Black Angel Foundation continues to invest in Jamaican talent
Honouring the legacy of the late musician Joseph Buchanan
Published:Saturday | February 17, 2024 | 11:29 AMKenrick Morgan/Gleaner Writer
On Wednesday, February 14 –Valentine’s Day – the Black Angel Foundation handed out five music scholarships valued over $1.2 million to students in need. While many would call the gesture noteworthy, for the foundation, their annual music scholarship fundraiser is far more than a display of financial standing. Instead, it is an opportunity to invest in young Jamaican talent the same way its namesake, Joseph ‘Black Angel’ Buchanan was invested in.
In a conversation with The Gleaner, Andrea Davis, a board member, explained how their scholarships have changed the lives of its recipients for the better.
“The first three years we did tertiary scholarships at Edna Manley. That has assisted a number of students to complete their studies there, and they’ve gone on to pursue careers in various areas of the music ecosystem– from teaching to performing,” Davis said.
Additionally, she explained that this investment is not only for their recipients own personal gain, but for the growth of Jamaica as a whole.
“Jamaica is so blessed to be abundantly qualified to speak to creativity and to music as mainstays of our economy and our identity. And we think to nurture the next generation of those storytellers and those musicians and players of instruments is important to sustaining the legacy of Jamaica as a country and as a culture.”
REMEMBERING JOSEPH
The Black Angel Foundation was started in 2020, right at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the timing may have been sullied by the gravity of the global state of affairs at the time, the team still managed to pull through.
Since its earlier years as a mere thought, the organisation was aimed at continuing the legacy of musician and songwriter Joseph Buchanan, who died in 2012.
“Joseph had a heart of gold. He will be missed forever; the foundation was started by our family and friends but also the little people – the children – who have a passion for music and caring about people and they will learn who [he] is through the foundation,” Joseph’s brother Jonathan told The Gleaner in 2022.
The foundation hopes to keep the legacy of ‘Black Angel’, who was known for working with then up-and-comers Fambo and Kritical, alive.
“The family is very committed to maintaining the legacy, building on it and introducing other fundraising initiatives throughout the year. Because we would like to give more scholarships to more students. Jamaica is blessed with a very large pool of talent and we want to continue supporting that,” Davis said.
In order to keep the support flowing, Davis, and by extension the Black Angel Foundation, is reminding all stakeholders to keep investing.
“It is so important to have parents and institutions that are supporting the children in their growth. We can only do so much from our side, we need their continued investment to keep the children engaged. We ourselves need the support of others to help support the institutions and to support the arts. We collect donations year round, so keep supporting our support of the arts,” Davis encouraged.