Attorney Ben Crump, the Florida-based attorney, past president of the National Bar Association, and voice for the families of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, will receive IRAWMA’s Freedom Fighter Award at this years presentation.
Having won notable multimillion-dollar settlements in police brutality cases, Ben Crump has pushed cities to ban no-knock warrants. Making the case before a congressional committee, Ben stated that reform is needed because “it’s become painfully obvious we have two systems of justice; one for white Americans and one for Black Americans.” Rev. Jesse Louis Jackson of the Rainbow Push Coalition, was is the former recipient of the Freedom Fighter Award in 2019.
“Since 1982, Dr. Rita Marley has attended, performed, presented, nominated and won several IRAWMA Awards. Prior to the Pandemic, in 2019, she was honored at the 37th IRAWMA with a Reggae 50 Award for her over fifty years of contributions to reggae and Jamaican music, and at the same time, accepted the Emperor of Reggae and World Music honor that was bestowed on her late husband, Robert Nesta Marley,” Dr. Ephraim Martin, BH{M}, Martin’s International and IRAWMA president said.
Rita Marley is well known for her philanthropic efforts. She established the Rita Marley Foundation, which focuses on alleviating poverty and hunger and providing education in Ghana and Jamaica.
Veteran journalist and one of the IRAWMA nominators, Vinnette Price, stated, “Unquestionably unrivaled, undeniably Rita Marley deserves every accolade imaginable. Aside from the public view most of us are privileged, this gargantuan woman has privately sealed her place as a philanthropic humanitarian giving relentlessly to things Jamaican, issues African, projects Bahamian, should I go on? Rita has consistently aided in causes benefiting her people. Ok so she donated book bags in Jamaica… but to average folks in her midst she gave and gave in Morant Bay, Buff Bay etc.
Dr. Ephraim Martin, President and producer of IRAWMA, who is celebrating his Golden 50th Anniversary in media, entertainment, and social justice activism, said “some15 special honors and 40 nominated categories will be awarded. This is our eighth hosting of IRAWMA in South Florida, we have for over forty consecutive years, serve as the only organization, honoring the best of reggae and world music’s best throughout the globe. We intend to uphold the integrity of IRAWMA by giving honors only where honors are due without compromise.
For the nominated categories, voting is now open to the public through March 5th at www.irawma.com.
