Skin Care

International Reggae Day Celebrated Across the Globe

The anti-Apartheid movement in the 1980s was spearheaded through numerous consciousness raising initiatives, which included reggae music's unrelenting attention to the plight of South Africans (notably the late Peter Tosh's 1977 anthem "Fight Apartheid"). The economic sanctions and divestment of foreign companies from South Africa resulted in an estimated $7 billion loss to the country between 1986 and 1990, according to the South African Reserve Bank, and, ultimately the dissolution of the racially oppressive Apartheid regime. Winnie Mandela's recognition of Jamaican music's profound role in support of the South African struggle prompted Kingston's Andrea Davis, business manager for legendary singer Toots Hibbert and his label D&F music, to establish International Reggae Day (IRD) on July 1, 1994, as a 24-hour global media festival celebrating the music as a major influence on popular culture, a catalyst for social and political change and as a viable economic sector for Jamaica. Enabled by the proliferation of internet usage in the mid-90s and the rise of social media in the late '00s, IRD now encompasses a vast international network of online newspapers, magazines, radio stations and other web based platforms, each tailoring their content on July 1 towards examining the power and potential of the island's signature rhythm while highlighting the finest in Jamaican and international reggae, made by veterans and upstart artists alike. The music of the legendary Burning Spear, and the late Dennis Brown and Gregory Isaacs, who passed away on October 25, 2010, will be honored this year through various IRD broadcasts. IRD parties will be held in New York City (at lower Manhattan's Spur Tree Lounge) and in Sao Paolo, Brazil; in Soweto, South Africa, several radio programs will extend the 24-hour celebration into an entire weekend devoted to the music of African reggae artists. In reggae's epicenter, Kingston, IRD parties will be held at the Wyndham Hotel's Junkanoo Lounge, at Redbones Blues Café and the Bob Marley Museum while a vinyl only celebration will take place at the Marley family's Tuff Gong Studios.

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