All those who had misgivings about February being declared Reggae Month because it clashes with or because in their way of thinking it would water-down or sidetrack the celebration of Black History Month, should have been at the opening ceremony of the Global Reggae Conference on Monday at the Assembly Hall, UWI, Mona.

In the opening plenary lecture, Dr Brodber put it all in perspective in an absorbing, colourfully historical way, that underscored the point that reggae and black history are inseparable and there is no distinction between the two.

Dr Erna Brodber (left) who presented the opening lecture at the Global Reggae conference at UWI on Monday, converses with the chairman of Textiles Association of Ghana, Nana Asante Frempong (centre) and Professor Carolyn Cooper. (Photos: Garfield Robinson)

"Reggae rinsed the word 'Black' and made it a sweet-smelling rose that we can today accept, and that brothers and sisters, is what I have to say," was how Dr Brodber ended her informative discourse, explaining the title of which she defined Reggae as a Black Space.

During her enlightening lecture, the noted cultural historian declared, "Reggae of the 1970s created a black space; it was an incubator for a kind of knowledge that needed to work its way out of the ground and into the minds of the young descendants of Africans enslaved in Jamaica. Not just chatter among the platters; the early reggae allowed meditation while you danced and even if you did not want to be black, you could at least understand why others would want to be.

"Reggae made converts, but it also produced an environment that was sympathetic to those who wanted to be more than listeners to the works of the 'singers and players', the only professionals mentioned by the Psalms as being there."

As customary these days, Dr Brodber, in her emphasis of reggae as a space in which one can articulate concepts and philosophies, drew on some of reggae's finest recordings as much as the she utilised the scriptures, especially the Psalms, in an effort to reinforce her point. And she made mention of much more of the musical gems than those which time allowed her to play titbits of.

But she elaborated extensively on Max Romeo's Maccabbee Version (one of those she played) and Little Roy's Bongo Nyah.

Her presentation was not short on references to the connection and impact of Marcus Garvey, Haile Selassie, Ethiopia and Rastafari. Recalling the identity crisis that was the order of the day during and even well into the post-colonial era, Dr Brodber pointed out, "A great deal of this change has to be attributed to the reggae artistes who by variety of literary and musical strategies have pried the word 'Black' from 'poor', 'ugly', 'stupid' and imposed other and more positive connotations upon it."

The opening ceremony, which began with a delightful rendition of the National Anthem by Dimario McDowell, and ended with an equally splendid performance from L'Acadco, with pleasing performances in between by Dean Fraser and the University Choir, had Professor Carolyn Cooper effectively guiding the proceedings.

In attendance were Minister of Information, Culture, Youth and Sports Olivia 'Babsy' Grange, campus principal Professor Gordon Shirley, Professor Rex Nettleford, Chairman of Ghana Textile Industry Association Nana Asante Frempong, all of whom brought greetings. The occasion was also attended by Governor General Professor Kenneth Hall and Lady Hall.

A fair-size gathering comprising students, members of the public, the music and Rastafari communities as well as visiting presenters from all corners of the globe, also witnessed the start of the third conference on Caribbean culture dubbed Globe Reggae: Jamaican Popular Music A Yard and Abroad, which continues until Friday.

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