Germaine Smith, Staff ReporterFOR ITS birthday party, Livity Restaurant was not awash with liquor and revelry on Tuesday night, but rather with a tidal wave of consciousness.
The birthday coincided with that of National Hero Marcus Garvey and it was also timed with the launch of an album from which half of the sales will reach out to children suffering from leukaemia.
SEATS
A fair-sized crowd grabbed all the available seats inside the restaurant and those who could not find seats perched on huge rocks towards the side of the stage to take in the night's proceedings.
The name for the three-in-one event was, appropriately, 'In The Name Of Life' and everything on Tuesday night breathed life. From the lengthy Marcus Garvey tribute given by a Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) elder, to the speeches and performances, the theme of life and living resonated through the night.
Anthony B, Natural Black, and Richie Spice added their own life to the proceedings, with brief yet electrifying impromptu performances. Among them they 'burned enough fire' to raze a city block, but the only fire in the venue was the flames under the pots in the kitchen and the tiny lighters that flickered in honour of the performances.
BRAINCHILD
The CD In The Name Of Life is the brainchild of Keteis, one of the directors of the restaurant. According to her, personal tragedy prompted the move to start a fund for cancer research.
Her 12-year-old nephew was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2001. Her family faced a $7 million bill for bone marrow transplant surgery in the United States. After a series of fund-raisers they came up with half a million dollars, but the surgery went on nonetheless. Shortly after, however, he died.
"The fund's objective is that no children should die because of a lack of funds for an operation," she said in a prepared speech. "We want to be there for them to make a difference. It is important that we examine the day-to-day issues which affect living, whether it be sickness, violence, poverty or crime, and affirm the fact that it affects all of us."
FUNDS
For that, Keteis added, they launched the 'In The Name Of Life' fund to which they will dedicate half of the funds from the CD sales for children suffering from life-threatening diseases.
The album's producer is Michael 'Ibo' Cooper, while the executive producer is Alfred Brissett, another Livity director. It features a list of artistes known for both controversy and 'consciousness' plus others who are lesser known to the public. Among the artistes are Keteis, Turbulence, Anthony B, African, and former popular song contestant J-Lee
