Controversy Surrounds Vybz Kartel's Planned Easter Sunday Performance in Barbados

No Vybz Kartel on Easter Sunday.

That was the general consensus from several Barbadians yesterday, who participated in a protest march through Bridgetown aimed at bringing attention to the controversial staging of a reggae show on April 20, Easter Sunday, with the main act being reggae artiste Vybz Kartel and compatriot Tommy Lee.

Kartel, one of Jamaica’s most loved and polarising dancehall artistes, has been filling stadiums on his comeback tour, having been released from a jail in Jamaica, where he was serving a life sentence for murder.

Kartel, 49, real name, Adidja Palmer, last performed in Brooklyn, New York, at the Barclays Centre Friday night to a sold-out crowd.

Dozens of people attended yesterday’s protest and highlighted their disappointment with Kartel being granted permission to perform in Barbados.

The protest march started at Lower Bay Street, St Michael, and ended at Kensington Mall, Fontabelle, St Michael.

Organiser of yesterday’s protest action, activist Sean Apache Carter, said now was certainly not the time for Kartel to grace a stage in this country.

“When you look at what is happening now in the land, the timing of this Kartel show is off. We’re already reaping the fruit of the seeds sown by Kartel from 20 years ago. There is an upsurge in violence and we just had three murders in three days in Barbados,” he said.

Carter said the granting of permission for the show to be held on Easter Sunday cuts deeply for Christian-minded Barbadians.

Not at this time

“So, as the Government, you are allowing this show with not just

Kartel, but also Tommy Lee, and it’s not the kind of thing that should be released on the nation at this time.

“I find it very disrespectful to the church to have a show like this on Easter Sunday. April is traditionally the time for reggae shows in Barbados, but traditionally you don’t find shows on Easter Sunday. What the young people need is some positive messages and programmes to help uplift them. They need guidance. Kartel can’t give that guidance,” Carter stated.

“The foundation of the church, everything about Christianity hinges on

Easter Sunday,” he stressed.

Another protestor, Rebekah Price, said as a young person she vehemently opposed Kartel performing on the most important day of the Christian calendar.

“It’s Easter Sunday. That’s a sacred day. It’s disrespectful and we should stand against it as Christians and guide ourselves back to God,” she said.

An older female protestor, Delores Powlett-Hinds, said she hoped the church came out in force against the staging of the concert because what Kartel sang equated to wickedness.

“We don’t want him ’bout here,” she said.

Reverend Lucille Baird, one of the country’s most outspoken clerics, also attended the protest and said she had no problem with Kartel being in Barbados if he was just a visitor to the island and not performing.

“We would welcome him if he comes as a tourist, to enjoy our sunshine and our beaches and our food and our hospitality and our kindness and our church services, but if he comes otherwise, to undermine us working with our youth or to influence them in a negative way, to bring vibes that would challenge their sensibilities and cause them to be more violent, we say not ’bout here,” Baird said to loud applause.

Earlier this year, Reverend Dr David Durant publicly criticised the staging of the show on Easter Sunday, saying it was distasteful.

However, chairman of Zulu Entertaintment, Vibbian Fagan defended the hosting of the show, saying many shows in Barbados were held previously around Easter, also noting that some local artistes sing lyrics similar to Kartel’s. (BA)