Reggae Makosa
Sunday, February 8, 2009 at 10:18PM
In February of 2008 the governor general of Jamaica proclaimed February as Reggae Music Month, which happens to run concurrently with Black History Month.. I have been on a bit of a hiatus since the inauguration absorbing the news and all of the economic blight that’s being bandied about on CNN, Fox, MSNBC and all the local stations as if it’s a real situation and not a man made disaster. During that time I Was considering what I would write and if I would even take part in the Black History Month.
I am not against Black history Month, for as long as our history is not being told in school books there is a need for Black History Month. But, the simple fact that the same ole information gets recycled every year is a bit of an annoyance. The aim of this blog is to bring you information that may not normally get to you or at least a different look into the news and from there you take what you find here, and move forward to search out more and deeper knowledge.
In that vein I want to present information that may not be common knowledge and as such it may spark a negative reaction, but none the less a valid source of information to be considered and ruminated upon. With that, and this being Black History and Reggae Music Month, I want to recognize a powerful woman in the world of Reggae music.
Makeda “Dread” Cheatom founded the World Beat Cultural Center in San Diego’s Balboa Park and is also the founder of the Reggae Makosa Reggae show that formely aired on 91X in San Diego. As a native born San Diegan, and deeply into Reggae music Ms. Cheatom was our only source to good, serious, live Reggae music. She often brought in, up and coming artist from abroad such as Tippa Irie and veteran Pato Banton. I can remember on one occasion she had a few of her friends fly in from Jamaica to introduce to us the latest dance that was hot in Jamaica at that time, The Bogle Dance….LOL that seems like an eternity.
Queen Makeda is a native born San Diegan, and has created, the Bob Marley Day event that is a 12 hour event in San Diego, 2 days in Los Angeles and has even spread to San Francisco and Tijuana,Mexico.
Single handedly Makeda Dread has brought one of the biggest Reggae events to California after Reggae on the River. What really caught my attention is the facthathe longest running Reggae music radio program outside of Jamaica.
So, lets look at this, a Yankee from San Diego, had the longest running radio program in the history of San Diego, CA, the longest running Reggae radio show in the world outside of Jamaica lasting for 25 years. Longer than any program in Toronta, Canada, longer than any Reggae program in Britain, which means she had been on the air longer than the famed David Rodigan or Daddy Ernie of London, England, chuh!
In June, 2008 91X in San Diego pulled the plug on the longest running radio program in San Diego history and the longest running Reggae program on air outside of Jamaica. Big up Queen Makeda Dread.
Makeda can now be found on Big Up Radio on line here.
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