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Bahamas Hip Hop and Film Industry Mourn the Loss of Manifest and Family
By Arthia Nixon
Nov 10, 2014 - 11:33:58 AM

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Lavard Parks, known in the hip hop world as Manifest, his wife Radel and their young son Johannan were among those killed in the November 9, 2014 plane crash in The Bahamas with internationally known author and evangelist, Dr. Myles Munroe. Manifest and his wife were recently ordained Youth Pastors at Bahamas Faith Ministries International. The couple had also recently announced they were expecting their second child, due in April 2015. The death of the couple has left the local entertainment community in mourning.

Radel, a graduate of the New York Film Academy was in Atlanta last year furthering her career in film at Savannah College of Art and Design. While in Atlanta, she had the opportunity to meet with Roger Bobb of Bobbcat Studios via the Bahamas Consul General’s Office of Atlanta and submit some of her work to him. Radel and her twin sister Ranel were the founders of Redemptive Productions and produced plays, workshops and other entertainment events. Radel was a talented actress who later coached acting before moving on to directing. She worked along with Brett Ratner of the Rush Hour franchise as a casting director when he shot locally as well as on the set of My Wife and Kids when they filmed in The Bahamas. Although she was better known for her playwriting and screenwriting, under her maiden name Radel Hanna, she published a book of poetry ‘Black Pages’.

Manifest was the founder of the Bahamas Hip Hop Fest and president and founder of Dunamus Soundz Records. He was a pioneer in hip hop music and gospel music. As one of the top selling Bahamian gospel artists, Manifest led a prolific group of young musicians and expanded his artists to include talent from The Bahamas, United States and Trinidad. He toured in several Caribbean islands including the Caymans. Manifest was a multi-award winning artists who won Song of The Year and Album of the Year. He also performed his last major single I Shall Rise from the His Life, His Mic album on TBN live. He was also an author. Manifest often travelled with Dr. Myles Munroe, his wife Pastor Ruth Munroe and their team.

“It’s an inconsolable feeling to know that they are gone,” said Arthia Nixon, family friend who worked with the couple as a publicist. “I haven’t slept, several media outlets have been calling and I still have crying spells waiting on them to reply to the messages I sent when I first learned there was a crash without knowing who was on it. Pastor Myles Munroe also helped me through a very difficult point in my life involving my child and even though I was not in The Bahamas, I still watched and connected with Bahamas Faith Ministries. It’s hard to understand because my last correspondence was them talking about their new house, the baby and our meetings we would get into this week. Radel and I were getting ready to confirm dates for a collaboration with the Consul General’s Office of Atlanta and Lavard and I were talking about the PR for Dunamus and himself. By far, one of my favorite memories of them was during the Help Haiti earthquake telethon in Nassau when he strayed away from hip hop, pulled out his guitar, Radel grabbed a back up mic and they sang ‘I Surrender’ together while I was in a corner holding Jojo who was the most pleasant infant you could imagine.”

“Of all the people I worked with as a publicist, Lavard was the one who stuck with me the longest,” she added. “He and Radel were not clients but rather friends, spiritual siblings and voices I respected on matters from business to even relationships. I still hear him saying ‘Hey Arthia’, by my full name and her with that bright smile in heavy conversation saying ‘Geee!’ right when we are about to burst into giggles. The hardest thing I ever had to do was compose myself and make the announcement on his Facebook fan page last night and right now I am just waiting on the family and label to decide when they are ready, what the next steps ought to be.”

“The label will be meeting and announcements will be made shortly,” Nixon added. “At this time, I ask that you please keep their immediate families – their parents and siblings, as well as the church family who has lost several key members in prayer. This is truly a difficult time in The Bahamas, especially Grand Bahama, Eleuthera and New Providence for those who were directly connected with them. They have impacted so many lives and we are all tasked with ensuring their tremendous legacy lives on. Also there were others who perished. May their families also find comfort during this time.”


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