Audley Rollen and Dawn Marie Wisdom—
By: Howard Campbell—
Some of Dawn Marie Wisdom’s fondest memories of living in Jamaica, are going to church with her grandmother. Religion has had a profound impact on her life.
An ordained minister since 2014, she and her husband, Audley “Dr. Wiz” Rollen co-host several programs on WAVS 1170 AM. In February, they mark their 20th anniversary on the radio station that has the largest Caribbean following in South Florida.
Their shows — Monday Best, The Lovers Rock Morning Show and The Reaching New Heights Program — broadcast four days a week. They offer a mix of contemporary and inspirational music as well as counseling.
“As it approaches the 20th anniversary of our shows on WAVS Radio it gives us great pleasure to be able to reflect and give thanks for such an opportunity. Our first broadcast was 1 am on a Tuesday and after developing a large following we eventually got different time slots during the week. We went from 1 a.m. to 1 p.m. and we now have six shows weekly,” said Wisdom. She and her husband have lived in the United States for over 40 years; most of that time in South Florida. Audley Rollen has had a long career in music, which can be traced to the late 1950s.
While her husband was hanging out with future reggae legends like Aston “Familyman” Barrett and Robbie Shakespeare in tough east Kingston, Jamaica during the early 1970s, Wisdom spent much of her time in church.
The Early Days
“I was born in St. Catherine (parish) where I lived for the first 12 years of my life with my parents and grandparents on my father’s side. My grandmother was a devout Christian and she would take me to church. I can still remember some of the enjoyable experiences I had going to church with her,” she recalled. “When our family moved to Pembroke Hall, St. Andrew (parish) I continued going to church on and off. Years later when I moved to the United States I returned to church regularly and got baptized.”
In addition to their presence on WAVS, she and her husband are principals of the Pastors of Wisdom Sabbath Ministry, a church in Plantation, Florida. They earned their PhDs in Christian Counseling from Galilee University in 2014. Radio, Dawn Marie Wisdom notes, is another medium for them to change lives.
“At the inception we did not know that the show would become what it is today, it seemed as if a higher power was calling and we answered the call. As time went by our purpose became clearer, we recognize that we were sent to enlighten our listeners about the love of God and to touch lives in a meaningful and special way,” she said.
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