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The Classics

PHOTO FLASHBACK: General Colin Powell and his Jamaican connection

Published:Thursday | October 21, 2021 | 8:53 PMA Digital Integration & Marketing production
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Key to the city: General Colin Powell, chairman of the US Joint Chief of Staff, on February 14, 1992, said that he was deeply moved that he had been given the key to his home. He was responding to remarks by Kingston Mayor Marie Atkins after she had presented him with the Key to the City of Kingston at the Ward Theatre. Declaring that he was as much a son of the soil here as he was an American, General Powell said that over the years, he has been the recipient of many presentations, but this one was "different". He said it was only in America that anyone could rise to any level, and attributed his personal rise to Jamaican values embedded in him by his Jamaican parents, who migrated to the US where he was born.
Governor General Sir Florizel Glasspole welcomes Lt Colin Powell, national security adviser to the president of the United States , on September 2, 1988, during a courtesy call paid on Sir Florizel by Powell at King's House. Powell was accompanied by his wife, Alma, and officials of the US State Department, arrived in Jamaica on Thursday for a three-day official visit.
Portia Simpson (left), minister of labour, welfare and sports, greets Mrs Alma Powell (right), wife of General Colin Powell, while Glen Holden (second left), US ambassador to Jamaica, talks with General Colin Powell .
Honouring a soldier and a gentleman: Governor-General Sir Howard Cooke (left), performing the rites of investiture to General Colin Powell to join the company of persons whom the nation has conferred the award, Honorary Order of Jamaica. The ceremony of investiture took place at King’s House in December 1994.
General Colin Powell (left), chairman of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff, responds to the warm welcome from Prime Minister Michael Manley at Jamaica House of February 10, 1992, minutes after he arrived on the island for a four-day visit.
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General Colin Campbell was deeply connected to Jamaica. He was born in the US to immigrant parents from Top Hill, St Elizabeth. In his book, My American Dream, Powell wrote about his family and how he saw generations of constructive, productive members of society. He visited Jamaica several times at the invitation of different political leaders.