Group AFROCUBA de Matanzas, one of Cuba's most acclaimed folklore groups, is one of the few troupes who showcase the wide diversity of African cultures that survive on the island. The group was founded in 1957 in the city of Matanzas, which is considered the prime repository of African culture in Cuba. AFROCUBA is comprised of 19 very talented drummers, dancers and singers, some of whom display talent in each discipline. Even their government representative, Ileana Hernandez, is a talented singer and dancer. Francisco Zamora Chirino, affectionately known as "Menini" has been the troupe's director for a number of years. The dancers include Julia Zulima Echeoana, Antonio Figueroa, Juan Carlos Golbelm, and Leniel Perez. The percussionists include Osmudo Barbaro Aldazabal, Franciso Dominquez Boada, Reynaldo Gobel, Enrique Mesa, Oluis Cancino Morales, and Pedro Abelle Torrente. The singers include Bertina Aranda, Sara Gobel, and Amparo Rodriquez. Of special note are Maria Dolores Perez and Regla "Pola" Perez, whose sister Ana is the featured dancer with Matanzas "other word famous troupe, Los Munequitos, dancer Reynaldo Gonzalez, and Rameses Zamora, "El Professor," who is a music professor at the University of Matanzas.
"Haiti's New Bad Boy President," "Carnival King is New Leader of Haiti" are just two of the headlines in local and national news. Many Haitians here in the U.S. feel that the newspapers are making a spectacle of the election of Michael "Sweet Mickey" [Michael Martelly] to the highest political office in Haiti, the Presidency. Martelly beat his opponent Lady Mirlande Manigat, 67.57 percent to 31.74 percent but in accordance with the electoral process complaints can be filed up until April 16 when the votes will be closed. His flamboyant attire and sometimes raucous performances endeared him to some but distanced him from others. At first, his notoriety as an entertainer made it almost impossible for him to be accepted into a party to declare his political aspirations and to be thought of as a viable candidate.
Jean Lans, a Haitian American who resides in the area, said that it's all very strange to him, as it is to many Haitians. "Haiti requested [Jean-Claude Duvalier]'s extradition from France some time ago but they denied that request," stated Lans. "The French Ambassador to Haiti, Didier Le Bret, was very vocal in talking with the media about the results of the recent election. It is very strange that the Ambassador would speak out long before the government is behind his returning to Haiti." M.P. said that Preval is corrupted and [Jean Bertrand Aristide], who was supposed to be a priest, was corrupt also. Neither one of them has done much for the country except pocketing the money and taking care of their own. "They have taken food out of their own people's mouths," stated M.P. passionately. "With this election, Preval wants his sonin-law to become the new President but the people want "Sweet Mickey" Michael Martelly. They would burn Haiti before allowing someone else to be President." She said it would not be such a bad thing if Duvalier regains power. "Twenty-five years after his exile and where are wre now? When he was in control, they gave him the name 'Dictator' but he was what the country needed."
He was a Jamaican scholar, social critic, choreographer and vice-chancellor emeritus of The University of the West Indies (UWI), the leading research university in the commonwealth of the Caribbean. His contributions to education and the arts are enormous. Jamaica Information Services describes him as a "quintessential Caribbean patriot, whose contributions will forever be etched into the annals of the region's history." According to Jamaica Information Service, [Rex Nettleford] was committed to the exploration of Caribbean cultural identity. One person commented on a blog that "Jamaicans will remember him for his articulation of their craving to be 'smady,' or 'smaddification,' a Jamaican dialect that means to be accepted as somebody with worth and character and not mere hewers of wood and carriers of water in the grand scheme of things." Nettleford co-authored a study of the Rastafarian movement, titled "The Rastafari Movement in Kingston, Jamaica," with M.G. Smith and Roy Augie, two noted Caribbean authors. In addition, his compilation of Norman Manley's speeches and writings gave credibility to his ability as a public historian and social critic.
Where did the team get the idea in their heads to enter the sport? According to Wikipedia.com, it was "George Fitch and William Maloney, Americans with family and business ties to Jamaica, who were responsible for founding the Jamaican bobsled team. While vacationing in Jamaica, the two witnessed a pushcart derby race and saw the similarities to bobsledding." The story of the Jamaican bobsledders not only inspired future entries of the Jamaican bobsled team (in 1992, 1994, 2000, 2006 and 2010) but it also sparked the filming of a major Disney motion picture called "Cool Runnings". Even though the Jamaican bobsled team did not qualify, Caribbean people must never forget the pioneers who dared to mink outside of the box.
This spring, Professor [Henry Louis Gates Jr.] returns to PBS with "Black in Latin America," a new four-part, four hour series. Focusing on six Latin American countries - Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Brazil, Mexico and Peru - the series explores the influence of the African diaspora on Latin America. On his journey. Gates discovers a shared legacy of colonialism, slavery and people marked by African roots. In his new series. Gates sets out on a quest to discover how Latin Americans of African descent live now, and how their countries acknowledge - or deny - their African past.
The Philadelphia region was the site of a rare, artistic treat when Balé Folclórico, Brazil's premiere professional folk dance company made a special Black History Month visit. Formed in 1988, the 33-member troupe of dancers, musicians, and singers perform a repertory based on various Bahian folkloric dances of African origin, including: capoeira (a form of martial arts), samba and other cultural traditions celebrated during Carnival. Hailing from Salvador, in the northeastern state of Bahia, Balé Folclòrico represents Bahia's most important cultural manifestations under a contemporary theatrical vision that reflects its popular origins.
Aruba seceded from the Netherlands Antilles in 1986 and became a separate, autonomous member of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Movement toward full independence was halted at Aruba's request in 1990. According to the World Factbook, Aruba exports live animals and animal products, art and collectibles, machinery and electrical equipment and transport equipment to the Netherlands, Columbia, Panama, the United States, Venezuela and the Netherlands Antilles.
With the new law instituted, the face of the population of the Caribbean evolved and whites eventually became a minority although they continued to hold their superior social status. According to a book called "Caribbean Islands - The Sugar Revolutions and Slavery," by the early 19th century, less than 5 percent of the population in Grenada, Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Jamaica, Tobago were white. They accounted for less than 10 percent of the population of Anguilla, Montserrat, St. Kitts, St. Lucia and the Virgin Islands. Only in the Bahamas, Barbados and Trinidad were more than 10 percent of the population white.
The Rastafarian exhibition in the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History recounts the history and reveals nuance to a movement that celebrates African liberation, global peace and "one love." A glass case at the Smithsonian exhibit displays such manuscripts as the Holy Piby, a proto-Rastafarian text that was widely circulated across the African Diaspora before being banned in Jamaica during the 1920s.
