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Caribbean Life, Mar. 31-Apr. 6, 2022
Comedy treat for women at Brooklyn Borough Hall
Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, center, hosts comedy show in celebration of Women’s
History Month. Office of Brooklyn Borough President
By Nelson A. King
Brooklyn Borough President,
Antonio Reynoso on Thursday,
March 24 hosted a comedy show
in celebration of Women’s History
Month at Brooklyn Borough
Hall.
“The Laughs @ Brooklyn Borough
Hall: Laughter is Medicine”
line-up included Dee Luu, Chanel
Ali and Meaghan Strickland — all
members of the Brooklyn Comedy
Collective, an alternative comedy
organization.
“This month, I’ve celebrated
not only the nurturing women in
my family, but also the trailblazing
female politicians and community
organizers that have carried
me on their backs and supported
me through my career,”
Reynoso said.
“I’m also incredibly proud to
say that Brooklyn Borough Hall’s
current staff is over 50 percent
women,” he added. “It was a pleasure
celebrating my first Women’s
History Month in this new role
by sharing the time with the real
people who make up the best
place in the world – Brooklyn.”
During the event, the Brooklyn
Borough President also awarded
citations to the Executive Director
of Diaspora Community Services,
Carine Jocelyn, and Executive
Director of Mixteca Organization,
Inc., Lorena Kourousias, for
their contributions throughout
the Borough of Brooklyn.
The Women’s History Month
celebration at Borough Hall is
one of many planned free events
intended for the public.
After being closed for the past
couple of years, Reynoso said he
is “committed to re-opening Borough
Hall back to the people
of Brooklyn with ongoing public
programming.”
Yaadcore’s ‘Reggaeland’ Afro-Caribbean artist with disability
Continued from Page 39
dance performances to the widest
possible audience,” O’Garra told
Caribbean Life.
A native New Yorker, of Montserratan
parentage, O’Garra attended
the University of Michigan and
Empire State College, where she
received a Bachelor of Arts in dance
performance.
A Presidential Arts Scholar, she
received merit scholarships at Alvin
Ailey, Dance Theatre of Harlem and
performed with Mark Dendy Dance
Company, as well as performing
Off-Broadway and in numerous
musical theatre stage productions
in the US and abroad.
She has also served as movement
coach for “As the World
Turns.”
As a professional model, O’Garra
has appeared on two Essence Magazine
covers and several other print
and runway jobs.
She also appeared in national,
regional commercial industrials
and supplied voice overs for several
ads.
In December 2001, O’Garra discovered
that she had meningioma,
a benign brain tumor, which proceeded
to paralyze her right side
and resulted in a slight speech
impediment and cognitive loss.
After receiving extensive treatment
at the Kessler Institute for
Rehabilitation (East Orange, NJ)
and NYU Langone Rusk Medical
Center, O’Garra said she was able
to overcome the speech impediment,
cognitive loss, and wears an
AFO brace for support.
Consciously deciding to make
best use of this debilitating circumstance,
O’Garra said she transitioned
into teaching dance as a
healing form to the disabled and
non-disabled alike, continuing to
share her infectiously positive and
fun spirit with others.
exclaimed, “Legendary dancehall
singer Sean Paul is back with pop
star Pia Mia, just ahead of summer,
to provide their dance floor
duet, ‘How We Do It,’ as a sexy
explainer detailing the many
ways they like to, well, ‘do it’.”
Meanwhile, REVOLT hailed it
as “perfect for sending fans off in
to the weekend ready for a good
time.”
“Most importantly, it paves
the way for more to come from
Sean Paul with the impending
arrival of Scorcha,” Tomlinson,
the Brooklyn-based chief executive
officer of Destine Media, told
Caribbean Life.
Sean recently earned a GRAMMY
nomination for Best Reggae
Album for his seventh studio
album “Live N Livin,” which was
released in 2021.
The album is a collaborative
celebration of his Jamaican heritage
and dancehall roots in which
Sean trades the microphone with
Buju Banton and Damian Marley
.I
n announcing his 2022 US
Scorcha tour dates, returning to
the stage following two years
since touring due to the pandemic,
Sean Paul said he is “eager
and excited to reconnect” with
his fans “live and in person.”
Sean Paul US dates: 04/22/22
Boston Massachusetts – House
of Blues (Boston); 04/23/22
New Haven, Connecticut College
Street Music Hall; 04/25/22
Brooklyn, New York; 4/26/22
Brooklyn, New York; 5/14/22 Las
Vegas, NV – Lovers & Friends;
5/15/22 Las Vegas, NV – Lovers
& Friends; 05/27/22 Los Angeles,
CA – The Novo; and 05/29/22
Monterey CA – Monterey Fairgrounds.
Continued from Page 39
important new voices.”
“Reggaeland is the sound of an
artist honoring tradition while
bringing his distinct vision of
Jamaican music’s future to the
forefront,” Yaadcore told Caribbean
Life.
“While the title celebrates
Jamaica’s status as the epicenter
of reggae music, the project’s
contents pull elements of trap,
R&B, classic hip-hop and jazz into
an eclectic, bass-forward sound
that defies simple genre tags,” he
added.
“It’s reggae music with a
fusion,” Yaadcore continued.
“From you hear I and I ‘pon it
then you know it ah go bring
Jamaican flavor.”
Guests on Reggaeland include
fellow reggae stars Richie Spice,
Jah9, Pressure Busspipe and
I-Wayne, along with the late genre
innovator and music icon Lee
“Scratch” Perry.
Production comes from a committee
including the USA’s Subatomic
Sound, Ian McKee and
Green Lion Crew, and Jamaica’s
Micah Shemiah, Treydrumz and
Chillmuchmore, along with Yaadcore
himself.
Helping to give the project its
distinctive sound on the mixing
board are GRAMMY-winning
engineer Bonzai Caruso (Damian
Marley, Notorious B.I.G.) and Tippy
I (of I Grade Records and Zion
I Kings), among others.
Yaadcore said he first emerged
a decade ago as the essential DJ,
or selector, of Jamaica’s reggae
revival scene, a status that earned
him recognition in outlets from
Vice to Vogue.
After helping carry the movement
worldwide as the tour DJ for
Protoje and co-founder of multinational
reggae party Dubwise
Jamaica, he turned his attention
to making his own music, beginning
with breakthrough track
“Ready Now” in 2019.
A veritable ganja icon, Yaadcore
said he hosts Jamaica’s first weed
strain review series, “Spliff A Light
Spliff,” for Kingston dispensary
Itopia Life, and has collaborated
with US-based cannabis lifestyle
brands Leafly and Blazy Susan,
as well as with iconic streetwear
brand Diamond Supply Co.
Continued from Page 39
Sean Paul drops ‘Scorcha’ album
Jamaican Reggae singer,
Yaadcore. Jay Williams