Love or hate
it, transparency or the lack of, with all their flaws, the Liberian
Entertainment Awards is a light in the dark for many Liberian artists. During a conference call with over 30 Liberian
entertainers, their opinions and expectation of the Liberian Entertainment
Awards (LEA), was discussed.
The meeting
was a bitter sweet moment for me. Listening to each individual, echo of frustrations
and gentle whispers of hope, came from their voices. Even though, the incident led
to this meeting was disheartening, it helped shine light on the bigger picture.
Liberian
Afro Pop artist Robert Blackdiamond organized the meeting. He is part of a
movement that is calling for Liberian entertainers to boycott the LEA until
there is evidence of some level of transparency. This movement was started by
movie director, Alvin Nyemah. In thin
air, entertainers heard that Liberian social media blogger/writer Berenice
Mulubah is on the committee of the LEA and her partner Artist Jon Bricks was
nominated; also a movie which she is affiliated with, was nominated. That raised the eyebrows of some
entertainers, sensing a possibility of corruption based on conflict of interest.
Majority of
the entertainers concluded that there will always be some level of conflict of
interest, for the mere fact that committee members are experts from within the entertainment
industry. Therefore, the committee members
need to have integrity and the LEA needs to establish a code of conduct for its
committee members. Even though, there
were conflict of interest, all those were nominated, deserves the nomination.
The discussion
wasn’t only about the LEA and its flaws but also UNITY. All the participants agreed that there has to
be unity among the entertainers if they wish to be heard. There were many
suggestions made, to be presented to the LEA, with hope they be used.
Some of the voices
that stood out during the call was, Charles Dunbar, Chris Deshield, Prince Whyee, Lincoln Ward
and an artist in disguise, called Dark Vodka.
Some entertainer’s comments helped to lighten the mood and one of those
was Hot Cherry.
When it
comes down to it, all the entertainers want is respect and fairness. The LEA is more than just an award show. It is a sign of hope and worthy. Being the step child to Liberia’s growth and
development process, the LEA is the first organization to give the entertainers
some love and they want it to be right.
How could you blame them? You can’t.
The
discussion was fruitful.
Comments
Post a Comment