bigdrumnation

Maurice Bishop’s 1983 Hunter College Speech, an Historical Turning Point

Reading Time 7 minsBDN Intro Great speeches have marked pivotal historical turning points in the life of movements. A sampling of these great speeches are Sojourner Truth’s “Aint I a Woman” (1851), Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” (Washington D.C., 1963), Ethiopia’s Emperor Haile Selassie 1963 speech delivered to the United Nations (popularized in the Bob Marley song “War”), Dr. Eric Eustace Williams’ 1960 “March in the Rain” speech (demanding the return of Chagaramas), Fidel Castro’s “History Will Absolve Me” (1961), and Ida B. Wells’ “This Awful Slaughter” (1909). Grenada’s revolutionary leader Maurice Bishop’s June 5, 1983, speech to… Read More »Maurice Bishop’s 1983 Hunter College Speech, an Historical Turning Point

Book Discussion on a Pioneering Work on a Caribbean-American Enclave of Brooklyn

Reading Time 3 minsMUSIC SCHOLAR’S NEW BOOK HAS A SOUNDTRACK, READS LIKE A NOVEL, AND CLEVERLY TEACHES READERS WHAT THEY NEVER LEARNED IN SCHOOL ABOUT THE LEGACY OF COLONIALISM. What happens when a Brooklyn-born and bred music scholar of Trinidadian parentage decides to challenge academia and write a book her way? The result is East of Flatbush, North of Love: An Ethnography of Home, a clever and witty portrait of growing up in East Flatbush— a West Indian American neighborhood situated in the middle of Brooklyn—in the decades before gentrification. On Tuesday June 13, 6 p.m., in celebration of Caribbean… Read More »Book Discussion on a Pioneering Work on a Caribbean-American Enclave of Brooklyn

Women Need True Power — Jennifer Gibbs

Reading Time 1 mins March 8 is celebrated globally as International Women’s Day (IWD). Originally organized by the Socialist Party of America, the celebrations first took place in February 1909 and were called International Working Women’s Day.  Big Drum Nation is commemorating the occasion by posting women’s reflections on the struggle for equality. Every year the celebrations embrace a special theme reflecting the urgency of the moment. This year, proceeding from the World Economic Forum’s prediction that the gender gap is unlikely to close entirely until 2186, the theme addresses this unacceptable state of gender inequity as a human rights… Read More »Women Need True Power — Jennifer Gibbs

We salute the women of Grenada who work towards progress, development and equality — Jacqueline Mckenzie

Reading Time 2 mins March 8 is celebrated globally as International Women’s Day (IWD). Originally organized by the Socialist Party of America, the celebrations first took place in February 1909 and were called International Working Women’s Day.  Big Drum Nation is commemorating the occasion by posting women’s reflections on the struggle for equality. Every year the celebrations embrace a special theme reflecting the urgency of the moment. This year, proceeding from the World Economic Forum’s prediction that the gender gap is unlikely to close entirely until 2186, the theme addresses this unacceptable state of gender inequity as a human rights… Read More »We salute the women of Grenada who work towards progress, development and equality — Jacqueline Mckenzie

Women’s Rights are Human Rights — Keisha-Gaye Anderson

Reading Time 2 minsFirst published, March 8, 2017. Republished March 8, 2022 March 8 is celebrated globally as International Women’s Day (IWD). Originally organized by the Socialist Party of America, the celebrations first took place in February 1909 and were called International Working Women’s Day.  Big Drum Nation is commemorating the occasion by posting women’s reflections on the struggle for equality. Every year the celebrations embrace a special theme reflecting the urgency of the moment. This year, proceeding from the World Economic Forum’s prediction that the gender gap is unlikely to close entirely until 2186, the theme addresses this unacceptable state… Read More »Women’s Rights are Human Rights — Keisha-Gaye Anderson

Celebrating all that is Positive about Being a Woman — Ann Farray

Reading Time 1 mins Originally Published March 7, 2017. Republished March 8, 2022 March 8 is celebrated globally as International Women’s Day (IWD). Originally organized by the Socialist Party of America, the celebrations first took place in February 1909 and were called International Working Women’s Day.  Big Drum Nation is commemorating the occasion by posting women’s reflections on the struggle for equality. Every year the celebrations embrace a special theme reflecting the urgency of the moment. This year, proceeding from the World Economic Forum’s prediction that the gender gap is unlikely to close entirely until 2186, the theme addresses this… Read More »Celebrating all that is Positive about Being a Woman — Ann Farray

Bob Marley 1 : 0 Reggae Boys — Richard Grant

Reading Time 4 mins03/05/2017 Richard Grant It is Pan-African, Pan-Caribbean, Pan-World. It is Pan Man. It endears Jamaica to the entire world; the essence of the Rastaman Bob Marley’s music and philosophy. It is One Love. The One Love ideal of social relations works well as a cultural and political construct. It is inclusive; a necessary myth for nation building, for positive international relations and for world peace, but it severely limits the goal average of Jamaica’s football team. Let’s get to the point. Jamaicans need to make an important decision on February 6th 2017 about Bob Marley. Betta mus… Read More »Bob Marley 1 : 0 Reggae Boys — Richard Grant

“East of Flatbush, North of Love” by Danielle Brown, Ph.D.

Reading Time 4 minsA Review by Jeff Hercules If one word were acceptable as a review of Dr. Danielle Brown’s East of Flatbush, North of Love; An Ethnography of Home, the word would be, ‘Wow!’ All that would be left is for me to explain my review. It’s not often I read a book that speaks as if it were a replay of aspects of my life: This book does that. It’s not everyday I realize a book has information that would have made me a more knowledgeable student in school: This book would have done that. It’s also not everyday… Read More »“East of Flatbush, North of Love” by Danielle Brown, Ph.D.