Gibson to host Caribbean Heritage celebration

Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson will host “A Celebration of Caribbean Heritage” on June 18, honoring “Caribbean excellence.”

Gibson, whose father hails from Trinidad and Tobago, said the event will be held at Andrew Freedman House, 1125 Grand Concourse, Bronx.

She said Borough Hall will host the celebration in partnership with BXEDC and the Bronx Tourism Council.

Among the honorees are The Legendary D.J. Kool Herc; Cindy Campbell, the First Lady of Hip-Hop; “Ronnie” Harpaul  & The Harpaul Family; Dr. Oswald Thomas Byron Brown, Jr.; and Caribbean Life newspaper.

According to Wikipedia, Clive Campbell, born April 16, 1955, better known by his stage name DJ Kool Herc, is a Jamaican-American DJ who is credited with founding hip hop music in the Bronx in 1973.

Nicknamed the Father of Hip-Hop, Wikipedia says Campbell “began playing hard funk records of the sort typified by James Brown.

“Campbell isolated the instrumental portion of the record which emphasized the drum beat—the ‘break’—and switch from one break to another,” it adds. “Using the same two-turntable set-up of disco DJs, he used two copies of the same record to elongate the break.

“This breakbeat DJing, using funky drum solos, formed the basis of hip hop music,” Wikipedia continues. “Campbell’s announcements and exhortations to dancers helped lead to the syncopated, rhythmically spoken accompaniment now known as rapping.”

On November 3, 2023, Campbell was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the Musical Influence Award category.

Clive Campbell was the first of six children born to Keith and Nettie Campbell in Kingston, Jamaica.

The talented 1st Lady of Hip-Hop, Cindy Campbell, is the catalyst for the humble beginnings of Hip-Hop.

According to her biography, Cindy had the vision to organize a back-to-school party.

“Little did she know that her Back to School Party was to become known as The Beginning of Hip-Hop,” it says. “This establishes her as the first Hip-Hop promoter.

“It was her Back-to-School Party, which she promoted on August 11, 1973, that her famous brother, The Legendary Founder of Hip-Hop DJ Kool Herc, DJ’d in the recreation room at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the West Bronx,” it adds. “As a Graffiti writer, her tag name was PEP-1 (174.)  She was also a B-Girl.”

The biography says Cindy has worked alongside her brother’s involvement. 

In 1984, the biography says Cindy negotiated her brother’s Hollywood debut role, in which DJ Kool Herc portrayed himself in the movie Beat Street, produced by Harry Belafonte and David Picker and directed by Stan Lathan.

Byron William Brown II, born Sept. 24, 1958, served as the 62nd mayor of Buffalo, New York, from 2006 until his resignation in 2024.

He was the city’s first African-American mayor and the longest-serving mayor. Wikipedia says he previously served as a member of the New York State Senate and the Buffalo Common Council.

It says Brown was born and raised in Queens and rose to office after serving in various political roles.

Brown was raised in Hollis, Queens, in a duplex his family shared with his grandparents, who were immigrants from the Caribbean island of Montserrat, Wikipedia says.

For more information about the Caribbean Heritage celebration in the Bronx, contact Bruce “Blue” Rivera at [email protected]v