Caribbean political and cultural icon Professor Rex Nettleford had died, just days after suffering a massive heart attack while visiting Washington D.C.He went into a coma and never recovered. Doctors took Nettleford off life support Tuesday, just hours before his 77th birthday.
The medical records at George Washington University Hospital indicated Nettleford suffered “catastrophic brain injury”.
Nettleford was vice-chancellor emeritus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) in his native. He was in Washington to attend a fundraising gala for the university.
He previously served as the vice-chancellor of UWI’s Mona Campus in Jamaica from 1996 to 2004 and has received several awards, including Jamaica’s third highest honour, the Order of Merit, as well as the Order of the Caribbean Community in 2008.
Nettleford also wrote several books on Caribbean culture and founded the National Dance Theatre Company in 1962. He was also a cultural advisor to Prime Minister Bruce Golding.
Commenting on Nettleford's death Golding said, Jamaica and the entire world has lost “an intellectual and creative genius, a man whose contribution to shaping and projecting the cultural landscape of the entire Caribbean region is unquestionable.
“Rex Nettleford was an international icon, a quintessential Caribbean man, the professor, writer, dancer, manager, orator, critic, and mentor. He has left a void in our world that will be a challenge to fill,” Golding said.
He added that Nettleford's “rich and lasting legacy should be preserved for those who must carry on his life's work - the emancipation of the Caribbean colonial mind from mental slavery in its quest for identity".
Jamaica's Opposition Leader, Portia Simpson-Miller, said: "I am very deeply saddened by the news of Professor Nettleford's passing. This is a national loss and one that I feel personally. Words are inadequate to capture the extent of the grief I feel."
She said Nettleford's life testified to the success that is possible through grit, determination and resilience.
Editor's footnote: I learned about politics from Prof. Nettleford as one of his Political Science students at UWI, Jamaica in 1977-78. He was one of the most brilliant political analysts I've ever met and I thank him for opening my mind to explore and learn. - Jai Parasram
1 comment:
Rex Nettleford died a few weeks after the death of a dear friend of his in Jamaica Millicent Davis- herself an unsung heroine, friend to many in the Jamiacan theatre world.
May they both rest in peace.
He was a formidable human being.
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