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O AUGUST 2009



0-0


% o r I d


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Vol. 20 No. 9 Jamaica: 655-1479


Convicted
drug dealer
Emmanuel 133.000.000
Ganpot could
have been a T S
free man by
now. But six
years ago he
jumped bond
and fled the
United States. Now the
Grenadian faces 115 years in / /
prison when he re-appears in a
Florida court for sentencing -
this month, page 4.
m i I I


United States President Barack
Obama has signaled that there
will be no immediate change
to policies regarding Cuba and
Haiti, two of Washington's
closest Caribbean neighbors, 2I
page 6.

Author
Stacyann Chin
found that her
liberation was
not so easily
accepted back
home. Her
memoir reveals
her trials, pit-
falls and triumphs, exposing
some of the hidden 'rituals' and
guises the gay and lesbian
community go through to sur-
vive in a Jamaica she sees as
homophobic, page 17. i1 . .


N ew s ...................................................2...
Arts/Entertainm ent ...........................7...
View point ...........................................9...


INSIDE
T&T Focus......................................... 11 Back To School ................................18
FYI ........................................................16 Classified ..........................................23
Books.................................................17


CALL CARIBBEAN TODAY DIRECT FROM JAMAICA 655-1479


W e c o v e r y o u r









- usw^caribbeantody..c.I


CARIBBEAN TODAY


n e WS


No plans to scrap Cuba's communism President Castro


HAVANA, Cuba, CMC -
President Raul Castro has
declared that he is open to
discuss all issues with the
United States, but emphasized
that there are no plans to
change Cuba's communist sys-
tem of government.
Addressing the Cuban
National Assembly on Aug. 1,
Castro expressed ire over
repeated comments by United
States Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton that Washington
expected Havana to scrap com-
munism in order to imnronv


Fidel Castro led the communist
revolution in Cuba.


it," he added. "We are ready
to talk about everything,
but... not to negotiate our
political and social system."

'DOOMED' IDEA
Castro, who formally took
over the presidency from his
ailing brother Fidel last year,
also scoffed at critics who
have predicted that the
Spanish-speaking Caribbean
country's political system will
crumble after "the death of
Fidel and all of us.
"If that's how thev think


Raul Castro is determined to keep
Cuba's communist system alive.


and anti-Cuban rhetoric on
the part of the administra-
tion," Castro said.
He repeated Cuba's will-
ingness "to sustain a respect-
ful dialogue with the U.S.,
between equals." But he
noted that while Obama said
he wants to r,.xIi relations
with Cuba and has eased the
47-year-old embargo by allow-
ing Cuban Americans to trav-
el and send money freely to
the island, overall, the embar-
go remained intact.
No riush to channp ef .


relations between the two restore capitalism in Cuba, they are doomed to failure." predecessor George W Bush policy on Cuba and Haiti,
neighbors. nor to hand over the revolu- However, Cuba's presi- with regards to Cuba. says Obama. Story on page 6.
"I have to say with all due tion," Castro said. dent conceded that U.S. "It's true there has been a
respect to Mrs. Clinton...they "I was elected to defend, President Barack Obama has diminution of the _,rLion% W
didn't elect me president to maintain and continue per- been less .-.,rL ""INL" than his
fecting socialism, not destroy U.S. cops raid office of Michael


Guyanese wins $133M lotto jackpot in New York Jackson's Caribbean-born doctor


NEW YORK A 49-year-old
Guyanese man is America's
latest millionaire.
Aubrey Boyce, a
Metropolitan Transportation
Authority employee from
Queens, New York, is the
winner of the $133 million
Mega Millions jackpot.
He bought his ticket at a
Jamaica, Queens store on July
7, quick pick style.
"Shocked and still a little
nervous about the whole
thing; that's how I feel," said
the eight-year MTA veteran.
"It's still very much a dream, a
dream come true."
Boyce also revealed he
and his wife have not slept
much since the morning he
discovered his numbers, 25, 27,


35, 38, 39, and (Mega Ball) 28,
was the sole winning ticket.
Late last month he
received his giant check on a
balcony inside the Grand


Aubrey Boyce, right, talks about his luck.
Central Terminal in Manhattan.
He said he is still in shock over
his change of fortunes and now
plans to go fishing somewhere


warm.
After signing the ticket,
Boyce said he immediately
locked it up in a safe deposit
box. It was weeks later that
Boyce and his wife of 15 years,
Francis, said they were finally
ready to come forward about
their news.
His after tax total is a bit
above $54.6 million.
Shiv Convenience, the
Jamaica grocery store where
Boyce purchased the winning
ticket, received a $10,000
bonus from the New York
Lottery Commission for selling
the winning Mega Millions
Jackpot ticket.

- CaribWorldNews


LOS ANGELES, California -
United States federal law
enforcement officials last
month raided the office of the
Grenadian-born personal doc-
tor of the late
pop singer
Michael
Jackson.
Ed
Chernoff, the
lawyer for Dr.
Conrad
Murray, who Murray
grew up in Murray
Trinidad and
Tobago, said authorities were
looking for evidence to sup-
port manslaughter charges.
"The search warrant
authorized law enforcement to
search for and seize items,
including documents, they
believed constituted evidence
of the offense of manslaugh-
ter," he said.
Chernoff said U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration
(DEA) agents and Los
Angeles police left the
Armstrong Medical Clinic
with "a forensic imagL of a
computer hard drive and 21
documents. The raid came a
day after Chernoff said


WASHINGTON, D.C. -
Seven Trinidadians, including
a former member of the
Trinidad and Tobago Defence
Force elite Special Forces
Unit, face the possibility of
life imprisonment without
parole after they were found
guilty of murdering a United
States war veteran while he
was on holiday in Trinidad
four years ago.
Former soldier Ricardo
De Four, along with Zion
Clarke, Kevon Demerieux,


authorities also wanted to
interview the doctor again.
"The coroner wants to
clear up the cause of death.
We share that goal," he said.

'HARASSED'
Chernoff said Murray
returned to his home in Las
Vegas, Nevada, and walks
around with a full-time body-
guard because he is "harassed
no matter where he goes."
Jackson, 50, died June 25
after Murray reportedly found
him unconscious in bed with
only a faint pulse. Murray said
he performed CPR on the
superstar during a chaotic 20
or 30 minutes that preceded a
911 call from Jackson's rented
mansion.
Police later recovered
prescription drugs and a stash
of the powerful anaesthetic
propofol, used only in hospital
settings. Chernoff said Murray
should not be a target of crim-
inal charges.
"Dr. Murray was the last
doctor standing when Michael
Jackson died, and it seems all
the fury is directed toward
him," Chernoff said.
0


Anderson Straker, Wayne
Pierre, Christopher Sealey
and Kevin Nixon had been
extradited to face charges of
murdering Balram Maharaj,
62, who was kidnapped out-
side a bar on April 6, 2005.
The prosecution's case
was that Maharaj was held
hostage under very harsh con-
ditions, including depriving
him of essential medications,
while his abductors demanded

(CONTINUED ON PAGE 4)


August 2009


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Trinis face life imprisonment

for murder of U.S. war veteran


11
r
I

r(
d





CARIBBEAN TODAY

n e WS


W w w~cri..anoda.s c *


U.S.-base
DAWN A. DAVIS

With a push to have a
Caribbean category added to
the United States Census, the
Caribbean American commu-
nity is showing its numbers,
strength and proud identity.
South Florida's growing
Caribbean community, partic-
ularly in Broward County, is
especially vocal and active.
But, this immigrant group is
not always represented and
sometimes sidelined in main-
stream media, government
agencies and halls of justice.
The recently published
"Caribbean American
Immigrant Resource Guide to
South Florida" offers this bur-
geoning group valuable infor-
mation that promises to help
bridge the gap, particularly for
Florida residents. Written by

U.S. thanks

Bermuda over

detainee issue

HAMILTON, Bermuda, CMC
Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton has sent a letter to
Premier Ewart Brown thank-
ing him for agreeing to resettle
four Chinese Muslim Uighurs
who were recently released
from a United States deten-
tion center in Cuba after seven
years.
"I hope that your coura-
geous action will inspire others
to step forward and join us in
the ongoing effort to close
Guantanamo Bay..
Indeed, Bermuda's leadership
significantly
advanced that
effort", Clinton
wrote.
Brown has
had to wade off
criticism over
his decision,
particularly
after it was dis- Brown
covered that
neither the British government
nor his Cabinet had been con-
sulted priorth the arrival of
the Muslims. The premier'sur-
vived a motion of no confi-
dence filed by the internatiOpposition
United Bermuda Party (UBP)
and London announced that it
was reviewing the general
entrustment agreement it has
had with the Overseas
Territory since 1968, when
internal self-government was
introduced here.
But the premier's decision
has been praised by many oth-
ers, the international human
rights organizations Amnesty
International and Human
Rights Watch.
0


d scholars launch Caribbean American resource guide
three Caribbean American for this new publication, for our children, the best city,
leaders, the guide offers "This 37-page guide needs county, state and national
advice on becoming politically to be digested, one page at a parks, how to spend money in
savvy, what it takes to be a time," Magnus said. "This short-term versus investing in
wise consumer, children's edu- guide really constitutes a call the long-term all call for our
cation and mental health. for values clarification. It asks attention."


"These are the topics
which traditionally receive
minimal emphasis in the main-
stream and Caribbean print
and electronic media," Dr.
Marcia Magnus, the brainchild
behind the guide and one of
the contributors, explained to
Caribbean Today.
"But it turns out that how
we spend our money, the qual-
ity of our children's education,
how we participate in the
American political process,
and how we transcend life's
challenges are the long-term
quality of life issues."

DOCUMENTATION
Magnus, a tenured associ-
ate professor of dietetics
and nutrition at Florida
International University,
decided to create this guide


Magnus
after years of searching for
answers and "bucking up" on
some that had no documenta-
tion. This is not the first
such guide produced by the
Magnus. In 2000 she authored
several voters' guides for
Caribbean Americans offering
critical information about
candidates endorsed by
Caribbean American
Politically Active Citizens, an
action group she founded.
Those guides proved invalu-
able to many, as is the hope


us to decide on the tough
questions about the difference
between wants and needs. It
asks us to question and dis-
card useless beliefs which no
longer serve us in this commu-
nity, especially about mental
health services.
"I certainly hope this
guide will be just as indispen-
sable to the South Florida
Caribbean American commu-
nity as the voters' guides. Our
numbers are increasing, most
obviously in Broward County
where Caribbean Americans
constitute 50 percent of the
black community. But if the
quality of life of our children
does not exceed that of their
parents, then we have really
lost the battle. The unmet
information needs about
how to get the best education


I I


SAVVY
In these harsh economic
times, the section on being a
"Consumer Savvy" citizen is
timely. Magnus warns about
living on credit and counsels
consumers to be aware of the
daily barrage of advertise-
ments that bombard us
through telemarketing, televi-
sion, newspapers, magazines,
etc. Be a comparison shopper,
she urges, and learn the differ-
ence between "needs" and
"wants".
"Caribbean people have a
long history of sacrifice but
the daily barrage of 3,000
American advertisements
makes it difficult to separate
needs from wants," she said.
"Caribbean American
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 6)


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U.S. fugitive sparks AG's resignation, political tension in Grenada


RAWLE TITUS

ST. GEORGE'S,
Grenada Convicted drug
dealer Emmanuel Ganpot
could have been a free man
on Aug. 4. Six years ago, he
promised Florida circuit Judge
Dee Anna Farnell that he
would appear in her court for
sentencing on drug related
charges.
Instead, he jumped bond
and fled to Europe, changed
his name and lived the high life
in France, England, and Spain.
Now Ganpot, 36, faces a
maximum prison term of 115
years when he re-appears in
court for sentencing on Aug. 13.
But his actions may have
a lasting effect on politics in
Grenada, where his step-
father, Jimmy Bristol, was
forced to submit his resigna-
tion from the 13-month old
Tillman Thomas government.
Bristol acknowledged that
he had used stationery from his
office to write a letter to U.S.
authorities appealing for a
lighter sentence for Ganpot. In
his letter, Bristol wrote "we all
err from time to time and
should not have our lives com-
pletely destroyed by one slip up.
"Emmanuel was befriend-
ed by the wrong people and
has found himself in his pres-
ent predicament", he added.

TRANSGRESSON
But the government said
he had transgressed and
Bristol, a former president of
the Grenada Bar Association
(GBA), initially accepted full
responsibility for what he


described as an error of judg-
ment and apologized to the
prime minister.
"That was an error of
judgment...for which I accept
full responsibility for the
fall out. It has nothing to do
with the government and
indeed.. .in a meeting with the
prime minister I accepted that
responsibility and apologize
for the fall out that it has
caused," said Bristol.
Government's Press
Secretary Richard Simon said
that raging debate that has
resulted from
Bristol's resig-
nation under-
scores the
commitment
of Prime
Minister
Thomas to
lead a trans-
parent admin- Ganpot
istration in a
country where allegations of
corruption in government are
never far from the surface.
"What this shows is the
commitment of Prime
Minister Thomas to keep his
promise to the Grenadian
people in the context of pro-
tecting the institutions of the
land and ensuring there is
respect for those institutions,"
Simon said as he justified the
prime minister's request for
Bristol to step down.
"I think this is the first
real test of that and the prime
minister has certainly fulfilled
that obligation."
The ruling National
Democratic Congress (NDC)
had campaigned on a platform


of transparency and good gov-
ernance and, according to
Anslem Francis, a lecturer in
international relations at the
St. George's University here,
"the prime minister has raised
the bar very high, maybe high-
er than it has
ever been.
"Now of
course, in the
interest of
good gover-
nance one
wants to know
that high
moral and eth- Bristol
ical standards
are being maintained in public
affairs. However, if we are not
very careful we may very well
be without a government in the
sense that probably every
Monday morning, somebody
may have to resign."
Even though he had indi-
cated that he would have
accepted the consequences of
his error, Bristol was critical of
the request for him to hand in
his resignation.
"The request was prema-
ture," he noted. "It was done
without the consultation of
the full Cabinet and without
due consideration of all rele-
vant matters. I was not writing
as attorney general but as step
father to identify myself. You
must identify who you are".

NOT CONVINCED
But Elvin Nimrod, former
attorney general and minister
of legal affairs, is not con-
vinced by Bristol's argument.
"I am sure this (his letter
to U.S. authorities) was done


intentionally to give weight to
his statement. This is not only
a conflict of interest, it is a
very terrible thing," said
Nimrod, who last month was
elected deputy political leader
of the main Opposition New
National Party (NNP).
"To plead now that is an
error in judgment that cannot
be accepted at all. He has
implicated a whole govern-
ment and has brought disre-

government
and a whole
country."
But Bristol
has his sup-
porters, includ-
ing Chiir r
Humphrey, a
legislator and Nimrod
outspoken
trade unionist.
"The resignation is a tem-
pest in a tea cup," Humphrey
said. "It's very unfortunate
that the attorney general
resigned. Had I been the
prime minister I would not
accept the resignation of the
attorney general on the basis
of what has happened."
Humphrey, who cam-
paigned for the NDC in the last
elections, said that the former
attorney general was not seek-
ing to bribe the U.S. judge.
"He was not engaged in
a dishonest act," Humphrey
added. "He was not even pre-
tending that the appeal was


made by the government of
Grenada."
Francis said there is need
now to "clearly define the cir-
cumstances in which we think
members of government should
resign if a member of govern-
ment has acted improperly.
"I don't think it should be
because there is any error of
judgment. I don't think this is
going to take us too far. What
we have to guard against is
the misapplication of a very
good principle."

REVENGE
But supporters of the
NNP are not convinced and
are delighted at the problems
confronting Bristol, who they
say had been at the forefront
of efforts to disgrace their
leader Dr. Keith Mitchell.
Last year, Bristol told a
news conference that he had in
his possession a letter from the
U.S. Department of Justice
confirming that then Prime
Minister Mitchell was still an
American citizen, contrary to
the laws of Grenada on persons
holding high political office.
But in an immediate
response, U.S. Charge d'Affaires
in Grenada Karen Jo Mclsaac,
refuted the statement saying that
Mitchell's U.S. citizenship ended
when he first became prime min-
ister on June 20, 1995.

- CMC


(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2)
a TT$3 million ($500,000)
ransom from his family. The
money was never paid, but his
dismembered body was locat-
ed by Federal Bureau of
Investigations (FBI) agents
and local law enforcement
officers on Jan. 8, 2006, in a
forest in Trinidad.

FATE
The men were expected
to know their fates at their
sentencing, scheduled for
early this month. But media
reports in Trinidad quote law
enforcement officials there as
saying that an agreement
entered between the U.S. and
the office of the attorney gen-
eral could see the convicted
men facing mandatory sen-
tences of life without the pos-
sibility of parole.
Late last month T&T's
acting Deputy Police
Commissioner Gilbert Reyes
confirmed the life sentences
against the accused and com-
mended local officers for
their role in the investiga-
tions.
"I must say that they did


extremely well in assisting in
the successful prosecution of
the accused and they must be
highly commended for the
professionalism displayed
throughout the inquiry," he
said.
The trial, which started on
May 26, took place at the U.S.
District Court in Washington
D.C. before Judge John D
Bates. The men had all plead-
ed not guilty to the charges.
Initially, 12 persons had
been charged with the kidnap-
ping and murder of Balram.
However, David Suchit, who
was extradited in 2007, was
found not guilty by a 12-mem-
ber jury in the U.S. Four others
entered plea bargains and testi-
fied against the accused men.
However, two others,
including Balram's former
common-law wife Doreen
Alexander Durity and another
member of the Special Forces
Unit, Ricardo Stevenson, are
awaiting trial for murder in
Trinidad after Chief Magistrate
Sherman McNicolls ruled that
a prima facie case was estab-
lished against them.
0


U


August 2009


Trinis face life imprisonment for

murder of U.S. war veteran





CARIBBEAN TODAY

n e WS


LWW-crbbatoa.co


MIAMI The death toll from
a boating accident off the
Turks and Caicos Islands
climbed to 16 after rescue
officials found another body
late last month.
Up to press time United
States Coast Guard officials
said at least 70 Haitian
migrants were still missing.
"The main point is that
we continue to search with the
hope we will
find sur-
vivors," said
Petty Officer
Jennifer
Johnson,
adding "how-
ever as time
continues to
pass, the Bastien
chance to find
survivors is dwindling."
So far 119 passengers have
been rescued after the boat,
with nearly 200 persons sank
as it tried to evade a police
vessel and hit a reef. The
authorities said that one sur-
vivor had also been found on
July 29 on the nearby island of
West Caicos

DESPERATION
In their desperate attempt
to reach the U.S., Haitians
often use rickety, overcrowded
boats to make the dangerous
journey. In May 2007, an over-


crowded boat carrying over
160 Haitians capsized off the
Turks and Caicos Islands,
killing many, and last year a
boat carrying 30 Haitians sank
off the
Florida's
coast, killing -
nine people.
Miami-
based Haitian
community
activist
Marleine
Bastien said Hastings
the tragedy
underscores
the need for the Haitian gov-
ernment to do a better job at
monitoring its borders.
Democratic Congressman
Alcee Hastings, a Haitian
advocate, called the incident a
"sad reminder of the hopeless-
ness and desperation facing
the Haitian people," renewing
his call for temporary protect-
ed status (TPS) for Haitian
migrants. He said it was
"immoral and irresponsible"
to continue to deny TPS to
the estimated 30,000 Haitians
living illegally in the U.S., not-
ing that hurricanes and an
economic crisis have "practi-
cally dried up the remittances
on which so many Haitian
families rely."
0


Obama's victory a symbol of emancipation


from slavery Montserrat's chief minister


BRADES, Montserrat, CMC
- Montserrat's Chief Minister
Dr. Lowell Lewis says the
election of Barack Obama as
the 44th president of the
United States has completed
the journey from the humilia-
tion of slavery to the "very
top of our civilization."
In a message marking
Emancipation Day recently,
Dr. Lewis said that Obama
and members of his family
"are the symbol of emancipa-
tion in today's world.
"From their example our
children and grandchildren
will know, that they can and
must try to become all that
they can be and not worry


Lewis


about those people who say
that they cannot or will not."
He said while in
Montserrat and many places
around the world many races


live together in harmony,
"there is still much work
to be done to make the
Emancipation that took place
real.
"The cost of transforming
the Caribbean economies
from the sugar estates which
contributed to the industrial
development of Europe and
North America, to the mod-
ern diversified economies we
have today, is yet to be repaid.
The write off of national
debts, as reparation for gener-
ations of suffering and lost
lives, is still a justifiable
demand."
0


U.S. citizenship costs Jamaica's

ruling party another election seat


KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC -
The ruling Jamaica Labour
Party (JLP) has suffered
another setback after the
Supreme Court ruled late last
month that the seat held by its
Member of Parliament for
North West Clarendon,
Michael Stern, should be
declared null and void.
The motion to declare the
seat vacant had been brought
by the Opposition People's
National Party's (PNP) Richard
Azan.
During submissions on
July 27, Azan's attorney Abe
Dabdoub urged the court to
declare the seat vacant based
on Stern's admission that he
was a United States citizen on
Aug. 7, 2007, when he was
nominated to contest the gen-
eral election of that year.
Dabdoub told the court
that Stern has admitted that
he was the holder of a U.S
passport and that he travelled
on the passport everywhere,
except in the Caribbean. He
told the court that the seat
should be turned over to
Azan.
However, Stern's attorney,
while admitting that his client


was not properly elected, sug-
gested that a by-election be
held instead of the seat being
turned over to the Opposition
candidate.

PNP SUCCESS
So far, the PNP has
brought two successful court
actions over dual citizenship
against JLP legislators, but the
party has lost the subsequent
by-elections, effectively ensur-
ing that the ruling party main-
tains its slim four-seat majority
in the 60-member Parliament.
The PNP has filed anoth-
er petition against the JLP's
Shahine Robinson, the
Member of Parliament for
North East St Ann.
Meanwhile, JLP General
Secretary Karl Samuda said
his party could make a deci-
sion on the outcome of talks
with the PNP regarding the
matter of dual citizenship.
Both major political parties
have been in discussions to
find a solution that would put
an end to the spate of by-elec-
tions.
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August 2009


Haitian death toll rises

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ule


139









- usw^caribbeantody..c.I


CARIBBEAN TODAY


n e WS


No rush to change policies regarding Cuba, Haiti ~ Obama


WASHINGSTON, D.C. -
United States President
Barack Obama has signaled
that there will be no immediate
change to policies regarding
Cuba and Haiti, two of
Washington's closest
Caribbean neighbors.
Regarding Cuba, Obama
said while he is open to more
overtures to the Spanish-
speaking nation, it must first
show signs of changing its
communist policies.
"We're not there yet," he
said about the possibility of fur-
ther advances toward Cuba,
such as lifting additional restric-
tions on travel to the island.
"We think it's important
to see progress on issues of
political liberalization, free-
dom of the press, freedom of
assembly, release of political
prisoners in order for there to
be the full possibility of nor-
malization between our two
countries," Obama told
reporters, while discussing
efforts to overhaul the U.S.
healthcare system.

URGED
Several members of
Congress and Cuban advocate
groups, including the leading
association that promotes stu-
dent travel to and from the
U.S., have urged Obama to
remove what they said are
restrictive regulations on aca-
demic and other "purposeful"
travel to Cuba imposed by
former US President George
W. Bush in 2004.
In April, Obama lifted
travel and gift restrictions for
those with relatives in Cuba


and eased restrictions on U.S.
telecommunications firms to
do business there. Last month,
the U.S. administration also
resumed talks with Cuban
officials on what Obama
called a "narrow set of issues,"
chiefly migration. But the U.S.
president said further steps
may take time.
Obama, however, said if
his administration sees
progress on those "govern-
ment-to-government conver-
sations," then they can be
broadened.
"We're taking it step by
step, seeing if, as we change
some of the old approaches
that we've been taking, we are
seeing some movement on the
Cuban government side," he
said.
"I don't think it's going to
be happening overnight," he
added. "I think it's going to be
a work in progress."

TPS UNDECIDED
At the same time, the U.S.
president said he remained
undecided about granting tem-
porary protected status (TPS)
to tens of thousands of
Haitians living illegally in his
country.
Obama said while he is
"very sympathetic" to the
immigration issue, it could be
part of a large effort to over-
haul the nation's immigration
laws. He said his administra-
tion is still reviewing U.S. poli-
cy on deporting the estimated
30,000 undocumented Haitians
and would not commit to
whether he supports allowing
undocumented Haitian


migrants to stay and work in
the United States temporarily.
Haitian advocates and a
host of congressional repre-
sentatives have called on the
U.S. administration to add
Haiti to the list of nations
whose citizens in the United
States receive the TPS desig-
nation.
Obama said the review is
yet to be completed, adding:
"So I'm not prepared to make
news here today."
He, however, said he was
"very sympathetic to the fact
that Haiti has gone through
very difficult times (and) that


Obama


a sudden influx of people
from Florida back into Haiti
would be a potential humani-
tarian problem."
The U.S. president noted
that many Haitians have "put
down roots" in the U.S., sug-
gesting that a resolution to the
situation in Haiti was "going
to be part of a broader con-
versation about immigration."
In June, Obama invited
U.S. House of Representatives
and Senate leaders to the


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White House to kick off efforts
to overhaul the immigration
laws. Currently, Homeland
Security Secretary Janet
Napolitano is working with
lawmakers on the issue, and


(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3)
women spend hundreds of
dollars on nail care, hair care
without assessing whether
these are needs or wants.
These same women have cho-
sen to devote zero dollars on
the educational enrichment of
their children books, check-
ing out library books, visits to
local museums. Which will
have the greatest long-term
impact?"
The chapter on education
serves up critical advice for
parents. Written by Dr. Lloyd
Cohen, a community activist
with a career that began at
Mico Teachers' College in
Jamaica, the Barry University
educator urges parents to take
active part in their children's
education. Critical to a child's
learning process, Cohen gives
practical tips and a checklist
to help parents get more
deeply involved. The N1u112-L
tions are hands-on and simple,
from providing a quiet place
for a child to study, to asking
the right questions and
rewarding to help maintain
motivation.
The addition of important
websites and telephone num-
bers to resources that support
pre-K all the way up to col-
lege level programs proves
indispensable. The educator
also stresses the importance of
strong social and development
skills in a child's education.

HOLISTIC
The guide's holistic
approach also takes into con-
sideration the family's mental
health. Dr. Joan Muir, a
Broward County-based psy-
chiatrist who specializes in


White House officials said they
would like to see legislation
pass this fall or early next year.
0


family therapy and relation-
ships, provides advice for
immigrants who traditionally
frown upon psychological
services.
"Well, it is really a ques-
tion of what's working,"
Magnus quips. "A typical
response to psychological ill-
health in friends and family
members is denial. Sometimes
we have to try different
options until we get the results
that we want. You might even
need to try multiple therapists
until resolution and forgive-
ness come. In any case,
haven't we all experimented
with some 'mad behaviors'?"
To help alleviate fears Dr.
Muir outlines the dilIL rL n L
between the various categories
of mental health practitioners
and gives advice on how to
choose the right professional
for particular issues. She even
,u,'L,' ,Is seeking out a thera-
pist that matches one's racial
or ethnic group to help estab-
lish a trusting relationship.
Indeed, the "Caribbean
American Immigrant
Resource Guide to South
Florida" is all about building
strong family and community
bonds. It acknowledges the
Caribbean American immi-
grant culture, yet also urges
stepping outside the walls of
tradition to embrace the
resources available in an
adopted country like the U.S.
The guide is available in
libraries across Dade and
Broward counties in Caribbean
American communities.

Dawn A. Davis is a freelance
writer for Caribbean Today.
0


August 2009


U.S.-based scholars launch Caribbean

American resource guide


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CARIBBEAN TODAY


h& E NTERTA I ENT


Bahamas fashion show to feature Miss Universe contestants


Some of the world's most
beautiful women will
prowl the cat-
walk as models dur-
ing a fashion show
in The Bahamas
this month. k
The "Fashion
Show of the Miss
Universe Pageant" is
scheduled for Aug. 12
at the Sheraton
Nassau Beach Resort.
Show promoters
promise a unique
feature: 88 contest-
ants from the 58th
Miss Universe Reigning Mis
Pageant, from coun- Dayana Menc
tries ranging from
Albania to Zambia, will be
outfitted by three Bahamian
designers utilizing locally-manu-


:


m
;s Univ
doza


factured fabrics of Androsia
and Bahama hand prints for
their creations.
"Not only is
.! this significant as the
First time that The
Bahamas is hosting
the Miss Universe
Pageant, but also
because the fashion
show will feature
another aspect of the
islands' creativity
and culture as dis-
played in fashion,"
Owen Bethel, chair-
man of the host
verse planning committee
and pageant coordi-
nator, was quoted as


saying in a recent press release.
"This will certainly have
the potential of catapulting the


'Rootz Extravaganza' to celebrate

Marcus Garvey in Fort Lauderdale


Cultural mix of live
musical and dance
performances, drama
productions, food and exhibi-
tions celebrating the life of a
Jamaican national hero will
be featured at the "2009
Marcus Garvey Rootz
Extravaganza" this month in
South Florida.
The two-day event, focus-
ing on the achievements of
Marcus Garvey, begins Aug.
15 at the Joseph C. Carter
Park, 1450 West Sunrise


Boulevard in
Fort
Lauderdale.
The first
day's program
of activities
starts at 2
p.m. on the
outside stage. Garvey
The special
highlight of the extravaganza
will be an appearance by
Garvey impersonator Ron
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 8)


local fashion industry into the
international spotlight. It is
important for other designers
and novices to take advantage
of this and continue to build on
the opportunity."
The three designers chosen
after an open call are: Rachel
Turnquest-Garcia, of Rachel's
Boutique; Basheva Eve of La
Maison de Besh; and Sabrina
Francis of SE'B Fashions.


Bahamian designer Brynda
Knowles, whose mission is to
design the evening's outfits for
the reigning Miss Universe
Dayana Mendoza, will also be
contributing. Mendoza will
share the stage as co-host of
the event with Cl'harl Sealey.
The newly-crowned Miss
Universe will receive an outfit
created by Bahamian designer
Jeff St. John, of the House of


St. John, which she will wear at
her press briefing on the morn-
ing after her crowning. She will
also receive a bag from Harl
Taylor BAG.
The fashion show is being
organized and produced by
Mode Iles Ltd., producers of
"Islands of the World Fashion
Week".
0


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household waste the


RIGHT way!

Illegal dumping is a serious environmental crime. Piles
of illegally-dumped hazardous materials, auto parts,
construction debris and old furniture are often found in
neighborhoods and remote areas of the community.
Residents can do their part by disposing of trash the
proper way using one of these options.

All County residents can:

* Visit a Home Chemical Center for the legal and
safe disposal of household chemicals like paints,
pesticides, solvents, fluorescent bulbs and used
electronic waste.

Miami-Dade County Solid Waste customers can:
* Schedule a bulky waste pickup. Call 3-1-1 or go online
at www.miamidade.gov/dswm.

* Visit a Neighborhood Trash & Recycling Center for
disposal of household trash and yard debris.

If you live in a city, contact your municipal solid waste or
public works department for disposal options.
For more information, visit www.miamidade.gov/dswm.
To report illegal dumping, call 3-1-1.


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August 2009






CARIBBEAN TODAY


- usw^caribbeantody..c.I


Bermuda denies U.S. rapper Rick Ross work permit


HAMILTON, Bermuda, CMC
- A Bermudian promoter says
he has lost a significant amount
of money after he was forced
to cancel a concert on July 31.
The cancellation followed
a last-minute refusal by
Immigration Minster David
Burch to allow American rap-
per Rick Ross into the island.
Promoter Kendricks Zuill
said he was shocked by the
minister's decision and that
the application for a work per-
mit for the performer had
been turned down because
there were concerns about his
I iir, i Lr and conduct".
"The fans are disappoint-
ed, and out of everything, the
total loss for us is US$10,000
to $15,000," said Zuill.
The 33-year-old rapper
had been scheduled to be the
headline act at a Cup Match
holiday show planned for the


island's west end. Zuill said he
first thought the department
had mistaken the rapper,


HOSS


whose real name is William
Roberts II, for I r~ \\, '
Ricky Ross, now in a
California prison for trying to
purchase 100 kilograms of
cocaine from a federal agent.
"I was assuming that they


may have had the wrong per-
son," he said, adding that he
tried to convince the
Immigration Ministry that it
had made an error in judg-
ment.
"I've been trying to con-
vince them that he is a man of
good conduct," said Zuill. "I
was providing them with
information, but all they told
me was that the minister was
not satisfied. It"s something
personal."
Before becoming a rap-
per, Roberts worked as a cor-
rections officer in Florida.
According to Zuill, the enter-
tainer has never been impris-
oned or convicted of a crime,
but was arrested in Jan. 2008
in Florida, United States on
gun and drug charges. The
charges were later dropped.
0


Lady Saw's goes on 'Extra Raw' career romp


GORDON WILLIAMS

No listener needs to drill
through the full 13 years of
Lady Saw's career to hit the
true, hard
core of her ,
music. But it ." -
can be fun. So *r
why not?
The style of
this Jamaican
dancehall dee-
jay, whose
real name is
Marion Hall,
is not for
everyone. But
her signature
raunchy Extra Raw
anthems will
find a note many can appreci-
ate...and maybe learn a few
tricks along the way.
Lady Saw brings the bed-
room to the public in a fash-
ion that sometimes brutally,
but skillfully, cuts straight
through the initial blushes and
emerges the other side with a
bucket of entertainment in
tow.
Now VP Records,
through its release of "Extra
Raw.. .The Best of Lady Saw"
CD, is offering the dancehall
diva's best romp, bundled up
in a power package of 18 cuts.
No secrets here. Saw unveils
how, when, why, where and
how often she wants it. Up
front, she'll let you know what
not to try too.
Saw's hit after uncompro-
mising hit flow from this CD,
beginning with the opening
salvo when the deejay asks for
a higher power to simply
"Find A Good Man" for her.
She wants "Good Wuk" and,
as in the duet with Shabba
Ranks, she "Want it Tonight".
Other collaborations feature


Beenie Man on "Healing" and
"L, ,, r with Ce'cile.
But Lady Saw doesn't
need much help in spelling
out the terms of her sexual
preferences.
Size, stami-
na, skill all
matter.
Certain
01- types, how-
ever, like
pretty boys
and crimi-
nals, do not.
She cautions
other
females to
look after

instead of
focusing
solely on a man, and even
throws scorn on some by
boasting "I've Got Your
Man".
But while Saw is willing
to grant her bedroom partner
all the sustained pleasures
with "Hice It Up", she draws
the line in several areas. In
"Sycamore Tree" she shoos
away the lover who wants her
to Iait to certain favors.

PASSIONATE
But "Extra Raw" is not just
about raunchy behavior. Lady
Saw's often passionate lyrics
and delivery dip into several
controversial topics, including
safe sex, infidelity and infertility.
So if the Grammy-win-
ning artiste (Saw won for a
duet with No Doubt in 2003)
can get past the usual stereo-
type certain snobs have
branded her with, so can they.
It'll probably be worth it.
For Saw's true fans,
"Extra Raw" is a personal tro-
phy for sticking with the
"First Lady of Dancehall" for


over a dozen years. A bonus
DVD featuring Saw in her
prime during a 1997 perform-
ance in New York and some
of her best music videos, spice
up the package. Producers
Dave Kelly, Tony Kelly,
Richie D and John John are
involved.
Saw and VP have since
parted company, and she vows
to take a more mature path,
but this compilation CD is
what her fans first liked the
best of an artiste telling the
stories others are too sheepish
to attempt. It's probably what
they always will.

Gordon Williams is Caribbean
Today's managing editor.
0


Red Plastic Bag claims


record ninth calypso title


BRIDGETOWN, Barbados,
CMC Stedson "Red Plastic
Bag" Wiltshire sang his way to
a record-setting ninth Pic-O-


Red Plastic Bag


De-Crop calypso title last
month as the annual Crop
Over celebrations neared a
climax here.
Wiltshire outclassed nine
other competitors with his
renditions of "Home Drums"
and "Something's
Happening", beating former
winner John King into second
place and Anderson "Blood"
Armstrong, formerly of the
band Square One, into third
place.
"Bag" or "RPB", as he is
more affectionately known to
his fans, was literally on cloud
nine after recapturing the title
that he lost to Adrian Clarke
in last year's competition,
especially with the response to
"Something's Happening"
which he performed in the
second round, sending the
packed Kensington Oval into
a frenzy.
"It is a wonderful feeling
to see how people responded


'Rootz Extravaganza' to celebrate

Marcus Garvey in Fort Lauderdale


(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7)
Bobb-Semple, who also
worked as the voice of Marcus
Garvey in the award-winning
PBS documentary film,
"Marcus Garvey: Look For
Me In The Whirlwind".
The Guyanese-born actor
was the host of Caribbean
Forum, a weekly television
program that he produced on
WNYE-TV in New York.

MUSIC
The schedule will also
include live reggae music fea-
turing artistes Screwdriver,
Marcia Ball, Standpipe, Natty
Remo, Shanty Plus and Highah
Seekah. There will also be tra-
ditional African dancing by the
hometown Tribeholistic Dance
Troupe, plus the Black Empire
Dancers from Orlando. A mul-


timedia Marcus Garvey video,
photograph and art exhibition
will be open for viewing inside
the adjacent Recreation Room
simultaneously.
The extravaganza will
continue on Aug. 17, the
122nd anniversary of Garvey's
birth. The celebration will take
place inside the Carter Park
Recreation Room from 7 p.m.
to 10 p.m. The schedule
includes audio-visual presenta-
tions and community service
awards. The keynote speaker
will be former Jamaican
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Dudley Thompson, who will
be among the award recipi-
ents. The patron of the Garvey
birthday anniversary will be
Jamaica's Consul General
Sandra Grant-Griffiths.
0


to the song. When the level of
expectation is as it was, it was
tough to come here and pro-
duce. It is amazing how peo-
ple have taken to the song,"
he said.

COMPETITORS
The veteran calypsonian
took home BDS$10,500
($5,250) and a fully-loaded
2009 Toyota Corolla.
2008 Junior Calypso
Monarch, Sir Ruel, finished
fourth in his first outing in the
Pic-O-De-Crop finals.
Clarke, who failed to
impress the judges, finished
down the field in sixth posi-
tion, while Terencia "TC"
Coward, who won both the
Sweet Soca and Party
Monarch crowns last month,
finished ninth, failing to land
the historic triple. Also com-
peting were Sheldon Hope
(fifth), Bumba (seventh),
HeeHaw (eighth) and Colin
Spencer (10th).






Street Address:
9020 SW 152nd Street, Miami, FL 33157
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 6010
Miami, FL 33116-6010.
Telephone: (305) 238-2868
(305) 253-6029 Fax: (305) 252-7843
Toll-Free Fax: 1-866-290-4550
1-800-605-7516 Jamaica: 654-7282
E-mail: editor@caribbeantoday.com
Send ads to: ctads@bellsouth.net
Vol. 20, Number 9 AUGUST 2009

PETER A WEBLEY
Publisher
GORDON WILLIAMS
Managing Editor
SABRINA HOPKINS
Graphic Artist

DOROTHY CHIN
Account Executive

SHARON LEE
Account Executive
CARMEN CHANG
Account Executive
JACQUELINE RUBIANO
Accounting Manager
Caribbean Media Source
Media Representatives
Opinions expressed by editors and writers
are not necessarily those of thepublisher.
Caribbean Today, an independent
news magazine, is published every month
by Caribbean Publishing & Services, Inc.
Caribbean Today is not responsible
for unsolicited manuscripts or photos. To
guarantee return, please include a self-
addressed stamped envelope.
Articles appearing in Caribbean
Today may not be reproduced without
written permission of the editor.


August 2009


Mop"- ........ ...... "Il""Ill""Ill!"","""""!Illllm
In RTS enTIE RTn i n m oEnT





CARIBBEAN TODAY


How should we think
about racism in the
age of President
Barack Obama? In his first
speech as president to the
nation's oldest and largest civil
rights organization, Obama's
answer to that question was a
rich mixture of his presidential
agenda, Bill Cosby's self-help
spiel, the Reverend Jesse
Jackson's political push and
rapper Jay-Z's oratorical flow.
Yet, as a historical turning
point, what he said was less
important
than who was
saying it.
America's
first president
of African
descent takes
office in the
same year as
the 100th
anniversary CLARENCE
of a group PAGE
that helped
make it possi-
ble, the National Association
for the Advancement of
Colored People (NAACP).
The irony of that happy
coincidence is how much it
haunted conversations at the
convention with a niinii
question: As civil rights-era
protests have declined and
blacks participate at all levels
of politics, is the NAACP still
relevant?
Obama chose to answer
that question by reframing it.
Regardless of how relevant it
may or may not be at the end
of its first century, he offered
ways for it to become more
relevant in the next.

'THE PAIN'
After his obligatory salute
to the debt that he and other
successful African Americans
owe to the NAACP's past
leaders, he left no doubt that
he believes "the pain" of prej-
udice and discrimination
against blacks, Latinos, gays,
lesbians, Muslims and others
is real and "still felt."
Nevertheless, he pointed
out, they are not "even the
steepest barriers to opportuni-
ty today."
More difficult, he said, are
the often-neglected "structural
inequalities that our nation's
legacy of discrimination has
left behind." This led into a
list of Obama policies and
programs that, while color-
blind in their application, have
particular importance to black
Americans who have dispro-
portionately been left behind.
Yet, the most notable por-
tion of the speech came with
his self-help message, the same
message that last year Rev.
Jackson was caught by an open


TV. network microphone bit-
terly deriding as "talking down
to black people." At the
NAACP gathering, Obama
received rousing ,.I n11 as
he said, "Government pro-
grams alone won't get our chil-
dren to the Promised Land."
He called for "a new
mindset, a new set of atti-
Itud against an internalized
sense of limitation in which
"so many in our community
have come to expect so little
of ourselves."
His Cosbyesque message
to put away the Xbox and put
your kids to bed at a reason-
able hour, like so many of his
other messages, transcends
racial lines. Yet it has special
meaning to African Americans
who, polls show, vote liberal
but hold conservative moral
values. It is also a message that
would be hard to imagine
coming with much moral cred-
ibility from any president
except one who grew up as
Obama did, as a mixed-race
son of a father who aban-
doned him in his early child-
hood.

CLASSIC OBAMA
The speech was classic
Obama. He found ways to
address issues related to race
in terms and values that are
not limited to any one racial
or ethnic community. It
fleshed out in many ways the
issues raised in his only other
major address on race, his
Philadelphia campaign speech
to explain his relationship
with the Rev. Jeremiah
Wright.
Ironically the victory of
America's first black president
came partly because he chose
to avoid the subject of race,
no matter how much he was
taunted to address it by the
likes of Rush Limbaugh on
the right or Ralph Nader on
the left. It is politically safer
for him to show us models of
racial harmony than to tell us
about them. Like the
Huxtables on "The Cosby
Show", Obama and family vis-
ibly redeem the old 1950s
American middle-class family
ideal from the clutches of
irony and dare the chattering
classes to make fun of it.
Watching his NAACP
speech, I was reminded of a
lingering question among his
skeptics: How could he have
spent 20 years in the church of
a racial firebrand like Rev.
Wright. One reason, I have
long theorized, is that along
with his religious lessons he
was learning the depths of
America's racial divide so that

(CONTINUED ON PAGE 10)


VIE uPO n T


Ow www-.caibeatoa.com *


The burden of excess baggage


President Obama's


new racial doctrine


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hey say that still waters
run deep, and all that
glitters is not gold.
Apart from being deep, those
still waters may hold many
dangers and denizens of the
deep, monsters that lurk
there, hidden perils just wait-
ing for a chance to jump out
on any unsuspecting victim.
So many things are not
what they seem, and so many
people also have hidden dan-
gers and perils lurking
beneath their otherwise inno-
cent exterior. Just read those
advice columns and you'll see
what hidden secrets exist
beneath the skin of seemingly
ordinary folks. This woman
wrote that she slept with 80
men in four years, and that
she can't even remember
some of their names. Now she
seeks advice.
Talk about excess bag-
gage.
I'm sure if we could see
pictures of those persons who
write those letters, we'd be in
shock, as never in your wildest
dreams would you imagine
that So and So Can't Mash
Ants Innocent Holier Than
Thou person was weighed
down by so much baggage.

SKELETONS
Like it or not, everyone
has a past, but some have
more skeletons in their closets
than what's out at the ceme-
tery. As a result, many try to
hide it, and under pain of
death, will not divulge their
baggage to anyone.
But here's the rub, it
always comes to the fore, as
the weight of the baggage is of
such, that it bears down on
their soul, shapes it, arrests its
growth, stunting it, and then
unleashes its fury on the per-
son nearest and dearest, the
poor spouse.
Elsewhere our baggage is
usually made up of emotional
detritus, the flotsam and jet-
sam of our emotional history
that lies in wait, dormant but
not extinct and therefore
prone to erupt at any time. So
you target that nice young
man who has all the attributes


and even those who do not
manifest it in a physical way,
still inflict immense harm on
their spouses in different
ways. Their baggage is so rid-
dled with issues that they are
impossible to live with.
Women do not escape,
although they tend to hide
their baggage and keep their
suitcases tightly shut for a
very long time. So many
women are carrying around
burdens that almost cripple
their emotional wellbeing.
Just the other day I heard
about these ladies, foxes, pret-
ty like money, but who were
counterfeit, as they had per-
haps the ultimate baggage of
all and had luggage that they
dare not open. They both had
sex change operations, were
once men, but are now living
as women and their partners
do not know. Now if those
partners ever find out, how do
you think they're going to
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 10)


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that you
desire, and
you rush
headlong into
a relationship
without doing
a background
check.
BadL
move. TONY
Ten ROBINSON
months down
the line, both
of you are having a heated
discussion and suddenly you
hear the resounding noise of a
slap across your face and you
see stars. The man shat yu a
box and you never saw it com-
ing. All those years the man
had been carrying the emo-
tional baggage of being
abused as a child, so as a
result, he in turn becomes a
physical abuser and has
assaulted his past four women.

ISSUES
So many men are weighed
down by emotional baggage


August 2009





CARIBBEAN TODAY


- usw^caribbeantody..c.I


VIE W P 0 I n T


Jamaicans abroad have equally been beacons of The burden of e)

achievement ~ consul general (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9)


I am privi-
leged to
extend
warmest greet-
ings to the
Jamaican com- '.
munity, and t '
indeed the
many well Li&
wishers and SANDRA
friends of GRANT-
Jamaica, who GRIFFITHS
have come
together to
commemorate the 47th
anniversary of our nation's
Independence, which includes
for us the celebration of
Emancipation Day on Aug. 1.
We celebrate our national
festival from July 31 to Aug. 6
this year under the theme: "I
Believe in Jamaica", and here in
Florida, we have amplified it in
the theme of our annual thanks-
giving service to specify the cel-
ebration of "Our Nation, our
Family, Our Home".
We celebrate with great
pride, and as we mark this
august occasion with a variety
of community experiences, we
do not refute the fact that chal-


lenges at many junctures have
accompanied our journey. But,
equally, none can deny that
over these 47 years we have
earned through the determined
efforts of our scholars and
political thinkers, our entrepre-
neurs, our athletes, the expo-
nents of our creative arts a
multiplicity of triumphs that
any nation would indeed be
proud to claim, all on the merit
of our inspired talents.

BEACONS
Jamaicans abroad have
equally been beacons of
achievement in as many fields
as they have dared to conquer.
Individually and collectively
our people contribute positive-
ly to world society, here in the
United States as elsewhere,
and embellish from day to day
the luster of our nation's
accomplishments.
A sense of self, and a
blessed and unique ingenuity
of spirit and deeds have been
traditional hallmarks of our
people.
We are thankful to our
ancestors, our pantheon of


national heroes, the ordinary
heroes amongst us in our fami-
lies, who have all shaped our
society to the good.
We thank the Almighty
for the forbearance and forti-
tude that has sustained our
nation thus far. We move for-
ward with certitude that if we
hold fast to our worthy tradi-
tions, that spirit that we foster
in our homeland and share
boldly with the world, will lead
us to reap just rewards.
Let us celebrate together
therefore fully confident that
with the strength and maturity
of a great nation we will contin-
ue to achieve. In this spirit, we
join hands and hearts whether
at home or from more distant
shores, and at the same time
renew our faith in our home-
land Jamaica land we love.

The above "Message of
Emancipation and
Independence 2009" was
delivered by Sandra Grant-
Griffiths, consul general,
Consulate of Jamaica.
0


Obama's new racial doctrine


(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9)
someday he could bridge it.
His sermon to the NAACP -
he preached too much to call
it a "speech" reveals how
well he learned his lessons.
It remains to be seen how
the NAACP uses those les-
sons. Other organizations like


the National Urban League or
100 Black Men already
emphasize economic develop-
ment and family-mentoring
programs that build the
black community's internal
strengths. Today's NAACP
sees their goal as "social jus-
tice", not "social service," as


Chairman Julian Bond has
put it. But the families left
behind by the civil rights rev-
olution need both.

2009 Clarence Page.
Distributed by Tribune Media
Services, Inc.
0


DAVID "WAGGA" HUNT

MEMORIAL FOOTBALL CLASSIC

AUGUST 22, 2009


The Florida Chapters of the KC and Calabar Old Boys' Associations
jointly present:

The hiaugural David "Wagg" Hunt Memorial Classic
Saturday, August 22d
Even begins at 12:00 pam.
at
Miramar Regional Park
16801Miraar Pkwy
Miramar, forida 33027
Food, Fun and Music (DJ SiddyBee)
with two games scheduled:

I nitad.ni Match: Cornwall vs. Munro
David Hunt Tropy Mach: KC VS. Calabar

lMmcal fnm hacs i 'it oloani lw lishinp swhKaiWCtip aW('W inllA. ir, toWmml th
inmI 4fonf JmalinuLJx u NJI lia1r. Imj K(Cmal a (arljtuMiminag ouih.kii -Wji VIluL


August 2009


react? Now that's the ultimate
baggage, as all the crosses
known to mankind will be
unleashed.

EXTREME
Still, those are extreme
cases. The more common ones
are like marrying someone
and finding out that she was a
low life in a past life.
Oh yes, it has caught
many an unsuspecting man
who didn't take the time to do
the necessary background
check. As soon as the honey-
moon is over and they move
into the house, the suitcase is
opened. Along come her
mother, uncle, two brothers
and a cousin, to take up resi-
dence as the tenement yard is
visited upon you, much like
the plagues of Egypt. And so
the demons are released. The
quarrels and cantankerousness
are beyond belief, plus the
words that fly out of her
mouth, combined with her
attitude are mind-baelinei-
Then to make it worse,
you find out that her n ipli-\i."'
is really her child from a previ-
ous relationship. All the trou-
bles of the world, unleashed on
your universe.
It happens to women too,
as men bring home outside
children that they somehow
e1 >rg, li" to mention. For peo-
ple who have never experi-


excess baggage

enced such horror, it may
seem a bit far-fetched or even
impossible, but these things
do happen, so just give thanks
that they don't happen to you.
But victims do tell their
tales of woe. Have you ever
heard the term Warrior
Woman? Well they do exist,
and like the Vikings, Huns
and Vandals of old, they are
not happy unless they are war-
ring, as it's all they know.
Naturally they would
never attract a man if they dis-
played such tendencies, so
they act docile, like they can't
mash ants, almost playing pos-
sum, until it's too late, then
they unleash their fury on you
like a Banshee on crack.
So how do you avoid this?
Well, be careful who you pick
up, do a background check
like what those stores do on
you when you're buying stuff
on hire purchase.
Ask plenty questions
about the person, seek out
their friends or even past
lovers if possible, test the
waters, and most importantly,
don't be hasty.
If perchance your lover
has neither baggage nor big
luggage, then give thanks, but
then again, you may be the
one who's afflicted and
weighed down.

seidol@hotmail. com
0





CARIBBEAN TODAY


oc us


on


T & T ......bentda" *.. m0


~ A Caribbean Today special feature


Economic slowdown, but no recession in T&T ~ government


PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad,
CMC The Trinidad and
Tobago government has
denied suggestions that the
economy of the oil-rich twin
island republic has gone into
recession, although admitting
"there has been a slowing
down.
"What we are saying, and
there is no question about it,
that there is a slow down,
(but) does that make a reces-
sion...we are simply saying
that has not
happened,"
said Finance
Minister
Karen Nunez
Tesheira.
Latest fig-
ures released
by the Central
bank of Tesheira
Trinidad and
Tobago (CBTT) show that the
local economy had contracted
by 3.3 percent in the first
quarter of 2009, compared
with growth of 2.4 percent in
the first quarter of 2008. It
said that activity in the energy
sector fell by two percent in
the first quarter of 2009 and
that the non-energy sector
declined by 5.4 per cent on a
year-on-year basis to Mar.
2009.
Within the non-energy
sector, the manufacturing, dis-
tribution and construction sec-
tors declined by 11.7 percent,
3.7 percent and 2.7 percent,
respectively.


But the CBTT said that
on a year-on-year basis to
May 2009, headline inflation
declined to 10.3 percent, down
from a high of 15.4 percent in
October 2008 and 11.9 percent
in April 2009.
It said core inflation,
which excludes food prices,
measured 5.8 percent on a
year-on-year basis to May
2009.

JOBS
The CBTT said that
unemployment rate rose to
five percent for the quarter
ending Mar. 2009 from 3.9
percent in quarter ending
Dec. 2008. It said that the
labor force participation rate
increased in the first quarter
of 2009 to 63.6 percent com-
pared with 63.1 percent for
the same period in 2008.
"On a year-on-year basis
to March 2009, employment in
the construction, manufactur-
ing and services sectors fell by
0.9 per cent, 3.3 percent and
2.5 percent, respectively;
Employment in the agricultur-
al sector increased by 30.7 per
cent in the quarter ending
March 2009, to reach 21,300."
The finance minister said
the figures were not enough to
indicate a recession.
"You are going to see
things, significant unemploy-
ment rates which you are not
(now) seeing in Trinidad and
Tobago (including) closure of
businesses," she explained. "I
am not saying that there is not


slowing down, closure of busi-
nesses, income levels dropping
dramatically, those are some
of the factors that you


will see."
The finance minister said
that consumer credit fell from
May last year, but business


credit and real estate mort-
gage lending grew 6.5 and 13.6
per cent for the same period.
0


Political leaders differ on


PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad,
CMC Citizens of Trinidad
and Tobago observed
Emancipation Day on Aug. 1
even as political leaders of the
oil-rich twin-island republic
used the occasion to send dif-
ferent messages regarding the
significance of the event.
Prime Minister Patrick
Manning said Emancipation
Day marks the end of one of
the most inhumane activities
in the history of mankind, but
Opposition Leader Basdeo
Panday used the occasion to
call for an end to what he said
was discrimination in Trinidad
and Tobago.
In his message, Manning
said "as we engage in our
annual commemoration, let us
remember, without bitterness,
but with uttermost solemnity
and profoundest reflection,
that irremovable blot in the
history of humanity, so that
we strengthen our resolve
against enslavement wherever
it rears its ugly head.
"At this time, let us reded-
icate ourselves to a country


where justice and equality
reign for all people in our
diverse society. Let us also con-
tinue our nation's support of


Manning


all global efforts against
oppression wherever it exists in
our world."
He said that whilst
Emancipation Day must recall
the horrors of the past, it is
equally a time for great cele-
bration.
"The intrinsic strength and
beauty of the human spirit did
eventually triumph. Slavery
eventually came to an end. But


significance of
most importantly, in the years
and eras lth rL,,ihr, every-
where in the Americas and the
Caribbean, notwithstanding
the legacy of economic and
social limitations, descendants
of slaves rose to the heights of
attainment in all fields.
"It is an extraordinary
achievement and speaks of a
heroism that must be held up
as inspiration for all genera-
tions of all origins. Also, and
perhaps even more important
than individual and celebrated
success, is the contribution of
the African diaspora as a
whole to strengthening the
fabric of society in so many
countries of the New World
through constructive activity
and building of families and
communities.
"On this occasion, we
must again record the enor-
mous contribution of our citi-
zens of African origin to the
development of our country.
From the time they first set
foot on these shores to the
present day, this group toiled,
along with others, first for the


T&T's Emancipation Day
foundations of our society, tion."


and then later, to build the
independent Trinidad and
Tobago."


Panday


STRUGGLE
Panday hailed the end of
slavery in 1834 as "a step
towards the acknowledgment
of all men as members of the
family of humanity; a condem-
nation of the oppression,
abuse and exploitation of all
people; and triumph in a
struggle against racism and
other forms of discrimina-


However, the former
prime minister said to achieve
the ideal that all men are
equal has not been an easy
fight in the practical, real
world.
"While there have been
landmark successes in the
recognition of certain funda-
mental rights through the per-
severance of great activists,
the struggle is still not over
175 years after the emancipa-
tion of slaves in the colonial
plantations."
He said Emancipation
Day should also provide an
opportunity for the country to
reflect on the current state of
affairs.
"Across the national land-
scape, and indeed across the
various ethnic groups in
Trinidad and Tobago, there
are persons who are not rising
to their fullest potential. They
are the victims of social injus-
tice, political neglect and
some form of discrimination."
0


WINNING SMILE


Photograph by Government Information Service
Dexnell Peters, left, winner of the Inaugural Eric Williams "School Bags" Essay Competition, can hardly contain his joy after meet-
ing Trinidad and Tobago's President George Maxwell Richards at President's House on July 30.


August 2009


f




CARIBBEAN TODAY


August 2009


Io-
Lis


Nov"YA MiamilFt. Lauderdale

us$22 us$1f
to
'rinidad & Tobago
Ion w av on Caribbeafl AIrlineal


CMIFWO CPGPACS4


Tj


Ems





CARIBBEAN TODAY


0 c u s


o n


T P.& T ......i" ean'" ayxm.


~ A Caribbean Today special feature


T&T's ethnic issues surface during health care debate


PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad,
CMC Don't expect to see
pictures of mass graves scat-
tered across the oil rich twin
island republic, or for that
matter, a special court as in
the case in Rwanda to try
those accused of trying to
have one race dominate the
other through mass killings.
But allegations of ethnic
cleansing in a country where
the two main races are almost
equal have now engrossed the
Parliament in Trinidad and
Tobago.
At the heart of the allega-
tion is a claim by gynaecolo-
gist and Opposition legislator
Dr. Tim Goopeesingh last
month that many Indo-
Trinidadian doctors were
being forced out of the Port of
Spain General Hospital in
favour of Afro Trinidadian
medical practitioners.
"There has been an issue
of ethnic cleansing at Port-of-
Spain General Hospital as far
as the doctors are concerned.
I understand that most of the
East Indian doctors have had
to leave Port-of-Spain
Hospital. I understand the
Port-of-Spain Hospital is a
virtual African hospital now,"
Gopeesingh said.


The 2000 census figures
released by the Central
Statistical Office (CSO) show
that out a population of 1.26
million, 37.5 percent are of
Afro Trinidadian descent,


while the Indo-Trinidadian
community accounts for
40 percent. The category
"mixed" account for 20 per-
cent, the third highest accord-
ing to the CSO figures.
Race has always been an
issue in Trinidad and Tobago,
but thankfully as many social
scientists and politicians say, it
has not spilled over into
killings on the scale as wit-
nessed in places like Rwanda
and Bosnia.
The term "ethnic cleans-


ing" first came to public
prominence in Yugoslavia, to
describe the scale of the geno-
cide and forced migrations
that ensued in the Serbian-
Croat conflicts of the 1990s.

'SENSATIONALIST'
The Trinidad Guardian
newspaper, in an editorial,
said that such a description is
not just an inaccurate way of
describing the situation that
Gopeesingh believes exist at
the Port-of-Spain General
Hospital.
"It is also adamantly sen-
sationalist", noted the news-
paper, adding "it's virulently
provocative".
The allegation by
Gopeesingh is not the first to
be made in Trinidad, even as
political commentators
acknowledged that it might
just be the first time that the
term "ethnic cleansing" has
made it way into the
Parliament. One newspaper
stated that Gopeesingh's accu-
sation "is normally described
as discrimination, a reprehen-
sible enough term for the
practice of preferential treat-
ment of employees on the
basis of race".
During the 1995-2001


Coat of Arms
period when the Indo-domi-
nated United National
Congress (UNC) held power
in this Caribbean country, sup-
porters of the Afro-dominated
People's National Movement
(PNM) claimed that they were






SPAIN -






Map of Trinidad and Tobago


being sidelined to the point
that the name of the state-
owned oil company, Petrotrin
was changed to P1 iro i-Singh".
Recent court rulings have
added fuel to the debate, par-
ticularly where Indo-
Trinidadians have been suc-
cessful in accusing the govern-
ment of discrimination in its
hiring practices.
The Indo-Trinbago
Equality Council (ITEC),
which has lodged complaints
with the Equal Opportunity
Commission (EOC) following
the court rulings, last month,
has since written Prime
Minister Patrick Manning urg-
ing that a Commission of
Enquiry be established "to
investigate the serious allega-
tions of racial discrimination
against Indian workers in the
public sector.
"Indeed the minuscule
number of Indian Permanent
Secretaries reflects this per-
ceived State bias", the group
added.

SELECTIVE
DISCRIMINATION?
Leader of the Opposition
Business in the Senate Wade
Mark accused the Manning
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 14)


a CLI]ture so rich 'youLI can taste it


V,


S Carnival in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is a dazzling display of both native and multicultural
influences- Known worldwide for its distinctive take on an international festival, some consider this island
nation the unofficial "birthplace" of the Caribbean's most spectacular celebration of art and history.
Happy Independence Day, Trinidad and Tobago. 8 31 (P9


pubhx cor 02009 Publix Asset Manaqerement Company


Our lovely Carnival ladies are made from Aloe Vera, Pineapple, Pineapple Leaves, Raspberries,
Strawberries, Kiwi, White Cherries, Grapes, CrIantro, Jalepeno Peppers, Vanilla Beans, Brown
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August 2009


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CARIBBEAN TODAY


- usw^caribeantoda..o I


I rocus


on


~ A Caribbean Today special feature


Women's group wants T&T HEAD OF


public national gender policy


PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad,
CMC The Network of NGO
of Trinidad and Tobago for
the Advancement of Women
has called on the Patrick
Manning government to make
public the latest version of a
National Draft Gender Policy
for the country.
The NGO said that the
draft policy was supposed to
have been laid in Parliament a
month ago as a Green Paper,
and that "although it was listed
on the Parliament website in
the Supplemental Order Paper
of Friday July 17th, it was in
fact not laid then or since.
"To add insult to injury
the Parliament has gone in to
recess until September. We
cannot understand why, four
years after the arbitrary with-
drawal by the prime minister
of the last draft, the govern-
ment is playing hide and seek
with their sanitised version,"
said group coordinator Hazel
Brown last month.
"This gender policy has
been in the making for over 20
years and millions of taxpayers
dollars and people's time and
energy has been invested in it. It
cannot therefore be hidden
from the public view any more."

SECRET?
She said that the 2005 ver-
sion, which was withdrawn,


was produced following
extensive consultations with
different communities and
organizations all over Trinidad
and Tobago. The consultations
dealt with a wide range of
issues and made recommenda-
tions regarding family, educa-
tion, health, labor, employ-
ment, violence, and economics
among other areas.
"No one knows what
was removed or added in the
secret non transparent
process since the withdrawal.
Now that we are told that
Cabinet has approved their
version. We want to see it.
Why are they hiding it?" she
asked.
She said that the NGO
was therefore advocating that
the ministry publish in the
newspapers a user friendly
version of their revised draft
policy and work plan for pub-
lic comment, which should be
reviewed by a small working
group with a mandate to have
a document ready for adop-
tion by Nov. 2009.
"The process of develop-
ing a national gender policy
has been going on for more
than 20 years. We cannot
afford to delay any longer,"
Brown said.
0


Photograph by Dennis Gordon
Yvonne Gittens-Joseph, Trinidad and Tobago's high commissioner to Jamaica, presents an award to Yanique Amoy Henry, left, a
student at Hampton School in Jamaica, for winning the inaugural Eric Williams CAPE Prize in History recently. Henry also received,
on behalf of The Eric Williams Memorial Collection at The University of the West Indies (T&T), a laptop computer and book prize.


T&T becomes latest Caribbean country to join IOM


PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad,
CMC- Trinidad and Tobago has
joined four other Caribbean
community (CARICOM) coun-
tries in becoming full members of
the Geneva-based International
Organization for Migration
(IOM).
A statement issued
recently by T&T's Ministry of
Foreign Affairs noted that the
country was admitted as a full
member late last month and
joins The Bahamas, Belize,
Haiti and Jamaica.


The Dominican Republic
also has full membership sta-
tus, while Cuba and Guyana
enjoy observer status.
The statement said that as
a result of being a full mem-
ber, T&T can now seek to
benefit from additional train-
ing and programs in areas
such as best practices in
migration management; assis-
tance with voluntary returns
of displaced and trafficked
persons; assistance with count-
er-trafficking in humans and


migration data collection and
related research activities to
ensure greater appreciation
for migration trends in the
region.
The Ministry of Foreign
Affairs said that the country
has already benefitted from a
number of IOM programs and
has participated in several
IOM activities as a non-mem-
ber state since April 2005.
0


T&T's ethnic issues surface during health care debate


(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13)
administration of "pursuing a
practice of selective discrimi-
nation particularly as it relates
to employment in the public
service.
Gopeesingh said there
were more than 150 senior
doctors in Trinidad and Tobago
of East Indian descent and that
"they have been forced out of
the ,wr\u L .
Incensed by the state-
ment, Prime Minister
Manning immediately called
for its retraction adding that
such comments were the kind
to be expected from "gutter
MIipL and not from a parlia-
mentarian.
"I don't want you to bring
it. I'm not interested in it. You
see, Mr Speaker, it would have
been enough if the member
had come and said 'on the
basis of this evidence I make
this I jILt_ inlI', I would have
objected also, I would have
objected also, Mr. Speaker,
because evidence or no evi-
dence, that kind of talk in a
Parliament like this does us no
good," Manning said.
The prime minister said
while he had respect for


Gopeesingh as a doctor and a
senior parliamentarian, he was
"very much taken aback when
on the basis on what the
Honourable Member said he
was told, he sought to come to
the Parliament to raise an
issue of race and to raise it in
such a manner that could be
the source of tremendous dis-
cord.
"It is not the kind of talk
that I would ascribe to a
Member of Parliament. It
sounded like the kind of talk
that you will expect from a
gutter snipe...that is how it
sounded to me. Most inappro-
priate," Manning added.
The Leader of
Government Business in
Parliament Colm Imbert, for
his part, described the state-
ments as irresponsible in the
extreme and accused the
Opposition legislator of utter-
ing the "racist statements that
could provoke racial hatred.
"Mr. Speaker, without a
shred of evidence...irresponsi-
ble in the extreme," Imbert
said, noting that the vast
majority of medical practition-
ers in the public service were
of East Indian descent.
"It is a fact that the


majority of doctors in this
country are of East Indian
descent. I can say without any
fear of contradiction that the
majority of doctors in every
hospital in the public health
service, with the possible
exception of Tobago, are of
East Indian descent."

NOT FAZED
But the criticisms did not
deter Gopeesingh, who told a
news conference afterwards
that he "felt compelled" to
bring the matter into the
Parliament raiL r than hiding
it because I would have been
doing an injustice to the socie-


ty, particularly when people's
lives are at risk.
"We cannot sweep it
under the carpet because to
sweep it under the carpet
would be doing a massive dis-
service to the national com-
munity and it must be brought
out and Parliament is the
place that it has to be dis-
cussed.
"We cannot discuss this
outside. We are elected by the
people and the people expect
us to discuss this," he said,
producing a list of names of
senior doctors of Indian
descent who had been forced
out of the system.
The Opposition legislator
said his information about the
"ethnic cleansing" at the hos-
pital had been provided to
him by former junior Health
Minister Fuad Khan, who in a
radio interview went even fur-
ther indicating that the East
Indian doctors were being
replaced by doctors from
Africa. Khan, who said he had
been by-passed for a consul-
tancy position at the hospital
in favor of a doctor with less
qualification and experience
from Africa, said he would not
have mind had the job gone to


a Afro Trinidadian.
But the Trinidad and
Tobago Medical Association
(TTMA) said it was distancing
itself from Gopeesingh's alle-
gation, adding that it felt
embarrassed by the whole
affair.
"He has brought the whole
profession into disrepute,
because he made it sound as
though Indian doctors treat
African patients differently
and this is not true," said Dr.
Frank Ramlackhansingh,
TfMA's public relations
officer.
"As professionals, we
treat all of our patients the
same, there is no racial bias.
We look after all patients in
the same way regardless of
their race or their background.
It doesn't matter if they are
from Laventille or any other
part of the country, we look at
the whole person," said the
TTMA official, adding that
some of the names on
Gopeesingh's list are people
who left the service voluntari-
ly or had reached retirement
age.

0


August 2009





CARIBBEAN TODAY


us on


~ A Caribbean Today special feature

Tobago offers bliss on the beaches

~ Hotels help couples celebrate with romantic Caribbean honeymoon getaways


Newlyweds looking to
begin a life of bliss can
relax and enjoy a
romantic honeymoon together
on the island of Tobago.
With more than 200 miles
of coastline filled with half-
moon shaped bays and seclud-
ed coves, rich eco-adventure
activities and a delightful
blend of traditional and fine-
dining restaurants, lovebirds
can enjoy a memorable
Caribbean getaway for the
first time as husband and wife.
Accessible by direct flight
service from major North
American gateways including
Atlanta and New York, cou-
ples can spend less time trav-
eling to Tobago and more
time fanning the flames of
love and romance with the fol-
lowing honeymoon getaways:

Bacolet Beach Club
The cascading hillside
resort is a small elegant bou-
tique hotel located minutes
away from Tobago's Crown
Point Airport. Lovebirds
looking for a mix of warmth
and elegance can stay at the
Bacolet Beach Club and take
advantage of the Honeymoon


Crescent special which
includes six night/seven day
accommodations, complimen-
tary bottle of champagne, fruit
platter and bouquet of flowers
upon arrival, in-room cham-
pagne breakfast on the first
day, breakfast for two at the
hotel restaurant, one romantic
massage for two and one day
jeep rental.
For more information visit
www.bacoletbeachclub.com or
call 868-639-3551.

Coco Reef Resort & Spa
With lush tropical land-
scaping and a private white-
sand beach, Coco Reef Resort
& Spa is considered one of
Tobago's premier hotels with a
blend of modern convenience
and old world charm.
The honeymoon getaway
at Coco Reef Resort & Spa
includes four nights/five days
deluxe ocean view accommo-
dations with private balcony,
one tropical breakfast, a les-
son in the art of romantic
massage, daily candle-lit din-
ners with a bottle of wine,
tropical fruit basket and floral
bouquet upon arrival, one day
vehicle rental and roundtrip


Iriple wedding at Pigeon Point loDago.
airport transfers.
For more information
visit www.cocoreef.com or call
868-639-8571.

Palms Villa Resort
This 10-acre estate com-
bines the tranquility and beau-
ty of the unspoiled rainforest
with luxury villa accommoda-
tions. After the ceremony is
over newlyweds can enjoy
their first week together at the


Palms Villa Resort Tobago
with the Romantic
Honeymoon special which
includes seven nights accom-
modations in a luxurious pri-
vate villa, complimentary bot-
tle of champagne and a basket
of fresh fruit upon arrival,
tropical breakfast the first
morning and a romantic
boat trip.
For more information visit
www.thepalmstobago.com or


call 800-819-5118.

Blue Waters Inn
Considered one of the
Caribbean's best eco-resorts,
Blue Waters Inn is conve-
niently located on the bound-
ary of a 46-acre wildlife sanc-
tuary and the Caribbean Sea.
Honeymooners looking
for a little adventure can stay
at the Blue Waters Inn and
take advantage of the special
which includes the choice of a
one day scuba dive lesson,
half-day island tour, half-day
of snorkeling or half-day rain-
forest tour, a complimentary
bottle of wine and tropical
fruit basket.
For information visit
www.bluewatersinn.com or
call 868-660-4341.
Tobago, sister island to
Trinidad, is the quintessential
Caribbean island with seclud-
ed beaches, quaint villages,
award winning eco-attractions
and private villas.
For more information on
Tobago visit www.visittoba-
go.gov. tt or call 800-816-7541.
0


August 2009


W-www.caribbeantoday.com





CARIBBEAN TODAY


lwww -. .*rib e g -dy~omA


FY I


CELEBRATING JAMAICA
As part of celebrations in
the United States, several
events marking Jamaica's
Independence will be held this
month. Some are listed here:

* Aug. 8, 1:30 p.m. An
exhibition of works by
Jamaican artist Louis Davis
will be presented at the
Southeast Regional Library,
Broward College, 7300 Pines
Blvd., Pembroke Pines,
Florida.
The master of ceremonies
will be Easton Lee. Spoken
word artist Nzingah Oniwosan
will also make a presentation.
For more information,
visit www.louisdavisart.com


* Aug. 8,7 p.m. The
Jamaican Association of
Central Florida will hold its
Annual Independence
Banquet at the Rosen Plaza
Hotel, Orlando, 9700
International Dr. featuring DJ
Charlie Brown and Jammin
Band.
For more information,
visit www.jamaicanameri-
canassoc.com or call Hyacinth
at 407-578-8141.

* Aug. 9, noon "Jamaica
Day A Family Fun Day"
at Exchange Park, 2771
Columbia Drive, Decatur,
Georgia.

* Aug. 9, 11 a.m. Ecumenical


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DIPLOMAT OF THE AMERICAN BOARD OF FAMILY PHYSICIANS


Independence Service at
Dunbarton Chapel, Howard
University School of Law,
2900 Van Ness St. N.W. in
Washington D.C.

* Aug. 9,2 p.m. An after-
noon of music and dance at
the Organization of American
States (OAS), 17th Street and
Constitution Avenue N.W. in
Washington D.C.

* Aug. 9, 10 a.m. -
Independence service at
Grace Episcopal Church, 3600
North Australian Ave., West
Palm Beach, Florida.

* Aug. 9, 10 a.m. Annual
Independence Mass at Our
Lady of the Lourdes Catholic
Church in Kendall, 11291 S.W.
142 Ave.,Miami, Florida.

* Aug. 15,7 p.m. Annual
Independence Ball hosted by
Atlanta Jamaican Association,
Inc. at the Renaissance Hotel,
1 Hartsfield Centre Parkway,
Atlanta, Georgia.
President Jamaica's Court
of Appeal Seymour Panton
will be the guest speaker.
For more information, visit
www.ajaatlanta.org


INVESTMENT
WORKSHOPS
The Miami-Dade Public
Library System will continue
to offer free "Investment
Workshops" this month at the
Main Library, 101 W. Flagler
St. in Miami, Florida.

Friday, Aug. 21, noon to 1 p.m.
- "Investing Basics: 20 tips
for Becoming a Smarter
Ini\ I< r For more informa-
tion, call 305-375-2665.


CAMPAIGN SKILLS
In advance of Florida munici-
pal elections in some of
Miami-Dade's cities this fall -


including Miami, Miami
Beach, Hialeah and
Homestead and other local
and state races set for 2010,
candidates and their staff
members can brush up on
election and fundraising regu-
lations at a campaign skills
seminar sponsored by the
Miami-Dade Commission on
Ethics and Public Trust.
Two seminars are planned:

* Aug. 26, 6:30 p.m. at Victor


Wilde Community Center,
1701 W. 53 St., Hialeah.

* Sept.16, 6:30 p.m., City Hall
Council Chambers, 790 N.
Homestead Blvd. (U.S. 1 and
S.W. 312 Street), Homestead.
For more information or to
reserve a seat, call Robert
Thompson at 305-350-0630 or e-
mail robthom@miamidade.gov.


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August 2009





CARIBBEAN TODAY


BOOKS


LWW-crbbatoa.co


A Jamaican woman's difficult journey outside the closet


* TITLE: THE OTHER
SIDE OF PARADISE:
A MEMOIR
* AUTHOR:
STACEYANN CHIN
* REVIEWED BY:
DAWN A. DAVIS
The final two chapters of
this book are the most
climactic, unlike most
formulaic memoirs that crest
in the middle and peter out by
the end.
Staceyann Chin's life-
changing event takes place in
a male bathroom on the
University of the West Indies
Mona campus. She is accosted
by a group of boys who are
determined to "f..k her to
bring her back to the right
way of thinking".
Yes, this book is about an
"out" lesbian who grew up in
a Jamaica that found it diffi-
cult to accept her 'otherness'.
An independent and defiant
child from early on, Chin


shares her world with readers
with sensitivity. Her upbring-
ing will not be strange to read-
ers; in fact, many will relate
personally to her story.
With an absentee mother
living in 'farin', Chin and her
brother Delano are raised by
their grandmother in Paradise,
a town in the parish of
Hanover. Chin, along with
others in the town suspect her
father is the well-to-do
Chinese man who owns the
big store in Montego Bay, but
he denies it. So, parentless,
she puts up a feisty, strong
armour for protection.

VOICES
Her story is told in many
voices; that of the innocence of
a child, a curious adolescent,
and a woman finally believing
and accepting her own expres-
sion. She weaves minute
details to draw the reader in.
We are right there with her as
she plays with the ni, hi


fowls that have feathers that
make them look surprised".


We empathize, we sympa-
thize with her, we share her
pain and frustration. At the
tender age of nine Chin's
poignant words tell the story
of repeated molestation.
"There is something
crawling around in my


panties. I open my eyes to
find Andy on top of me. One
hand is covering my nose. His
mouth is over mine. The fin-
gers of the other hand are in
my panties, pushing them-
selves into my coco-br.LJd .
Chin's story is the universal
plight of many children grow-
ing up in poor environments,
moving from house to house,
but never finding a home. It is
this sense of imbalance that
runs throughout her life, a
rootlessness that has left marks.
But, her story is also one
of upliftment, perseverance,
and achievement. In the face
of life's difficulties Chin got
lost in her world of books, a
passion that would take her to
university and a successful
career as a writer, actress,
activist. Indeed, her strength
and conviction is what helped
her navigate her journey to
self-love.
Her stirring high school
speech acts as the catalyst to a


renewed faith in herself and
the whole-hearted acceptance
of who she is -Staceyann Chin.
She takes the first serious
steps to accepting her lesbian-
ism, eventually "coming out"
after a liberating trip to New
York.
Back home, her new
found liberation is not so easi-
ly accepted. But, through her
trials, pitfalls, and triumphs
she exposes some of the hid-
den 'rituals' and guises the gay
and lesbian community go
through to survive in a
Jamaica she sees as homopho-
bic. She also makes clear her
reality, and perhaps that of
others that leaving the island
is the only choice for the
openly homosexual.

Dawn A. Davis is a freelance
writer for Caribbean Today.
0


On the fast track, Jamaica rises to summit of sprinting


* TITLE: SPRINTING
INTO HISTORY:
JAMAICA AND THE
2008 OLYMPIC GAMES
* AUTHOR: DELANO
FRANKLIN
* REVIEWED BY:
GORDON WILLIAMS

Last summer, track and
field fans all over the
world were awestruck
by the performances of
Caribbean athletes especial-
ly Jamaicans at the Olympic
Games in Beijing, China.
For many, the single toast
of the Olympics was undoubt-
edly Jamaica's Usain Bolt,
who shattered three world
sprinting records on his way to
earning three gold medals. His
feat was so stunning, it's still
being talked about a year
later. It has also rigorously
charged the expectations of
things to come.
But Bolt was not alone
among Jamaican athletes who
excelled in Beijing. Sprinters
Veronica Campbell-Brown
and Shelly Ann Fraser
secured gold medals. Melaine
Walker won the 400 meters
hurdles. The men's 4x100
meters relay team was also
victorious, and others secured
medals on the track as well.
All this help to raise the
profile of the sport. But the
outstanding accomplishments
of the Jamaicans also drew the
international spotlight to the
island, as well as suspiciously
dark clouds. Many wondered
how a small country could
produce such sustained excel-
lence on the track. Rumors of
deception some whispered,
others shouted loud enough -


circulated. They came from
critics desperate to take the
sheen off Jamaica's brilliant
performances, especially when
they overpowered much larger
and richer
nations such as *
the United
States.

GLOBAL
POWER
Now Delano
Franklyn, in his
book "Sprinting
Into History:
Jamaica and the
2008 Olympic
Gaii, ', helps to
quiet the skeptics. As
the cover notes accu-
rately states:
"Jamaica has long
been a global power
on the track, having A
achieved far more
medals on a per capital basis
than any other country in the
Olympics".
So no one should have
been surprised by Jamaica's
heroics in 2008. Yet, in the
book, published in April by
Wilson Franklyn Barnes and
dedicated to capturing
"Jamaica's performance at the
Olympics over the years, espe-
cially during the 2008 Olympic
Gai, ', Franklyn just wants
to make sure.
The author also wants to
make it clear that Jamaica has
achieved prominence in other
fields as well, and so he
launches early a list that
includes music legend Bob
Marley, politicians Marcus
Garvey and Michael Manley,
and cricketer Courtney Walsh.
Jamaica's "breathtaking


accomplishment" in 2008 may
have jolted the world to pay
closer attention, but the coun-
try has long been at the fore-
front of inter-
national
acclaim in
many fields.
Now,
S a as Franklyn
stated in the
introduction,
"when it

sprinting,
Jamaica is
now where
it's at".

TIMELY
The
501-page
book is
timely
as well, com-
ing on the eve of track's next
big engagement, the IAAF
World Championships in


Athletics set for Aug. 15-24 in
Berlin, Germany. One year
after Beijing, another stage
has been set for Jamaica's best
athletes to challenge the
world.
Franklyn sets his own
stage with clear writing and 10
well-organized chapters. He
reels in the parameters sur-
rounding track and field. Raw
statistics help stir a nation's
raw emotions. Helpful tables
and photographs tell Jamaica's
story in Beijing and before in
detail track fans will naturally
embrace, but the casual
observer is sure to find an
interesting tool as well.
The chapters parade the
finest of the island's athletic
qualities. Profiles of the ath-
letes bring back warm memo-
ries of past accomplishments -
from Arthur Wint to Merlene
Ottey. The records stand for
II l l L Nlj S.
But Franklyn succeeds


with a bigger task, that of
telling the world exactly who
Jamaicans are; a people not
willing to back down from
even the most daunting tasks.
The book is about a nation
that is proud of its heritage
and not afraid to let you
know.
Three chapters are dedi-
cated to Bolt's incredible story.
But the book addresses almost
every aspect surrounding
Jamaica's track and field, par-
ticularly its accomplishments
at the Olympics. Franklyn
examines its history, politics
and business. He even allows
room for its critics.
In the end, Jamaica lives
up to its incredible billing. On
the track in Beijing, that was
again made clear, just as it had
been many times before.

Gordon Williams is Caribbean
Today's managing editor.
0


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August 2009





CARIBBEAN TODAY


TO


~ A Caribbean Today special feature


Keeping kids healthy as they head back to school


As children head back
to school, parents face
another season of
fighting cold and flu germs.
In an average year, chil-
dren catch six to 10 colds. In
families with children who are
in school, the number of colds
per child can be as high as 12
a year, according to the
National Institute of Allergy
and Infectious Disease in the


C
C


United States.
"The change in weather
during back-to-school season
is the ideal environment for
cold- and flu-causing viruses
to thrive," says Dr. Lauren
Feder, author of Natural Baby
and Childcare (Hatherleigh
Press. 2006). "And with
crowded classrooms, your
children are more likely to
come in contact with germs


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that could get them sick.
That's why now is the best
time to learn what you can d(
to reduce the chances of youi
family getting sick."

TIPS
Here are some must-kno
tips from Feder to combat ill-
ness as kids head back to
school:
1. Humidity and hydration
are a must Dry nasal pas-
sages are more vulnerable to
cold and flu viruses. When
humidity levels are low, con-
sider using a humidifier to ad
moisture to kids' bedrooms
when sleeping and in other
areas of the home. Drinking
lots of fluids like water and
juice is also a great way to
stay healthy and hydrated.
2. Killing germs is easy -
Some viruses and bacteria ca
live from 20 minutes up to tw
hours or more on surfaces lik
cafeteria tables, playground
equipment and desks, accord
ing to the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and
Prevention. The good news is
that cold and flu viruses can
easily be killed with hand
washing. Insist kids wash their
hands with plain soap and
water around the house and
while at school.
3. Catch symptoms at the
onset To better chances of
nipping symptoms in the bud
be prepared by updating you
medicine cabinet with choice
that address early symptoms.
Also consider over-the-count
er options beyond antihista-


mines, decongestants or cough
suppressants since the U.S.
Food and Drug
Administration have ques-
tioned the safety and effec-
tiveness of these ingredients
for children. Oscillococcinum
(Oscillo), a homeopathic flu


3
r


)w

-u





Id






n
vo
[e

I-


s

ir


There are many ways parents can help
kids avoid illness.


Children's Chestal cough
syrup work safely and natural-
ly without causing side effects
or interacting with other med-
ications. The sweet taste of
the quick-dissolve pellets and
honey-based syrup are kid-
friendly and more appropriate
for younger ages than most
other drugs.
4. Pack some personals -
It's polite to share; it's not
polite to share germs. Smart
parents will pack a few items
like a small personal crayon
pack, an individual mini pencil
sharpener or mechanical pen-
cils to reduce kids sharing
germs. Packing a travel size
hand sanitizer and pocket
packet of tissue in their back-
pack is also a good way to
combat illness while they are
at school.


medicine used around the
world for 65 years, now offers Courtesy of ARAcontent
children cough, cold and flu
medicines. Children's
Coldcalm Pellets and

Jamaica introduces national

targets for literacy in schools


KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC
The Jamaica government is
to introduce new national tar-
gets for literacy in schools.
"Every primary school
principal, before the begin-
r ning of each school year, will
s be set a target for perform-
ance in literacy," Education
Minister Andrew Holness told
the House of Representatives
last month.
"The targets may be
adjusted upon appeal of the
principal, with valid explana-
tion and with the agreement
of the
Ministry (of
Education),
to a level
where it is
reasonable to t
the local cir-
cumstances
and resources
of the
school," he Holness
said.
But the education minis-
ter said that once the targets
have been agreed, they will
form part of the performance
appraisal system for the prin-
cipals. Holness said that
while literacy targets have not
been set for this year, they
would be done as soon as the
Grade Four Literacy Test
results are available.
Just under 50,000 students
across the island sat the Grade
Four Literacy Test on June 18.
The results will be made avail-
able in mid-August.


boards would be asked to
take action against principals
who consistently miss their
targets, where it is obvious
that the repeat rate is growing
in the school and where it is
apparent that there are no
intervention initiatives in the
school. He said that principals
must design programs and
mobilize parents and stake-
holders toward this effort.
"Where there is a genuine
lack of skill in conducting liter-
acy interventions on the part of
teachers, the Ministry stands
ready to support and coach.
Where there is a lack of knowl-
edge of structuring and design-
ing special intervention pro-
grams, the ministry stands
ready to assists," he told legis-
lators.
"However, where there is a
breakdown in staff morale, pro-
fessional misconduct, absen-
teeism, dereliction of duty, inef-
ficiency, incompetence, and
general disinterest, the princi-
pals must act, with the support
of their boards, to bring those
teachers to account."
Meanwhile, education offi-
cials have announced that a new
version of the United States
Agency for International
Development (USAID)/
Government of Jamaica
Expanding Education Horizons
program is now being designed.
The program is aimed at
enhancing curriculum delivery
and improving literacy and
numeracy in 71 primary schools.
0


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MIAMI3AD


ACTION
Holness said that school


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August 2009


I I


sc 11 00 t





CARIBBEAN TODAY


s c H0


W-w~crbbatoa. co


~ A Caribbean Today special feature


It's tug-o-war over the back-to-school budget


ack-to-school shopping
can be an exhausting
and expensive experi-
ence and many parents start
off on the wrong foot before
they even get to the store. But
there are simple ways to make
this annual shopping trip effi-
cient and affordable.
According to the National
Retail Federation, the average
American family spends $385
on school supplies for elemen-
tary school students the bulk
of which is being spent on
clothing, electronics, shoes
and school supplies. With
more families feeling the
pinch of the economy, that
simply isn't a feasible amount
to spend this year. Follow a
few simple tips and you can
save money and time.
Get a list from your
child's school
According to a recent sur-
vey from Healthtex Children's
Clothes and Trone, Inc., 39
percent of parents fail to
make a list of the back-to-
school items they need. Once
you've got a list, stick to it.


New project sh

students to mo
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad,
CMC The Barbados-based
Caribbean Examination
Council (CXC) has signed an
agreement with the Institute
of Critical Thinking at the
University of the West Indies
(UWI) that could result in a
"paradigm shift from role
learning and regurgitation to
real thinking".
CXC Chief Executive
Officer Dr. Didacus Jules,
speaking at last
month's signing
ceremony, said that
the syllabuses of 11
CXC subjects
would be reformed
drastically so as to
produce people
capable of making
meaningful contri-
butions to society.
"Over the last
10 years, regional
ministries and also
the private sector Students will
have been calling for think more.
a different type of
output by examination boards.
Employers are saying they want
people with a capacity to apply
their knowledge," he said.
The pilot project, to be
conducted over the next two
years, would focus on the fol-
lowing subject areas:
Caribbean Secondary
Examination Certificate
(CSEC) level, mathematics,
physics, biology, integrated
science, economics, Caribbean


Getting the most for a dollar is a major
challenge.
Thirty-five percent of parents
admit to purchasing school
clothing and supplies using the
"I see it, I like it, so I buy it"
motto, according to the sur-
vey. Why buy what your child
won't need?
Make a budget According to
the same survey, 45 percent of
parents do not make a back-
to-school shopping budget.
Use your list to figure out
what you absolutely need and
compare with your household
budget to determine how
much you can spend. Make it
a fun family activity to search
out the lowest prices on things
you need and give a small
prize to the person who saves
the most money.

lifting Caribbean

ire 'real thinking'
history, geography, social stud-
ies, principles of business, and
English A (language) and B
(literature) and literature in
English at the Caribbean
Advanced Proficiency
(CAPE) level.
EARLY START
Pro Vice-Chancellor of
Planning and Development at
UWI Dr. Bhoe Tewarie said
that various faculties and lec-
turers at the universi-
ty would be involved
in the new project.
"Critical
thinking needs to
start early, ideally in
primary school, after
pre-school exposure
has instilled self-con-
fidence as well as cre-
ativity in the child,"
he said noting that
the new process had
already started with
be asked to the School of
Education at the UWI
in Mona, Jamaica.
He said that the collabo-
ration between the institute
and CXC would make a quali-
tative difference to education
at the secondary level.
"It will have the positive
effect of improving evaluation
mechanisms, strengthening
curriculum, enhancing syllabus
and transforming pedagogy."
0


Affordable, fun clothing One
of the biLI back-to-school
expenses are new clothes.
Shopping summer sales can be
a great way to score bargains
on the outfits you need. Kids
will outgrow a $40 shirt just as
quickly as a $10 shirt, so think


affordability and durability.
Stick to stylish, durable, age-
appropriate clothing that's
always affordable like
Healthtex clothes. Each item
is only $8.
Added savings Buy school
supplies like notebooks,
paper, pens, binders, scissors


and glue in bulk at warehouse
stores for extra savings or
stock up when the dollar store
has them available. Whether
you're shopping online or in
the store, use coupons or
online coupon codes. You can
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 21)


The October issue of Caribbean Today will
feature a comprehensive examination of how the
healthcare industry serves the Caribbean community.
With a proven track record now
in our21styear of service to
readers in the United States and
the Caribbean Basin, Caribbean
Today reaches an audience of over
112,000 highly qualified readers. Th
have median household income of $63,
and enjoy a higher disposable income.
19% have a college degree, 32% nave some
college. In today's economy, our readers are highly
esteemed. 59.6% own their own homes. 76t% are
between 25-54 years of age (readership study conducted by
Circulation Verification Council
Caribbean Today is uniquely positioned to deliver product, retail and services messages to a community
with whichit s identified. Miami Dade Communications Department ranks Caribbean Today sixth overall
out of the72 publicationsthat it does business with, and number one, as a Black publication.
BE A PART OF THIS SPECIAL EDITION
Cal Now to spek to an advertising associate.

CwibRVaiayn
1-800-605-7516, 305-238-2868, Fax 305-252-7843
mail: sales@caribbeantoday.com
DEADUNE IS SEPTEMBER 30TH, 2009


Most of us try to attract other people by the friends
A N WK we keep and the way we carry ourselves. If you
A N VEIA L K are going to a party or a formal function, don't you
dress well? We all want to promote a favorable
impression of ourselves to other people we meet
and talk to.
If we agree on that, then think of this. Why should it
be any different for your business? If you want to
project a favorable image of your company, in
order to win customers, you should keep your com-
pany with good friends and... dress your company
well in...



Peter A. Webley,ca i e n a
Publisher Consistently credible
For information, please call
305-238-2868, or fax 305-252-7843


T O


I


August 2009


INFII"-
B n C K







CARIBBEAN TODAY


Er *. r....!Hl


August 2009





CARIBBEAN TODAY


T O


s c100


~ A Caribbean Today special feature


Tips to keep kids safe online


The end of summer
means it's time to head
back to school. It also
means kids are spending more
time online prepping for the


With the cost of food,
fashion and living
steeply on the rise in
the United States, it is no sur-
prise that college tuition costs
are also greatly increasing
from year to year.
Students and their fami-
lies paid on average from $108
to $1,398 more in the 2008-09
school year than the previous
year for tuition and fees, a
trend that is likely to continue
well past 2009, according to
the College Board.
Here are some simple
ways your family can save
money while still getting
everything you need for going
back to college:

* Don't double up Call your
roommate(s) and coordinate
who is bringing what. No sense
splurging on a microwave if
your roommate is already
planning to bring one.


* Smaller is better Buying in
bulk may seem like a good
idea, but food can go bad,
storage is limited, and it's easy
for bulk items to go to waste.
Buy only what you need when
you need it, and if you want
more, go back.

* From trash to treasure For
furniture and items like lamps,
desks and bedside tables, shop
at garage sales. Prices are
cheaper to begin with since
the items are used, and you
can negotiate.

RE-STOCKING
For one-stop shopping for
everything else on a budget,
most college campuses feature
at least one mass retailer with-
in a 10-mile radius: from Wal-
Mart, Target and Kmart to
Bed Bath and Beyond. Now
when students and their fami-
lies stock up on everything
from school supplies to toi-


letries, they can also re-stock
their wardrobes.
"Many people don't think
of Target as denim destina-
tion," says Jenifer DeSofi,
senior merchant for Signature
by Levi Strauss & Co. Men's
Department. "We created a
line of stylish, high-quality
jeans for men in a variety of
popular fits like the Slim
Straight, Loose and Bootcut.
All our jeans are available for
under $30 to answer the needs
of the value-minded con-
sumer."
Authentics Signature by
Levi Strauss & Co. jeans are
available at Target stores and
for men and kids. All styles
retail for under $30. Visit
www.signaturebylevistrauss.co
m/us for more information.

- Courtesy of ARA content


avoid online Ir,,LiL,"
Teach your kids to stay
away from free downloads
like screensavers, surveys and
online club registrations.
Many of these I rL s ", like
games and wallpaper, include
hidden spyware and adware
programs. These can monitor
keystrokes, track Internet
logins and transmit confiden-
tial information.
Lock your valuables -
protect against viruses and
malware
Some e-mails contain
harmful software that can dam-
age your computer or track
your Internet activities all
without you knowing. Anti-
virus and anti-spyware software
as well as a two-way firewall
will protect you from inadver-
tently accepting unwanted files
attached to e-mails.
Hall monitors needed -
be aware of all online activi-
ties Help your kids be respon-
sible online by blocking inap-
propriate sites and preventing
risky online activity.
For tips on keeping your
computer and kids safe, please
visit www.mcafee.com/advice.

- Courtesy of ARA content
0


upcoming school year, finish-
ing summer homework lists
and reconnecting with sum-
mer friends.
Likewise, cybercriminals
are online targeting them
through e-mail, IM and phish-
ing scams, and even trying to
make contact on social net-
working sites, blogs and chat
rooms. What's a parent to do?
But parents don't need to
worry. Experts at computer
security company McAfee
have some simple ways to
keep kids safe online so par-
ents can have peace of mind.
There's no free lunch -


It's tug-o-war over the back-to-school budget
(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19) out the door, "shop" around notebooks you'd stocked up
save hundreds of dollars on your house first. You'd be on earlier, and then put away
the clothing and supplies on amazed what you can find and forgotten about.
your list. when you look around in
your drawers and in the back of Courtesy of ARAcontent
Stop before you hit the your closet. You may even
store Before you even head find a bounty of pens and


How to save when college costs rise


August 2009


W-www.caribbeantoday.com


INFII"-
B n C K





CARIBBEAN TODAY


...... r.. ....







.... .... i.












NSU. A World of Difference.
Whether studying business, education, medicine, computer science or other fields, the students at
Nova Southeastern University match the ethnic diversity and cultural mix that make South Florida stand
apart. More African-American and Hispanic students earned their doctoral degrees here than any other
university in the nation. That same diversity is also reflected in NSU's faculty, staff and alumni. And NSU
continues to receive high rankings as one of the best environments for minority students, including best
law school by Hispanic Outlook for Higher Education magazine. It's the union of diverse backgrounds
and traditions that makes for a more enriching university experience and truly brings the world together.





N VA SOUTHEASTERN
N UNIVERSITY
YOUR FUTURE. YOUR TERMS.SH
www.nova.edu 800-541-NOVA Fort Lauderdale-Davie (Main Campus)


I


August 2009






CARIBBEAN TODAY


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BURIED IN CREDIT CARD DEBT Over $10,000.


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FOR SALE

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buy direct from manufacturer. 20 colors in stock
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down 15 years @ 8% apr. For listings
1-800-366-9783 Ext 5460


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down 15 years @ 8% apr. For listings 1-800-
366-9783 Ext 5597

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down 15 years @ 8% apr. For listings
1-800-366-9783 Ext 5197

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$10,000! $199/Mo!
For listings 800-366-9783 ext 5461.

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$48,900! $476/Mo! For
listings 800-366-9783 ext 5466.

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great timber/ land investment tract. 478-987-
9700 St. Regis Paper Co.

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Call now 800-446-5830

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apr For Listings 800-366-9783 ext 5558

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apr For Listings 800-366-9783 ext 5638

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from $2250/acre.
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Buyer Pays Commission! Ask How. Premier
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Vacation Tours 2 night / 3 day stay only $49
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3Bdrm 2Ba Only $199/Mo! Buy, $10,500!! 4Br
$27,500! 5% down 30years 8%. HUD Homes
Available! for listings 800-366-9783 ext 5639

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$28,900! 5% down 30years 8%. HUD Homes
Available! for listings 800-366-9783 ext 5781

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$28,900! 5% down 30years 8%. HUD Homes
Available! for listings 800-366-9783 ext 5947

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Acura Integra 97 $800! Nissan Sentra 00 $500!
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For listings Call 800-366-9813 ext N580

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For listings call 800-366-9813 ext 9480

Police Impounds for Sale! Honda Accord 97
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Jeeps and More from $500! For listings Call
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$500! Police Impounds for Sale!
Cars/Trucks/SUVs from $500! Many Makes and
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listings call 800-366-9813 ext 9482

ARRESTED? Seriously injured in an auto acci-
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CONVENIENT STORE FOR LEASE Immokalee.
Please Call The Following Voicemail Number. 1-
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DIVORCE$300* NEVER UNDERSOLD! Covers
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6000 ext. 700 Baylor and Associates, ext.
1973 Money Back Guarantee

Stuart, Florida Waterfront Condo 2/2 ground
floor end unit. Deep water dock, North Fork, St.
Lucie River, heated pool, covered parking, quiet
neighborhood, close to downtown. Estate sale,
price just reduced $259,000 772-692-9017


1-595 EXPRESS PROJECT

Dragados-USA, Inc. is seeking qualified, capable, certified DBE contractors
specializing in heavy civil roadway and bridge construction for the 1-595 Expansion
Project. We anticipate to award contracts in the following areas including but not
limited to; Heavy Bridge Construction, Excavation, Earthwork, MSE Walls, Barrier
Walls, Sound Walls, Highway Asphalt Paving, Jack & Bores, Water & Sewer,
Roadway Lighting, Signalization, Structural Steel, Roadway Striping, Roadway
Drainage, Directional Bores, Trucking, On Site and Off Site Hauling,

At the present time Dragados-USA, Inc. is in the design and permitting stages and
will make plans specification packages available by specific scope of work as the
plans are completed.

Please email or fax Dragados USA, Inc. if your company is interested in being a potential bidder,
your area of Interest, along with a copy of your company's certification. Email Address:
l196ContractAdmln@Dragadoe-USA.com or via fax: 964-827-2336. Dragados USA, Inc. Is an Equal
Opportunity Employer


August 2009


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PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE P AID MIAMI, FL PERMIT NO. 7315 V ol.20 No.9 AUGUST 2009 Tel: (305 1-800-605-7516 editor@caribbeantoday .com ct_ads@bellsouth.net Jamaica: 655-1479 W e cover your world INSIDEConvicted dr ug dealer Emmanuel Ganpot could have been a free man by now. But sixyears ago hejumped bondand fled the United States. Now the Grenadian faces 115 years in prison when he re-appears in aFlorida cour t for sentencing this month, page 4. United States President Barack Obama has signaled that there will be no immediate change to policies regarding Cuba and Haiti, two of Washingtonsclosest Caribbean neighbors,page 6. News......................................................2 Arts/Entertainment..............................7 Viewpoint..............................................9 T&T Focus............................................11 FYI........................................................16 Books....................................................17 Back To School..................................18 Classified............................................23 THE MULTI AWARD-WINNING NEWS MAGAZINE CALL CARIBBEAN TODAY DIRECT FROM JAMAICA 655-1479 A 49-year-old Guyanese man is America’s latest millionaire. Aubrey Boyce, a Metropolitan Transportation Authority employee from Queens, New York, won $133 million in the Mega Millions game last month, page 2.Author Stacyann Chinfound that herliberation wasnot so easilyaccepted backhome. Her memoir reveals her trials, pitfalls and triumphs, exposingsome of the hidden ‘rituals’ andguises the gay and lesbian community go through to sur-vive in a Jamaica she sees ashomophobic, page 17. ~ Defiant Cuba r efuses to budge to U.S. pr essur e. President Raul Castro, right, says there are no plans to scrap the communist revolution his brother Fidel, br ought to the Caribbean island, page 2. ~ Dr . Marcia Magnus is one of the forces behind the recently published “Caribbean American Immigrant Resour ce Guide to South Florida”, which of fers this bur geoning group valuable information that promises to help bridge the gaps they face in the United States, page 3. August2009.qxd 8/6/09 7:42 PM Page 1

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LOS ANGELES, Califor nia United States federal law enforcement officials lastmonth raided the of fice of the Grenadian-born personal doc-tor of the latepop singerMichaelJackson. Ed Chernoff, the lawyer for Dr.ConradMur ray , who grew up in Trinidad andT obago, said authorities wer e looking for evidence to support manslaughter charges. “The search warrant authorized law enforcement to search for and seize items,including documents, theybelieved constituted evidence of the offense of manslaugh-ter ,” he said. Chernoff said U.S. Drug Enfor cement Administration (DEAAngeles police left the Armstrong Medical Clinicwith “a for ensic image” of a computer hard drive and 21documents. The raid came a day after Chernoff said authorities also wanted to interview the doctor again. “The coroner wants to clear up the cause of death. We share that goal,” he said. ‘HARASSED’ Cher nof f said Mur ray returned to his home in Las Vegas, Nevada, and walks around with a full-time bodyguard because he is “harassed no matter where he goes.” Jackson, 50, died June 25 after Murray reportedly foundhim unconscious in bed withonly a faint pulse. Mur ray said he performed CPR on the superstar during a chaotic 20 or 30 minutes that preceded a 911 call from Jackson’s rentedmansion. Police later r ecover ed prescription drugs and a stash of the powerful anaestheticpr opofol, used only in hospital settings. Chernoff said Murray should not be a tar get of crim inal charges. “Dr. Murray was the last doctor standing when MichaelJackson died, and it seems all the fury is directed toward him,” Chernoff said. W ASHINGTON, D.C. – Seven Trinidadians, including a former member of theT rinidad and T obago Defence Force elite Special Forces Unit, face the possibility oflife imprisonment withoutpar ole after they wer e found guilty of murdering a United States war veteran while he was on holiday in Trinidadfour years ago. Former soldier Ricardo De Four , along with Zion Clarke, Kevon Demerieux, Anderson Straker , W ayne Pierre, Christopher Sealey and Kevin Nixon had beenextradited to face char ges of murdering Balram Maharaj, 62, who was kidnapped out-side a bar on April 6, 2005. The pr osecution’ s case was that Maharaj was held hostage under very harsh con-ditions, including deprivinghim of essential medications,while his abductors demanded NEW YORK A 49-year -old Guyanese man is America’ s latest millionaire. Aubrey Boyce, a Metropolitan Transportation Authority employee from Queens, New York, is thewinner of the $133 millionMega Millions jackpot. He bought his ticket at a Jamaica, Queens store on July7, quick pick style. “Shocked and still a little ner vous about the whole thing; that’s how I feel,” said the eight-year MTA veteran. s still very much a dream, adr eam come tr ue.” Boyce also revealed he and his wife have not sleptmuch since the mor ning he discovered his numbers, 25, 27, 35, 38, 39, and (Mega Ball was the sole winning ticket. Late last month he received his giant check on abalcony inside the Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan. He said he is still in shock overhis change of for tunes and now plans to go fishing somewhere war m. After signing the ticket, Boyce said he immediatelylocked it up in a safe depositbox. It was weeks later thatBoyce and his wife of 15 years, Francis, said they were finally ready to come forward abouttheir news. His after tax total is a bit above $54.6 million. Shiv Convenience, the Jamaica grocery store whereBoyce pur chased the winning ticket, received a $10,000 bonus from the New York Lottery Commission for sellingthe winning Mega MillionsJackpot ticket. CaribW orldNews HA VANA, Cuba, CMC President Raul Castro has declared that he is open todiscuss all issues with theUnited States, but emphasized that there are no plans to change Cuba’s communist sys-tem of gover nment. Addr essing the Cuban National Assembly on Aug. 1, Castro expressed ire over repeated comments by United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that Washingtonexpected Havana to scrap com munism in or der to improve relations between the two neighbors. “I have to say with all due respect to Mrs. Clintontheydidn’ t elect me president to restore capitalism in Cuba, nor to hand over the r evolution,” Castr o said. “I was elected to defend, maintain and continue perfecting socialism, not destroy it,” he added. “W e are ready to talk about everything, butnot to negotiate ourpolitical and social system.” ‘DOOMED’ IDEA Castro, who formally took over the pr esidency from his ailing br other Fidel last year, also scoffed at critics who have predicted that theSpanish-speaking Caribbean country’s political system will crumble after “the death ofFidel and all of us. “If that’ s how they think, they are doomed to failure.” However, Cuba’s president conceded that U.S. President Barack Obama hasbeen less “aggr essive” than his predecessor George W. Bush with r egards to Cuba. s true there has been a diminution of the aggr ession and anti-Cuban r hetoric on the part of the administration,” Castro said. He repeated Cuba’s willingness “to sustain a respect-ful dialogue with the U.S.,between equals.” But henoted that while Obama saidhe wants to “r ecast” relations with Cuba and has eased the 47-year-old embargo by allowing Cuban Americans to travel and send money freely to the island, overall, the embar-go r emained intact. No rush to c hange U.S. policy on Cuba and Haiti, says Obama.Story on page 6. U.S.cops raid office of Michael Jackson’s Caribbean-born doctorT rinis f ace life imprisonment for murder of U.S. war veteranGuy anese wins $133M lotto jackpot in New YorkNo plans to scrap Cuba’s communism ~ President Castro 2 CARIBBEAN TODAYAugust 2009 NEWS NEWS www.caribbeantoday.com (CONTINUED ON PAGE 4) F idel Castro led the communist revolution in Cuba. Raul Castro is determined to keep Cuba’ s communist system alive. 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DA WN A. DAVIS W ith a push to have a Caribbean categor y added to the United States Census, the Caribbean American commu-nity is showing its numbers, strength and proud identity. South Florida’s growing Caribbean community, partic-ularly in Br oward County, is especially vocal and active. But, this immigrant gr oup is not always represented and sometimes sidelined in mainstream media, government agencies and halls of justice. The r ecently published “Caribbean American Immigrant Resource Guide toSouth Florida” of fers this bur geoning group valuable information that promises to helpbridge the gap, par ticularly for Florida residents. Written by thr ee Caribbean American leaders, the guide of fers advice on becoming politically savvy, what it takes to be a wise consumer, children’s edu-cation and mental health. “These are the topics which traditionally r eceive minimal emphasis in the main stream and Caribbean print and electronic media,” Dr. Marcia Magnus, the brainchildbehind the guide and one ofthe contributors, explained to Caribbean Today . “But it tur ns out that how we spend our money , the quality of our children’s education, how we par ticipate in the American political process, and how we transcend life’s challenges are the long-termquality of life issues.” DOCUMENT ATION Magnus, a tenur ed associate professor of dietetics and nutrition at Florida International University, decided to create this guide after years of searching for answers and “bucking up” onsome that had no documenta tion. This is not the first such guide produced by the Magnus. In 2000 she authoredseveral voters’ guides for Caribbean Americans offeringcritical infor mation about candidates endorsed byCaribbean AmericanPolitically Active Citizens, an action group she founded.Those guides pr oved invaluable to many , as is the hope for this new publication. “This 37-page guide needs to be digested, one page at atime,” Magnus said. “This guide really constitutes a callfor values clarification. It asksus to decide on the toughquestions about the dif ference between wants and needs. It asks us to question and discard useless beliefs which no longer serve us in this community, especially about mental health services. “I cer tainly hope this guide will be just as indispen sable to the South Florida Caribbean American commu-nity as the voters’ guides. Our numbers are increasing, most obviously in Broward County where Caribbean Americans constitute 50 percent of theblack community . But if the quality of life of our childr en does not exceed that of their parents, then we have reallylost the battle. The unmet information needs abouthow to get the best education for our childr en, the best city, county , state and national parks, how to spend money in short-term versus investing in the long-term all call for ourattention.” SA VVY In these harsh economic times, the section on being a“Consumer Savvy” citizen is timely. Magnus warns about living on credit and counsels consumers to be aware of thedaily bar rage of advertisements that bombar d us thr ough telemarketing, television, newspapers, magazines, etc. Be a comparison shopper , she urges, and learn the differ-ence between “needs” and“wants”. “Caribbean people have a long histor y of sacrifice but the daily bar rage of 3,000 American adver tisements makes it difficult to separate needs fr om wants,” she said. “Caribbean American U.S.-based scholars launch Caribbean American resource guide August 2009CARIBBEAN TODAY 3 NEWS NEWS www .caribbeantoday.com Magnus (CONTINUED ON PAGE 6) U.S.thanks Bermuda over detainee issue HAMILTON, Bermuda, CMC – Secretary of State HillaryClinton has sent a letter to Premier Ewart Brown thank-ing him for agr eeing to r esettle four Chinese Muslim Uighurs who were recently releasedfr om a United States deten tion center in Cuba after seven years. “I hope that your courageous action will inspire others to step forward and join us inthe ongoing ef for t to close Guantanamo Bay... Indeed, Bermuda’s leadershipsignificantlyadvanced thatef for t”, Clinton wrote. Brown has had to wade offcriticism overhis decision, particularly after it was dis-cover ed that neither the British gover nment nor his Cabinet had been con-sulted prior to the ar rival of the Muslims. The premier survived a motion of no confi dence filed by the Opposition United Bermuda Party (UBPand London announced that itwas r eviewing the general entrustment agreement it has had with the OverseasT erritory since 1968, when inter nal self-government was intr oduced here. But the premier’s decision has been praised by many oth ers, the inter national human rights organizations Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Brown August2009.qxd 8/6/09 7:43 PM Page 3

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a TT$3 million ($500,000 ransom from his family. Themoney was never paid, but hisdismember ed body was locat ed by Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI and local law enforcement officers on Jan. 8, 2006, in a forest in Trinidad. FATE The men were expected to know their fates at theirsentencing, scheduled forearly this month. But media reports in Trinidad quote law enforcement officials there as saying that an agreemententer ed between the U.S. and the of fice of the attor ney gen eral could see the convicted men facing mandatory sentences of life without the possibility of parole. Late last month T&T’ s acting Deputy PoliceCommissioner Gilber t Reyes confirmed the life sentences against the accused and commended local officers for their role in the investiga-tions. “I must say that they did extr emely well in assisting in the successful prosecution ofthe accused and they must behighly commended for thepr ofessionalism displayed thr oughout the inquir y ,” he said. The trial, which started on May 26, took place at the U.S. District Court in Washington D.C. before Judge John DBates. The men had all plead ed not guilty to the charges. Initially , 12 persons had been char ged with the kidnap ping and murder of Balram. However, David Suchit, whowas extradited in 2007, was found not guilty by a 12-member jury in the U.S. Four others entered plea bargains and testi-fied against the accused men. However , two others, including Balram’ s for mer common-law wife Dor een Alexander Durity and another member of the Special Forces Unit, Ricardo Stevenson, are awaiting trial for murder in Trinidad after Chief Magistrate Sherman McNicolls ruled that a prima facie case was estab-lished against them. RA WLE TITUS ST . GEORGE’S, Grenada Convicted drug dealer Emmanuel Ganpot could have been a free manon Aug. 4. Six years ago, hepr omised Florida circuit Judge Dee Anna Far nell that he would appear in her court for sentencing on drug related charges. Instead, he jumped bond and fled to Eur ope, changed his name and lived the high lifein France, England, and Spain. Now Ganpot, 36, faces a maximum prison ter m of 115 years when he re-appears in court for sentencing on Aug. 13. But his actions may have a lasting ef fect on politics in Grenada, where his stepfather, Jimmy Bristol, was forced to submit his resignation from the 13-month old Tillman Thomas government. Bristol acknowledged that he had used stationery from his office to write a letter to U.S.authorities appealing for alighter sentence for Ganpot. In his letter, Bristol wrote “we all er r fr om time to time and should not have our lives com pletely destr oyed by one slip up. “Emmanuel was befriended by the wrong people and has found himself in his present predicament”, he added. TRANSGRESSON But the government said he had transgressed andBristol, a for mer pr esident of the Grenada Bar Association (GBA responsibility for what he described as an er ror of judgment and apologized to the prime minister. “That was an error of judgment...for which I acceptfull r esponsibility for the fall out. It has nothing to do with the government and indeedin a meeting with the prime minister I accepted that responsibility and apologizefor the fall out that it hascaused,” said Bristol. Gover nment’s Press Secretary Richard Simon said that raging debate that has resulted from Bristol’s resig-nation under scor es the commitment of PrimeMinisterThomas to lead a transparent admin-istration in a country where allegations of corruption in government arenever far fr om the surface. “What this shows is the commitment of PrimeMinister Thomas to keep his promise to the Grenadianpeople in the context of pr otecting the institutions of the land and ensuring ther e is respect for those institutions,”Simon said as he justified the prime minister’s request forBristol to step down. “I think this is the first real test of that and the prime minister has certainly fulfilled that obligation.” The ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC had campaigned on a platform of transpar ency and good governance and, according to Anslem Francis, a lecturer in international relations at theSt. Geor ge’s University here, “the prime minister has raisedthe bar ver y high, maybe higher than it has ever been. “Now of course, in the interest ofgood gover nance onewants to knowthat high moral and ethical standardsar e being maintained in public af fairs. However, if we are not very careful we may very well be without a government in the sense that probably every Monday morning, somebody may have to resign.” Even though he had indicated that he would haveaccepted the consequences of his error, Bristol was critical ofthe r equest for him to hand in his resignation. “The request was prematur e,” he noted. “It was done without the consultation of the full Cabinet and withoutdue consideration of all r ele vant matters. I was not writing as attorney general but as step father to identify myself. You must identify who you are”. NO T CONVINCED But Elvin Nimrod, former attorney general and minister of legal affairs, is not convinced by Bristol’s argument. “I am sure this (his letter to U.S. authorities) was done intentionally to give weight to his statement. This is not only a conflict of interest, it is a very terrible thing,” saidNimr od, who last month was elected deputy political leaderof the main Opposition New National Party (NNP o plead now that is an error in judgment that cannotbe accepted at all. He has implicated a whole govern-ment and has br ought disrepute on the governmentand a whole country But Bristol has his sup por ters, including Chester Humphrey, alegislator andoutspokentrade unionist. “The resignation is a tempest in a tea cup,” Humphr ey said. “It’s very unfortunate that the attorney generalr esigned. Had I been the prime minister I would not accept the resignation of the attor ney general on the basis of what has happened.” Humphr ey, who campaigned for the NDC in the last elections, said that the for mer attorney general was not seek-ing to bribe the U.S. judge. “He was not engaged in a dishonest act,” Humphr ey added. “He was not even pr e tending that the appeal was made by the gover nment of Grenada.” Francis said there is need now to “clearly define the cir-cumstances in which we thinkmembers of gover nment should r esign if a member of government has acted improperly. “I don’t think it should be because there is any error of judgment. I don’t think this is going to take us too far. Whatwe have to guar d against is the misapplication of a ver y good principle.” REVENGE But supporters of the NNP ar e not convinced and ar e delighted at the problems confronting Bristol, who they say had been at the forefront of efforts to disgrace their leader Dr. Keith Mitchell. Last year, Bristol told a news conference that he had inhis possession a letter fr om the U.S. Department of Justice confirming that then PrimeMinister Mitchell was still an American citizen, contrary to the laws of Grenada on persons holding high political of fice. But in an immediate r esponse, U.S. Charge d’Affaires in Gr enada Kar en Jo McIsaac, r efuted the statement saying that Mitchell’s U.S. citizenship ended when he first became prime minister on June 20, 1995. CMC U.S.fugitive sparks AG’s resignation,political tension in Grenada 4 CARIBBEAN TODAYAugust 2009 NEWS NEWS www.caribbeantoday.com Ganpot Bristol Nimrod T rinis f ace life imprisonment for murder of U.S.war veteran (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2) August2009.qxd 8/6/09 7:43 PM Page 4

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KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC The ruling Jamaica LabourPar ty (JLP fer ed another setback after the Supr eme Cour t r uled late last month that the seat held by its Member of Parliament for North West Clarendon,Michael Ster n, should be declar ed null and void. The motion to declare the seat vacant had been br ought by the Opposition People’s National Par ty’ s (PNP d Azan. During submissions on July 27, Azan’s attorney AbeDabdoub ur ged the cour t to declare the seat vacant based onStern’s admission that hewas a United States citizen onAug. 7, 2007, when he wasnominated to contest the gen eral election of that year . Dabdoub told the court that Ster n has admitted that he was the holder of a U.S passport andthat he travelled on the passpor t ever ywhere, except in the Caribbean. He told the cour t that the seat should be turned over toAzan. However, Stern’s attorney, while admitting that his client was not pr operly elected, sug gested that a by-election be held instead of the seat being turned over to the Oppositioncandidate. PNP SUCCESS So far, the PNP has br ought two successful cour t actions over dual citizenship against JLP legislators, but thepar ty has lost the subsequent by-elections, effectively ensuring that the r uling par ty main tains its slim four -seat majority in the 60-member Parliament. The PNP has filed another petition against the JLP’ s Shahine Robinson,the Member of Parliament forNor th East St Ann. Meanwhile, JLP General Secr etar y Karl Samuda said his par ty could make a deci sion on theoutcome of talks with the PNP r egarding the matter of dual citizenship. Both major political parties have been in discussions to find a solution that would putan end to the spate of by-elec tions. MIAMI – The death toll from a boating accident of f the T urks and Caicos Islands climbed to 16 after rescue officials found another bodylate last month. Up to pr ess time United States Coast Guar d officials said at least 70 Haitian migrants wer e still missing. “The main point is that we continue to search with thehope we will find sur-vivors,” saidPetty Of ficer JenniferJohnson,adding “how ever as time continues topass, thechance to find survivors is dwindling.” So far 119 passengers have been rescued after the boat,with nearly 200 persons sankas it tried to evade a police vessel and hit a reef. The authorities said that one survivor had also been found onJuly 29 on the nearby island of West Caicos DESPERA TION In their desperate attempt to r each the U.S., Haitians often use rickety, overcrowded boats to make the dangerous journey. In May 2007, an overcrowded boat carrying over 160 Haitians capsized of f the T urks and Caicos Islands, killing many, and last year a boat carrying 30 Haitians sank off the Florida’ s coast, killing nine people. Miamibased HaitiancommunityactivistMarleineBastien saidthe tragedyunderscor es the need for the Haitian gov er nment to do a better job at monitoring its borders. Democratic Congressman Alcee Hastings, a Haitianadvocate, called the incident a “sad reminder of the hopeless-ness and desperation facing the Haitian people,” renewinghis call for temporar y protected status (TPS migrants. He said it was “immoral and irresponsible”to continue to deny TPS tothe estimated 30,000 Haitians living illegally in the U.S., noting that hurricanes and aneconomic crisis have “practi cally dried up the r emittances on which so many Haitian families rely BRADES, Montserrat, CMC – Montserrat’s Chief Minister Dr. Lowell Lewis says theelection of Barack Obama asthe 44th pr esident of the United States has completed the journey from the humiliation of slaver y to the “very top of our civilization.” In a message marking Emancipation Day recently, Dr. Lewis said that Obamaand members of his family “are the symbol of emancipa-tion in today’ s world. “Fr om their example our children and grandchildren will know, that they can and must try to become all that they can be and not worry about those people who say that they cannot or will not.” He said while in Montserrat and many places around the world many races live together in harmony, “there is still much work to be done to make theEmancipation that took placer eal. “The cost of transfor ming the Caribbean economies fr om the sugar estates which contributed to the industrial development of Europe and North America, to the modern diversified economies wehave today , is yet to be repaid. The write off of nationaldebts, as r eparation for generations of suf fering and lost lives, is still a justifiabledemand.” U.S.citizenship costs Jamaica’s ruling party another election seatHaitian death toll rises from boating accidentObama’s victory a symbol of emancipation from slavery ~ Montserrat’s chief minister August 2009CARIBBEAN TODAY 5 NEWS NEWS www .caribbeantoday.com Bastien Hastings Lewis August2009.qxd 8/6/09 7:43 PM Page 5

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WASHINGSTON, D.C. – United States PresidentBarack Obama has signaledthat ther e will be no immediate change to policies r egarding Cuba and Haiti, two of Washington’s closestCaribbean neighbors. Regarding Cuba, Obama said while he is open to more overtures to the Spanish-speaking nation, it must firstshow signs of changing itscommunist policies. e’re not there yet,” he said about the possibility of fur ther advances toward Cuba, such as lifting additional restric-tions on travel to the island. e think it’s important to see progress on issues of political liberalization, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, release of politicalprisoners in or der for there to be the full possibility of nor-malization between our twocountries,” Obama toldr eporters, while discussing efforts to overhaul the U.S. healthcar e system. URGED Several members of Congr ess and Cuban advocate groups, including the leading association that promotes student travel to and from the U.S., have urged Obama to remove what they said arer estrictive r egulations on aca demic and other “purposeful” travel to Cuba imposed byfor mer US Pr esident George W. Bush in 2004. In April, Obama lifted travel and gift restrictions for those with relatives in Cuba and eased restrictions on U.S. telecommunications firms todo business ther e. Last month, the U.S. administration alsor esumed talks with Cuban officials on what Obama called a “narrow set of issues,”chiefly migration. But the U.S. president said further stepsmay take time. Obama, however, said if his administration sees progress on those “government-to-government conver-sations,” then they can bebr oadened. e’re taking it step by step, seeing if, as we changesome of the old appr oaches that we’ve been taking, we ar e seeing some movement on the Cuban government side,” hesaid. “I don’t think it’s going to be happening over night,” he added. “I think it’s going to bea work in pr ogress.” TPS UNDECIDED At the same time, the U.S. pr esident said he remained undecided about granting tem porary protected status (TPS to tens of thousands ofHaitians living illegally in his country. Obama said while he is “very sympathetic” to the immigration issue, it could be part of a large effort to over-haul the nation’ s immigration laws. He said his administration is still reviewing U.S. poli-cy on depor ting the estimated 30,000 undocumented Haitians and would not commit to whether he supports allowing undocumented Haitian migrants to stay and work in the United States temporarily. Haitian advocates and a host of congr essional representatives have called on theU.S. administration to addHaiti to the list of nationswhose citizens in the United States receive the TPS desig-nation. Obama said the review is yet to be completed, adding: “So I’m not prepared to make news here today.” He, however, said he was “ver y sympathetic to the fact that Haiti has gone through very difficult times (and a sudden influx of people from Florida back into Haiti would be a potential humanitarian problem.” The U.S. president noted that many Haitians have “putdown r oots” in the U.S., sug gesting that a resolution to the situation in Haiti was “goingto be par t of a br oader conversation about immigration.” In June, Obama invited U.S. House of Representatives and Senate leaders to the White House to kick off efforts to overhaul the immigrationlaws. Cur rently, Homeland Security Secr etary Janet Napolitano is working withlawmakers on the issue, and White House officials said they would like to see legislationpass this fall or early next year . No rush to change policies regarding Cuba,Haiti ~ Obama 6 CARIBBEAN TODAYAugust 2009 NEWS NEWS www.caribbeantoday.com women spend hundreds of dollars on nail care, hair care without assessing whetherthese ar e needs or wants. These same women have cho-sen to devote zer o dollars on the educational enrichment of their childr en books, checking out library books, visits to local museums. Which will have the greatest long-term impact?” The chapter on education serves up critical advice for parents. Written by Dr. LloydCohen, a community activist with a career that began at Mico Teachers’ College in Jamaica, the Barry University educator urges parents to take active part in their children’seducation. Critical to a child’ s learning process, Cohen gives practical tips and a checklistto help par ents get more deeply involved. The suggestions are hands-on and simple, from providing a quiet place for a child to study, to askingthe right questions andr ewar ding to help maintain motivation. The addition of important websites and telephone num-bers to r esour ces that suppor t pr e-K all the way up to college level programs provesindispensable. The educator also stresses the importance ofstr ong social and development skills in a child’ s education. HOLISTIC The guide’ s holistic approach also takes into consideration the family’s mentalhealth. Dr . Joan Muir, a Broward County-based psychiatrist who specializes in family therapy and relationships, pr ovides advice for immigrants who traditionallyfr own upon psychological services. ell, it is really a question of what’s working,”Magnus quips. “A typicalr esponse to psychological illhealth in friends and familymembers is denial. Sometimeswe have to tr y dif ferent options until we get the results that we want. You might evenneed to tr y multiple therapists until resolution and forgive-ness come. In any case, haven’t we all experimentedwith some ‘mad behaviors’?” T o help alleviate fears Dr . Muir outlines the differencesbetween the various categories of mental health practitionersand gives advice on how tochoose the right pr ofessional for particular issues. She even suggests seeking out a therapist that matches one’s racialor ethnic gr oup to help estab lish a tr usting r elationship. Indeed, the “Caribbean American Immigrant Resource Guide to SouthFlorida” is all about building strong family and communitybonds. It acknowledges the Caribbean American immi-grant cultur e, yet also ur ges stepping outside the walls of tradition to embrace the resources available in anadopted countr y like the U.S. The guide is available in libraries acr oss Dade and Br oward counties in Caribbean American communities. Dawn A. Da vis is a freelance writer for Caribbean Today. U.S.-based scholars launch Caribbean American resource guide Obama (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3) August2009.qxd 8/6/09 7:43 PM Page 6

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Acultural mix of live musical and dance performances, drama productions, food and exhibitions celebrating the life of a Jamaican national her o will be featured at the Marcus Garvey RootzExtravaganza” this month inSouth Florida. The two-day event, focus ing on the achievements of Marcus Garvey, begins Aug. 15 at the Joseph C. CarterPark, 1450 W est Sunrise Boulevar d in Fort Lauderdale. The first day’s programof activities starts at 2p.m. on theoutside stage.The specialhighlight of the extravaganzawill be an appearance by Garvey impersonator RonSome of the world’s most beautiful women willpr owl the catwalk as models during a fashion show in The Bahamasthis month. The “Fashion Show of the MissUniverse Pageant” isscheduled for Aug. 12at the Sheraton Nassau Beach Resort. Show promoters pr omise a unique feature: 88 contestants from the 58thMiss UniversePageant, fr om countries ranging fromAlbania to Zambia, will be outfitted by three Bahamian designers utilizing locally-manu factured fabrics of Androsia and Bahama hand prints for their cr eations. “Not only is this significant as thefirst time that TheBahamas is hostingthe Miss UniversePageant, but alsobecause the fashionshow will featur e another aspect of the islands’ cr eativity and cultur e as displayed in fashion,” Owen Bethel, chairman of the hostplanning committeeand pageant coor dinator, was quoted as saying in a r ecent press release. “This will certainly have the potential of catapulting the local fashion industry into the international spotlight. It isimpor tant for other designers and novices to take advantageof this and continue to build onthe oppor tunity The thr ee designers chosen after an open call are: Rachel Turnquest-Garcia, of Rachel’sBoutique; Basheva Eve of LaMaison de Besh; and SabrinaFrancis of SE’B Fashions. Bahamian designer Brynda Knowles, whose mission is todesign the evening’ s outfits for the reigning Miss UniverseDayana Mendoza, will also becontributing. Mendoza willshar e the stage as co-host of the event with Charles Sealey. The newly-crowned Miss Universe will r eceive an outfit cr eated by Bahamian designer Jeff St. John, of the House of St. John, which she will wear at her press briefing on the morn-ing after her cr owning. She will also receive a bag from Harl Taylor BAG. The fashion show is being or ganized and produced by Mode les Ltd., producers of “Islands of the World FashionW eek”. Bahamas fashion show to feature Miss Universe contestants August 2009CARIBBEAN TODAY 7 ARTS ARTS & & ENTERTAINMENT ENTERTAINMENT www .caribbeantoday.com (CONTINUED ON P AGE 8) Reigning Miss Universe Day ana Mendoza Gar vey ‘Rootz Extrav aganza’ to celebrate Marcus Garvey in Fort Lauderdale August2009.qxd 8/6/09 7:43 PM Page 7

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GORDON WILLIAMS No listener needs to drill through the full 13 years of Lady Saw’s career to hit the true, hard core of her music. But itcan be fun. Sowhy not?The style ofthis Jamaican dancehall dee-jay , whose real name isMarion Hall,is not forever yone. But her signatur e raunchy anthems will find a note many can appreci-ateand maybe lear n a few tricks along the way. Lady Saw brings the bedroom to the public in a fash-ion that sometimes br utally , but skillfully , cuts straight through the initial blushes and emerges the other side with abucket of enter tainment in tow. Now VP Records, thr ough its release of “Extra RawThe Best of Lady Saw” CD, is of fering the dancehall diva’ s best r omp, bundled up in a power package of 18 cuts. No secrets here. Saw unveilshow , when, why , wher e and how often she wants it. Up fr ont, she’ll let you know what not to tr y too. Saw’ s hit after uncompromising hit flow fr om this CD, beginning with the opening salvo when the deejay asks for a higher power to simply“Find A Good Man” for her . She wants “Good Wuk” and,as in the duet with Shabba Ranks, she “Want it Tonight”. Other collaborations feature Beenie Man on “Healing” and “Loser” with Ce’cile. But Lady Saw doesn’ t need much help in spelling out the ter ms of her sexual preferences. Size, stamina, skill allmatter . Certain types, how-ever , like pretty boys and crimi nals, do not.She cautionsotherfemales tolook after themselvesinstead offocusing solely on a man, and even throws scorn on some by boasting “I’ve Got YourMan”. But while Saw is willing to grant her bedroom partner all the sustained pleasureswith “Hice It Up”, she draws the line in several areas. In “Sycamore Tree” she shoosaway the lover who wants herto “bow” to cer tain favors. P ASSION ATE But “Extra Raw” is not just about raunchy behavior. Lady Saw’s often passionate lyricsand deliver y dip into several controversial topics, including safe sex, infidelity and infer tility . So if the Grammy-winning artiste (Saw won for a duet with No Doubt in 2003) can get past the usual stereo-type cer tain snobs have branded her with, so can they. It’ll pr obably be wor th it. For Saw’s true fans, “Extra Raw” is a personal tro-phy for sticking with the “First Lady of Dancehall” for over a dozen years. A bonus DVD featuring Saw in herprime during a 1997 per for mance in New York and some of her best music videos, spice up the package. Producers Dave Kelly, Tony Kelly, Richie D and John John areinvolved. Saw and VP have since parted company, and she vowsto take a mor e mature path, but this compilation CD is what her fans first liked – the best of an artiste telling the stories others are too sheepish to attempt. It’s probably whatthey always will. Gordon Williams is Caribbean Today’s managing editor. HAMIL TON, Bermuda, CMC A Ber mudian promoter says he has lost a significant amount of money after he was forced to cancel a concert on July 31. The cancellation followed a last-minute refusal byImmigration Minster David Burch to allow American rap-per Rick Ross into the island. Pr omoter Kendricks Zuill said he was shocked by the minister’s decision and that the application for a work permit for the performer had been turned down becausether e were concerns about his “character and conduct”. “The fans ar e disappointed, and out of ever ything, the total loss for us is US$10,000to $15,000,” said Zuill. The 33-year-old rapper had been scheduled to be theheadline act at a Cup Matchholiday show planned for the island’ s west end. Zuill said he first thought the depar tment had mistaken the rapper , whose r eal name is William Roberts II, for “Freeway”Ricky Ross, now in a California prison for trying to purchase 100 kilograms of cocaine from a federal agent. “I was assuming that they may have had the wr ong person,” he said, adding that hetried to convince the Immigration Ministry that it had made an error in judg-ment. “I’ve been trying to convince them that he is a man ofgood conduct,” said Zuill. “Iwas pr oviding them with infor mation, but all they told me was that the minister wasnot satisfied. It”s somethingpersonal.” Before becoming a rapper, Roberts worked as a cor-r ections officer in Florida. According to Zuill, the enter-tainer has never been impris oned or convicted of a crime, but was arrested in Jan. 2008in Florida, United States on gun and drug charges. The charges were later dropped. BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC Stedson “Red Plastic Bag” Wiltshire sang his way to a record-setting ninth Pic-ODe-Cr op calypso title last month as the annual Cr op Over celebrations near ed a climax here. Wiltshire outclassed nine other competitors with hisr enditions of “Home Dr ums” and “Something’s Happening”, beating former winner John King into second place and Anderson “Blood”Ar mstr ong, for merly of the band Square One, into third place. “Bag” or “RPB”, as he is more affectionately known tohis fans, was literally on cloud nine after recapturing the titlethat he lost to Adrian Clarke in last year’s competition,especially with the r esponse to “Something’s Happening” which he performed in thesecond r ound, sending the packed Kensington Oval into a fr enzy . “It is a wonderful feeling to see how people responded to the song. When the level of expectation is as it was, it was tough to come here and produce. It is amazing how peo-ple have taken to the song,”he said. COMPETITORS The veteran calypsonian took home BDS$10,500($5,250 2009 Toyota Corolla. 2008 Junior Calypso Monar ch, Sir Ruel, finished fourth in his first outing in the Pic-O-De-Cr op finals. Clarke, who failed to impress the judges, finisheddown the field in sixth posi tion, while Terencia “TC”Cowar d, who won both the Sweet Soca and Par ty Monar ch crowns last month, finished ninth, failing to land the historic triple. Also competing were Sheldon Hope(fifthseventhHeeHaw (eighthSpencer (10th Red Plastic Bag claims record ninth calypso titleLady Sa ws goes on ‘Extra Raw’ career rompBermuda denies U.S.rapper Rick Ross work permit 8 CARIBBEAN TODAYAugust 2009 ARTS ARTS & & ENTERTAINMENT ENTERTAINMENT www.caribbeantoday.com Street Address: 9020 SW 152nd Street, Miami, FL33157 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 6010 Miami, FL 331 16-6010. Telephone: (305 (305305 T oll-Free Fax: 1-866-290-4550 1-800-605-7516 Jamaica: 654-7282 E-mail: editor@caribbeantoday .com Send ads to: ct_ads@bellsouth.net V ol. 20,Number 9 AUGUST 2009 PETER A WEBLEY Publisher GORDON WILLIAMS Managing Editor SABRINAHOPKINS Graphic Artist DOROTHYCHIN Account Executive SHARON LEE Account Executive CARMEN CHANG Account Executive JACQUELINE RUBIANO Accounting ManagerCaribbean Media Source Media RepresentativesOpinions expressed by editors and writers are not necessarily those of thepublisher . Caribbean T oday , an independent news magazine, is published every month by Caribbean Publishing & Services, Inc. Caribbean Today is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts or photos. Toguarantee return, please include a self-addressed stamped envelope. Articles appearing in Caribbean Today may not be reproduced without written permission of the editor. Ross Extra Raw Red Plastic Bag Bobb-Semple, who also worked as the voice of MarcusGar vey in the award-winning PBS documentar y film, “Marcus Garvey: Look For Me In The Whirlwind”. The Guyanese-bor n actor was the host of Caribbean For um, a weekly television program that he produced on WNYE-TV in New York. MUSIC The schedule will also include live r eggae music featuring ar tistes Scr ewdriver , Marcia Ball, Standpipe, Natty Remo, Shanty Plus and Highah Seekah. There will also be traditional African dancing by the hometown T ribeholistic Dance Troupe, plus the Black Empire Dancers from Orlando. A multimedia Marcus Garvey video, photograph and art exhibitionwill be open for viewing inside the adjacent Recreation Roomsimultaneously . The extravaganza will continue on Aug. 17, the 122nd anniversary of Garvey’sbir th. The celebration will take place inside the Carter Park Recr eation Room fr om 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. The schedule includes audio-visual presenta-tions and community ser vice awards. The keynote speaker will be former Jamaican Minister of For eign Affairs Dudley Thompson, who will be among the award recipients. The patron of the Garvey birthday anniversary will be Jamaica’s Consul General Sandra Grant-Griffiths. ‘Rootz Extrav aganza’ to celebrate Marcus Gar vey in Fort Lauderdale (CONTINUED FROM P AGE 7) August2009.qxd 8/6/09 7:43 PM Page 8

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How should we think about racism in theage of Pr esident Barack Obama? In his first speech as president to thenation’ s oldest and largest civil rights organization, Obama’s answer to that question was arich mixtur e of his presidential agenda, Bill Cosby’ s self-help spiel, the Rever end Jesse Jackson’s political push and rapper Jay-Z’s oratorical flow. Yet, as a historical turning point, what he said was less important than who wassaying it. America’ s first president of African descent takes office in thesame year as the 100th anniversar y of a group that helped make it possi ble, the National Associationfor the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP The ir ony of that happy coincidence is how much it haunted conversations at theconvention with a naggingquestion: As civil rights-era protests have declined andblacks par ticipate at all levels of politics, is the NAACP still relevant? Obama chose to answer that question by reframing it.Regar dless of how relevant it may or may not be at the end of its first century, he offered ways for it to become morer elevant in the next. ‘THE PAIN’ After his obligatory salute to the debt that he and othersuccessful African Americans owe to the NAACP’s pastleaders, he left no doubt that he believes “the pain” of prej-udice and discriminationagainst blacks, Latinos, gays,lesbians, Muslims and others is real and “still felt.” Never theless, he pointed out, they are not “even the steepest bar riers to oppor tuni ty today More difficult, he said, are the often-neglected “str uctural inequalities that our nation’ s legacy of discrimination has left behind.” This led into alist of Obama policies and programs that, while color-blind in their application, have particular importance to black Americans who have dispr o por tionately been left behind. Yet, the most notable portion of the speech came with his self-help message, the same message that last year Rev. Jackson was caught by an open T .V. network microphone bitterly deriding as “talking downto black people.” At theNAACP gathering, Obama received rousing “amens” as he said, “Government pro-grams alone won’ t get our children to the Promised Land.” He called for “a new mindset, a new set of attitudes” against an internalized sense of limitation in which“so many in our community have come to expect so little of ourselves.” His Cosbyesque message to put away the Xbox and put your kids to bed at a reasonable hour, like so many of his other messages, transcends racial lines. Yet it has specialmeaning to African Americans who, polls show, vote liberal but hold conser vative moral values. It is also a message thatwould be har d to imagine coming with much moral credibility fr om any president except one who grew up as Obama did, as a mixed-race son of a father who abandoned him in his early childhood. CLASSIC OB AMA The speech was classic Obama. He found ways toaddr ess issues r elated to race in terms and values that are not limited to any one racialor ethnic community . It fleshed out in many ways the issues raised in his only other major address on race, his Philadelphia campaign speech to explain his relationshipwith the Rev . Jer emiah Wright. Ironically the victory of America’ s first black pr esident came partly because he chose to avoid the subject of race,no matter how much he was taunted to address it by thelikes of Rush Limbaugh onthe right or Ralph Nader onthe left. It is politically saferfor him to show us models ofracial har mony than to tell us about them. Like the Huxtables on “The CosbyShow”, Obama and family vis ibly redeem the old 1950s American middle-class familyideal fr om the clutches of irony and dare the chattering classes to make fun of it. Watching his NAACP speech, I was reminded of a lingering question among hisskeptics: How could he have spent 20 years in the church ofa racial fir ebrand like Rev. Wright. One reason, I havelong theorized, is that along with his r eligious lessons he was learning the depths of America’ s racial divide so thatThey say that still waters run deep, and all thatglitters is not gold. Apart from being deep, thosestill waters may hold manydangers and denizens of thedeep, monsters that lurkther e, hidden perils just waiting for a chance to jump outon any unsuspecting victim. So many things are not what they seem, and so many people also have hidden dan-gers and perils lurking beneath their other wise innocent exterior. Just read those advice columns and you’ll see what hidden secrets existbeneath the skin of seeminglyor dinary folks. This woman wrote that she slept with 80men in four years, and thatshe can’ t even remember some of their names. Now sheseeks advice. T alk about excess bag gage. I’m sure if we could see pictur es of those persons who write those letters, we’d be inshock, as never in your wildest dreams would you imagine that So and So Can’t MashAnts Innocent Holier ThanThou person was weigheddown by so much baggage. SKELETONS Like it or not, ever yone has a past, but some have mor e skeletons in their closets than what’s out at the cemetery. As a result, many try to hide it, and under pain ofdeath, will not divulge theirbaggage to anyone. But here’s the rub, it always comes to the for e, as the weight of the baggage is of such, that it bears down on their soul, shapes it, arrests its growth, stunting it, and then unleashes its fury on the per-son near est and dear est, the poor spouse. Elsewhere our baggage is usually made up of emotional detritus, the flotsam and jet-sam of our emotional histor y that lies in wait, dormant but not extinct and therefore prone to erupt at any time. Soyou tar get that nice young man who has all the attributes that you desir e, and you rushheadlong into a relationshipwithout doinga backgr ound check. Bad move. T en months downthe line, both of you are having a heateddiscussion and suddenly youhear the r esounding noise of a slap across your face and you see stars. The man shat yu a box and you never saw it com-ing. All those years the manhad been car rying the emotional baggage of beingabused as a child, so as a result, he in turn becomes aphysical abuser and hasassaulted his past four women. ISSUES So many men are weighed down by emotional baggage and even those who do not manifest it in a physical way , still inflict immense harm on their spouses in different ways. Their baggage is so riddled with issues that they areimpossible to live with. W omen do not escape, although they tend to hidetheir baggage and keep theirsuitcases tightly shut for aver y long time. So many women are carrying around burdens that almost cripple their emotional wellbeing.Just the other day I hear d about these ladies, foxes, pretty like money, but who were counterfeit, as they had per-haps the ultimate baggage ofall and had luggage that they dare not open. They both had sex change operations, were once men, but are now livingas women and their par tners do not know. Now if those partners ever find out, how do you think they’re going to President Obama’s new racial doctrine The burden of excess baggage August 2009CARIBBEAN TODAY 9 VIEWPOINT VIEWPOINT www .caribbeantoday.com TONY ROBINSON (CONTINUED ON P AGE 10) (CONTINUED ON P AGE 10) CLARENCE PAGE August2009.qxd 8/6/09 7:43 PM Page 9

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Iam privileged toextend warmest greet-ings to the Jamaican community, andindeed themany wellwishers andfriends ofJamaica, whohave come together to commemorate the 47th anniversary of our nation’sIndependence, which includesfor us the celebration ofEmancipation Day on Aug. 1. We celebrate our national festival from July 31 to Aug. 6 this year under the theme: “I Believe in Jamaica”, and here inFlorida, we have amplified it in the theme of our annual thanksgiving service to specify the celebration of “Our Nation, our Family, Our Home”. We celebrate with great pride, and as we mark this august occasion with a varietyof community experiences, we do not refute the fact that challenges at many junctures have accompanied our jour ney. But, equally , none can deny that over these 47 years we have earned through the determined efforts of our scholars and political thinkers, our entrepreneurs, our athletes, the expo-nents of our cr eative arts a multiplicity of triumphs that any nation would indeed be proud to claim, all on the meritof our inspir ed talents. BEA CONS Jamaicans abroad have equally been beacons of achievement in as many fields as they have dared to conquer.Individually and collectively our people contribute positively to world society, here in the United States as elsewhere, and embellish from day to day the luster of our nation’s accomplishments. A sense of self, and a blessed and unique ingenuity of spirit and deeds have been traditional hallmarks of our people. We are thankful to our ancestors, our pantheon of national heroes, the ordinary her oes amongst us in our families, who have all shaped our society to the good. We thank the Almighty for the forbearance and fortitude that has sustained our nation thus far. We move for-war d with certitude that if we hold fast to our worthy traditions, that spirit that we foster in our homeland and shareboldly with the world, will lead us to reap just rewards. Let us celebrate together therefore fully confident that with the strength and maturity of a great nation we will continue to achieve. In this spirit, wejoin hands and hear ts whether at home or from more distant shores, and at the same time renew our faith in our home-land – Jamaica land we love. The above “Message of Emancipation and Independence 2009”was delivered by Sandra GrantGriffiths,consul general, Consulate of Jamaica. Jamaicans abroad have equally been beacons of achievement ~ consul general 10 CARIBBEAN TODAYAugust 2009 VIEWPOINT VIEWPOINT www.caribbeantoday.com someday he could bridge it. His sermon to the NAACP -he pr eached too much to call it a “speech” reveals how well he learned his lessons. It r emains to be seen how the NAACP uses those lessons. Other organizations like the National Urban League or 100 Black Men already emphasize economic develop-ment and family-mentoring programs that build the black community’ s inter nal strengths. Today’s NAACP sees their goal as “social justice”, not “social service,” as Chair man Julian Bond has put it. But the families left behind by the civil rights rev-olution need both. 2009 Clarence P ag e. Distributed by Tribune Media Services,Inc. (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9) Obama’ s new racial doctrine react? Now that’s the ultimate baggage, as all the cr osses known to mankind will beunleashed. EXTREME Still, those are extreme cases. The more common ones are like marrying someoneand finding out that she was a low life in a past life. Oh yes, it has caught many an unsuspecting man who didn’t take the time to do the necessary backgroundcheck. As soon as the honey moon is over and they moveinto the house, the suitcase isopened. Along come hermother , uncle, two brothers and a cousin, to take up residence as the tenement yar d is visited upon you, much likethe plagues of Egypt. And so the demons are released. The quarrels and cantankerousnessar e beyond belief, plus the wor ds that fly out of her mouth, combined with her attitude are mind-boggling. Then to make it worse, you find out that her “nephew” is really her child from a previ-ous r elationship. All the tr oubles of the world, unleashed on your universe. It happens to women too, as men bring home outside children that they somehow “forgot” to mention. For people who have never experienced such horror, it may seem a bit far-fetched or evenimpossible, but these thingsdo happen, so just give thanks that they don’t happen to you. But victims do tell their tales of woe. Have you ever heard the term Warrior Woman? Well they do exist, and like the Vikings, Hunsand V andals of old, they are not happy unless they ar e warring, as it’ s all they know. Naturally they would never attract a man if they dis-played such tendencies, so they act docile, like they can’tmash ants, almost playing pos sum, until it’s too late, thenthey unleash their fur y on you like a Banshee on crack. So how do you avoid this? Well, be careful who you pick up, do a background check like what those stores do on you when you’re buying stuff on hire purchase. Ask plenty questions about the person, seek outtheir friends or even pastlovers if possible, test thewaters, and most impor tantly , don’t be hasty. If per chance your lover has neither baggage nor big luggage, then give thanks, butthen again, you may be the one who’s afflicted andweighed down. seido1@hotmail.com The burden of excess baggage (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9) SANDRA GRANTGRIFFITHS August2009.qxd 8/6/09 7:43 PM Page 10

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PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC The Trinidad and Tobago government hasdenied suggestions that theeconomy of the oil-rich twinisland r epublic has gone into recession, although admitting “there has been a slowingdown. “What we are saying, and there is no question about it, that there is a slow down,(but ecessionwe ar e simply saying that has nothappened,”said FinanceMinister Karen Nunez Tesheira. Latest figur es released by the Centralbank of Trinidad and Tobago (CBTTlocal economy had contracted by 3.3 percent in the first quarter of 2009, compared with growth of 2.4 percent inthe first quar ter of 2008. It said that activity in the ener gy sector fell by two percent in the first quarter of 2009 andthat the non-ener gy sector declined by 5.4 per cent on a year -on-year basis to Mar . 2009. Within the non-energy sector, the manufacturing, dis-tribution and constr uction sec tors declined by 11.7 per cent, 3.7 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively. But the CBTT said that on a year-on-year basis toMay 2009, headline inflation declined to 10.3 percent, down from a high of 15.4 percent inOctober 2008 and 11.9 per cent in April 2009. It said core inflation, which excludes food prices, measured 5.8 percent on a year-on-year basis to May2009. JOBS The CBTT said that unemployment rate rose to five percent for the quarter ending Mar. 2009 from 3.9 percent in quarter endingDec. 2008. It said that the labor force participation rateincr eased in the first quarter of 2009 to 63.6 per cent compar ed with 63.1 percent for the same period in 2008. “On a year-on-year basis to March 2009, employment in the construction, manufacturing and services sectors fell by 0.9 per cent, 3.3 percent and2.5 per cent, r espectively; Employment in the agricultur al sector increased by 30.7 per cent in the quarter endingMar ch 2009, to reach 21,300.” The finance minister said the figur es wer e not enough to indicate a recession. ou are going to see things, significant unemploy-ment rates which you ar e not (now rinidad and Tobago (including businesses,” she explained. “Iam not saying that ther e is not slowing down, closure of businesses, income levels dropping dramatically, those are someof the factors that you will see.” The finance minister said that consumer credit fell from May last year, but business credit and real estate mortgage lending grew 6.5 and 13.6per cent for the same period. Economic slowdown,but no recession in T&T ~ government P olitical leaders differ on significance of T&T’ s Emancipation Day August 2009CARIBBEAN TODAY 11 FOCUS FOCUS ON ON T T & & T T www .caribbeantoday.com ~ A Caribbean Today special feature WINNING SMILE Photogra ph by Government Information ServiceDexnell Peters,left,winner of the Inaugural Eric Williams “School Bags”Essay Competition,can hardly contain his joy after meeting Trinidad and Tobago’s President George Maxwell Richards at President’s House on July 30. Tesheira PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Citizens of T rinidad and Tobago observed Emancipation Day on Aug. 1even as political leaders of theoil-rich twin-island r epublic used the occasion to send different messages regarding thesignificance of the event. Prime Minister Patrick Manning said EmancipationDay marks the end of one ofthe most inhumane activities in the history of mankind, butOpposition Leader BasdeoPanday used the occasion tocall for an end to what he said was discrimination in Trinidad and Tobago. In his message, Manning said “as we engage in ourannual commemoration, let usr emember, without bitterness, but with utter most solemnity and profoundest reflection, that irremovable blot in the history of humanity, so that we str engthen our r esolve against enslavement wher ever it rears its ugly head. “At this time, let us rededicate ourselves to a countr y where justice and equality r eign for all people in our diverse society. Let us also continue our nation’s support of all global ef for ts against oppression wherever it exists in our world.” He said that whilst Emancipation Day must recall the horrors of the past, it is equally a time for great celebration. “The intrinsic str ength and beauty of the human spirit did eventually triumph. Slavery eventually came to an end. But most importantly, in the years and eras ther eafter , ever ywhere in the Americas and the Caribbean, notwithstandingthe legacy of economic andsocial limitations, descendants of slaves rose to the heights ofattainment in all fields. “It is an extraor dinary achievement and speaks of a her oism that must be held up as inspiration for all genera tions of all origins. Also, and perhaps even more importantthan individual and celebratedsuccess, is the contribution ofthe African diaspora as a whole to strengthening the fabric of society in so many countries of the New W orld thr ough constr uctive activity and building of families and communities. “On this occasion, we must again record the enormous contribution of our citizens of African origin to the development of our countr y . Fr om the time they first set foot on these shores to the present day, this group toiled, along with others, first for the foundations of our society, and then later , to build the independent Trinidad and Tobago.” STRUGGLE Panday hailed the end of slaver y in 1834 as “a step towards the acknowledgment of all men as members of the family of humanity; a condemnation of the oppr ession, abuse and exploitation of allpeople; and triumph in a struggle against racism and other for ms of discrimination.” However , the for mer prime minister said to achieve the ideal that all men areequal has not been an easyfight in the practical, r eal world. “While there have been landmark successes in the recognition of certain funda-mental rights thr ough the per severance of gr eat activists, the struggle is still not over 175 years after the emancipa-tion of slaves in the colonialplantations.” He said Emancipation Day should also provide an opportunity for the country to r eflect on the current state of af fairs. “Across the national landscape, and indeed acr oss the various ethnic gr oups in Trinidad and Tobago, there are persons who are not rising to their fullest potential. They ar e the victims of social injus tice, political neglect and some form of discrimination.” Manning Panday August2009.qxd 8/6/09 7:43 PM Page 11

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PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Don’ t expect to see pictures of mass graves scattered across the oil rich twin island republic, or for that matter, a special court as in the case in Rwanda to try those accused of trying tohave one race dominate theother thr ough mass killings. But allegations of ethnic cleansing in a country wherethe two main races ar e almost equal have now engrossed the Parliament in Trinidad and Tobago. At the heart of the allegation is a claim by gynaecolo gist and Opposition legislatorDr . Tim Goopeesingh last month that many IndoT rinidadian doctors were being forced out of the Port ofSpain General Hospital infavour of Afr o Trinidadian medical practitioners. “Ther e has been an issue of ethnic cleansing at Por t-ofSpain General Hospital as far as the doctors are concerned.I understand that most of theEast Indian doctors have hadto leave Por t-of-Spain Hospital. I understand the Port-of-Spain Hospital is a vir tual African hospital now Gopeesingh said. The 2000 census figures r eleased by the Central Statistical Office (CSO that out a population of 1.26 million, 37.5 percent are of Afro Trinidadian descent, while the Indo-Trinidadian community accounts for 40 per cent. The category “mixed” account for 20 per-cent, the thir d highest according to the CSO figur es. Race has always been an issue in Trinidad and Tobago,but thankfully as many social scientists and politicians say, ithas not spilled over into killings on the scale as wit-nessed in places like Rwandaand Bosnia. The ter m “ethnic cleans ing” first came to public pr ominence in Yugoslavia, to describe the scale of the genocide and forced migrationsthat ensued in the SerbianCroat conflicts of the 1990s. SENSATIONALIST The T rinidad Guardian newspaper , in an editorial, said that such a description isnot just an inaccurate way ofdescribing the situation thatGopeesingh believes exist at the Port-of-Spain GeneralHospital. “It is also adamantly sensationalist”, noted the news paper , adding “it’s virulently pr ovocative”. The allegation by Gopeesingh is not the first to be made in Trinidad, even aspolitical commentatorsacknowledged that it mightjust be the first time that theter m “ethnic cleansing” has made it way into theParliament. One newspaper stated that Gopeesingh’s accu-sation “is nor mally described as discrimination, a reprehensible enough ter m for the practice of preferential treat-ment of employees on thebasis of race”. During the 1995-2001 period when the Indo-domi nated United National Congr ess (UNC in this Caribbean country, supporters of the Afro-dominated People’s National Movement (PNM being sidelined to the point that the name of the stateowned oil company, Petrotrin was changed to “Petro-Singh”. Recent court rulings have added fuel to the debate, particularly where IndoTrinidadians have been suc-cessful in accusing the gover nment of discrimination in itshiring practices. The Indo-Trinbago Equality Council (ITECwhich has lodged complaints with the Equal OpportunityCommission (EOC the court rulings, last month,has since written PrimeMinister Patrick Manning ur ging that a Commission of Enquiry be established “toinvestigate the serious allega tions of racial discriminationagainst Indian workers in thepublic sector . “Indeed the minuscule number of Indian Per manent Secr etaries r eflects this perceived State bias”, the groupadded. SELECTIVE DISCRIMIN A TION? Leader of the Opposition Business in the Senate WadeMark accused the Manning T&T’s ethnic issues surface during health care debate August 2009CARIBBEAN TODAY 13 FOCUS FOCUS ON ON T T & & T T www .caribbeantoday.com ~ A Caribbean Today special feature Imbert Coat of Arms Ma p of T rinidad and Tobago (CONTINUED ON P AGE 14) August2009.qxd 8/6/09 7:43 PM Page 13

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administration of “pursuing a practice of selective discrimi nation particularly as it relates to employment in the publicser vice. Gopeesingh said there wer e mor e than 150 senior doctors in Trinidad and Tobago of East Indian descent and that “they have been forced out ofthe ser vice”. Incensed by the state ment, Prime Minister Manning immediately calledfor its r etraction adding that such comments wer e the kind to be expected from “guttersnipe” and not fr om a parlia mentarian. “I don’ t want you to bring it. I’m not inter ested in it. Y ou see, Mr Speaker, it would have been enough if the memberhad come and said ‘on thebasis of this evidence I makethis statement’, I would haveobjected also, I would haveobjected also, Mr . Speaker , because evidence or no evidence, that kind of talk in a Parliament like this does us no good,” Manning said. The prime minister said while he had r espect for Gopeesingh as a doctor and a senior parliamentarian, he was “very much taken aback whenon the basis on what theHonourable Member said hewas told, he sought to come tothe Parliament to raise anissue of race and to raise it insuch a manner that could be the source of tremendous dis-cor d. “It is not the kind of talk that I would ascribe to aMember of Parliament. Itsounded like the kind of talk that you will expect from agutter snipe...that is how itsounded to me. Most inappr opriate,” Manning added. The Leader of Government Business inParliament Colm Imber t, for his part, described the statements as irresponsible in the extreme and accused the Opposition legislator of utter-ing the “racist statements thatcould pr ovoke racial hatred. “Mr . Speaker, without a shr ed of evidence...ir r esponsi ble in the extreme,” Imbert said, noting that the vast majority of medical practitioners in the public ser vice wer e of East Indian descent. “It is a fact that the majority of doctors in this countr y are of East Indian descent. I can say without any fear of contradiction that the majority of doctors in every hospital in the public health service, with the possibleexception of T obago, ar e of East Indian descent.” NOT FAZED But the criticisms did not deter Gopeesingh, who told a news conference afterwards that he “felt compelled” to bring the matter into theParliament “rather than hiding it because I would have been doing an injustice to the society, particularly when people’s lives are at risk. e cannot sweep it under the carpet because tosweep it under the carpet would be doing a massive dis-ser vice to the national community and it must be br ought out and Parliament is the place that it has to be dis-cussed. e cannot discuss this outside. W e ar e elected by the people and the people expect us to discuss this,” he said, producing a list of names ofsenior doctors of Indiandescent who had been for ced out of the system. The Opposition legislator said his information about the”ethnic cleansing” at the hos pital had been provided to him by former junior HealthMinister Fuad Khan, who in a radio interview went even fur-ther indicating that the EastIndian doctors wer e being r eplaced by doctors from Africa. Khan, who said he had been by-passed for a consul-tancy position at the hospitalin favor of a doctor with less qualification and experience from Africa, said he would nothave mind had the job gone to a Afro Trinidadian. But the Trinidad and Tobago Medical Association(TTMA itself from Gopeesingh’s allegation, adding that it felt embar rassed by the whole af fair . “He has brought the whole profession into disrepute,because he made it sound as though Indian doctors treatAfrican patients dif fer ently and this is not true,” said Dr. Frank Ramlackhansingh, TTMAs public relations of ficer . “As pr ofessionals, we treat all of our patients thesame, ther e is no racial bias. We look after all patients in the same way r egar dless of their race or their background. It doesn’t matter if they are from Laventille or any other part of the country, we look atthe whole person,” said theTTMA of ficial, adding that some of the names on Gopeesingh’ s list ar e people who left the service voluntarily or had reached retirementage. T&T’s ethnic issues surface during health care debate 14 CARIBBEAN TODAYAugust 2009 FOCUS FOCUS ON ON T T & & T T www.caribbeantoday.com (CONTINUED FROM P AGE 13) Mark ~ A Caribbean Today special feature Women’s group wants T&T public national gender policyT&T becomes latest Caribbean country to join IOM PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – The Network of NGO of Trinidad and Tobago for the Advancement of Womenhas called on the PatrickManning gover nment to make public the latest version of aNational Draft Gender Policy for the country. The NGO said that the draft policy was supposed tohave been laid in Parliament a month ago as a Green Paper,and that “although it was listedon the Parliament website inthe Supplemental Or der Paper of Friday July 17th, it was in fact not laid then or since. o add insult to injury the Parliament has gone in to recess until September. We cannot understand why, fouryears after the arbitrar y withdrawal by the prime minister of the last draft, the govern-ment is playing hide and seekwith their sanitised version,” said group coordinator Hazel Brown last month. “This gender policy has been in the making for over 20years and millions of taxpayers dollars and people’s time and energy has been invested in it. It cannot therefore be hidden from the public view any more.” SECRET ? She said that the 2005 ver sion, which was withdrawn, was produced following extensive consultations with different communities and organizations all over Trinidadand T obago. The consultations dealt with a wide range ofissues and made r ecommendations regarding family, education, health, labor, employ-ment, violence, and economics among other areas. “No one knows what was removed or added in thesecr etnon transparent pr ocess since the withdrawal. Now that we ar e told that Cabinet has approved their version. We want to see it. Why are they hiding it?” sheasked. She said that the NGO was therefore advocating thatthe ministr y publish in the newspapers a user friendly version of theirrevised draft policyand work plan for pub-lic comment, which should be reviewed by a small working group with a mandate to havea document r eady for adop tion by Nov.2009. “The process of developing a national gender policy has been going on for more than 20 years. We cannot afford to delay any longerBr own said. POR T OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Trinidad and Tobago hasjoined four other Caribbeancommunity (CARICOM tries in becoming full members of the Geneva-based International Organization for Migration(IOM A statement issued recently by T&T’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that the country was admitted as a fullmember late last month andjoins The Bahamas, Belize,Haiti and Jamaica. The Dominican Republic also has full membership sta-tus, while Cuba and Guyanaenjoy obser ver status. The statement said that as a result of being a full member, T&T can now seek tobenefit fr om additional train ing and programs in areas such as best practices in migration management; assistance with voluntary returns of displaced and traffickedpersons; assistance with count er-trafficking in humans and migration data collection and related research activities to ensure greater appreciationfor migration tr ends in the r egion. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the countryhas alr eady benefitted fr om a number of IOM programs and has participated in several IOM activities as a non-mem-ber state since April 2005. HEAD OF THE CLASS Photogra ph by Dennis GordonYvonne Gittens-Joseph,Trinidad and Tobago’s high commissioner to Jamaica,presents an award to Yanique Amoy Henry,left,a student at Hampton School in Jamaica,for winning the inaugural Eric Williams CAPE Prize in History recently.Henry also received, on behalf of The Eric Williams Memorial Collection at The University of the West Indies (T&Ta laptop computer and book prize. August2009.qxd 8/6/09 7:43 PM Page 14

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Newlyweds looking to begin a life of bliss can relax and enjoy a romantic honeymoon together on the island of Tobago. With more than 200 miles of coastline filled with halfmoon shaped bays and secluded coves, rich eco-adventur e activities and a delightfulblend of traditional and finedining restaurants, lovebirdscan enjoy a memorableCaribbean getaway for thefirst time as husband and wife. Accessible by dir ect flight service from major NorthAmerican gateways including Atlanta and New York, couples can spend less time traveling to Tobago and moretime fanning the flames of love and romance with the fol-lowing honeymoon getaways: Bacolet Beach Club The cascading hillside resort is a small elegant bou-tique hotel located minutes away from Tobago’s Crown Point Airport. Lovebirds looking for a mix of warmthand elegance can stay at theBacolet Beach Club and takeadvantage of the Honeymoon Crescent special which includes six night/seven dayaccommodations, complimen tar y bottle of champagne, fruit platter and bouquet of flowers upon ar rival, in-room champagne breakfast on the first day, breakfast for two at the hotel restaurant, one romanticmassage for two and one dayjeep r ental. For more information visit www.bacoletbeachclub.com or call 868-639-3551 . Coco Reef Resort & Spa With lush tropical landscaping and a private white-sand beach, Coco Reef Resor t & Spa is considered one of Tobago’s premier hotels with a blend of modern convenience and old world charm. The honeymoon getaway at Coco Reef Resort & Spaincludes four nights/five days deluxe ocean view accommodations with private balcony, one tropical breakfast, a lesson in the art of romantic massage, daily candle-lit din-ners with a bottle of wine, tropical fruit basket and floral bouquet upon arrival, one dayvehicle r ental and roundtrip airport transfers. For mor e information visit www .cocoreef.com or call 868-639-8571 . P alms Villa Resort This 10-acr e estate com bines the tranquility and beauty of the unspoiled rainfor est with luxury villa accommodations. After the cer emony is over newlyweds can enjoytheir first week together at the Palms Villa Resort Tobago with the RomanticHoneymoon special whichincludes seven nights accom modations in a luxurious private villa, complimentar y bot tle of champagne and a basket of fresh fruit upon arrival,tr opical breakfast the first morning and a romantic boat trip. For mor e infor mation visit www.thepalmstobago.com or call 800-819-5118 . Blue Waters Inn Consider ed one of the Caribbean’s best eco-resorts, Blue W aters Inn is conveniently located on the boundary of a 46-acre wildlife sanctuary and the Caribbean Sea. Honeymooners looking for a little adventur e can stay at the Blue Waters Inn andtake advantage of the specialwhich includes the choice of aone day scuba dive lesson, half-day island tour, half-day of snorkeling or half-day rain-for est tour, a complimentary bottle of wine and tr opical fruit basket. For information visit www.bluewatersinn.com or call 868-660-4341 . Tobago, sister island to Trinidad, is the quintessentialCaribbean island with seclud ed beaches, quaint villages, award winning eco-attractionsand private villas. For more information on Tobago visit www.visittobag o.g ov .tt or call 800-816-7541 . Tobago offers bliss on the beaches ~ Hotels help couples celebrate with romantic Caribbean honeymoon getaways August 2009CARIBBEAN TODAY 15 FOCUS FOCUS ON ON T T & & T T www .caribbeantoday.com ~ A Caribbean Today special feature Triple wedding at Pigeon Point Tobago. August2009.qxd 8/6/09 7:43 PM Page 15

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16 CARIBBEAN TODAYAugust 2009 FYI FYI www.caribbeantoday.com CELEBRA TING JAMAICA As part of celebrations in the United States, several events marking Jamaica’s Independence will be held this month. Some are listed here: A ug.8,1:30 p.m. – An exhibition of works byJamaican ar tist Louis Davis will be pr esented at the Southeast Regional Librar y, Br oward College, 7300 Pines Blvd., Pembroke Pines,Florida. The master of cer emonies will be Easton Lee. Spoken word artist Nzingah Oniwosan will also make a presentation. For mor e information, visit www.louisdavisart.com Aug.8,7 p.m. The Jamaican Association of Central Florida will hold itsAnnual Independence Banquet at the Rosen Plaza Hotel, Orlando, 9700Inter national Dr. featuring DJ Charlie Br own and Jammin Band. For mor e information, visit www.jamaicanamericanassoc.com or call Hyacinth at 407-578-8141 . Aug.9,noon “Jamaica Day A Family Fun Day” at Exchange Park, 2771Columbia Drive, Decatur , Geor gia. Aug.9,11 a.m. Ecumenical Independence Service at Dunbarton Chapel, Howard University School of Law, 2900 Van Ness St. N.W. in W ashington D.C. Aug.9,2 p.m.An after noon of music and dance at the Organization of AmericanStates (OAS eet and Constitution Avenue N.W. in Washington D.C. Aug.9,10 a.m.Independence ser vice at Grace Episcopal Church, 3600 Nor th Australian A ve., West Palm Beach, Florida. Aug.9,10 a.m.Annual Independence Mass at Our Lady of the Lourdes Catholic Church in Kendall, 11291 S.W. 142 Ave.,Miami, Florida. Aug.15,7 p.m.Annual Independence Ball hosted byAtlanta Jamaican Association,Inc. at the Renaissance Hotel, 1 Har tsfield Centre Parkway, Atlanta, Georgia. President Jamaica’s Court of Appeal Seymour Panton will be the guest speaker. For more information, visit www.ajaatlanta.org INVESTMENT WORKSHOPS The Miami-Dade Public Library System will continue to offer free “InvestmentW orkshops” this month at the Main Library, 101 W. Flagler St. in Miami, Florida. Friday,Aug.21,noon to 1 p.m. “Investing Basics: 20 tips for Becoming a Smar ter Investor”. For more informa-tion, call 305-375-2665 . CAMPAIGN SKILLS In advance of Florida municipal elections in some of Miami-Dade’s cities this fall including Miami, Miami Beach, Hialeah and Homestead and other localand state races set for 2010, candidates and their staf f members can br ush up on election and fundraising r egulations at a campaign skills seminar sponsored by theMiami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust. Two seminars are planned: Aug.26,6:30 p.m. at Victor Wilde Community Center, 1701 W. 53 St., Hialeah. Sept.16,6:30 p.m. , City Hall Council Chambers, 790 N. Homestead Blvd. (U.S. 1 andS.W . 312 Street), Homestead. For mor e information or to reserve a seat, call RobertThompson at 305-350-0630 or email robthom@miamidade.gov . August2009.qxd 8/6/09 7:43 PM Page 16

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TITLE: THE OTHER SIDE OF P ARADISE: A MEMOIR AUTHOR: STACEYANN CHIN REVIEWED BY: DA WN A. DAVIS The final two chapters of this book are the most climactic, unlike most formulaic memoirs that crest in the middle and peter out bythe end. Staceyann Chin’ s lifechanging event takes place in a male bathroom on the University of the West IndiesMona campus. She is accosted by a group of boys who are determined to “f..k her tobring her back to the rightway of thinking”. Yes, this book is about an “out” lesbian who grew up ina Jamaica that found it dif ficult to accept her ‘otherness’. An independent and defiant child from early on, Chin shares her world with readers with sensitivity. Her upbringing will not be strange to read-ers; in fact, many will r elate personally to her story. With an absentee mother living in ‘farin’, Chin and her brother Delano are raised bytheir grandmother in Paradise,a town in the parish of Hanover . Chin, along with others in the town suspect her father is the well-to-do Chinese man who owns the big store in Montego Bay, but he denies it. So, par entless, she puts up a feisty, strong armour for protection. V OICES Her story is told in many voices; that of the innocence of a child, a curious adolescent,and a woman finally believing and accepting her own expression. She weaves minute details to draw the r eader in. We are right there with her as she plays with the “senseh fowls that have feathers that make them look surprised”. We empathize, we sympathize with her, we share herpain and fr ustration. At the tender age of nine Chin’s poignant wor ds tell the story of r epeated molestation. “There is something crawling ar ound in my panties. I open my eyes to find Andy on top of me. One hand is covering my nose. Hismouth is over mine. The fin gers of the other hand are in my panties, pushing themselves into my coco-bread”. Chin’s story is the universal plight of many children grow-ing up in poor envir onments, moving fr om house to house, but never finding a home. It is this sense of imbalance that r uns throughout her life, a rootlessness that has left marks. But, her stor y is also one of upliftment, perseverance, and achievement. In the face of life’s difficulties Chin gotlost in her world of books, apassion that would take her touniversity and a successful career as a writer, actress,activist. Indeed, her str ength and conviction is what helped her navigate her jour ney to self-love. Her stirring high school speech acts as the catalyst to a renewed faith in herself and the whole-hearted acceptance of who she is -Staceyann Chin.She takes the first serious steps to accepting her lesbianism, eventually “coming out” after a liberating trip to New York. Back home, her new found liberation is not so easi ly accepted. But, thr ough her trials, pitfalls, and triumphs she exposes some of the hidden ‘rituals’ and guises the gay and lesbian community go thr ough to survive in a Jamaica she sees as homophobic. She also makes clear her reality, and perhaps that ofothers that leaving the islandis the only choice for theopenly homosexual. Dawn A.Davis is a freelance writer for Caribbean Today. A Jamaican woman’s difficult journey outside the closet On the f ast track, Jamaica rises to summit of sprinting August 2009CARIBBEAN TODAY 17 BOOKS BOOKS www .caribbeantoday.com TITLE: SPRINTING INTO HISTORY: JAMAICAAND THE 2008 OLYMPIC GAMES AUTHOR: DELANO FRANKL YN REVIEWED BY: GORDON WILLIAMS Last summer, track and field fans all over the world were awestruck by the performances of Caribbean athletes – especial-ly Jamaicans – at the OlympicGames in Beijing, China. For many, the single toast of the Olympics was undoubtedly Jamaica’s Usain Bolt,who shatter ed three world sprinting r ecor ds on his way to earning three gold medals. His feat was so stunning, it’s stillbeing talked about a year later. It has also rigorously charged the expectations ofthings to come. But Bolt was not alone among Jamaican athletes whoexcelled in Beijing. Sprinters Veronica Campbell-Brownand Shelly Ann Frasersecur ed gold medals. Melaine Walker won the 400 meters hurdles. The men’s 4x100 meters relay team was alsovictorious, and others secur ed medals on the track as well. All this help to raise the pr ofile of the sport. But the outstanding accomplishments of the Jamaicans also dr ew the international spotlight to the island, as well as suspiciously dark clouds. Many wonderedhow a small countr y could produce such sustained excel-lence on the track. Rumors of deception some whispered, others shouted loud enough – circulated. They came from critics desperate to take the sheen off Jamaica’s brilliant performances, especially when they overpowered much largerand richernations such asthe UnitedStates. GLOBAL PO WER Now Delano Franklyn, in hisbook “Sprinting Into History:Jamaica and the2008 OlympicGames”, helps toquiet the skeptics. Asthe cover notes accu rately states: “Jamaica has longbeen a global poweron the track, havingachieved far mor e medals on a per capita basis than any other country in theOlympics”. So no one should have been surprised by Jamaica’s heroics in 2008. Yet, in the book, published in April byW ilson Franklyn Bar nes and dedicated to capturing “Jamaica’s performance at theOlympics over the years, espe cially during the 2008 Olympic Games”, Franklyn just wants to make sure. The author also wants to make it clear that Jamaica has achieved prominence in other fields as well, and so he launches early a list that includes music legend BobMarley , politicians Mar cus Garvey and Michael Manley, and cricketer Courtney Walsh. Jamaica’s “breathtaking accomplishment” in 2008 may have jolted the world to pay closer attention, but the country has long been at the forefront of international acclaim in many fields. Now, as Franklyn stated in the intr oduction, “when it comes to sprinting, Jamaica is now where it’s at”. TIMELY The 501-page book is timely as well, coming on the eve of track’ s next big engagement, the IAAF World Championships in Athletics set for Aug. 15-24 in Berlin, Ger many. One year after Beijing, another stage has been set for Jamaica’s bestathletes to challenge theworld. Franklyn sets his own stage with clear writing and 10 well-organized chapters. He reels in the parameters surrounding track and field. Rawstatistics help stir a nation’ s raw emotions. Helpful tables and photographs tell Jamaica’sstor y in Beijing and befor e in detail track fans will naturally embrace, but the casual observer is sure to find an interesting tool as well. The chapters parade the finest of the island’ s athletic qualities. Profiles of the athletes bring back warm memo-ries of past accomplishments – from Arthur Wint to MerleneOttey . The r ecor ds stand for themselves. But Franklyn succeeds with a bigger task, that of telling the world exactly who Jamaicans are; a people not willing to back down fromeven the most daunting tasks.The book is about a nation that is proud of its heritageand not afraid to let you know. Three chapters are dedicated to Bolt’s incredible story.But the book addr esses almost every aspect surrounding Jamaica’s track and field, par-ticularly its accomplishmentsat the Olympics. Franklyn examines its history, politicsand business. He even allows room for its critics. In the end, Jamaica lives up to its incr edible billing. On the track in Beijing, that was again made clear, just as it hadbeen many times befor e. Gordon W illiams is Caribbean Today’s managing editor. August2009.qxd 8/6/09 7:43 PM Page 17

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As children head back to school, par ents face another season of fighting cold and flu ger ms. In an average year, children catch six to 10 colds. In families with childr en who are in school, the number of colds per child can be as high as 12 a year, according to the National Institute of Aller gy and Infectious Disease in the United States. “The change in weather during back-to-school season is the ideal environment for coldand flu-causing viruses to thrive,” says Dr. Lauren Feder, author of Natural Babyand Childcar e (Hatherleigh Press. 2006). “And with crowded classrooms, your children are more likely tocome in contact with ger ms that could get them sick. That’ s why now is the best time to lear n what you can do to reduce the chances of your family getting sick.” TIPS Her e are some must-know tips from Feder to combat illness as kids head back toschool: 1. Humidity and hydration are a must Dry nasal passages ar e more vulnerable to cold and flu viruses. When humidity levels are low, con-sider using a humidifier to add moisture to kids’ bedroomswhen sleeping and in other areas of the home. Drinkinglots of fluids like water and juice is also a great way to stay healthy and hydrated. 2.Killing germs is easy Some vir uses and bacteria can live from 20 minutes up to two hours or more on surfaces like cafeteria tables, playgroundequipment and desks, accor d ing to the U.S. Centers forDisease Contr ol and Prevention. The good news is that cold and flu vir uses can easily be killed with hand washing. Insist kids wash theirhands with plain soap and water around the house and while at school. 3.Catch symptoms at the onset To better chances of nipping symptoms in the bud, be pr epar ed by updating your medicine cabinet with choices that address early symptoms. Also consider over-the-counter options beyond antihista mines, decongestants or cough suppr essants since the U.S. Food and Dr ug Administration have questioned the safety and effectiveness of these ingredients for children. Oscillococcinum(Oscillo medicine used ar ound the world for 65 years, now offers children cough, cold and flu medicines. Children’sColdcalm Pellets and Children’s Chestal cough syr up work safely and naturally without causing side ef fects or interacting with other medications. The sweet taste of the quick-dissolve pellets and honey-based syrup are kid-friendly and mor e appropriate for younger ages than most other drugs. 4.Pack some personals It’ s polite to share; it’s not polite to share germs. Smart par ents will pack a few items like a small personal crayon pack, an individual mini pencil sharpener or mechanical pencils to reduce kids sharingger ms. Packing a travel size hand sanitizer and pocket packet of tissue in their backpack is also a good way to combat illness while they areat school. Courtesy of ARAcontent Jamaica introduces national targets for literacy in schoolsKeeping kids healthy as they head back to school 18 CARIBBEAN TODAYAugust 2009 www.caribbeantoday.com BACK BACK TO TO SCHOOL SCHOOL ~ A Caribbean Today special feature KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – The Jamaica gover nment is to introduce new national tar-gets for literacy in schools. “Every primary school principal, befor e the begin ning of each school year, will be set a target for performance in literacy,” EducationMinister Andr ew Holness told the House of Representatives last month. “The tar gets may be adjusted upon appeal of the principal, with valid explana tion and with the agr eement of the Ministry (ofEducation),to a levelwher e it is reasonable to the local cir-cumstancesand r esour ces of the school,” hesaid. But the education minister said that once the tar gets have been agreed, they will form part of the performance appraisal system for the prin-cipals. Holness said thatwhile literacy tar gets have not been set for this year, theywould be done as soon as theGrade Four Literacy T est r esults are available. Just under 50,000 students acr oss the island sat the Grade Four Literacy T est on June 18. The results will be made available in mid-August. ACTION Holness said that school boards would be asked to take action against principalswho consistently miss their targets, where it is obvious that the repeat rate is growingin the school and wher e it is apparent that there are no intervention initiatives in theschool. He said that principalsmust design pr ograms and mobilize parents and stakeholders toward this effort. “Wher e there is a genuine lack of skill in conducting literacy inter ventions on the par t of teachers, the Ministr y stands ready to support and coach. Where there is a lack of knowl-edge of str ucturing and design ing special intervention programs, the ministr y stands ready to assists,” he told legis-lators. “However , where there is a br eakdown in staf f morale, pr o fessional misconduct, absenteeism, dereliction of duty, inef-ficiency , incompetence, and general disinterest, the principals must act, with the suppor t of their boards, to bring thoseteachers to account.” Meanwhile, education officials have announced that a newversion of the United States Agency for InternationalDevelopment (USAIDGover nment of Jamaica Expanding Education Horizons program is now being designed. The pr ogram is aimed at enhancing cur riculum deliver y and improving literacy and numeracy in 71 primary schools. There are man y ways parents can help kids avoid illness. Holness August2009.qxd 8/6/09 7:43 PM Page 18

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PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – The Barbados-basedCaribbean ExaminationCouncil (CXC agreement with the Instituteof Critical Thinking at the University of the West Indies(UWI esult in a “paradigm shift fr om r ole learning and regurgitation to real thinking”. CXC Chief Executive Officer Dr. Didacus Jules,speaking at last month’s signing ceremony, said thatthe syllabuses of 11CXC subjects would be reformeddrastically so as topr oduce people capable of making meaningful contri butions to society. “Over the last 10 years, regionalministries and alsothe private sectorhave been calling fora dif ferent type of output by examination boards. Employers are saying they wantpeople with a capacity to applytheir knowledge,” he said. The pilot project, to be conducted over the next two years, would focus on the following subject areas: Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate (CSEC physics, biology, integrated science, economics, Caribbean history, geography, social studies, principles of business, andEnglish A (language (literatureEnglish at the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency(CAPE EARL Y ST AR T Pro Vice-Chancellor of Planning and Development atUWI Dr . Bhoe T ewarie said that various faculties and lecturers at the universi-ty would be involved in the new project. “Critical thinking needs to start early, ideally in primary school, afterpr e-school exposur e has instilled self-confidence as well as cr e ativity in the child,” he said noting that the new process hadalr eady star ted with the School of Education at the UWIin Mona, Jamaica. He said that the collaboration between the instituteand CXC would make a quali tative dif fer ence to education at the secondary level. “It will have the positive effect of improving evaluation mechanisms, strengthening curriculum, enhancing syllabus and transforming pedagogy Back-to-school shopping can be an exhausting and expensive experience and many parents start off on the wrong foot beforethey even get to the stor e. But there are simple ways to make this annual shopping trip efficient and affordable. According to the National Retail Federation, the averageAmerican family spends $385on school supplies for elemen tar y school students the bulk of which is being spent on clothing, electronics, shoes and school supplies. With more families feeling the pinch of the economy, that simply isn’t a feasible amount to spend this year. Follow afew simple tips and you cansave money and time. Get a list from y our child’s school According to a recent survey from Healthtex Children’s Clothes and Trone, Inc., 39 percent of parents fail tomake a list of the back-to-school items they need. Onceyou’ve got a list, stick to it. Thir ty-five percent of parents admit to pur chasing school clothing and supplies using the “I see it, I like it, so I buy it” motto, according to the survey. Why buy what your child won’t need? Mak e a budget Accor ding to the same sur vey, 45 percent of par ents do not make a backto-school shopping budget. Use your list to figure out what you absolutely need and compare with your household budget to determine how much you can spend. Make ita fun family activity to sear ch out the lowest prices on thingsyou need and give a smallprize to the person who saves the most money. Affordable,fun clothing One of the biggest back-to-school expenses are new clothes.Shopping summer sales can bea gr eat way to score bargains on the outfits you need. Kids will outgrow a $40 shirt just as quickly as a $10 shirt, so think affordability and durability. Stick to stylish, durable, ageappropriate clothing that’s always affordable likeHealthtex clothes. Each itemis only $8. Added savings Buy school supplies like notebooks, paper, pens, binders, scissors and glue in bulk at warehouse stores for extra savings or stock up when the dollar storehas them available. Whetheryou’r e shopping online or in the stor e, use coupons or online coupon codes. You can New project shifting Caribbean students to more ‘real thinking’It’s tug-o-war over the back-to-school budget August 2009CARIBBEAN TODAY 19 BACK BACK TO TO SCHOOL SCHOOL www .caribbeantoday.com ~ A Caribbean Today special feature (CONTINUED ON P AGE 21) Getting the most for a dollar is a major challenge. Students will be asked to think more. August2009.qxd 8/6/09 7:43 PM Page 19

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The end of summer means it’s time to headback to school. It also means kids are spending more time online prepping for the upcoming school year, finishing summer homework lists and reconnecting with summer friends. Likewise, cyber criminals are online targeting them through e-mail, IM and phishing scams, and even trying to make contact on social networking sites, blogs and chat rooms. What’s a parent to do? But parents don’t need to worry. Experts at computer security company McAfee have some simple ways to keep kids safe online so parents can have peace of mind. Thers no free lunch avoid online “freebies” T each your kids to stay away from free downloadslike scr eensavers, surveys and online club registrations. Many of these “freebies”, like games and wallpaper, include hidden spyware and adware pr ograms. These can monitor keystr okes, track Internet logins and transmit confidential infor mation. Lock your valuables pr otect against vir uses and malware Some e-mails contain har mful software that can damage your computer or track your Internet activities – allwithout you knowing. Antivirus and anti-spyware softwareas well as a two-way fir ewall will protect you from inadvertently accepting unwanted files attached to e-mails. Hall monitors needed be aware of all online activities Help your kids be responsible online by blocking inap propriate sites and preventing risky online activity. For tips on keeping your computer and kids safe, please visit www.mcafee.com/advice. Courtesy of ARAcontent With the cost of food, fashion and livingsteeply on the rise in the United States, it is no sur-prise that college tuition costs are also greatly increasing from year to year. Students and their families paid on average fr om $108 to $1,398 more in the 2008-09 school year than the previousyear for tuition and fees, a trend that is likely to continue well past 2009, according to the College Board. Her e are some simple ways your family can savemoney while still getting everything you need for goingback to college: Don’t double up Call your roommate(swho is bringing what. No sense splurging on a microwave if your r oommate is already planning to bring one. Smaller is better Buying in bulk may seem like a goodidea, but food can go bad, storage is limited, and it’s easyfor bulk items to go to waste.Buy only what you need whenyou need it, and if you wantmor e, go back. From trash to treasure For furniture and items like lamps,desks and bedside tables, shop at garage sales. Prices arecheaper to begin with since the items are used, and you can negotiate. RE-STOCKING For one-stop shopping for everything else on a budget, most college campuses feature at least one mass retailer with-in a 10-mile radius: fr om WalMar t, Target and Kmart to Bed Bath and Beyond. Now when students and their families stock up on everything from school supplies to toiletries, they can also re-stock their wardrobes. “Many people don’t think of Target as denim destina-tion,” says Jenifer DeSofi, senior merchant for Signatureby Levi Strauss & Co. Men’ s Depar tment. “We created a line of stylish, high-quality jeans for men in a variety ofpopular fits like the SlimStraight, Loose and Bootcut. All our jeans are available forunder $30 to answer the needs of the value-minded consumer Authentics Signature by Levi Strauss & Co. jeans are available at Target stores andfor men and kids. All styles retail for under $30. Visit www.signaturebylevistrauss.com/us for mor e information. Courtesy of ARAcontent save hundreds of dollars on the clothing and supplies onyour list. Stop before you hit the store Before you even head out the door , “shop” ar ound your house first. Y ou’d be amazed what you can find when you look around indrawers and in the back ofyour closet. Y ou may even find a bounty of pens and notebooks you’d stocked up on earlier , and then put away and forgotten about. Courtesy of ARAcontent Tips to keep kids safe onlineHow to save when college costs riseIt’s tug-o-war over the back-to-school budget August 2009CARIBBEAN TODAY 21 BACK BACK TO TO SCHOOL SCHOOL www .caribbeantoday.com ~ A Caribbean Today special feature (CONTINUED FROM P AGE 19) August2009.qxd 8/6/09 7:43 PM Page 21

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