At the Jamaica Blog Awards on Sunday at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel sponsored by Jamaica Producers – St Marys Chips, I delivered a tribute to Annie Paul who received the Personal Achievement Award for excellence in blogging in Jamaica. This was the second highest point of the show for me. The tributes delivered by Jean Lowrie-Chin, Prof. Cooper and I in my opinion were moving – felt a lil teary. This is something I’ve always wanted to do and I was pleased it happened. Please read the tribute below, and then you can head over to Active Voice to read Annie Paul’s work.
Annie Paul is many things to many people; mother, radio show host, writer, Indian, Jamaican, an academic and a thinker. Those of us who adore her in social media, however, would hasten to add another title to that very long impressive list; that of a blogger. Annie Paul’s blog, Active Voice, is a reflection of this diverse background and complex socio-cultural identity.
Her commitment to the many truths that characterise society , politics and change in Jamaica and her open-mindedness, maturity and warmth have earned the respect of the blogging community and the journalistic fraternity as was most apparent in the Jamaica Observer where her blogging was the main focus of its February 13, 2011 issue. Certainly, this achievement is laudable particularly in a country and region where blogging has barely begun to receive the legitimacy it deserves as a modern means of expression. Annie Paul embodies the essence of what the Jamaica Blog Awards stands for and aspires to promote – credible, relevant, sincere blogging that represents the Jamaican point of view in all its contexts. No doubt, nothing best encapsulates, who Annie Paul is as a blogger than the very first comment she received on her blog from another known Jamaican blogger overseas, Geoffrey Phillip, he wrote:
“Dear Annie, a usual, your integrity shines. I look forward to more.” So do we Annie Paul. So do we.
Ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to present to you the Jamaica Blog Awards 2011 Personal Achievement Awardee Annie Paul.
She sounds absolutely fascinating- I will have to look up her blog.
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