The Guyana National Cultural Center was ablaze with talent on Monday evening for the “Let the Women Speak” Red Revolution Gala. Women from all over the country showed up decked out in a sea of red as a sign of solidarity and strength for the fight against domestic violence. The crowd was treated to live performances by local and overseas talent including poetry by 2014 Youth Poet Laureate, Ramya Ramana, choreographed dancing, skits and several songs by solo performers and groups. Ruqayyah Boyer, Miss World Guyana 2013, serenaded the crowd with a beautiful rendition of Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come.”
The show was emceed by four beautiful women from the local media in Guyana, namely Tracey Kahn-Drakes, Nuriyyih Gerrard, Debra Francis and Grace Hudson, who were also part of the performances. At the end of the celebrations 50 women, including yours truly, were acknowledged and each presented with a beautiful butterfly token signifying the “metamorphosis of a woman.” I had the honor of presenting the butterfly token to Ms. Karen Adams for her dedicated service to the domestic violence awareness movement in Guyana.
The event was part II of a weekend long celebrations for International Women’s Day planned by the Caribbean American Domestic Violence Awareness (CADVA) and Guyana’s One Billion Rising, with Guyanese Girls Rock as one of the sponsors. CADVA founder, Sukree Boodram and program director, Dianne Madray spearheaded the celebrations and it was a huge success.
