Farrakhan challenges Jamaica to become a republic

Louis Farrakhan, Leader of the Nation of Islam, has challenged Jamaica to throw off the remnants of colonialism in its Constitution by establishing a republican form of government and dispensing with the British Monarch as the country's Head of State.

Farrakhan, in the feature address at a gathering at Jamaica's National Arena in Kingston on Sunday afternoon, recalled the country's attainment of political Independence in 1962, but bemoaned the fact that the country chose to retain the Queen as Head of State (represented in the country by a Governor-General).

The option of establishing a republic was one of the main points of deliberation on constitutional reform in Jamaica during the 1990s; however, there was no consensus then on the matter.

Farrakhan, in Jamaica for the commemoration of the 19th anniversary of the 1995 "Million Man March" in Washington DC, also picked up on the theme of reparations for the injustices of slavery, encouraging the governments of the region to involve their people in the movement in order to make it truly effective.

Black pride was also a major theme in his address, as he reproached those Jamaicans who, out of self-contempt, engage in the practice of bleaching their skins.

The Nation of Islam Leader exhorted Jamaicans to focus as well on agriculture, as one of the main engines of economic growth and development.