November 6th, 2008. New
York City. Lennox Lewis, three time
winner of the Heavyweight Boxing
Championship Title of the World took off
his gloves and opened his heart for
Jamaica last night. The 6 ft 5 in boxing
champion took an Olympic Gold Medal in
1988, last night he took a humanitarian
award for his services. Lennox was
honored by The American Friends of
Jamaica (AFJ) with an International
Achievement Award for his involvement in
a wide range of philanthropic
organizations in Academia and Sports.
Born in England, to Jamaican born
parents, Lennox has made significant
contributions and raised important funds
for charities in Jamaica. His wife,
Violet (former Miss Jamaica runner-up),
accompanied him.
Some of the past honoree's of the
prestigious AFJ award were Edgar and
Louise Cullman, Chris Blackwell (Island
Records), Ralph Lauren, and President
Ronald Reagan. Last nights event was
held at Gotham Hall and was chaired by
Manuela Goren. Manuela and her husband
James fell in love with Jamaica many
years ago and have spent a significant
amount of time and effort enjoying and
helping the country. The event brought
together many people wanting to express
their love and support for Jamaica. I
spoke with winter residents from Tryall,
Round Hill and Rose Hall. Someone
described Tryall as a blend of Nantucket
and Palm Beach. Guests included
corporate leaders, philanthropists,
diplomats, and people from many
different areas of life, some with
Jamaican roots, some with no former ties
to the country. There was a lot of
warmth amongst the guests in attendance,
maybe it was their love of the country
shining through. I felt genuine Jamaican
hospitality at its finest and that set
the tone for the evening. Most people
that I spoke to said, "You must come to
Jamaica."
The Honorable Olivia (Babsy) Grange.
Minister of Information Culture, Youth
and Sports made an enlightening speech
informing us of many of Jamaica's
contributions to the world. We all know
that Jamaica has given us reggae music
(thanks to Bob Marley and Chris
Blackwell), but Jamaica has given us
much more. Noble Prize winning scientist
Paul Ehrlich, one of the main founders
of chemotherapy, came from Jamaica, some
other notables are Usain Bolt, the
fastest man on the planet with a world
record of 100 meters in 9.72 seconds,
Asafa Powell is the world's second
fastest man, Shelly-Ann Fraser from
Kingston won the 100mt. at the Beijing
Olympics however the record is still
held by Florence Griffith-Joyner, and
who could forget, the Jamaican Bobsled
Team. No other Caribbean Island has a
bobsled team in the winter Olympics.
Babsy said, "We're little but we're
awesome." There is a lot of truth to
that statement.
Latania Bingham from Montego Bay spoke
gratefully about James and Manuela Goren
and their support for her. She was
accepted by an American University but
could not afford to go. The Gorens
invited her to America and gave her the
most valuable tool, an education. She
said that most of her friends in Jamaica
dropped out of school, fell to drugs,
teenage pregnancy and death. Latania
plans to take the knowledge she learns
in the US back to her country to help
develop leadership skills in others.
Lennox Lewis was actually in Toronto the
night before and was inducted into The
Canadian Hall of Fame. He credited his
mother for all of his accomplishments
and spoke of, "this momentous time in
history" referring to President Elect
Barack Obama's victory. He said he would
like to regenerate boxing in Jamaica to
encourage youth and teach goals, stating
that if Jamaica has so many great
athletes, they could also have the best
boxers in the world. This drew a large
round of applause from the audience.
Being the father of two young children,
Lennox acknowledged that he would like
to give Jamaican youths more to do than
"stand around." Lennox is a role model
to youth and has devoted himself to
helping improve their lives by showing
them what they can be. He truly deserves
this honor. In fact, Lennox was one of
the last people to leave. He and his
wife graciously stayed to talk with
guests and allow numerous photo ops for
his fans.
The AFJ was established in 1982 to
assist Jamaican charities in the areas
of education, healthcare, human and
economic development. The next event
will take place in Miami on May 16th,
2009 and will honor Jamaica Ritz
Carlton's Michele Rollins.
To learn more go to www.theafj.org
Story by Sara Herbert-Galloway
sara@blacktiemagazine.com
To view more photos go to:
www.herbertcollection.com
www.sdmackpictures.com