THIS WEEK’S TOP NEWS STORIES
ASAFA POWELL APPROVES PLANS TO ERECT MONUMENT TO HONOR HIM AT NATIONAL STADIUM
Jamaican Olympic sprinter Asafa Powell has given his approval to a monument being built to honor him at National Stadium. Powell and his wife viewed a maquetter of the monument with Jamaica’s Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment, and Sport, Olivia Grange. Asafa and Alyshia Powell signed off the maquetter during a visit to Grange. According to the couple, the artist who sculpted Powell’s likeness had accurately portrayed all the athlete’s details.
BOB MARLEY’S BIRTHDAY TO BE FETED BY BOB MARLEY FOUNDATION
The Bob Marley Foundation will celebrate the 75th birthday of the legendary reggae singe. According to the Foundation, arrangements have been finalized for the celebration to be staged on February 6, 2020, with the theme “Marley 75: Redemption.” The celebration will include concert performances by Marley’s sons at the Bob Marley Museum in Kingston. The celebration will also offer a children’s music and book festival, a petting zoo for children, and an artisan village. The theme of the singer’s “Diamond Jubilee” was inspired by Marley’s “Redemption Song,” his last reggae recording prior to his death in 1981.
THIS WEEK’S TOP CARIBBEAN NEWS
TRINIDADIAN POET WINS MAJOR POETRY PRIZE
Roger Robinson, a dub poet from Trinidad, is the winner of the prestigious T.S. Eliot Prize. His collection entitled “A Portable Paradis” was cited in the award. John Burnside, a poet and the chair of the judges’ panel, wrote in The Guardian newspaper that the collection, which covered topics such as violence, dealing with racism, and the fire at the Grenfell Tower in London in 2017, “ is built on observations of ordinary daily life.” The T.S. Eliot Prize is g presented in the United Kingdom of new poetry in English published in The UK or the Republic of Ireland.
THIS WEEK’S TOP JAMAICAN DIASPORA NEWS
SOUTH FLORIDA DIASPORA WELCOMES DR. HENRY LOWE
Jamaican Dr. Henry Lowe, a researcher and scientist known around the world, visited South Florida and discussed his pioneering work with members of t he Jamaican diaspora at the Chateau Mar Golf Resort in Lauderhill. Dr. Lowe recently obtained a patent for a groundbreaking for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. The drug was developed by Lowe’s company Flavocurel LLC. He spoke to an audience of some 200 residents of Florida, including Jamaica’s Consul General to Miami Oliver Mair.
THIS WEEK’S TOP BUSINESS NEWS
MINISTRY OF ENTERTAINMENT LAUNCHES APP FOR REGGAE MONTH
Olivia Grange, Jamaican Minister of Entertainment, announced a collaboration between her Ministry and the nation’s Ministry of Tourism for the development of a Reggae Month App. The app will permit promoters of all types of Jamaican music events, including in addition to reggae, genres like dub, rockasteady, ska and dancehall, to add their own events to those already included. Additionally, the app will allow music fans to keep informed about all of the pending shows and performances, conferences, and other musical events occurring during Reggae Month 2020
THIS WEEK’S TOP ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
UK LITERATURE FESTIVAL TO FEATURE PAINTING OF JAMAICAN NURSE
The Wolverhampton Literature Festival, an annual event, will feature a historical painting from 1950 of a Jamaican nurse by Irene Welburn, a white Birmingham artist. The painting, which is entitled “Nurse Brown from Jamaica,” has created considerable interest, partly due to the mystery surrounding the nurse portrayed in the iconic work. Little information is available bout the subject of the painting, and questions have arisen about whether the gesture she is making is linked to Rastafarianism. Jefny Ashcroft, a writer and historian from Wolverhampton, believes the painting should be displayed, since the importance of the Windrush Generation for Britain is finally being recognized.
THIS WEEK’S TOP SPORTS NEWS
JAMAICAN TO BE FIRST WOMAN THIRD UMPIRE IN MEN’S INTERNATIONAL CRICKET
Jamaica’s Jacqueline Williams will be the first woman in history to serve as the third umpire in a men’s international match. Williams, 43, will take on the historic role when she officiates in the first of three Twenty20 International. The match will put Jamaica against the visiting team, Ireland. In May of 209, Williams became the first woman named to the International Cricket Council International Panel of Match Referees.
