On Sunday, Donovan Smith, a member of the Boulevard Baptist Church, told me, with distress in his voice, that one toe of Paul Bogle's statue was removed. The Paul Bogle statue is located in front of the Morant Bay court house in St Thomas. Smith wanted the Boulevard Baptist Church to fix it, but alas it is a national monument and only the Jamaica National Heritage Trust (JNHT) can repair it.

Coincidentally, later that day, Ainsley Henriques, former chairman of the JNHT, told me that the fire that destroyed the Morant Bay courthouse on February 19, 2007 also affected the statue, but nothing had been done to ensure its maintenance (preservation). And earlier in the week, CVM TV displayed a viewer's picture which showed that the back of the statue had been gutted. Unfortunately, there has been no outcry at the defacing of the monument and no quick desire to repair the damage to the monument for a national hero.

National hero

This should not be surprising because when Edna Manley, the sculptor, unveiled the monument in 1965, it was rejected by some as being too black. Edna, the daughter of a missionary, captured the work of Bogle accurately in the statue, with Bogle's partially outstretched arms bringing back memories of the depiction of Jesus on the cross. Obviously, this was too much for our leading clergymen in the 1960s. One such, in a William Hammett lecture, seriously questioned Bogle being perceived as a Christian hero. Another clergyman, a Rhodes scholar, suggested that, elevating Bogle to a national hero was like elevating Malcolm X over Martin Luther King and that the national psyche would be so affected that Jamaica could become a violent society. Using that logic, he might claim that he was prophetic because the murder and crime rates have dramatically increased since 1965!

I, therefore, tried to depict Bogle and Sharpe as non-violent (Gleaner article June 4). Based on that article, Lloyd D'Aguilar, Newstalk talk show host interviewed me. He disagreed with my assertion because he claimed that I was making them out to be pacifists and he said they engaged in 'revolutionary violence'. To support his argument, he said Bogle and his followers were "armed with machetes". However, my claim that Bogle was non-violent is not the same as saying he was a pacifist. A pacifist will not retaliate even in self-defence, as was the case of Mahatma Gandhi and Reverend Dr Martin Luther King Jr, while Sharpe definitely allowed for self-defence and it could be argued that Bogle believed in self-defence.

The haste with which the Paul Bogle monument is fixed will reveal our state of mind as a nation. Bogle's statue along with the celebrations of 1965 was a statement of pride in being Jamaican as a newly independent nation. It was a first step towards developing a national identity, self-respect and acceptance of our African heritage. It was a refutation of the British imperial mentality of the superiority of English identity. Jamaica was replacing English heroes with Jamaican heroes. The establishment of the office of national hero and our own national awards was to develop a Jamaican identity, instill pride within Jamaicans and loyalty to Jamaica. The defacing of Paul Bogle's statue is a sign that the veneration due to Bogle and his contribution are being undermined.

Disrespect

Being cognisant of the disrespect to Bogle's monument and memory is very painful. Even as I attempt to write a more accurate history concerning Sam Sharpe, Paul Bogle and George William Gordon in my upcoming book, The Cross and the Machete, the front cover of which depicts the Paul Bogle statue, the damage to the statue is yet another setback in our advancement as a nation.

Let us fix the monument fast and venerate the memory of Bogle.

Devon Dick is pastor of the Boulevard Baptist Church and author of 'Rebellion to Riot: The Church in Nation Building'. Feedback may be sent to columns@gleanerjm.com'