Dr. William Thornton, British Virgin Islands – Caribbean-American Man of Influence
Dr. William Thornton, a physician, inventor, and architect, was the designer of the US Capitol building. He was born on Jost van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands in 1759 in a Quaker community. In 1784, he received a medical degree from the University of Aberdeen. Upon returning to his Caribbean home in 1786, he […]
Lester Holt , Jamaica – Caribbean-American Man of Influence
American journalist and television new anchor Lester Holt was born in 1959 in California. He traces his Jamaican heritage through his grandparents: his maternal grandparents were born in Jamaica. His mother was born in Harlem, and his father was an African American from Michigan. Holt is the first African American to serve as lead anchor […]
This Jamaican-American Teacher Uses Art & Storytelling To Restore Hope To Former Blighted Redline Communities
Historic Black communities were subject to “redlining”, an FHA policy that devalued property and prevented mortgages in those communities from being insured. The lack of investment produced “food deserts” and prevented homeowners from benefiting from the equity in their homes, and that becomes blight. “That blight that you see in your neighborhood becomes a story […]
Jamaica Makes History Competing at World Lacrosse Women’s World Championship
Jamaica is set to make history when it becomes the first country from the Caribbean to compete at the World Lacrosse Women’s World Championship in Maryland in the United States. The competition is scheduled for June 29 to July 9, 2022. According to Calbert Hutchinson, the president of the Jamaica Lacrosse Association, he expects the […]
Tania Hernandez aka Miss Tania Lou Makes it to the Top 12 Jamaica International Independence Foreign Song Competition
Tania Hernandez, whose stage moniker is Miss Tania Lou, and who presents the Jamaican Facts on Jamaicans.com, has fulfilled a life-long dream to write her own music and sing on the international stage. From writing her 3 books, completing her album, Shades of My Heart, performing Jamaican folklore in Jamaica, USA and Canada, to being […]
Naomi Campbell, Jamaica – Caribbean Heritage Woman of Influence
Naomi Campbell was born in Streatham, South London in 1970. She is one of the most recognized fashion models of the past 40 years and one of six declared “supermodels” by the global press and fashion industry. The others were Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford, Claudia Schiffer, and Kate Moss. Her mother was the […]
Dr. Marcia Roye – Saluting 60 Jamaican Women Pioneers
“Now my brothers can plant happy tomatoes” Dr. Marcia Roye grew up in a farming family in the parish of St. Elizabeth, the breadbasket of Jamaica. She had no ambitions to be a scientist, but she was very good in the science subjects, especially chemistry and physics. Although she loved school, like any other little […]
Jamaica Cannot Hold Diaspora to Their Promises, but Diaspora Should Not Make Them
It’s a fact that the Jamaican Diaspora provides additional foreign currency to Jamaica. Recently again, remittances topped the equivalent of 2.4 billion United States dollars. The amounts remitted are from across the various major Diaspora regions of the USA, Canada, and the UK. To Jamaica, it means the increased gross domestic product (GDP) and additional […]
Sheryl Lee Ralph, Jamaica : Caribbean-American Woman of Influence
Actress, singer, author, and activist Sheryl Lee Ralph was born in 1955 in Waterbury, Connecticut to Ivy Ralph, a Jamaican fashion designer, and Stanley Ralph, an American college professor. She was raised in Mandeville, Jamaica, and Long Island, New York. DNA analysis has shown that she is descended from the Tikar people of Cameroon. She […]
Dr. Allison Barnett-Cross : Saluting 60 Jamaican Women Pioneers
“I enjoy making that connection when the child sees the light, when they get it.” Beauty and brains can and do go together. Just ask Dr. Allison Barnett-Cross, Executive Director of the Jamaica Foundation for Lifelong Learning (JFLL). The JFLL trains you by teaching you to read and teaching you work skills that allow you […]