By Sean Yoes
The organizers of the Cherry Hill Arts and Music Waterfront Competition have been intentional of their want to “rejoice tradition” of their beloved South Baltimore group. And as soon as once more they elevate the bar past the standard 4th of July fare of scorching canine and fireworks as they welcome Hip Hop legend Monie Love because the musical headliner this 12 months.
“It’s very thrilling,” mentioned Navasha Daya, the pageant’s co-founder. “I’m trying ahead to her present; she has plenty of coronary heart. You already know what I’m saying? Like she performs with plenty of coronary heart,” she added. Daya, an internationally acclaimed singer in her personal proper ought to know. The artist and group activist is happy concerning the prospect of bringing Love, a two-time Grammy nominee to the stage on the Center Department Park in Cherry Hill.
“I’m excited for the up and coming MC’s to see her, to convey that ingredient of Outdated College Hip Hop, as a result of clearly we’re honoring the fiftieth anniversary of Hip Hop with having her right here,” Daya mentioned. “We’re excited to current her to Baltimore. It feels good to have the ability to current this sort of high quality and individuals who don’t know her get to find out about her on the pageant.”
Love, the British rapper, is one in all a various lineup of performers at this 12 months’s pageant. Worldwide Grammy award-winning Reggae artist Mykal Rose, the voice of the legendary group Black Uhuru, will even grace the stage on the Center Department. Others acting on July 4 embody: Baltimore Membership music pioneer Mighty Mark, Jazz grasp Carl Grubbs, Gospel group REIGN and the aforementioned Daya, amongst others. Syndicated radio host and actor Marcellus “The Bassman” Shepard will host the pageant.
The theme of this 12 months’s pageant is, “Therapeutic by means of the Arts,” which is the manifestation of a partnership between the The Black Psychological Well being Alliance and the Youth Resiliency Institute, a company that advocates and uplifts younger folks primarily based in Cherry Hill and based by Daya and her husband Fanon Hill. Hill can be a co-founder of the Waterfront Competition. Different group companions sponsoring this 12 months’s pageant embody: South Baltimore Gateway Partnership, Cherry Hill Neighborhood Coalition and Cherry Hill Household Congress.
“With the ability to curate the stage, and as an artist I’m very enthusiastic about introducing different artists to folks,” Daya mentioned. “To have the ability to present a platform for artists who’re elders and to younger folks. We’ve acquired a few artists who’re debuting on the pageant. One group is debuting for the primary time of their lives. It’s a imaginative and prescient I’ve all the time had, I acquired these sorts of alternatives as a baby. So, for me…for our group, particularly the Youth Resiliency Institute I really feel actually good about it,”
added Daya.
“As Fanon says, “seven” is the tip of a cycle. It’s additionally the seventh anniversary of Lom Nava Love, the film and the soundtrack,” Daya mentioned of her husband, who produced the film that chronicles the lifetime of Mama Shirley Foulks, one of many Matriarchs of Cherry Hill and one of many pageant’s co-founders.
“The Cherry Hill Arts and Music Waterfront Competition continues to be an accessible waterfront crown jewel in South Baltimore,” Foulks mentioned. “Since its inception, Cherry Hill pageant organizers have labored particularly onerous to make sure that the pageant is free for everybody yearly,” Foulks added.
“Center Department Park, which is the location of the annual Cherry Hill Arts and Music Waterfront Competition, is greater than a spot; it’s a refuge,” mentioned Hill. The work of the Youth Resiliency Institute and particularly the Waterfront Competition has grow to be a dependable refuge for members of that group.
“We lean into the knowledge of the group as a way to put the pageant on,” Daya mentioned. “In fact we’re stewards clearly and it’s a group led pageant that’s offered in a correct means. So, we’re very enthusiastic about lifting up the title of the group Cherry Hill and sustaining that title. We recognize the household really feel of the pageant that we’ll all the time preserve,” she added.
On the finish of the evening pageant goers will likely be handled to a conventional 4th of July spectacle, fireworks exploding over the Patapsco River.
“We’re simply very proud, I really feel very happy with the group,” Daya mentioned. “I really feel very happy with the pageant, I really feel very proud to have this occasion and even to coordinate our fireworks with downtown and the town, it’s simply an honor.”
