"It is a new day," [Phillip J. Brutus] told Caribbean Today. "No longer will Haitian Americans be taken for granted. We are demanding our place at the table." "We need to get Haitians involved in the process," Joseph "Billy" Louis, a spokesperson for the group, told Caribbean Today. "We need numbers in order to be taken seriously." Damian P. Gregory is a freelance writer for Caribbean Today. Caribbean Today's special focus on Haiti begins with Nick Carter's call for the nation to "re-invent" itself on page 9 and continues on page 29 with highlights of events there and in the U.S. marking Haiti's 200th Independence.
These articles mostly concerned [Castro]'s cracking down on terrorism and crime committed against tourists in Cuba. In reaction to incidents of hotel bombings, and in one case, the murder of an Italian tourist, Castro's government had passed a series of strict new laws to deter crimes that would further injure the country's leading source of foreign currency - tourism. One evening in Santago de Cuba, I was discussing the race issue with a few Cuban friends, among whom was a loyal Castro supporter who had fought for four years in Angola with the Cuban army. He argued that what was happening in his country wasn't so much a problem of racism as it was an honest attempt on Castro's part to protect the country's main source of revenue, tourism, upon which the U.S. embargo had made Cuba dependent. Although the once-again blatant debasing of my friend's civil rights incensed me, I did understand his point. Most of the tourists now coming to Cuba are from predominately white European countries, or they are upper-class whites from Latin America. Most of the tourists now coming to Cuba are from predominately white European countries, or they are upper-class whites from Latin America. Most of these white tourists come to Cuba with racism ingrained in them from their own cultures. In fact, it is unofficially acknowledged that a large percentage of the foreign currency in Cuba comes from sex tourism, which generally comprises white men drawn to Cuba by the lure of "exotic" mulatto women.
Haiti is a third world country with a population of over seven million and another few million scattered over the world. It represents per capita the poorest Western Hemisphere country but in reality it has been downtrodden by political instability and the insolvency of the Dictatorship stereotype. This dictatorship mentality has taken root with Duvalier regime (Papa Doc and Baby Doc) which for many years had an iron grip over this French-Creole island and resulted in the destruction of a truly unique island. Each leader since, Jean Claude Duvalier has monopolized and downtrodden the Haitian community for his own selfish reasons. The dictatorship tactics of Duvalier was emulated by each leader who succeeded him and the military in this place took the place of 'Baby Doc's' dreaded "Ton Ton Man Coute" death squads.
Tanya Quintero, a light-skinned mulatta and prominent independent journalist in Havana, said she was not aware of racial discrimination until she had a daughter with darker skin the than she. Suddenly, some of her friends referred to her child with a Spanish phrase that literally translates as "sour or dark stomach" but figuratively is slang for "a child who comes out darker than her mother," she said. Lighter-skinned children later made fun of her daughter for being a "marron," brown. Also the millions of dollars in "remittances" that Cubans in the United States and elsewhere send their relatives back on the island very year reach few "black" Cubans because more than 90 percent of the exiles are "white." As a result, the long-standing economic gap between darker and lighter Cubans widens. I use quotation marks around "black" and "white" because the terms don't mean the same as they do in the United States, with our traditional "one-drop rule." Race in Cuba, as in the rest of Latin America, is somewhat fluid: You are pretty much what you say you are, even within the same family.
AFRICANDO Arts and Culture Festival, a collaboration between the Foundation for Democracy in Africa and Miami-Dade County, is a one-day event that will feature contemporary African, Afro-American, Caribbean & Afro-Latino cultures. MDCC and the Black Heritage Museum will display masks, statues and murals from the Caribbean, South America, Brazil and Cuba. A special "Children's Activities Village" will feature traditional African and Caribbean folk tales, puppet shows, African mask and instrument making, African textile weaving, Miami Metrozoo's exotic animal show and more. The festival, which is the closing event for AFRICANDO 2001, will be promoted in Africa, AFRICANDO organizers say. A trade delegation from Miami and Washington, D.C., will conduct trade seminars promoting the conference and festival in Nigeria, Mali, Ghana, Senegal, South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Tanzania.
Today, Grace, Kennedy & Company is aggressively moving forward to meet new goals with a range of policies and programs designed to ensure its pr-eminent position in both the Caribbean and the world. These efforts include an ambitious brand "re-launch" complete with new logo, vibrant new label designs, and a new advertising campaign driven by a positioning statement reinforcing the company's pre-eminence: "Grace Foods, Genuine Caribbean Taste. Enjoyed Worldwide." While its first priority will always be towards serving the nutritional needs of its Caribbean home and "family," Grace, Kennedy & Company has now embarked on an aggressive new push into another world market, with plans to expand its sales to West Indian "expatriates" living abroad, as well as to the burgeoning number of people everywhere who desire the genuine taste of the Caribbean. Thus, the re-launch of the Grace brand, as a true "world brand" began in May of this year with this new positioning line as its corner stone. The advertising campaign, crated in conjunction with Michigan based consultants Stone & Simons Advertising, includes an overall theme, "The New Face of Grace," designed to address the brand's new logo and labeling, as well as the new "faces" around the world who are choosing Grace Foods for their "Genuine Caribbean Taste."
Each session runs for three to four weeks and involves two courses covering such topics as: English and the Caribbean Child; Arts and Culture in Trinidad and Tobago; Caribbean Dance; Caribbean History and Politics; Heritage Studies on Barbados; Caribbean Marine Environment; Gender in the Caribbean Society; Languages and Dialects of the Caribbean; and, Reggae, Rastafari and Jamaican Culture. Depending on the courses chosen, students may find themselves in Barbados, Jamaica or Trinidad and Tobago. However, Caribbean Marine Environment is a regional course which takes participants to at least two countries in the region. Accommodation is offered in the residence halls of each campus. [Summer] in any of the Caribbean islands presents a wonderful opportunity for participation in cultural activities. These include the various emancipation and independence celebrations, Crop Over (a Barbados carnival) and other festivals, including folk and popular music festivals such as Sumfest (Jamaica's largest reggae festival).
The reception to the idea was favorable. In 1994, further discussions were held with Mexico, Columbia and Venezuela and with Argentina and Chile. The response was positive and to further support the idea, the ambassadors of the Latin American countries who were accredited to Jamaica, and Spain's ambassador, formed the Group of Latin America and the Caribbean as a forum for exchanging ideas and considering financial participation by their governments. In 1994, the Latin American-Caribbean Centre was created to facilitate economic, trade, research and cultural ties between the Caribbean and Latin America. The center's fundamental objective is to build strong commercial, cultural and academic ties between the Caribbean and Latin American regions and among the Caribbean countries. According to Ms. Insanally, "Economic development is one of the principal objectives of LACC. Expanding trade, investment, and tourism between the Caribbean and Latin American countries will generate income and employment, as well as stimulate technological modernization and international competitiveness. Academic and cultural development are important ends in themselves, and they also stimulate business relationships, and vice versa."
"As a West Indian student, I rather prided myself not only on my spoken English - as all West Indians, at least of my generation do - but also on my French accent, which was often commended. It so happened that at a French summer school in Nice in 1947, I translated `il ne pleuvait plus' orally as `the rain had held up' and was given a clear negative finger signal by my tutor. The next speaker said `it had stopped raining' and was told to continue. I was stung, but rather annoyed (with myself) when my English buddies, after class, sided with the tutor. My problem was that I had used standard Guianese (and East Caribbean) idiom, which was not standard English. The difference lay in Caribbean English usage. That was the beginning." "I can only marvel at the number of times I came near to believing the views of others - that the work would never be finished, "Dr.Allsopp said. "It is therefore in a spirit of great thanks to God and cautious optimism that I offer this dictionary to all Caribbeans." One finds words such as "touched" (soft or spoiling in parts); "force- ripe" (precocious, usually a child); "dead house" (the house where a deceased person lived); and "deal" (to practise witchcraft of the kind that involves trading living souls or dealing with the devil).
Mayor [Rudolph Giuliani] proclaimed Monday, August 4, "Jamaica Independence Day" in the city. He presented Jamaica's consul general to New York - Fay Baxter-Collins - and Jamaica's permanent representative to the United Nations - Ambassador Patricia Durrant - with a written proclamation of "Jamaica Independence Day".
Mocko Jumbie, as it is called in the Caribbean, has been a part of the Virgin Islands culture for more than 200 years. The phrase "Mocko Jumbie" may have different meanings according to the different tribes that practices the art. "Mocko" could mean "Mock" or it could mean "Good God."
The genesis of these carnivals carries the intent of resisting on some level, by Caribbean migrants, the otherwise alienating conditions of life in migration, to "carnivalise" these landscapes with some of the joy and space commensurate with Caribbean carnival. Indeed, Caribbean intellectual contributions have had successful impact on the development of U.S., European and African thought. Still, the Caribbean in most imaginings, and in particular to those who do not know it well, is the place of "sun and fun," a vacation land devoid of serious engagement with the world. Caribbean carnival then is the climax of all those "sun and fun" constructions. Yet, there is a history and politics to carnival - a "carnival of resistance" beyond the outer face of "carnival of tourism" - that demands exposure.
Business Profile: This segment will feature some Presidential award winning companies owned and or operated by Caribbean nationals, and a look at major industries such as Petroleum, Citrus, and Coffee in some Caribbean nations. Producer/Director Joseph Dunn says, "The purpose of the series is to increase the public awareness and appreciation of the region, and its people". Dunn also adds, "it is our hope that through the broadcasting of these programs he viewer will learn more about the vast resources the Caribbean has to offer in the development of the Western Hemisphere and to change the stereotypical images some people have about the region and its people." Mr. Dunn has also produced two very successful series in the past also dealing with the Caribbean namely, "Jamaica in Focus" and "Caribbean Affair" along with numerous specials dealing with Pan-African and local issues for the Dade County Cable Television Access Project Cable TAP which is the cable division of WLRN-TV. One of these series has been nominated for a national cable programming award, The Home Town USA Video Festival in 1990.
There's tendency among some reggae fans to tune out most of today's dancehall deejays, dismissing them as untalented shysters. While that's an essentially justifiable reaction, there are deejays - mostly of the conscious variety - who are worthy of our attention. One in particular is Prezident Brown. Tune out his new release - To Jah Only - and you'll deprive yourself of a relevant body of work that's likely to sway and have you listening for more of this style. To Jah Only is a neat package that adroitly intertwines the traditional with the contemporary. The title track, which leads the album, gently combines slow guitar picks with Nyabinghi drumming, amid Brown's assiduous delivery of some trusty Rasta melodies. The familiar Duppy Conqueror rhythm by Bob Marley is acquired on In This Life, and it's superimposed with a message that counsels mankind about his covetous ways. This theme is also continued with Pomps and Pride. One of the livelier tracks is Micro Chip, and Brown does a nice job keeping pace with a very demanding tempo. But the strongest is undoubtedly Faith - an instant classic that unveils Brown's versatility and true talent. His encyclopedic expressionism sets him apart from the ordinary, and he's truly one of our best links between the past and the present. [Dean Fraser]'s latest album - Retrospect - is a delightfully appetizing reminiscence of classic hits that are masterfully reproduced for everyone's listening pleasure. With 12 tracks, this album takes you back to mento, through ska, roots, and up to the present.
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.
Recipients of the fellowships, funded by the International Development Research Center in Canada, are Lester Wilkinson of Trinidad and Tobago; Margaret Brito of Barbados; and Jamaicans Diana Thorburn, Lisa Ann Taylor and Charles Edwards. The cultural studies initiative is the UWI's response to the perceived need to address the issue of Caribbean development and an acknowledgment that leadership in the region can only be as good as the critical analytical performance of those responsible for developmental planning. Ms. Brito is in the second year of an M.Phil. program at the UWI's Cave Hill Campus in Barbados. Her research will examine the economic potential of Barbados' cultural manifestations such as its popular music, dancer, theater and religion.
With many of our local elections already gone and the presidential election fast-approaching, I sat back and took a long look at the candidates that ran for the various seats. I noticed something that truly startled me. There was not one candidate of Caribbean descent in any of the many elections that took place on September 3. Although it's a sad commentary on what's happening in the Caribbean community, it is also a chance for the community to make changes for the future. So many of us are American citizens of Caribbean heritage and have all right to run for election. Caribbean-Americans could be a very influential enclave in this town, not only economically, but politically as well. Hispanic candidates turned out in droves. In practically every race there was at least one Hispanic candidate. Black Americans also managed a strong showing. Most notable, with Arthur E.
In 1996, the colleges and universities of America yielded thousands of graduates, 27% of them black, and of those, 12% were of Caribbean descent. These young Caribbean graduates are a unique entity. They represent a conglomerate of knowledge that could be utilized in America or in the Caribbean. Each year, a new group of Caribbean graduates faces an interesting dilemma: to build a life in the country that has educated them or to build a life in the country that holds their heritage, culture, and traditions. Should a young man from Jamaica who has come to the U.S. to become a doctor not go back to Jamaica at the end of his schooling armed with and American degree and better his own country? Should the young woman from Belize with a B.S. in biology from Cornell not return to Belize and put her knowledge to work for the betterment of her country?
Another established Caribbean tradition runs counter to the claim that racism there is unusual and of recent origin. This is the tendency to account for a person's character by identifying the racial identity of that individual's parents. West Indians, quite spontaneously, account for each other's personality traits with statements such as "Well, after all, his father was white," or "His father was quite dark you know. In Guyana and Trinidad, one hears frequently that East Indians are by nature "cheap". Elsewhere, Syrians and Jews are, reportedly, successful merchants because of their "clannishness". The Caribs of Dominica are described as Creoles as "lazy drunkards", and the Caribs accuse Creoles of being "mean" and "immoral". Throughout the islands, Creoles who are dark are said to be less motivated for success, and those who are lighter are accused of being snobbish and too sober for their own good. Since independence, racial discrimination has been systemically condemned, and with a good deal of success. But racism (at least in the form of the belief that "once we know a person's racial background, we then know much about that persons' abilities and character traits,") is very much ingrained in the thinking of many West Indians. This style of racism has met with no effective challenge comparable to the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's. In the absence of racial segregation or the North American type of racial polarization, and with what scholars call the Caribbean "myth of racial harmony," most leaders throughout the region seldom address this insidious racism.
The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari, a group of Nyabinghi ceremonial drummers founded by the legendary Count Ossie in the 1950s, is not only making its New York debut but is raising the curtain on the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts' "Caribbean Roots: Caribbean Routes" festival. Chris Combette, who has been collaborating with Mungal Patasar on several tracks for his new album, opened the show with his beautiful fusion of Caribbean styles - samba, salsa, soca, bossa nova, reggae and zouk sweeping over the auditorium like warm waves. Based in French Guiana, bordering Brazil, Combette has soaked up the melodies of the region, while his lyrics address the nostalgia or alienation of the immigrant, and racist murder in the metropole. Beneath his sinuous, sometimes ethereal music lurked incisive Kwéyol irony and melancholy metaphors. It was left to Kali and his banjo to bring down the curtain on the festival with his brilliant reworking of Martiniquan traditional music, mazurk, biguine, chouval bwa, gwo ka (from Guadeloupe) with reggae, funk and jazz. It was good to hear St. Lucian Luther François, one of the Caribbean's foremost contemporary composers and sax players, adding punch to this excellent band and the finale of a significant festival for Caribbean music.
