3 months ago
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During the recent graduation ceremony at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, two of Jamaica’s most distinguished orators and thespians, Owen ‘Blakka’ Ellis and Dr Amina Blackwood-Meeks, were honoured with lifetime achievement awards for their years of service to entertainment and Jamaican culture. The recognition came as a surprise to both, they told The Gleaner, though the ways they found out couldn’t have been more different.
“Dem fool mi!” Dr Meeks declared boldly with a laugh, adding, “Dem run mi out of one meeting in which it was being discussed. And that’s the truth! But shortly after I got an official letter informing me that I would be awarded,” she continued.
As for Ellis, his experience unfolded in a more unexpected direction, as he had been rooting for someone else entirely.
“When the college put out the call for the nomination, a colleague and I decided to nominate our pastor, Junior Tucker. When we looked at the criteria, we believed he fit it quite well, especially since he is celebrating 50 years in the business,” Ellis explained. “So, I was very curious to find out who had been selected; I wanted to see if it was my nominee. But then the principal called me and said congratulations. So, I asked him, ‘congrats for what?’ and that’s when he told me that I had been selected,” Ellis added.
He admitted that the news was initially bittersweet, given how invested he had been in the nomination of another. Still, after some reflection, he embraced the honour, “After I thought about it some more, I said to myself that if they think I am deserving of it, I will honour it, accept it and celebrate it.”
Beyond the excitement of the moment, both recipients saw the award as a reminder of the weight of the work they carry. For Dr Meeks, it reinforced just how closely the public pays attention.
“It took a little while for it to sink in because we don’t do our work for trophies and citations. We love to get them enuh, but that’s not what we’re thinking of when doing the work. And once you’ve been awarded for the work you have done, what does that really mean? What it means is that your level of responsibility to the work absolutely goes up the chart,” she explained.
Ellis echoed a similar sense of reflection, describing the moment as part of a full-circle journey, “I’m truly humbled and honoured because Edna is very dear to my heart. I went there as a student in 1978, and I’ve been connected to the school in some way shape or form from then until now,” Ellis, a longtime lecturer at the institution, said.
“But why I remind myself to be humble with it is because I stand on great shoulders and have been inspired for great people and all I can do is pass that down the line as best as I can,” he added.
In the end, both Owen ‘Blakka’ Ellis and Dr Amina Blackwood- Meeks said the honour only deepens their commitment to continuing the work that has shaped generations and will inspire many more to come.
English (US) ·