The pilot programme for ‘Bridging The Gap’ a new entertainment and magazine radio programme connecting Jamaica and the African Diaspora was successfully aired on Power 106Fm, on Saturday, November 23, 2024. 

The rich plethora of traditional, contemporary and popular music, combined with news and academic interviews punctuated the airwaves, during the hour-long programme with producer and host 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. The programme is expected to begin its official broadcast in January 2025, with additional connections with Liberia, Kenya and South Africa. 

It will also feature among other things business profile interviews, investment opportunity focus, conversations with government officials, and history and culture focus.

Steven Golding said the ‘Bridging the Gap’ programme will aim to fill the void between Africa and her Diaspora in the Caribbean in order to engage the family that was dis-membered by the tragic circumstances of the Middle Passage. 

“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 the Right Excellent 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 as reflected in our music, news, politics, sport and businesses,” Golding added. 

The programme was conceptualized by Earle Willams, Chief Executive Officer at Pinchy Kobi. Pinchy Kobi brings the world closer to the rich and diverse culture of Afro communities around the world through the curation of visual and performing art forms and literature.

It is a hub for all things Afro Culture through curating content from communities around the world including Africa, Afro-Latino countries, the Caribbean for entertainment and overall satisfaction of cultural needs.

Earle Williams said since the captivity of over 20 million Africans, a void was created in the family 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 have had the opportunity to go (back) to Africa and enter through the ‘Door of Return’ have experienced the reconnection to the homeland that Africa’s diaspora still experience a longing for. This longing is expressed in many ways, both consciously and unconsciously. We are attempting to fill this void, for those that cannot physically go back to their ancestral home,” he said.  

People who would like to connect with the ‘Bridging The Gap’ programme can click the link at www.pinchykobi.com and on social media @pinchykobi and on YouTube.