Two Caribbean-born changemakers are using the universal language of music to save lives and spark a national movement around sickle cell disease awareness.
Keenan “Special” Bristol, a proud Guyanese-American artist and advocate, and Prince Forde, a Barbadian cultural visionary and co-founder of the Caribbean Music Awards, are the driving forces behind Music Brings Life, a nonprofit that merges music, culture, and community to raise awareness about the urgent need for blood donations in Black, Caribbean, and Latino communities.
Since its founding in 2009, Music Brings Life has collected more than 5,000 units of blood, bridging the gap between entertainment and health education. The organization’s message is simple but powerful: “You don’t have to be a doctor to save a life, you just have to donate blood.”
This fall, Music Brings Life has joined forces with the Sickle Cell Consortium and the Boys & Girls Club to launch a three-state screening tour for its new film, Students Are Heroes: A Sickle Cell Warrior’s Story. The film highlights the courage of students and families living with sickle cell disease and how communities can unite to advocate for better care and understanding.
The tour officially kicked off with a successful launch at the A. Worley Brown Boys & Girls Club in Norcross, Georgia, where young attendees learned about the importance of blood donation and the role they can play in saving lives. The initiative will continue across New York City and New Jersey this fall and winter, with plans to expand nationwide in 2026.
“This is about empowering our next generation,” says Keenan. “When young people understand that they have the power to make a difference, that donating blood can literally save someone’s life, it changes everything.”
For both Keenan and Prince, this work is deeply personal.
Keenan, of Guyanese descent, has used his platform as an artist and advocate to push conversations about health disparities affecting Black, Caribbean, and Latino communities. “Sickle cell is something that touches our people, but it doesn’t get enough attention,” he explains. “I want to use music and storytelling to change that.”
Prince, born in Barbados and raised in Brooklyn, has long been a champion of Caribbean culture. Known for producing major concerts and founding the Caribbean Music Awards and Caribbean Elite Magazine, Prince has spent his career celebrating the rhythm and resilience of Caribbean people. Now, as COO of Music Brings Life, he brings that same cultural energy into advocacy.
“Our culture is vibrant, unified, and full of life,” says Prince. “That’s the same energy we’re bringing to this movement, showing the world that the Caribbean and Latino communities not only entertain but uplift, heal, and save lives.”
Sickle cell disease disproportionately affects people of African, Caribbean, and Latino descent, yet awareness and access to matched blood donors remain critically low. In Latino communities, where the condition is often underdiagnosed or misunderstood, the lack of awareness creates barriers to early treatment and access to life-saving transfusions.
Through Music Brings Life, Keenan and Prince are tackling that gap head-on — taking their message to schools, community centers, and media platforms — to ensure that awareness leads to action. Their partnership with the Sickle Cell Consortium and Boys & Girls Club represents a groundbreaking collaboration between health, youth, and culture, three pillars that continue to shape and strengthen the Caribbean and Latino diasporas.
As Keenan puts it: “Music brings life, and when we come together as a community, we bring hope.”
Founded in 2009, Music Brings Life is a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing blood donations and awareness within Black, Caribbean, and Latino communities through the power of music, culture, and education.
To learn more about the movement or to support upcoming screenings, visit MusicBringsLife.org.
