Oliver Mair (right), consul general in Miami, presenting a Lifetime Achievement Award to singer Pluto Shervington at the inaugural South Florida Reggae Strong Celebration in Dania Beach, Florida, on February 28.
The Consul General in Miami and the Louise Bennett-Coverley Heritage Council have awarded a scholarship for a student to attend the Reggae Studies Unit at The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona Campus.
Oliver Mair, Jamaica’s Consul General to Miami, told the Jamaica Observer that details of the scholarship are yet to be finalised, but talks between his office and administrators at the UWI are advanced.
Partial funding for the scholarship will come from sponsors for Reggae Strong Celebration, a concert held in South Florida during February, celebrated by Jamaicans as Reggae Month.
“We want to give back to the (music) industry. We are putting on a concert but we also want to give back,” said Mair.
Launched in South Florida 14 years ago, the Louise Bennett-Coverley Heritage Council’s primary objective is to help preserve the legacy of the legendary folklorist who died in 2006.
An initiative of Professor Carolyn Cooper, the Reggae Studies Unit was officially launched in 1994 to, among other things, “increase reggae-related research and teaching in diverse areas such as film studies, musicology and dance in the Faculty of Humanities.”
The consul general’s office teamed with Reggae Global Entertainment and International Celebration of Reggae Music to stage the inaugural Reggae Strong Celebration which took place February 28 in Dania Beach.
It saw performances from reggae acts based in South Florida including Ed Robinson, Wayne Armond, A J Brown, Pluto Shervington, Steve Higgins, Michael Harris, The Tennors and Sons of Mystro.
Shervington, known for classic songs like Dat, Your Honour and Ram Goat Liver, was one of three persons who received a Lifetime Achievement Award. The others were drummers Paul Douglas of The Maytals and Desmond Gaynor of Sagittarius Band.
BY HOWARD CAMPBELL
Observer senior writer —
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