Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer
Dancers get in the groove at Uptown Mondays first anniversary street dance, held at its regular location at Savannah Plaza, Constant Spring Road on Monday. - CARLINGTON WILMOT/FREELANCEPHOTOGRAPHER
WESTERN BUREAU:
CEO of the Uptown Mondays session, Whitfield 'Witty' Henry, has distanced himself from comments made by a selector at the first anniversary staging of his event on Monday night.
The selector, Swam King, and the comments, surrounded the murder of three policemen in quick succession last week. The anniversary of the free street session was held at its regular location, the Savannah Plaza on Constant Spring Road, St. Andrew.
"I want to disassociate myself from all this. Without the police, there is no party. We work with the law," Mr. Henry said. "Every night we have uniformed police at our party," he added.
"Whatever Swam King said was not the view of I, Whitfield Henry, CEO of Uptown Mondays," he emphasised, expressing his condolences about the policemen who died.
On the matter of sponsorship, Mr. Henry said that Guinness withdrew its support on the basis that Bounty Killer was slated to perform. "We chose to go with Bounty," he said. Co-sponsor, Verdi, was present at the event.
He is not ruling out further collaboration, though, as he said that "If Guinness wants to come back on board, I would work with them again".
Mr. Henry is also into sponsorship himself, as he said that part proceeds of Uptown Mondays go to the Ionie Whorms Inner-City Counselling Centre, which assists persons living with HIV/AIDS, as well as persons addicted to hard drugs.
"We always have a vision for inner-city youths, to try to do as much as we can for them and try to give scholarships," Mr. Henry said.
He added that for next week's staging of Uptown Mondays, persons who were scheduled to perform at the anniversary, but did not get a chance to do so, will take the stage. These include Fanton Mojah, Lexxus, New Kidz, Danny English and Hawkeye. The Rebel T sound system will be providing the music.
Mr. Henry thanked the people who turned out for the anniversary session and expressed special thanks to the Half-Way Tree Police for their support.
