by Howard Campbell
LAUDERHILL – Fifty years in the past, teenaged Ephraim Martin arrived on the Every day Gleaner (because it was recognized then) newspaper to work as a messenger within the Editorial division. He caught on so rapidly that inside one 12 months, Martin was a photographer with the publication, the oldest of its type within the English-speaking Caribbean.
Martin, greatest often known as founder and fundamental organizer of the Worldwide Reggae And World Music Awards (IRAWMA), celebrates his golden anniversary as a journalist and social activist this 12 months with a number of occasions. The primary of these is the IRAWMA, scheduled for March 25 at Lauderhill Performing Arts Middle in Fort Lauderdale.
From rural St. Thomas in jap Jamaica, Martin coated among the greatest occasions in that nation through the Nineteen Seventies and early Nineteen Eighties. These embrace the bloody 1976 common election, the One Love Peace Live performance two years later and the Eventide Dwelling fireplace during which 157 older residents perished in a hearth at an previous age dwelling in Kingston, the capital.
“In these days, when the opposite folks (reporters) have been sleeping I used to be on the market protecting assignments. I keep in mind the 1976 elections have been loopy…we used to drive by Trench City and Tivoli Gardens by all of the bullets,” Martin recalled.
Early Days In Chicago
Since 1980 when he settled in Chicago, he has coated many occasions within the Windy Metropolis, beginning with the black-owned Chicago Every day Defender newspaper. Chicago is dwelling to among the main social activists in america, together with Nation of Islam chief Louis Farrakhan and Civil Rights firebrand Jesse Jackson, each of whom Martin has recognized for nearly 40 years.
Whereas synonymous with the IRAWMA which marked its 40th anniversary last year, Martin factors to being a part of a thrust to rename Lakeshore Drive in his adopted hometown in reminiscence of its unheralded black founder, amongst his biggest achievements.
It was renamed Jean-Baptiste Pointe DuSable Lake Shore Drive in October, 2021 by then mayor Lori Lightfoot.
“They informed me it wouldn’t work, some folks in authorities didn’t even know who Jean-Baptiste Pointe DuSable was. After one 12 months of combating, we gained,” stated Martin.
Along with the IRAWMA, Ephraim Martin will have a good time his fiftieth anniversary as a journalist, occasions promoter and activist throughout two reveals in Chicago. The African-Caribbean Pageant of Life from July 4-7, and the September 10-11 Jerk, Seafood and Vegan Fest.
