Reggae artiste wants Bedward named Nat’l Hero

Reggae artiste Ras Ash 1st has started an online petition to establish controversial pan-Africanist Alexander Bedward as a national hero.

"Bedward should be a national hero, he is an international father of pan-Africanism. A hero's blood must be shed for the survival of a people and beyond. Alexander Bedward's blood was shed for the cause, and he is the founder of the creative spirit of freedom," Ras Ash 1st said.

Bedward was a preacher of Jamaican Revivalism and leader of the Jamaica Native Baptist Free Church in the early 1900s. He is a controversial figure whose name is often mentioned with ridicule, and tales are shared about his supposed attempt to fly, his arrest in 1921 and his subsequent incarceration at an asylum until his death. Ras Ash 1st believes that reggae legend Bob Marley would be an advocate of Bedward being conferred with national hero status.

"Bedward can't be compared with Bob. If Bob were alive, he would join me in spirit and truth and recognise that Bedward inspired Marcus [Garvey] to teach, so Bob could sing what Marcus had taught. Bob, too, has his place in the heavens," Ras Ash 1st said. "Bedward's work was the one who helped to birth Bob Marley's reality. Bob himself knew the greatness of Bedward. If Bob were here, he would declare Bedward a national hero and a great man that was among the people. I have many brothers in the Rastafari community who really are making the same call. Bedward is Rasta, Rasta is Bedward," he said. Ras Ash 1st called on the society to support the petition.

"I am asking for the assistance of the minister of culture, members of parliament, [and] persons of influence within high and low places to help restore something which was once lost. For too long, we have allowed the oppressors to write our stories. Reclaim our heritage and expunge the record of Sir Alexander Bedward, and make him a national hero who died in the struggle to free the minds of black people," he said.