Wikipedia

Heather Little-White

Heather Little-White OD (8 May 1952 – 22 January 2013) was a Jamaican nutritionist, journalist and disabilities activist. After earning degrees in nutrition and communication, she worked with Grace Kitchens and founded the television programme Creative Cooking to share sound nutritional advice throughout the country. As a journalist, besides writing articles on nutrition, she wrote a weekly column on sexuality for the Outlook Magazine segment of The Gleaner newspaper. After working with the Reggae Boyz, Jamaica's national football team, as a nutrition consultant, Little-White became paralyzed from the waist down after being shot during a robbery attempt. Becoming an advocate for people with disabilities, she focused on bringing awareness, accessibility, and assistance to Jamaicans living with disabilities. She was honored as an officer in the Order of Distinction in 2001.

Heather Little-White
OD
Born
Heather Edecca Little-White

(1952-05-08)8 May 1952
Somerton, Saint James Parish, Jamaica
Died22 January 2013(2013-01-22) (aged 60)
Kingston, Jamaica
NationalityJamaican
Occupation(s)Nutritionist, journalist, disabilities activist
Years active1973–2013

Early life edit

Heather Edecca Little-White was born on 8 May 1952 in Somerton, Saint James Parish, Jamaica, to Rubertha (née Little) and Leonard White.[1] She and her brother, Lennie[2] were raised in Somerton and she attended the All-Age School until the age of nine. Completing her primary schooling at Montego Bay School for Girls, she attended St. Hilda’s High School in Brown's Town. In 1970, Litte-White enrolled in a course on institutional management at the College of Arts Science and Technology, graduating in 1972.[1]

Career edit

Over the next six years, Little-White held a variety of jobs, including working at a children's hospital as a dietitian's assistant, at two secondary schools in the home economics department, and as a journalist for The Gleaner. In 1978, she moved to the United States and completed a B.S. in nutrition and a master's degree in communication at the University of Wisconsin–Stout. She returned to Jamaica in 1981 and began working at Grace Kennedy and Company Limited in the marketing department. By 1984, Little-White was working as Grace's nutrition promotion manager and began developing educational initiatives on ways to improve the nutrition of women and children. One of those programmes was the development of the first television programme devoted to nutritional advice, called Creative Cooking.[1] The show became a staple of Grace's marketing plan and their flagship programme, airing for decades and teaching cooks how to affordably prepare nutritious meals.[3]

After almost a decade at Grace, Little-White returned to school in 1988 to complete a research project and her PhD at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, examining the intersections on gender and nutritional education.[1][4] When she returned from the United States in 1992, she began working with the School Feeding Programme, the Urban Development Corporation, and several United Nations programmes, as a consultant.[4] In 1997, she began lecturing at the University of Technology and the following year worked as a consultant on the nutrition plans for the Reggae Boyz, Jamaica's national football team, on journey to the World Cup competition in France.[1][5]

In 1999, Little-White was shot during an attempted carjacking in Saint Andrew Parish, when two gunmen tried to steal her car.[6] She was flown to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida after discovering that the bullet which entered her shoulder was lodged in her spine, paralyzing the lower part of her body.[7] After her recovery, Little-White returned to Jamaica becoming an advocate for the rights of people with disabilities.[1] In 2001, Little-White was awarded the Order of Distinction for her work in educating Jamaicans about nutrition.[8]

Little-White focused on outreach programmes to increase awareness, accessibility, and assistance for Jamaicans with disabilities in her later years.[1] She ran a consulting firm providing life skills as well as nutritional advice and wrote a weekly column for The Gleaner newspaper's Outlook Magazine, which openly covered a variety of topics on sexuality. Continuing her lecturing at the School of Hospitality for the University of Technology,[9] she also founded a programme to teach domestic skills to sex workers to help those who wanted to transition out of the industry develop marketable alternative skills.[10]

Death and legacy edit

Little-White died on 22 January 2013 at the Kingston Public Hospital after a four-month illness.[2] The Jamaica Household Worker's Union gives an annual award bearing her name to acknowledge the public service contributions made by domestic workers.[11]

References edit

Citations edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Shurvin 2016.
  2. ^ a b The Gleaner 2013, p. 1.
  3. ^ The Gleaner & 19 April 2009, p. 118.
  4. ^ a b The Gleaner Company 2001.
  5. ^ The Jamaica Observer 2013.
  6. ^ The Gleaner & 8 July 1999, p. 3.
  7. ^ The Gleaner & 23 July 1999, p. 12.
  8. ^ The Gleaner 2001, p. 55.
  9. ^ The Gleaner 2007, pp. 51–52.
  10. ^ The Gleaner & 2 November 2009, p. 33.
  11. ^ Lowrie-Chin 2017.

Bibliography edit

  • Lowrie-Chin, Jean (9 October 2017). "Jamaica's household workers in the spotlight". The Jamaica Observer. Kingston, Jamaica. Archived from the original on 30 October 2017. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  • Shurvin, Rebecca D. (2016). "Little-White, Heather Edecca (1952–2013), nutritionist, journalist, and advocate". In Knight, Franklin W.; Gates, Henry Louis Jr. (eds.). Dictionary of Caribbean and Afro–Latin American Biography. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-199-93579-6.  – via Oxford University Press's Reference Online (subscription required)
  • "Fund set up for Dr. Heather Little-White". The Gleaner. Kingston, Jamaica. 23 July 1999. p. 12. Retrieved 30 October 2017 – via Newspaperarchive.com.  
  • "Commercial sex workers make career move". The Gleaner. Kingston, Jamaica. 2 November 2009. p. 33. Retrieved 30 October 2017 – via Newspaperarchive.com.  
  • "Grace through the years". The Gleaner. Kingston, Jamaica. 19 April 2009. p. 118. Retrieved 30 October 2017 – via Newspaperarchive.com.  
  • "Heather Little-White (pt 1)". The Gleaner. Kingston, Jamaica. 8 March 2007. p. 51. Retrieved 30 October 2017 – via Newspaperarchive.com.   and "Heather Little-White (pt 2)". The Gleaner. Kingston, Jamaica. 8 March 2007. p. 52. Retrieved 30 October 2017 – via Newspaperarchive.com.  
  • "Heather Little-White shot". The Gleaner. Kingston, Jamaica. 8 July 1999. p. 3. Retrieved 30 October 2017 – via Newspaperarchive.com.  
  • "Jamaica loses Little-White". The Gleaner. Kingston, Jamaica. 23 January 2013. p. 1. Retrieved 30 October 2017 – via Newspaperarchive.com.  
  • "Little-White, Heather Edecca". Discover Jamaica. Kingston, Jamaica: The Gleaner Company Limited. 2001. Archived from the original on 2 September 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  • "Nation honours 108". The Gleaner. Kingston, Jamaica. 7 August 2001. p. 55. Retrieved 30 October 2017 – via Newspaperarchive.com.  
  • "Nutritionist Dr Heather Little-White dies". The Jamaica Observer. Kingston, Jamaica. 23 January 2013. Archived from the original on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
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