February 3, 2010

Rex Nettleford, 1933-2010

PROFESSOR REX NETTLEFORD, Vice Chancellor Emeritus of the Unversity of the Wset Indies, died at 8 o'clock tonight in a Washington hospital. He was one day short of his 77th birthday

May he rest in Peace.

~John Maxwell
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Mr. Nettleford’s death is a tremendous loss for Jamaica and the Caribbean. As a social critic, his insights have had a profound impact on the political and social development of Jamaica, and it should be remembered that Mr. Nettleford was one of the first to recognize the importance and impact of Rastafari in Jamaica and the Caribbean.

But it is in the arts that he will be missed.  As a founder on the NDTC, Mr. Nettleford was instrumental in demonstrating the connection between the spiritual practices of the folk and the aspirations of Jamaicans. At the recent Caribbean American Book and Art Fair in Miami, Derek Walcott described Mr. Nettleford as the “ideal reader” of his work and lauded him for his contribution to the arts, especially in the field of dance.

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