I am not sure what the reasons why "the arena on Vezina" was left empty on Carifiesta weekend while fans of Caribbean culture had to travel all the way to the West Island from place as far as the South Shore, Cote des Neiges, and La Salle to get a taste of Machel, Tall Pree, Traffik, and others. And perhaps the reasons are really not that important. The CCFA, as public trustees, are in no position to allow private and personal issues to get in the way of denying its use to anyone who wishes to use it for the benefit and promotion of Caribbean culture (save for the fact that they might cause material damages for which the CCFA might be held liable). given the fact that the CCFA is in no position to organize expensive parties (because of current and past financial losses) the next best thing would be to allow private individuals that opportunity. This is something which has been done in the past with some kind of honoraria going to the CCFA.
Prophet and loss: A [Bob Marley] documentary forms the centrepiece of a Channel 4 special series on the Caribbean The music continues on August 7 with Top Ten: Caribbean, a celebration of Latino, reggae, ragga, hip-hop and everything in between with the 10 most successful Caribbean chart acts in pop history. Representing the lighter side of Caribbean life is rising star Richard Blackwood in a one-off Caribbean special of his entertainment series, The Richard Blackwood Show.
Bennie G. Rodgers left us recently. Bennie G. Rodgers, 86, longtime executive editor and columnist for the St. Louis American, one of the leading black community newspapers in America. Jean Leopold Dominique (1930-2000) was violently snatched from our lives. Jean Léopold Dominique was a Haitian journalist who spoke out against successive dictatorships. He was one of the first people in Haiti to broadcast in Haitian Creole, the language spoken by most of the populace.
Curiously about the origins of the game has compelled the Anglo-Caribbean committee to begin research into one of the most enthralling pastimes. "We are looking to find out just where the game began," adds [Linton Blake]. "We are also trying to establish who the oldest player is so we can find out about the game's roots." "Most of the women are more passionate than the men," [Winston Bennett] admits. "They just want to be seen as another player and treated as such. It can be embarrassing for some of the chaps when they play against women and lose. It's wonderful to see!" Winston says: "There are some young fellows out there playing at the moment but unfortunately they don't take it seriously like the middle-aged or the older generation. We need good sponsorship to give them the interest. Without the money we can't really go into the fields we would like to."
Yet [Dennis Morris]'s `funny' speech not only attracted [Bob Marley] but helped to open a door into the exciting world of photography that would soon spiral him towards success. Now people will be able to get an eyeful of Morris's talent in Growing up Black, an exhibition in London depicting his life as a '70s teenager. "My black friends couldn't understand why I wanted to associate with a white punk band," Morris says.
"`Faith in the Future' is a clarion call to these churches to look at the shape of faith in UK society - and the role they will play in it." A total of 60 speakers will appear in more than 50 sessions. Speakers will include Rev Arlington Trotman, Bishop Joe Aldred, Bev Thomas, Bishop Paul Jinado, Bishop John Sentamu, Les Isaacs and Bishop John Francis. "Over the last 50 years, the black majority churches have transformed the shape of churchmanship in the UK," he said, "as black churches represent many of the most vibrant and fastest growing congregations in the country.
The Organization of Africans in the Americas, a Washington DC-based organization, will sponsor a symposium entitled "Afro-Latinos and the Issue of Race in the New Millennium."
Culture is a powerful tool for inspiring human beings and bringing them together in a concerted `family' action, says Prof [Marimba Ani], adding: "Our cultural roots are the most ancient in the world." This is very true and it is accepted that Egyptian science and technology laid the foundations for the development of Europe. It is also true that the finance to fund this development came from the proceeds of the barbaric slave trade. Black history is rich and diverse and knowledge of African achievements in education, politics, art, agriculture, medicine, science, religion, metallurgy, engineering, music and sports can help to boost our self-confidence no end. Records refer to the small population of `Negras' in Elizabethan London and even stretch back to the Roman Empire's occupation of Britain, when Africans were marooned at Hadrian's Wall in the third century AD. In the mid-'50s the Transport and General Workers' Union, now headed by Jamaican-born Bill Morris, insisted that no more than 52 of Wolverhampton's 900 bus workers should be black. This kind of colour bar was prevalent in many city transport companies from West Bromwich to Bristol.
"Back then," says [Glean], "Irie! was probably the first black dance theatre company to actually work to reggae music on stage, and to use traditional Caribbean folk dances as part of a performance piece. And everybody was really excited by it." "Our rehearsal period was like a training session, and so by the time you got to present the work on stage, the poor dancers were still trying to get to grips with the different styles and how they could fuse that with their contemporary training," recalls Glean. "So sometimes the essence of the artistic content could easily get lost." "You have to know about the culture and you have to have some kind of understanding and experience in order to execute the dance forms, because it really it about style," she explains. "And if you're talking about the traditional forms as well, it's about the traditional forms as well, it's about religion, it's about the rituals - you need to know all of that because that's the only way you'll be able to represent it fully and truthfully on stage. Everything is integral."
Storyteller, poet, and culinary anthropologist Vertamae Grosvenor displays the pleasures of African-Atlantic cooking in "Vertamae Cooks in The Americas' Family Kitchen," and in her new series debuting on PBS in October, In both the book and the series, Vertamae shows how African tastes and traditions have influenced the various cuisines of America, acquiring new flavors and ingredients along the way in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. With humor, insight, and gusto, Vertamae shares anecdotes and history as she prepares more than a hundred mouth-watering, down-home recipes. The recipes range from the deliciously unique to the comfortingly familiar, from the spiciness of Bahian Shrimp Creole to the pleasure of sweet potato pie.
