SOUTH FLORIDA – In March when Marcia Jackson won the International Reggae And World Music Awards (IRAWMA) for Best Spoken Word Artist, it capped a career-changing year for the Jamaican artist.
The Florida-based poet/actress said she made a big effort to shed negatives in her life, including persons she thought meant her well.
Marcia Jackson with her IRAWMA award for Best Spoken Word Artist at the Lauderhill Performing Arts Center in March.
“I was going through a transition. As you grow you have to move away from some people and I made some tough decisions. I lost some friends but I gained some new ones, people with good energy,” Jackson told South Florida Caribbean News.
That good energy was on display at the Richie Innocent and Friends event in Queens, New York in September where she staged the stage with fellow poets from Jamaica, the United States and Zimbabwe.
Jamaican Play
On December 1st, Marcia Jackson shows her acting chops in The Real Wife, a Jamaican play starring Andrea Wright as Delcita at Coral Spring Center For the Arts. She plays Bad Gal Trudy.
While many in the South Florida arts community are aware of her poetry, Jackson has been an actress for over 20 years. She did several plays in Jamaica and has hosted the Easter Comedy Show in Melbourne, Florida for several years.
“My passion for acting started at six years-old in primary school in Bybrook Portland (her birth parish in eastern Jamaica). I have done presentations with Delcita in small gathering before, but this is my first opportunity to share a big stage with Delcita and crew,” Jackson disclosed.
Although born in Portland, most of her early years were spent in St. Elizabeth parish in southern Jamaica. That area has produced poets such as Richie Innocent and Yasus Afari.
Strongly influenced by Jamaican folklorist Louise “Miss Lou” Bennett-Coverley and poet/actress Joan Andrea Hutchinson, Jackson has also recorded songs as deejay Copper Girl.
A Florida resident since 2000, Marcia Jackson is a registered nurse. She is currently completing her first book of poetry.
