By Alexander Britell

Every Saturday afternoon in Miami, the world of reggae finds a home at the WDNA 88.9 FM studio, where Jamaican native Howard Duperly operates his Reggae Ride program, a musical odyssey that takes listeners from the Mento music of the 1950s to the latest music of the present day. Duperly, who is also WDNA’s sales and marketing director, has turned the show into a musical beacon that draws as much upon the Diaspora community in Florida as it attracts neophytes drawn to one of the Caribbean’s greatest art forms. Duperly talked to Caribbean Journal about the show’s success in South Florida, what it means to the Jamaican community in the diaspora and the way Reggae has become a global medium.