Thirty-one women will be honoured at the Queens Of Reggae Island Honorary Ceremony (QORIHC) which takes place on March 24 at Karl Hendrickson Auditorium in Kingston.

The nominees cover a range of personalities who have excelled in diverse fields, including entertainment, journalism, culinary, fashion and corporate sectors. While most of them are in the entertainment/lifestyle sector, founder/organiser Laurell Nurse told Observer Online that her selection panel went all out for variety.

“The concept hasn’t changed. The direction is the same. The concept is to honour influential women in the entertainment industry who have been doing it for over 10 years. It’s not just artistes, it’s multi-category of those that make up the entire pie of the entertainment industry such as managers, producers, DJs, fashion designers, makeup, celebrity chefs, hairstylists, journalists, singers and dancers,” she said.

Nurse, who lives in New Jersey, disclosed that recipients are “selected by industry peers, insiders and the public”. What she calls a small, private committee condenses the list to “accommodate different categories”.

Among the 2024 awardees are entertainers Sister Carol, Patra, Macka Diamond, D’Angel, Tifa and Mary Isaacs; stalwart educator Alma Mock-Yen, journalists Yasmin Peru (print) and Suzie Q (broadcast), and actress Audrey Reid.

QORIHC policy dictates that honourees cover different generations.

“There’s a generation gap in the industry and QORIHC has bridged that gap because someone 80 years-old will be in the room with a 35 year-old, because each has put in the 10 years to qualify. It’s an event of unity, the Queendom with Princesses looking forward too. It was intentionally created that way from the get-go in 2016,” Nurse explained.

The Kingston-born Nurse decided to stage an all-woman awards show after an informative discussion with groundbreaking deejay Sister Nancy in New Jersey nine years ago. The artiste informed her about the challenges women faced in a male-dominated industry.

Sister Nancy, best known for the 1982 hit song Bam Bam, was among the inaugural QORIHC awardees. Current entertainment minister Olivia “Babsy” Grange was also honoured that year.