Google Doodle celebrates ‘Miss Lou’ on 103rd birthday Loop Jamaica

Black Immigrant Daily News

American multinational technology company Google is honouring the late Jamaican poet and activist Louise Bennett-Coverley, also known as Miss Lou, with a Doodle on her 103rd birthday, September 7.

The Doodle, which is the fun, surprising, and sometimes spontaneous changes that are made to the Google logo to celebrate holidays, anniversaries, and the lives of famous artists, pioneers, and scientists, was illustrated by Jamaican guest artist Robyn Smith.

“The Jamaican poet, folklorist, activist and entertainer empowered the country to take pride in its language and culture. Known by many Jamaicans as “Miss Lou”, Bennett’s social commentary and sense of humour made her a popular personality in the country,” Google said as it provided background on who Ms Lou was, her journey and her contributions.

The tech company thankedthe Louise Simone Bennett Coverley Estate (LBC Estate) for their collaboration on this project while sharing her son Fabian Coverley’s thoughts on Miss Lou’s legacy.

In a Q&A posted by Google Doodle, the artist, Smith, shared her reaction when she was approached about working on the Doodle.

“I screamed. I was just so excited about getting to work with Google, but then on top of that to have it be about a Jamaican subject, and that subject being Miss Lou, I was washed with pride for Jamaica,” Smith said.

She also said, through the Doodle, she hopes people can learn a little about the impact Miss Lou had and her passion for preserving Jamaica’s culture.

Born on September 7, 1919, Ms Lou received her education from Ebenezer and Calabar Elementary Schools, St Simon’s College, Excelsior College, and Friends College (Highgate).

She was described as Jamaica’s leading comedienne, as the “only poet who has really hit the truth about her society through its own language”, and as an important contributor to the 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.

The late Louise ‘Miss Lou’ Bennett-Coverley

Her contribution to Jamaican cultural life was such that she was honoured with the MBE, 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 eminence in the field of Arts and Culture, and in 1983 the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters from the University of the West Indies.

The Jamaica Government also appointed her Cultural Ambassador at Large for Jamaica. On Jamaica’s independence day in 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.

She died in Canada on July 26, 2006.

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