Spirits were high as many looked forward to the only day out of the entire year that's dedicated to Miami's Overtown area. Last Saturday, the Overtown Business and Entertainment District was packed with hundreds of community members also known as "Towners" in celebration of the re-development of the historical neighborhood. In its 6th year, the annual the Overtown Music and Arts Festival was the place to be. While some people flew in just to witness the magical experience of the festival first-hand, the streets were filled with the smell of BBQ ribs and good times. Powered by Headliner Market group, the festival consisted of local food, craft vendors, and live entertainment. Many families came out and participated in the T.E.E.S (Teens exercising extraordinary success) Youth Zone that included arts and crafts, a cooking class, and fitness program.
The event was free and opened to the public. Everyone brought their chairs and umbrellas in hopes to enjoy themselves, watch the performers and stay clear of the burning sun that towered over the area.
Many people situated themselves in front of the stage to see performers such as Grammy Award winner, song-writer, actor and judge for NBC's World Of Dance Ne-Yo, American R&B group Jagged Edge, Pleasure P from the Hip-Hop/R&B group Pretty Ricky, R&B singer Mario, award-winning song-writer and producer Tank, Latin musician Tito Puente Jr., Canadian singer Melanie Fiona, and Chante Moore. There were also a couple of Gospel singers that gave high praises such as Fred Hammond and the beautiful Yolanda Adams. Opening acts included: Gia Wyre, Felixx, Ronnie VOP, Cedric Brazle, and Deep Fried Funk band.
Sponsors for the event included: Miami City Commissioner Keon Hardemon, Southeast/ Overtown Park west Community Redevelopment Agency, (T.E.E.S) Teens Exercising Extraordinary Success, House Of Wings, Rubenstein Law, and Aldi. All in hopes to bring the members of the Overtown community together and celebrate the future of a new neighborhood.
#RFCOVERAGE: Exclusive Recap of The OMAF 2019 Press Play!
A Few Guests Said What's Up to Ragged Fashion
"I love the comradery of everyone....... This is our first time at the festival because we're from Texas and we are truly enjoying it"
While others were excited about being a witness to the efforts of change and supporting the cause solely.
When asked about their views on youth and gun violence.. "Right now this is what they need in their life, they need to know that there is other stuff out there other than gun violence"
Photo Creds: @raggedfashion (Swipe to see more images)
Bring out the Hair-Care products! Miss Jessie's stopped by and said Hi!
Co-founder and Ceo of Miss Jessie's, Miko Branch, said "We're proud to be a part of the community, we're proud to spread our magic in a jar with everyone here at the Overtown Music and Arts Festival" as she and her team passed out hundreds of mini red bags with her famous hair-care samples inside. "We are the pioneer for hair-care products, making products for people who want to wear their hair in its natural or curly state. Miss Jessie's hair-care products can be found online at www.missjessies.com
Miko Branch (1st photo) Photo creds: @raggedfashion (Swipe to see more images)
THE SHADE SHOPS
Macy's Fashion Truck
Dadeland Mall Macy's also was a contributing vendor for the event. The pop art-designed truck consisted of ready-to-sell fragrances for men and women, hand-made gemstone jewelry, sports apparel, casual clothing, shoes, as well as hand bags.
Photo Creds: @raggedfashion
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Performers Hit The Stage With A Bang
Along with the heat, many performers such as Mario tore up the stage singing his popular hits "Let Me Love You" "Music For Love" and "Break Up" Fans held their chest in awe of the performer but, that didn't stop him from getting up close and personal with the audience. Front row fans went total ape while being able to wipe the sweat that drenched the singer's chest.
Photo creds: @raggedfashion
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Bringing the Island vibes onto the stage, Melanie Fiona gave the crowd her absolute raw and honest vocals, while she performed her hits "4AM" and "It Kills Me" and many more. As a person so passionate about music as herself, she really made standing in the scorching heat all worth while.
Photo Creds: @raggedfashion (swipe to see more images)
Oh, how do we love us some Tank let us count the ways. The singer came onto the stage fully dressed, then next thing you know the shirt came off and everyone went wild. As the singer performed "When We" and "Maybe I Deserve" it brought the crowd a lot of nostalgic vibes.
Photo Creds: @raggedfashion (Swipe to see more images)
Pretty Ricky member Pleasure P brought nothing but gentlemen vibes to the stage with the intentions of celebrating romance and love. He showed that by bringing a bouquet of red roses and handing them out to multiple women in the audience. Let's just say love was in the air.
Photo Creds: @raggedfashion (Swipe to see more images)
Performing at the festival for five years consecutively, Tito Puente Jr. gave the crowd what we like to say " Mambo caliente sabor" performing Celia Cruz's "La Vida Es Un Carnaval" with Latin singer Melina Almodovar. He also reminded everyone the importance of teaching our youth and other about Latin music explaining that his late father Tito Puente was a huge contributor to Latin music.
Photo Creds: @raggedfashion (Swipe to see more images)
The American R&B group Jagged Edge hit the stage performing their old hits "Where The Party At" "Promise" "Let's Get Married" and their newest single "Closest Thing To Perfect" off of there 10th studio album "R&B Royalty - A Jagged Love Story" that will be available soon.
Photo Creds: @raggedfashion (Swipe to see more images)
Of course, there was some spiritual praising that touched the hearts of many in the audience. Fred Hammond singing "No Weapon" and "We're Blessed" “You Are The Living Word” along with Yolanda Adams singing "Open My Heart" and "Victory" just to name a few, soothed things down with graceful gospel songs that had everyone hands up to the sky in thankfulness.
Photo Creds: @raggedfashion (Swipe to see more images)
The lovely Chante Moore gracefully hit the stage and set the mood with her hit single "Chante's Got A Man" As the crowd shouted out "where's your man Chante" she cleared the air and explained that she's got a man at home. Engaging with the crowd, Chante brought on a fan from the audience and did a duet that set the crowd on fire.
Photo Creds: @raggedfashion (Swipe to see more images)
Closing out the show, all you heard was the crowd screaming "Ne-Yo! Ne-Yo! Ne-Yo!" Not letting up, Ne-Yo brought his smooth and savvy groove to the stage singing his popular hits "Closer" "Because Of You" "So Sick" and more. As his stage presence has always been charming, you still see the Michael Jackson reference moves as he performed. A lot of singers still in the modern time reference the Pop singer.
Photo Creds: @raggedfashion (Swipe to see more images)
The Opening Acts Did Not Hold Back!
Many of the opening acts made their presence known by doing everything in their power to hype the crowd. Deep Fried Funk band definitely brought the house down with their amazing song mix.
(Left to Right) First: Felixx Second: Ronnie VOP Third: Deep Fried Funk Fourth: Cedric Brazle Fifth: Gia Wyre Entertainment
Photo Creds: @raggedfashion
Our Good Commissioner, Yes Sir!
Miami City Commissioner Keon Hardemon made a special announcement pinpointing that this is a "Political event" in efforts of building a new Overtown community. He also reminded us of how tirelessly him and his team have been working to put up new buildings, housing and programs. While giving his speech, he also presented Martha Whisby with a certificate of appreciation from the City of Miami. She shared a few words explaining how she has contributed to Overtown for her entire life and that she will always be a "Towner for life"
Photo Creds: @raggedfashion
A Good Senator, Yes He Is!
RF also had the chance to speak with Florida's State Senator Jason Pizzo after he reportedly photo-bombed a picture with Jvoab and a guest (lol). We were able to ask him a couple of questions about being senator and attending the event. "There's no shortage of interest in development but it's about smart, intelligent, and sensitive development when re-developing comes, it's about keeping the culture of the area, which this place is steeped in culture"
He also mentioned that he spoke at the 2019 Democratic Debate and discussed Overtown saying "Overtown is the 11th poorest congressional district in the United States out of 435 but, it sits at the epicenter of so much opportunity good and bad" When asked who did he side with at the Democratic Debate... "I'm a former prosecutor, I was not surprised by how kick-a** Kamala Harris is, I just wasn't, I was kind of waiting for that moment, I think a lot of people that support her was waiting for that as well"
As for the future of Florida... "We just had a great legislative session, we filed a bunch of bills, three laws passed, one of them I'm so proud of we filed the "Dignity of Incarcerated women" So all of the tampons and hygiene products that women get and moisturizers, soap, toothbrush and toothpaste is the billed that we filed, the governor signed it into law. It also talks about how male correctional officers can't do pat down searches and body cavity searches on women so they can maintain their dignity, that was in our first session.This is a four year term so we have a bunch more stuff we're going to file"
Festival Fashion
Left: Dolita Twin Right: @Scorpionfreed
Photo Creds: @raggedfashion
2019 Interactive Art Installation
This year's art installation is titled "Thirty Crowns" by: Danielle Myers in which consisted of 30 individuals whose contributions varied from sports to politics. It detailed what each person was recognized for. There was also a artist by the name of Marvin Weeks who did a tribute to "Goodbread Alley" that featured a shotgun house where he presented his artwork inside.
Photo Creds: @raggedfashion (Swipe to see more images)
Let's Get to The Delicious Stuff: FOOD!
Photo Creds: @raggedfashion (Swipe to see more images)
Along with the many local food vendors that filled the streets, House Of Wings was present at the festival as well. We had a chance to speak with its owner and founder, Mussaddiq Muhammad. When asked what does it mean to him being the creator and founder of the festival... "I am black history. I am black Miami. I am black excellence that's what it means to me.... it's only right that we are the foundation of culture, music, entertainment, lifestyle" Some members of The Nation of Islam and a few Masons were also present in support of Muhammad and as a part security for the festival.
Overtown Protectors
The Miami Fire department as well as miami police officers were at the festival. We were able to talk to COBO, the police officer, discussing his views on the gun violence in Overtown... "I feel like we're doing an outstanding job for the moment of keeping gun violence to a minimum, obviously we want to minimize all the shootings, what we want is for it to completely stop and that's what we're striving for everyday. We have a lot of teams that focus on gun violence, myself being one of them, I've been patrolling Overtown for about four years now, so my crew, we're very familiar with everyone here and the areas that are targeted and everyday we come into work we hit those areas"
Photo Creds: @raggedfashion (Cobo Right side)
A Mascot Came through and shook His Toot!
We are not sure where the mascot came from, but he sure enough had the crowd hyped!
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