By NAN ET Editor
News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. Aug. 14, 2020: Jamaican gospel singer and songwriter Joan Myers and soca singer Cheryl Vincent, aka Cheryl V, have a new and important message for Caribbean immigrants across the United States.
Myers and Vincent, who were born in Jamaica and Grenada, respectively, are urging Caribbean nationals to take 2020 United States census as the countdown begins to the September 30th deadline.
This is the first time that Caribbean nationals will be able to self-identify nationality on census forms, thanks to a decade plus fights from CARIBID’s Felicia J. Persaud.
But the pandemic and a poor targeted promotion has led to a low self-response rate in many Caribbean immigrant zip codes.
Community organizer and consultant, Gerry Hopkin, JD, is hoping the last minute PSA appeal, using soca and reggae music, two popular Caribbean music genres, will help make a difference in the last month of the count.
He took the idea to Myers and Vincent and along with Benjy Myaz of My Werks Music, the Public Service Announcements jingle became a reality.
Myers is a former lead singer of the Grace Thrillers who recorded two albums with the group and an album of her own. She has shared the stage with gospel stars like Shirley Caesar, The Talley’s, Rev FC Barnes, Andre Crouch and Jessie Dixon and recently performed alongside Smokey Robinson at the 86th birthday celebration for Ambassador Andrew Young in Washington, DC. In 2001, she was voted Top Female Gospel singer at the Caribbean Gospel Music Award USA. The following year, she won Album of the Year for Wanna Be Ur’s and Song of the Year for He’ll Do Again at the same event.
Her brother, veteran crooner Benjy Myaz’s, career exploded in the early ’90s with his No. 1 hit Love You Higher and a remake of Brooke Benton’s classic, ‘So Many Ways’.
Branded as products of the “Let’s All Get Counted 2020 Census Awareness Initiative,” the two lyrically loaded and musically engaging public service announcements were launched recently at the virutal Afterwork Networking Wednesdays in Brooklyn, on Wednesday, July 29th.
Vincent is a member of the folk group Quake USA Cultural Organization.
Currently, negotiations are ongoing to engage additional artistes who sing Kompa, Hip Hop and Bachata, so that similar PSAs in these other equally beautiful beats, and using Creole and Spanish, can be subsequently produced and released, as we continue working on our outreach to ensure that everyone, to the last of us, is counted.
In addition to raising awareness, the PSAs also deliberately call on at least one person in every household, regardless of their immigration status, to complete the Census by going to MY2020CENSUS.GOV, or by calling 800-932-8282, or by completing the form which they received from the post Office.
“Together we are stronger, so let’s all get counted,” collectively says Vincent, Myers and the executive producer of the initiative, Hopkin.
View and share each of the Soca PSA here – https://youtu.be/eUFWqXD-4z0 and the reggae PSA here https://youtu.be/ys3juCjgCDE
