FORT MYERS – When Dwayne Williams arrived in South Florida from his native Jamaica in 1978, he obtained an on the spot style of tradition shock. The area’s small Jamaican inhabitants, it appeared, had forgotten their roots.
“All people talked like an American, and I might ask them why aren’t they being extra Jamaican,” Williams, who’s from Montego Bay, recalled.
At present, he operates Suga 95.7 FM, an unbiased Jamaican radio station in Fort Myers with a 24-hour, all-Jamaican format. That features reggae from completely different eras, a gospel present and discuss program that discusses points affecting the Jamaican neighborhood in Florida.
Williams boasts that it’s the first Jamaican radio station in america granted a license by the Federal Communications Fee (FCC). Williams stated he first utilized for a license in 1996 nevertheless it was not till 2015 that his fledgling group obtained the go-ahead.
Suga Reggae Fest
On August 4, the radio station presents Suga Reggae Fest at Centennial Park in Fort Myers. The occasion marks Jamaica’s 62nd 12 months of independence (which takes place on August 6), in addition to the upcoming tenth anniversary of FCC recognition.
Dwayne Williams
“I might say that’s our largest accomplishment, receiving that license. I by no means understood why Jamaicans didn’t personal their radio stations, as a result of we now have the power, we now have the capabilities,” stated Williams.
Though having a broad presence for a few years within the tri-state space and South Florida, Jamaican broadcasters made their names by ‘brokering’ slots on stations reminiscent of WVIP 93.5 FM in New York and WAVS 1170 AM in South Florida.
Mykal Rose, the Grammy-winning singer, headlines Suga Reggae Fest. A J Brown, Collin Roach, Mr. Simple, Spherical Head, Clement Irie, Kruechef, and Oliver Mair, Jamaica’s Consul Normal to Miami, can even carry out.
