THE EDITOR, Sir,
I READ with avidity the articles on Miss Lou's visit to Jamaica and the heroine's welcome she received which was very well deserved. I deeply admire her talents and the life-long work she has put into presenting and preserving Jamaican life through poetry in dialect, her Anancy stories and Auntie Roachie pieces.
I live in New York and I am an amateur actress. On many occasions, I have been asked to perform in dialect at Jamaican alumni association lunches/dinners and at various other cultural events in New York, New Jersey and Florida. The request is always for Miss Lou's work and in her repertoire there is always material to match the theme of the event. The Jamaicans here crave for Miss Lou's work and I am happy to present her work to them, paying tribute to her on each occasion.
On 23 August 2003, the Jamaican Flag will be raised in Edison, New Jersey and I have been asked to present Miss Lou's work which I will be honoured to do.
I am a linguist and find deep pleasure in presenting our dialect to audiences. It is indeed rewarding that other Caribbean folk appreciate the Jamaican dialect and welcome its presentation. On one occasion, the retirement party of Mr. G. Arthur Brown, former Governor of the Bank of Jamaica and former Associate Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, I performed Miss Lou's "Gay Paree" to an international audience and the francophone Africans understood and were very appreciative of the poem. Of course, natives of Antigua and Sierra Leone share the same dialect with us Jamaicans.
Miss Lou is to me a historian, linguist, entertainer and comedian. She will always be for me, and I am sure for many other Jamaicans, an artistic inspiration. I often feel nostalgia for Jamaica and performing Miss Lou's work takes me home. For me, Miss Lou is Jamaica!
I am, etc.,
JENNIFER R. COPELAND
jennifer.copeland@undp.org
St. Albans
New York
Via Go-Jamaica
