"We have to give God thanks for everything that we have accomplished and just look forward to 2012. We got a national record and I am really thankful to be a part of the team that did it. I'm grateful for my teammates and I think that with this team, we would definitely go far with more baton changes and we'll continue to give it our best shot," said [Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce]. Things didn't look too good for the Jamaicans in the semi-finals, which took place just over an hour prior to the final, as the baton exchanges between Fraser Pryce and [Kerron Stewart] on the first handover and Stewart and [Sherone Simpson] were terrible. But the latter believes that the experience of the girls helped to correct the problems in the short time that was available.
Human Rights in Haiti: A Work in Progress" is a 22-minute abridged Cliffs Notes version of the history of Haitian unrest. Though it is beautifully edited and has some rather moving imagery, the film ends suddenly, which quite frankly took the audience off guard. During the Q&A session following the films, the un-packed audience of 10 people (which included the filmmakers) had a few burning questions, some of which were not completely answered. "Who's the opponent? Who's the evil person here?" "It doesn't make that clear," "There are things that aren't really clear here" were just a few questions the audience members asked.
The term "world beat music" is less than a decade old. The music is a genre defined by the heads of a number of small London-based record labels who found that their records from Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean were not finding rack space. Major record stores had no obvious place for these unclassified sounds. The average listeners have not. Today the major record chains - Spec's, Best Buy, and others - have responded to buyers' demand to make available music from Africa, Cuba, Jamaica, Brazil and Latin America. Finding releases from Senegal's Kouding Cissoko or Baaba Maal is no problem. Finding the Afro-French, hip-hop sound of Les Nubians is simple; so finding the music of Nacio from Dominica, Gilberto Gil from Brazil, or Bamboleo of Cuba.
Jamaica closed out the 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics in explosive fashion, bringing down the curtains with the championships' only world record; a blistering 37.04 seconds run in the men's 4x100m relay. In a race not void of incident, Bolt kept his cool, collected the baton from 10Om champion Yohan Blake and powered through to the finish to better the country's own 37.10 world record, which was set at the Belling Olympic Games in 2008.
This year's Miami concert is a continuation of this ongoing goodwill project, bringing together a host of internationally renowned celebrities, reggae, R&B, and hip-hop artists in an all-day Carnival event with food, arts, crafts, and a vast array of entertainment. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Wyclef Jean Foundation and be donated to charitable organizations. Proceeds from last year's Miami Carnival were given to VHI's "Save The Music" and Oeuvres de Petites Ecoles de P. Bohnen (through Fondation Artistes Creation, a not-for- profit Haitian organization). "Guantanamera," a single from "Wyclef Jean Presents the Carnival," featuring Celia Cruz and Jeni Fujita, was nominated for the Best Rap Performance By A Duo or Group. The following year, Wyclef Jean's single, "Gone Till November," was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Rap Solo Performance category.
Wyclef Jean - the trailblazing hip-hop artist and Haiti's answer to Jamaica's Bob Marley and Ireland's Bono - last month unveiled an ambitious new philanthropic effort aimed at bringing the power and wealth of his own celebrity - and the collective muscle of the Haitian Diaspora - to bear to help his native land. Wyclef christened the emerging non-profit "Yéle Haiti" during a tour of Haiti last month, in which he announced plans to help fund the reconstruction of schoolhouses and a vast scholarship program, among other initiatives.
TWO-TIME Olympic relay gold medallist, Michael Frater, will be looking to keep Jamaica sprinting atop the podium in the 60 metre dash at the New York Road Runners Millrose Games on February 15, 2014. But the 31-year-old's task won't be easy as three young Americans - US Olympian Isiah Young, and 2013 NCAA champions D'Angelo Cherry, and Ameer Webb - will be in on the chase. 'The Armory is one of my most favourite places to race," said Cherry, who won 60m titles at the US and NCAA Championships last winter. "I'm in good shape and looking forward to running a great race at the Millrose Games."
"Colin Powell, Cicely Tyson, Malcolm X, Sir Sidney Poitier, David Patterson, Alexander Hamilton and Jean Baptiste DuSable are all part of a great history that spans generations of men and women whose roots can be found in the Caribbean," he said. "Many of our students share that same heritage. And we are connected to them as well, from the curry in their food to the courage in their souls."
"In our Cold War fight with Castro, (we were) willing to subsidize Cubans to leave to come here and at the same time lock Haitians out. That is not fair, and we deserve a different policy," [Jesse L. Jackson Sr.] said. He said the U.S. pays to bring Cubans here, subsidizes them, but pays to send Haitians back to Haiti. "That's not fair," he stated. "Haiti fought for our freedom." "The Cubans are political refugees looking for political freedom, and they're given money to come, but, the Haitians are economic refugees so they must go back. There are more Haitians who've died... than Cubans," Jackson said calling for an end to the double standard of refugees between Cuba and Haitians seeking to come to America.
