Merlene Joyce Ottey

Born May 10, 1960 , the ‘Queen of the Track’ , Merlene Ottey has achieved a fair share of success and rewards during her time on the track.

It did not take too long for Merlene to realise her potential as a champion sprinter and exploit such phenomenal speed. Assessing her times and her flurry of medals, she can arguably be tipped as the greatest female sprinter of all time; she is the first female from the Caribbean to claim an Olympic medal and she is the first woman to sub-22 seconds in the 200 metres. She has won 14 World Championship medals which is not only the most as a female but as a track and field athlete; she has nine Olympic medals which is the most as a female.

The boundaries she has managed to extend and the seemingly insurmountable feats she has recorded makes her a role model for not only women but athletes across the world. For services in the field of sport the ‘Bronze Queen’ was named an Officer of the Order of Nation, awarded the Order of Distinction.

— Devaro Bolton

Portia Simpson Miller

‘It is often said that – “while the nation sleeps, she works”.

Ranked in 2006 as number 89 on the Forbes list of The World’s Most Powerful Women, former Prime Minister of Jamaica, the Honourable Portia Simpson was born on December 12, 1945 in Wood Hall, St. Catherine, Jamaica. She attended the ‘Marlie Hill Primary School , St Martin’s High School and the Union Institute, Miami Florida where she read for a Bachelors Degree in Public Administration. While completing her degree she also completed a Diploma in Computing, Programming and Public Relations. In addition she has been awarded Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters by the Union Institute.

Simpson Miller has been in the political arena for over 30 years and has offered her services to various positions in government such as in 2006, when she became the first female Prime minister of Jamaica and third in the English speaking Caribbean. She currently holds the position of Leader of Opposition and Leader of the People’s National Party.

— Michael Thompson

Jimmy Cliff

Actor, musician, songwriter, producer and businessman, Jimmy Cliff born James Chambers on April 1, 1948 is without doubt one of TEENage’s modern day heroes. Renowned for his musical hits such as Sitting In Limbo, You Can Get It If You Really Want It and Harder They Come, Chambers is one of Jamaica’s most gifted musicians.

Recording over 25 albums and touring the world Cliff received many accolades for his work and his songs where used by political parties and World organizations. Music, however, was not his only gift as his lead role in the hit movie The Harder They Come proved to be a catalyst for his acting career.

A true living legend Cliff is the only Jamaican musician alive to be granted the order of merit by the Jamaican government for his work. Jimmy Cliff was not only recognised locally as on March 15, 2010, he was formally inducted into the Rock and Roll hall of fame.

— Ian Williams

Ralston Milton ‘Rex’ Nettleford, OM ,FIJ, OCC,

In light of the passing of Professor Rex Nettleford, who passed away last Tuesday, hours shy of his 77th birthday, TEENage seeks to honour the legacy Ralston Milton ‘Rex’ Nettleford has left behind. He is one of the few men who could bring the quote “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon” alive.

The Trelawny-born old boy of Cornwall College was always fascinated with the way of life of human beings. This was further encouraged when he attended the University of the West Indies to pursue a degree in History, which he gained with honours.

His creative spirit soared in the art of dance from his early school days which was marked by his first choreography in ‘Boonguzu’ in 1953 at Cornwall College, his alma mater.This love affair with the creative expression trapped in movement lead him to become the founder, artistic director and principal choreographer of the internationally acclaimed National Dance Theatre Company (NDTC).

Rex Nettleford was not short of talent and he used his other gift of singing and went on to become the co-founder of the University Singers of the University of the West Indies and along with Noel Dexter gave birth to chorale theatre.

Rex Nettleford wrote Mirror, Mirror, Race, Identity and Protest in Jamaica (1970), when he formulated his own ideas pertaining to the impact of races (African, English, etc) on how Jamaican people viewed their own identities. His spoken word translated on to paper when he became a co-author (with MG Smith and Roy Augier) of what was claimed a “groundbreaking study of the Rastafari movement in 1961.”

He also authored The African Connexion, In Our Heritage, and his latest published book was “Caribbean Cultural Identity, The Case of Jamaica. It is said that it is through his collection of Norman Manley’s speeches and writings named Manley and the New Jamaica in 1971. In 1957, Nettleford received the Rhodes Scholarship to Oreil College, Oxford where he received a post graduate degree in Politics. He received the Order of Merit which is the highest non-political national honour in 1975.

In 2003, in honour of the centenary of Rhodes Scholarship in the Caribbean, The Rhodes Trust established the Rex Nettleford Fellowship in Cultural Studies.

He became Vice-chancellor in 1996 and held the position for eight years — he was the first graduate of the University to head the region’s premier tertiary level institution.

— Jomarie Malcolm and Shelley McIntrye