Reaching beyond art …

The recent Jamaica Brew Literary and Film Festival at the Miramar Cultural Centre in South Florida, opening the doors to Black History Month, is reaching beyond art given the social platform it is providing our Jamaican culture.

That is the word from a host of presenters and organisers on the impact of the second annual staging of the event.

A toast to Blue Mountain Coffee Day and to the melting pot that our local literary and visual arts provides, brainchild of Consul General Oliver Mair was about paying homage to Jamaican and regional heritage. “It tells our story,” he said, “actually so many are told by the range of presenters. It’s another taste of our people largely through our writers that’s beyond the accustomed attraction of sun, sea and reggae. There’s a movement that has developed in encouraging writers to have their books ready – and the event is also a call to young writers to come forward. The festival strengthens the voice and identity of the Caribbean diaspora. It’s brewing everything together.”

Event host Miramar Commissioner Winston Barnes said though the goal must be one of increasing reach, the festival duly serves ‘to trigger interest in a number of areas of our country Jamaica.’

“All that’s presented,” he said, “instinctively leads you to research … ensuring that impact is sustained.”

Donna Aza Weir-Soley, associate professor of English at Florida International University, who received this year’s event’s Literary Merit Award of Excellence, said that the festival was ‘food and fodder for all that was socially stirring.”

“The poets and performers of the Jamaica Brew Festival,” she continued, “did not just present a cultural celebration of what it means to be Jamaican, but also addressed historical and current social issues within the US.

“It continues the tradition of resistance against all forms of systemic oppressions,” she said. “This festival highlights the shared struggles and interconnections between various marginalized groups. Indeed, it adds to the history of Black Caribbean resistance against racial, gender and other forms of oppression in the US since the 1920s as illustrated in the works of Marcus Garvey, both Amy Garveys, Claude McKay, Arthur Schomburg, and others.”

Marva McLean, author and educator said that the event is an ‘emancipation of minds that presented different voices and perspectives in the continuous search for home.’

Author Andrene Bonner said that the festival is more than an ‘artistic menagerie.’ She argued that it is an ‘incubator for community collaboration, cultural exchange and partnership – bringing together local and international creatives to provide a catalyst for cultural tourism and business opportunities.’

“All this comes from the soul,” said Sharon Corinthian, who hosted the open mic segment, ‘helping us all to grow as it heightens awareness and preserves our culture.” Author and filmmaker Judith Falloon-Reid said the event served “to bring Caribbean voices into mainstream. It’s impact is real – it’s strong.”

Event coordinator Dale Mahfood said the festival “is opening up possibilities – it’s opening up doors.” He shared the view that we all live in our own Jamaica and the event exposed the audience “to the many Jamaicas being lived.”

“It has left a mark,’ said Colin Smith, founder of the Tallawah Mento Band and the Jamaica Folk Review, “and will certainly strengthen the voice of the diaspora.”

Dub poet Malachi Smith, founder of the Jamaica Poets Nomadic College and School Tour, said that it provides ‘grounding for our young – and a compass to the literary and cultural path that we should be taking.’

Commonwealth Short Story 2023 prize winner Kwame McPherson said that the event has immense impact which provides a platform for Jamaican authors to tap into the diaspora that’s the US. “Bold steps are there to be made,” he said.