“One of the best novels set in the Caribbean in the last 50 years” Launches in Brooklyn

Reading Time 2 minsBook launch of ‘Gypsy in the Moonlight’ “Gypsy in the Moonlight,” a novel set in Trinidad and Tobago during World War II, written by Lawrence Waldron, will be formally launched Tuesday evening December 15 at the Brooklyn Public Library branch at 22 Linden Blvd, Brooklyn. The launch, scheduled for 6:00-7:45 PM,  will be hosted by the Caribbean Awareness Committee and the Trinidad and Tobago Folk Arts Institute, in collaboration with the Caribbean Literary and Cultural Center. The book is, as described by the  author, “a historical novel that combines the wry wit, urban commentary and gender anxieties… Read More »“One of the best novels set in the Caribbean in the last 50 years” Launches in Brooklyn

All Saints Day This

Reading Time 1 minsNovember 1 is All Saints’ Day. It is that day when we remember and honor our dead with prayers, candlelight, drink, sweets, and most of all, food. The All Saints’ culinary alphabet begins with the letter “C”- C standing for Corn [maize] a Mesoamerican crop that arguably is our keenest symbol of generosity. Every ear of corn is a call to unity and community-making. Of course, giving food is at the apex of the moral systems of agricultural societies: the kitchen sits the parliament of the agrarian community. Mesoamerica  is an area extending roughly from central Mexico to Honduras… Read More »All Saints Day This

Carnival Documentary Premieres in Brooklyn

Reading Time 2 minsCaribbean Awareness Committee (NY) Presents: “Our Soul Turned  Inside Out!”  a NY premiere film screening “Our Soul Turned Inside Out,” a documentary film that examines traditional Carnival characters created in the 19th century crucible of slavery and emancipation and the psychic impulses behind them, will have its New York premiere on Friday, October 30, 7 pm at Medgar Evers College auditorium, 1650 Bedford Av. Brooklyn.  The film, which runs approximately one hour, focuses on traditional carnival characters – the Pierrot Granade, blue devils, stick-fighters and jab jabs – highlighting the depth of conflict, physical and verbal aggression, inherent in these contested… Read More »Carnival Documentary Premieres in Brooklyn

10/19: MEMORY and REMEMBERING

Reading Time 1 minsMEMORY and REMEMBERING   “There are non-material forces, which cannot be measured precisely, but which nonetheless carry weight.” – Umberto Eco “The evidence shows that this is how the murder was committed” – From “A Fratricide”– Franz Kafka   “In this great future, you can’t forget your past”. -Bob Marley   Conscience strikes ten-nineteen! I returned to Memory where every one here had a fantastic alibi. But Memory remembers the fratricide that crested the fortified hill. Comrade, How do you plug a leaking memory?   An island is just a puny plot; a scar upon the water, according… Read More »10/19: MEMORY and REMEMBERING

THE MORANT BAY REBELLION: OCTOBER 11, 1865

Reading Time 1 minsTHE MORANT BAY REBELLION: OCTOBER 11, 1865 War down a Monkland! War down a Morant! The two lines from a Jamaican folk song [cited above] recall the “war” – the so-called “Morant Bay Rebellion” which opened on 11 October 1865. The rebellion came just three decades following the Abolition of Slavery in Jamaica and the British West Indies. The Abolition brought an end to chattel slavery and inaugurated “wage slavery”. The Jamaican people sought “full free”; the island’s colonial Governor Edward John Eyre and his British overlords in London were militantly opposed. The Colonial Administration was very… Read More »THE MORANT BAY REBELLION: OCTOBER 11, 1865