Arturo Alfonso Schomburg, Puerto Rico – Caribbean-American Man of Influence
The historian, writer, and activist Arturo Schomburg was born in Puerto Rico in 1874 in the town of Santurce. His mother was Mary Joseph, a Black, freeborn midwife from St. Croix in the Danish West Indies. His father was the merchant Carlos Federico Schomburg, son of a German immigrant to Puerto Rico. When he was […]
Photo Highlights: Despite Clouds and Rain in Early Going, Lineup of Reggae, Dancehall, and Soca All-Stars Shined Brightly at Miami’s 2022 Best of the Best Concert
Last month’s Best of the Best Music Fest at Bayfront Park in Downtown Miami was saturated with excitement, and the massive crowd in attendance—that braved the rainy and damp weather—certainly testified to the festival’s acclaim in being the Largest Caribbean Stage Show in North America. What’s more, this year’s staging marked Best of the Best’s […]
This 96-Year Old Jamaican-Born Lady is now the Oldest Black College Graduate in America
Jamaican-born Violet Edwards, 96, became the oldest African American to graduate from college when she received her degree on June 25, 2022, from Mercy College in New York. She is the oldest person in Florida to receive a degree, and she is also the fifth-oldest person in the world to graduate from college. She was […]
Louise Bennett-Coverley aka Miss Lou, Jamaica – Caribbean Woman of Influence
Poet, folklorist, educator, performer, and activist Louise Bennett-Coverley, better known as Miss Lou, was born in 1919 in Kingston, Jamaica. She attended Ebenezer and Calabar elementary schools, St. Simon’s College, and Excelsior College, and enrolled at Friends College in 1943 to study Jamaican folklore. She first came to public attention in 1943 when she published […]
Jamaican Named New Chairman of Turks and Caicos Tourist Board
Caesar Campbell, who is of Jamaican descent, has been named the new Chair of the Turks and Caicos Tourist Board. Campbell, a resident of Turks and Caicos for 25 years, attended Stony Brook University and New York University and earned an MSc degree in economics and public finance. He has extensive experience in the hospitality […]
Jamaican-Born Basketball Player Kofi Cockburn signs NBA contract with the Utah Jazz
Former Illinois University center Kofi Cockburn, who was born in Kingston, Jamaica, has officially signed with the Utah Jazz of the NBA. At seven feet and nearly 300 pounds, Cockburn averaged over 20 points per game and more than ten rebounds. With his draft by Utah, Cockburn has realized his dream of getting to the […]
Clive Campbell aka DJ Kool Herc, Jamaica – Caribbean-American Man of Influence
Clive Campbell, better known as DJ Kool Herc, was born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1955 and moved with his family to New York in 1967. Growing up in Kingston, he was exposed to the sound systems of the dancehall neighborhood parties and to the speech used by deejays to accompany the music known as “toasting.” […]
Dr. The Hon. Joyce Robinson OJ (1925-2013) – Saluting 60 Jamaican Women
“Service to others is the debt we must pay for being on earth.” Her name was Joyce Lilieth Robinson and she was born in the parish of St. James. She attended school in Black River, Kingston and England where she trained to be a Librarian. At that time, Jamaica was still a colony of Great […]
Audre Lorde, Barbados & Grenada – Caribbean-American Woman of Influence
Black feminist and poet Audre Lorde was born in New York City in 1934. Her father was from Barbados, and her mother was a Grenadian born on the island of Carriacou. The family lived in Harlem where Lorde, who was legally blind, was raised on stories her mother told about the West Indies. She learned […]
Jamaican Actress Simone Moore Makes Her Producer Debut with The Divorce Comedy – Now Streaming on YouTube!
Simone Moore, Jamaican-born actress and writer, made her debut as a producer and writer with The Divorce Comedy – an exploration into the absurdity, isolation, and loss of identity of a Jamaican immigrant’s experience in marriage and divorce. The one-woman show premiered at REDCAT’s annual New Original Works (NOW) Festival and is now available on YouTube. […]