“MY wish for the 13th celebration of Reggae Day is that there can be a charitable relationship between media and performing artistes,” was the view expression by L’Antoinette Stines of L’Acadco Dancers.

Speaking at the Reggae Day tree-planting ceremony held at Emancipation Park, yesterday, she urged the media to play their part in helping to promote good music.

“The media sometimes loves to push negativity. There are so many talented musicians and singers out there, and what they have is pure talent so we are asking for charity for them,” she implored adding that because these acts do not have the resources or the right contacts their music will never be heard.

“Be gentle, be charitable, try to help the artistes to move forward, try pushing the positives more than the negatives,” Stines stressed.

Following her heartfelt plea little Jahzan McClaughlin held her audience captive with a rendition of the late Louise Bennett’s No Likkle Twang.

The morning saw performances coming from Cherry Natural, Ken Boothe and an upcoming artiste Sherieta Lewis. She touched the reggae-loving fans with a song she wrote in tribute to the genre.

“It was written at a time when everyone had nothing good to say about Reggae. Artistes were losing their visas and some of the sentiments being expressed is that the genre is dying,” stated Lewis before stating that she is holding everyone accountable for the preservation of the music. “We all must play our part in making this the top genre in the world,” she said before launching in her song.

Duane Stephenson, Cherine Anderson and Romain Virgo, through their performances, showed that Reggae music is still as vibrant as ever.