By Bobby Adelson
Embassy Kingston honored the late, former-Secretary of State Colin Powell, whose parents were both born in Jamaica, with a wreath laying ceremony and a permanent installation of Powell’s official portrait in the chancery atrium.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness joined Chargé d’Affaires John McIntyre and the entire embassy community for the ceremony in the embassy’s atrium in front of a mural which depicted the constellations at the time of Powell’s birth.
Both Holness and McIntyre delivered remarks highlighting Powell’s achievements and his significance to both Americans and Jamaicans alike. Also offering remarks were two embassy employees—one American and one Jamaican—who shared their personal experiences with Powell, who visited the embassy in 1992 and again traveled to Jamaica in 2012.
Also attending the ceremony on behalf of the government of Jamaica were Minister of Foreign Affairs Kamina Johnson Smith, Acting Chief of Defense Staff Commodore Antionette Wemyss-Gorman, Commissioner of Police Major General Antony Anderson, and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Sheila Sealy Monteith. The ceremony was covered by six media houses, including the two major daily newspapers and a popular TV news station.
A separate wreath laying ceremony was done in the lobby of Powell Residential Plaza, an embassy housing compound that was named after Powell in 2005.
Further cementing his legacy, the embassy also unveiled the permanent installation of a portrait of Powell in a ceremony that was attended by the entire Mission community.
Bobby Adelson is the public affairs officer at Embassy Kingston.
