‘Strength of a Woman’ is the Theme For This Year's Rhythms of Africa Event in Miramar

With March celebrated globally as Women’s History Month, Rhythms Of Africa dedicates its next edition to those who made an impact on world music. This year’s event takes place March 16-17 at Miramar Cultural Center.

Willie Stewart, founder of the annual eventWillie Stewart, founder of the annual event, said ‘Strength Of A Woman’ is the theme for the show which will have reggae singer Etana of Jamaica and Barbadian soca star Alison Hinds as headliners.

Also on the bill is Miss Jamaica 2009, Kamila McDonald, who will act as narrator.

“With Rhythms of Africa’s theme as Strength Of A Woman, it makes it even more meaningful, powerful and relevant considering that March is Women’s History Month. Our idea is to pay tribute to and celebrate our icons, choosing songs of some of our great female artists present and past from the Caribbean and around the world,” said Stewart.

In addition to performing their original songs, Etana and Alison Hinds are expected to pay tribute to pioneer artists. Rhythms Of Africa 2024 will also salute Ibo Cooper, keyboardist and co-founder of the Third World Band who died in Jamaica last October at age 71.

Stewart and Cooper were members of that Grammy-nominated group for 21 years, playing together on hit songs such as Now That We Found Love and Try Jah Love.

Students from Miramar High School, who Stewart has tutored, and the Rhythms Of Africa Dancers, are also part of the program.

Stewart first staged Rhythms Of Africa in 2010 to highlight the percussive sounds of the Motherland. It has featured several top acts, as well as students from the Broward County school system whom he has taught.

The 2023 show, held at the Miramar Cultural Center, marked its 10th anniversary.

Despite rampant sexism, women have been  integral to the development of Caribbean music since the early 1960s. In 1964, Millie Small of Jamaica had an international ska hit with My Boy Lollipop, which introduced that sound to pop fans.

That decade saw the emergence of singer Marcia Griffiths in Jamaica, and Sonia Pottinger, who remains the Caribbean’s only female music producer of note. In the 1970s, Griffiths was a member of The I-Three, Bob Marley’s harmony group which included his wife Rita and Judy Mowatt.

During that period, Calypso Rose made her mark as a calypsonian in Trinidad and Tobago, setting the pace for compatriot Denyse Plummer in the 1980s. Hinds and Destra Garcia of Trinidad and Tobago carried the soca banner throughout the 1990s.