Caribbean Beat Magazine

22/09/2024

After announcing himself on the world stage at the 2014 Under-19 Men’s World Cup, a car accident threatened to end Nicholas Pooran’s burgeoning cricket career. Through positivity, faith and support, he’s bounced back and is now one of the most exciting batters in the world. Sheldon Waithe sat with the star player to get the story — so far. 🏏

CPL T20 Dwayne Bravo Perception Management Sheldon Peter Waithe

After announcing himself on the world stage at the 2014 Under-19 Men’s World Cup, a car accident threatened to end Nicholas Pooran’s burgeoning cricket care ...

17/09/2024

"What I discovered is that Ladoo’s life and death are every bit as extraordinary as his fiction." Trinidadian-Canadian director Richard Fung talks to Jonathan Ali about his documentary The Enigma of Harold Sonny Ladoo. 🎥

Jonathan Ali Richard Fung

Trinidadian-Canadian director Richard Fung talks to Jonathan Ali about his documentary The Enigma of Harold Sonny Ladoo

14/09/2024

Every September, Guyana honours its Indigenous history and culture with arts and craft, cuisine, games, performances, and much more! From Mabaruma in the north to the Rupununi in the south, even at the temporary Heritage Village in the capital city Georgetown, Guyana’s past and present converge in an experience that’s one for your bucket list.

Discover Guyana

Every September, Guyana honours its Indigenous history and culture with arts and craft, cuisine, games, performances, and much more

11/09/2024

This month’s reading picks from the Caribbean, with reviews by Shivanee Ramlochan of Son of Grace by Vaneisa Baksh; A Stranger in the Citadel by Tobias S Buckell; You Were Watching from the Sand by Juliana Lamy; and Bath of Herbs by Emily Zobel Marshall.

Shivanee N. Ramlochan Tachyon Publications Tobias Buckell Red Hen Press Peepal Tree Press Emily Zobel Marshall

This month’s reading picks from the Caribbean, with reviews by Shivanee Ramlochan of Son of Grace by Vaneisa Baksh; A Stranger in the Citadel by Tobias S Bu ...

07/09/2024

This month’s listening picks from the Caribbean — featuring reviews by Nigel Campbell of new music by Angela Hunte; Coutain & Dwala; D-Achee; and Juss Lizz. 🎧

Nigel A. Campbell Coutain D-Achee David Achee Juss Lizz

This month’s listening picks from the Caribbean — featuring reviews by Nigel Campbell of new music by Angela Hunte; Coutain & Dwala; D-Achee; and Juss Lizz

04/09/2024

Shelly-Ann Inniss covers the major festivals, holidays, and celebrations across the region this September and October.

CPL T20 Nevis Marathon & Running Festival Nadia Batson Tobago Festivals Tobago Tourism Agency Discover Dominica COCO Dance Festival Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Barbados Food and Rum Festival

Shelly-Ann Inniss on the major festivals, holidays, and celebrations across the region this September and October

01/09/2024

The new September/October 2024 issue of Caribbean Beat is out (https://www.caribbean-beat.com/current-issue), and here’s what’s inside! 😎 Meet outstanding regional luminaries: Trinidadian cricketer Nicholas Pooran; award-winning Barbadian disability rights activist Kerryann Ifill; and celebrated Guyanese-British artist Ingrid Pollard. Discover the history of women in calypso and soca for Calypso History Month; the rich culture and heritage of Kumina in Jamaica; and the promise of medical tourism in the Caribbean. Explore unforgettable regional events, experiences, and destinations, before catching up on new book, film, and music releases from across the diaspora. Enjoy it all in your take-home copy on your next Caribbean Airlines flight; via a print or digital subscription; or read for free online (along with classics from our archive)!

📸 Contemporary soca superstars like Nailah Blackman come from a long line of trailblazing women who helped revolutionise calypso and soca. Learn more in our cover story! Photo © Courtesy Nailah Blackman/Sokah Experience Ltd

30/08/2024

On the eve of Independence Day, takes us back to the very first commemorations in Jamaica 🇯🇲 and Trinidad and Tobago 🇹🇹 with these pics from our July/August 2012 issue ( #116).

📷:
Courtesy the Gleaner Company Ltd (1962)
- Prime Minister Alexander Bustamante and his wife, along with Governor Kenneth Blackburne, greet Princess Margaret and her husband Lord Snowdon
- Guests in the main stand at the National Stadium rise at midnight in salute to the Jamaica National Flag as it is raised.

Courtesy Information Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Communications
- Prime Minister Dr. Eric Williams and Governor-General Sir Solomon Hochoy at the Children’s Rally
- Raising of the Trinidad and Tobago flag

28/08/2024

"As the daughter of St Lucia’s first prime minister (and national hero) Sir John Compton, I have been exposed to history my whole life. My childhood home is full of old maps, paintings, drawings and photos.

I never took those things on as a child. I dropped history in form three because I truly hated it! History only came to me through my photography practice.

I grew tired of just taking “pretty” pictures. I wanted to tell a story in every image I presented, and through that, I wanted to dig deeper. I started to learn things, and even feel cheated — like, how could I not know this?"

St Lucian artist, photographer, filmmaker, history buff, and Know Your Caribbean founder Fiona Compton talks to Shelly-Ann Inniss in our latest issue.

📷 courtesy Fiona Compton:
- Jab photo credit: Adeline Rapon, courtesy Fiona Compton
- The Nèg Gwo Siwo mas tradition at Martinique’s carnival
- Traditional dress: Fiona represents her Kwéyòl heritage
- Family: A young Fiona with her sisters and mother

https://www.caribbean-beat.com/issue-183/fiona-compton-i-wanted-us-to-feel-more-connected-to-ourselves-own-words

26/08/2024

Many may know Nicholas Brancker for his role in the spread of soca beyond its Trinidad & Tobago origins. But far beyond that, he has been a shining example of how Caribbean musicians can succeed both at home and abroad, holding their own against titans of the global music business.

With an impressive body of work and numerous accolades, his journey serves as a potential roadmap for Caribbean musicians seeking to sustain a successful music career in these islands (and beyond them). And yet, Brancker’s name is too seldom called in conversations about Caribbean musicians who have achieved excellence in the arts. Nigel Campbell has more in the latest issue of Caribbean Beat.

📷:
- Nicholas performing: Recco Moore, courtesy Nicholas Brancker
- Nicholas with guitar Barbados Creative Agency, courtesy Nicholas Brancker
- Barbados Creative Agency, courtesy Nicholas Brancker

https://www.caribbean-beat.com/issue-183/nicholas-brancker-beyond-the-bajan-invasion-backstory

24/08/2024

“I believe that cinema is not separate from life.” In 2016, the filmmaker Malaury Eloi-Paisley began documenting Pointe-à-Pitre — her hometown and the administrative centre of Guadeloupe, a Caribbean department of France. Specifically, she filmed the lives of several people on its precarious margins.

Eight years later, her intimate and ambitious tapestry of a film, L’homme-Vertige: Tales of a City, appears, a witness to these lives. Read more in the latest issue of Caribbean Beat.

Stills from L’homme-Vertige: Tales of a City (2024)
📷 courtesy Malaury Eloi Paisley

https://www.caribbean-beat.com/issue-183/vertigo-is-a-state-of-anxiety-bordering-on-madness-screen-buzz

22/08/2024

Discover a new fave with this month’s reading picks from the Caribbean, with reviews by Shivanee Ramlochan of The Ferguson Report: An Erasure by Nicole Sealey; Naniki by Oonya Kempadoo; Black Light Void: Dark Visions of the Caribbean edited by Marsha Pearce; and The Hurricane Book: A Lyrical History by Claudia Acevedo-Quiñones.

https://www.caribbean-beat.com/issue-183/book-buzz-reviews-jul-aug-2024

20/08/2024

Looking for some fresh tunes? 🎧 Check out Nigel Campbell’s listening picks from the Caribbean — featuring new music by Monty Alexander; Etienne Charles; John Sqweird; and Rai Hana.

https://www.caribbean-beat.com/issue-183/music-buzz-reviews-jul-aug-2024

18/08/2024

The life and accomplishments of William Penn Jr are well documented. But his father’s (controversial) exploits are much less so, and had a significant impact on British colonial ambitions in the Caribbean, writes James Ferguson.

James Ferguson

The life and accomplishments of William Penn Jr are well documented. But his father’s (controversial) exploits are much less so, and had a significant impac ...

16/08/2024

Corals, molluscs, and tiny organisms (foraminifera), pulverised against the waves and brought in by the tides, give Barbuda’s beautiful Pink Sand Beach its distinctive hue. Dive between the covers of our July/August issue at https://www.caribbean-beat.com/current-issue

📷: BlueOrange Studio/Shutterstock.com

Antigua and Barbuda Tourism

14/08/2024

The stunning scarlet or red ibis (Eudocimus ruber) inspires awe in all the Caribbean and South American regions it inhabits - including Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela, French Guiana, Colombia, Brazil, the ABC islands, and Trinidad & Tobago (where it's one of the country's two national birds).

These beautiful creatures inhabit wetlands and other marshy habitats like the mud-flats of the Shell Beach region in northwest Guyana, as pictured here - a magnificent protected area with an abundance of biodiversity and an array of bird species like kingfishers, spoonbills, flamingos, and more.

📷: Danita Delimont/Alamy Stock Photo

Did you know you can also read Caribbean Beat as an interactive flipbook? Check it out here: https://issuu.com/meppublishers/docs/caribbean_beat_183

12/08/2024

The Pearl of the South, the City of Lions — Puerto Rico’s second city is an open-air museum, an architectural treasure, and home of the island’s best ice cream.

Discover Puerto Rico

Streetscape The municipality of Ponce sprawls from the southern coastal plain of Puerto Rico up to the heights of the Cordillera Central. But the city’s his ...

10/08/2024

Negril is “irie” Jamaica at its best — and the ever-popular, ever-buzzing, ever-beautiful Seven Mile Beach is one of its star attractions.

📷: Debbie Ann Powell/Shutterstock.com

VisitJamaica

https://www.caribbean-beat.com/issue-183/hat-tricks-parting-shot

08/08/2024

The Caribbean, like many popular tourist destinations, will greatly benefit from more sustainable travel that makes a positive impact on local communities, economies, and the natural environment. Blogger and environmental advocate Malou Morgan shares her insights with Shelly-Ann Inniss.

Shelly Inniss

The Caribbean, like many popular tourist destinations, will greatly benefit from more sustainable travel that makes a positive impact on local communities, ...

06/08/2024

From The Bahamas in the north to Trinidad & Tobago in the south, Barbados in the east to the coastlines of Central America in the west, we in the Caribbean are blessed with a magnificent body of water that nourishes and sustains us.

From The Bahamas in the north to Trinidad & Tobago in the south, Barbados in the east to the coastlines of Central America in the west, we in the Caribb ...

04/08/2024

Sahara dust. Are we getting more of it than we had been in decades past? Will we get more of it with climate change? What are the impacts on the environment, humans, and wildlife? And how has Barbados become a hub for this kind of atmospheric research? Erline Andrews investigates.

Erline Andrews U.S. Naval Research Laboratory - NRL Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH)

Are we getting more of it than we had been in decades past? Will we get more of it with climate change? What are the impacts on the environment, humans, and ...

02/08/2024

There are heroic turtle conservation efforts across the Caribbean, often started and sustained by indomitable individuals who embody the idea of being the change they want to see. And in Nevis, writes Caroline Taylor, that quiet hero is Lemuel “Lemme” Pemberton.

Four Seasons Resort Nevis, West Indies Caroline Taylor

There are heroic turtle conservation efforts across the Caribbean, often started and sustained by indomitable individuals who embody the idea of being the c ...

31/07/2024

Lots to do and see around the Caribbean in August, starting tomorrow with Emancipation Day in the English-speaking Caribbean as well as St Vincent & the Grenadines’ Breadfruit Festival, and St Lucia’s Breadfruit & Breadnut Festival. Check out August's packed event calendar, from diving to street festivals to T20 cricket and more, in our latest issue.

📷:
Emancipation/Heritage: Courtesy Tobago Beyond
Dive Fest Barbados: Digitalunderwater.com/Alamy Stock Photo
CPL: Courtesy CPL T20

https://www.caribbean-beat.com/issue-183/event-buzz-jul-aug-2024

29/07/2024

Once a year a tranquil fishing village on Cuba's east coast comes alive to host the Gibara International Film Festival — an event which has been described by CubaPLUS Magazine as “one of the most original, important and culturally integrated festivals in the world”. This year, the festival runs 6–10 August, with 45 works competing in six different categories.

📷 : Neftali/Alamy Stock Photo

https://www.caribbean-beat.com/issue-183/word-of-mouth-jul-aug-2024

27/07/2024

Stepping up is something that Caribbean nations are accustomed to — harnessing talent, putting in the hard work, surpassing expectations by punching above our weight. It’s little surprise, then, that this talent and determination has seen us excel on the biggest sporting stage of all — ultimately stepping up to the top of the Olympic podium.

Our storied history of Olympic success is one of electrifying and emotional moments as we witness our athletes claiming gold, before hearing our national anthems played and seeing our flags raised high.

And through all those moments, no matter which country we call home, there is regional pride, support and solidarity as our Caribbean brothers and sisters take on — and beat — the rest of the world, knowing that this success is a result of nothing less than tremendous talent married to unflinching belief, endeavour, and determination.

📷:
Hasely Crawford/ Don Quarrie credit: PA Images/Alamy Stock Photo

Usain Bolt credit: Allstar Picture Library Ltd/Alamy Stock Photo

Teofilo Stevenson credit: PA Images/Alamy Stock Photo

Shaunae Miller credit: Action Plus Sports Images/Alamy Live News

Arthur Wint credit: OsmanPhotos.com/Alamy Stock Photo

Keshorn Walcott credit: dpa/Alamy Live News

https://www.caribbean-beat.com/issue-183/golden-moments-panorama