York University, Toronto, Canada. The Jamaica Government also appointed her Cultural Ambassador at Large for Jamaica.
On Jamaica’s independence day 2001, Bennett-Coverley was appointed as a Member of the Order of Merit for her distinguished contribution to the development of the Arts and Culture.

13. Through the Arts, such as: drama, folklore, songs, poetry, dance, humor, traditional games.
Miss Lou, as is affectionally called by all Jamaicans, have used the power of Art to educate the population about staying true to and appreciating their rich culture. She has used the diversity of communication to win the hearts of influential persons who worked along with her to involve the children and adults alike in using art to express themselves.
Not surprisingly, Ms. Bennett was ostracized by educated Jamaicans who saw the local patois as inferior to the Oxford English they tried to speak. The island’s newspaper The Gleaner refused at first to publish her poems, but later paid her for a regular Sunday column, which became popular. ed to work across differences Communication Education career option
Many Jamaicans have been inspired by the determination, resilience, multifaced rich history that makes up the Jamaican language that keeps on bringing people together in a happy way.
Numerous Jamaicans have studied and are studying in the field of Art and have become, tutors/lecturers, comedians and international ambassadors for the country. Children compete for special awards imitating the rich legacy as passed on to them by Miss Lou.

14. https://www. youtube. com/watch
x=23 What a night
t_radio=1&t=27 “Day oh”
x=7 “Carry me Ackee”
Interview & Folk songs
behind the scenes with Miss Lou

15. References
Jamaican Information Services
FOLKLORIST, POET, AND RADIO AND TELEVISION PERSONALITY
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