‘Bridging The Gap’ radio show connects J’ca, diaspora, to Africa

There’s a new radio programme on the airwaves, with a web-based magazine component that’s expected to connect Jamaica to the African diaspora.

Bridging The Gap, the new entertainment radio programme aired on Power 106FM on Saturday, November 23.

The rich plethora of traditional, contemporary, and pop music, combined with news and academic interviews punctuated the airwaves, during the hour-long programme, produced and hosted by Steven Golding.

Bridging The Gap not only connected Jamaica and the diaspora but also several countries on the African continent, including Nigeria, Ghana and Sierra Leone.

There are expectations for the official first broadcast to take place in January 2025, with additional connections to Liberia, Kenya and South Africa.

There are further plans to feature an investment opportunity focus, conversations with government officials, and a history and culture focus, among other things business profile interviews.

Steven Golding said the Bridging The Gap programme will likely fill the void between Africa and the diaspora in the Caribbean to engage dis-membered families resulting from the Middle Passage associated with the Atlantic slave trade.

‘It will open the doors to building stronger unity and cooperation between Africans at home and abroad; and a fulfilment of the dreams, hopes and aspirations of Jamaican national hero, Marcus Garvey,’ Golding said.

‘Our content will focus on highlighting the connecting threads between our various Afrocentric cultures. The history, the language and all the nuances that make our cultural landscapes uniquely similar,’ Golding added.

The programme was conceptualised by Earle Willams, CEO of Pinchy Kobi – a connector of Afro communities around the world via literature and visual and performing art forms. Communities include Africa, Afro-Latino countries, and the Caribbean.

Antagonist Earle Williams said since the captivity of over 20 million Africans, a void was created in the families of people from the African continent that has left a sense of yearning, and a wound to be healed between those at home and those that were taken.

‘Those who’ve had the opportunity to go (back) to Africa and enter through the Door of Return in Ghana have experienced the reconnection to the homeland that Africa’s diaspora still longs for. This longing is expressed consciously and unconsciously. We are attempting to fill this void, for those that cannot physically go back to their ancestral home,’ he said.

If you're interested in connecting to Bridging The Gap programme can go here, on YouTube, and on social media @pinchykobi.