bigdrumnation

Reading Time 6 minsApril 30, 2022 ‘I love New York. The confluence of cultures and parades, from St. Patrick’s Day to the West Indian Day Carnival on de Parkway means there’s never a dull moment.’   I am a native New Yorker. I was born in Brooklyn in 1979 (to Trinibagonian and Jamaican parents), and except for a brief stint in Washington D.C. to attend Howard University, I now reside in Harlem. Lately, there have been fierce social media debates about who a New Yorker is or when a transplant (someone not from New York) can claim they are. Five… Read More »New York City’s Subway Shooter: Savage Inequities In a Post-Covid World?–Kanene Holder

Reading Time 3 mins April 24, 2022 ‘With thoughtful lyrics, arresting melodies, and gorgeous harmonies, [Kitch] became a pulse of the people, the voice of carnival, bending phrase after phrase.’ April 18th, 2022, marked Aldwyn “Kitchener” Roberts’ birth centennial. The Grandmaster in the art of calypso, Kitchener’s music provides unique insights into Trinidad and Tobago’s culture. He was a griot, singing colorful tales about a colorful and complex society. Born in Arima, Trinidad, Aldwyn learned to play the guitar at an early age, becoming a local sensation. Soon after, he started performing in calypso tents in Port of Spain and… Read More »Kitchener – King of de Road–Garvin Blake

Reading Time 11 minsApril 15, 2022 An English cricket team was in the West Indies recently to play a 3-Test series. The West Indies prevailed, winning the final Test match in Grenada to the embarrassment of the visitors. This tour went by without significant unpleasantry. But a previous 1953-54 tour by an English team, then called the MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club)1 when on overseas tours, was called ‘the most unpleasant and unfortunate experience in cricket since the visit of DR Jardine’s team to Australia in 1932/33’. EW Swanton would write that ‘as the tour spent its length…incident and misunderstanding followed… Read More »‘A most unpleasant and unfortunate experience ‘-Kenneth Jaikaransingh

Reading Time 3 minsApril 12, 2022 In 2019, I had the pleasure of witnessing the Big Drum Dance firsthand. It was my first time in Carriacou, the land of my grandparents, and I was eager to see an African religious tradition for the very first time, one that I considered myself to be a part of being of  Kayak1 descent. I was shocked, however, to find that many Kayaks I had spoken with, including my own family members,  did not consider the Big Drum Dance (abbreviated BDD) to be a formal religion like Christianity. There was no name for those… Read More »African Religious Retention in Carriacou — Raafeke

Reading Time 3 mins  April 8, 2022 ‘Anthony was at home with African philosophers such as Cabral and Nkrumah, equally adept with European theoreticians like Cornforth and Regis Debray… but he brought that knowledge down to the streets of Brooklyn and served everyday people.’ Some people are respected, others are loved, and a few are honored. Rarely, however, does one individual hit the high mark on all three counts, the recipient of all three attributes. To be loved, respected, and honored. Well, tonight, we are celebrating the life of such a person; Anthony Munroe, Gundy, Brother Anthony. When Paul Robeson died,… Read More »Anthony Munroe*, A Radical Humanist: In Service to the People — Kamau Odinga (Remarks of February 3, 2022)

Reading Time 5 mins April 8, 2022 GENDER EQUALITY TODAY FOR A SUSTAINABLE TOMORROW  I am deeply honoured to be participating in this virtual event amongst my African sisters during the month of “Her-Story,” just five days after the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery under the theme “Stories of Courage: Resistance to Slavery and Unity against Racism.” One such story is that of Nanny of the Maroons. Nanny was born c. 1686 in Ghana into the Ashanti ethnic group. Along with several relatives, she was enslaved and sent to Jamaica. Nanny, along with her brothers escaped… Read More »Presentation by Ambassador Thelma Phillip-Browne at the Spouses of African Ambassadors Association Function, March 30, 2022.

Reading Time 15 minsPresentation by former President of Guyana Donald Ramotar, featured Speaker on the occasion of the 43rd anniversary of the Grenada Revolution, Saturday, March 13, 2022. March 30, 2022 I would first of all thank the organizers for inviting me to share some of my views with you on this important 43 anniversary of the most profound Revolution that occurred in the English-speaking Caribbean. Allow me to greet all of you on this significant occasion. For me, the Grenada Revolution was a continuation of the movement for real change in this Region by many revolutionaries and movements in… Read More »Presentation by former President Mr. Donald Ramotar on the 43rd Anniversary of the Grenadian Revolution

Reading Time 2 mins April 7, 2022 A while back, someone posted online that to his chagrin, he realized that the singer Frankie Beverly wasn’t known throughout the United States and was merely relegated to superstar status in the Black community. People in the comments section took umbrage at this slight. Many drew similarities to unseasoned food and no knowledge of ‘the (cocoa and shea) butters. However, folks rallied, seemingly bereft of the millions who were denied decades of the artist’s music. In my mind, this was another example of the uniqueness of Black culture, where at cookouts and parties “Before I Let… Read More »If You Don’t Know Beres Hammond, Your Life Is Poorer For It! – Margaret Prescod

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