Jamaica: On the agenda of Caribbean Community leaders who meet in Guyana in two weeks is the controversial issue of legalizing marijuana for medicinal and personal uses but even as heads prepare for the summit, Jamaica is giving clear signals that it is pushing right ahead and not awaiting on the actions of the wider group. Comment

Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams on Tuesday honored a local baker who organizes birthday celebrations for homeless children and an educator who has developed innovative programs to teach both children and adults. Comment

Trinidad and Tobago: A comprehensive web and mobile education platform is going to launch in the Caribbean next month — its first stop, Jamaica. Comment

Brooklyn: Fearful and undocumented Brooklyn immigrants were given hopeful signs of relief at the second annual immigration forum at Saint Matthew’s Parish Centre in Crown Heights on June 18. Comment

Guyana: In a ceremony last Friday afternoon, filled with much pomp and circumstance, Guyanese-born mother and daughter daycare providers, Paulette Hyman and Shaundell Agrippa, collaborated in organizing the graduation of seven children from Pre-K at their daycare centers in Laurelton, Queens. Comment

Fashion: Jamaican American Chaquanzha Stephenson was crowned Miss Dream Castle 2016 at the coronation held last Saturday at the Royal Regency Hotel in Yonkers Comment

People: Sabrina’s Play Studio owned by Sabrina Samuel is the winner of this year’s Statewide SBDC Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Comment

Music: Some of the premier names that have laced the calypso art form with crowd-pleasing comedic offerings over the years will be bringing their combined talents to “Kaiso Laugh Riot,” a blockbuster showcase of wall-to-wall calypso humor to be rolled out Sunday evening, July 17 at Brooklyn’s Tropical Paradise Ballroom. Comment

St Vincent: As the maxims go, “nothing good comes easy,” “no pain no gain” and “there’s light at the end of the tunnel,” life has not been a “bed of roses” for tenacious Vincentian student athlete Sheldeen Joseph. Comment

Travel: The Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) presented a paper to attendees at a Capitol Hill Briefing in Washington D.C., urging the creation of a Caribbean-US public-private sector dialogue and a framework for a Caribbean-United States tourism action agenda to strengthen Caribbean engagement with the United States. Comment

People: In case you thought the April primary was the only one to decide politicians to vote for in November, think again, there are two more scheduled before the big day when the next leader of the free world is fully endorsed by a majority bi-partisan Americans. Comment

Viewpoints: ROME, March 28, 2016 (IPS) - The recent Brussels massacre has created a short term reaction, which ignores a long term projection. All the debate is now about security, police reinforcement, new military strategies, as if terrorism can be solved just as a matter of public order. Comment

Environment: June 7, 2016 (IPS) - A recent UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) report on world heritage sites in danger from climate change received widespread media attention after the Australian government requested the removal of a chapter on the Great Barrier Reef. Comment

Trinidad and Tobago: Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley has admitted his government was losing the war on crime. Comment

Arts & Theater: Kaios International Sounds launched its band at D’Savannah Lounge in Flatbush, Brooklyn on Saturday, June 11 under the theme “Savage Beauty” which celebrates the power, sensuality and significance of women of color. Comment

Jamaica: Two Jamaica Human Rights organizations are opposing plans by National Security Minister Robert Montague to resume hanging as a means to dealing with the escalating crime problem in the country. Comment

Music: Marley & friends to launch new Brooklyn venue By Vinette K. Pryce The buzz about Brooklyn’s outdoor, boardwalk showplace is no longer an enigma. The 500-seat, Coney Island Amphitheatre is a reality and is ready to launch its first summer concert series. Comment

Jamaica: Twelve-year-old Chaunte Blackwood is the pride of her people, the champion of her nation and the hope of all classmates at Kingston’s Ardenne High School in Jamaica. Comments (1)

Sports: West Indies fast bowling legend Sir Curtly Ambrose says he is shocked over his firing as West Indies bowling consultant. Comment

Sports: The International Cricket Council (ICC) Women’s Twenty20 champions will clash with England in the 50-over format in five-match One-Day International series in October in the Caribbean. Comment

Arts & Theater: Everybody’s “Caribbean” Magazine presents the magical and hilarious family play, “Guilt Trip” on May 28–29 in New York City. After more than 350 performances in Kingston during the 2016 Jamaica theater season and nominated for nine Actor Boy Awards (Jamaica equivalent of Broadway’s Tony), Guilt Trip premiered in Toronto, Canada and St. Kitts and Nevis to launch the international tour. Comment

Brooklyn: Brooklyn is celebrating Caribbean Fashion, Food, Art and Music Fair 2016, which is being held from May 2-29 at Brooklyn Commons, 495 Flatbush Avenue. Comment

Sports: Goalkeeper Brad Guzan is set to start ahead of veteran Tim Howard for the U.S. national team in the Copa America tournament. Coach Jurgen Klinsmann announced the 23-man roster Saturday during halftime of the MLS rivalry game between New York City FC and the New York Red Bulls. The roster features 15 players from the 2014 World Cup team. Comment

Guyana: Guyanese residents in New York, Florida and throughout the USA now have an additional option for air travel to Guyana, both for the Golden Jubilee Independence celebrations in May 2016, and also with a full schedule starting in July for the summer holidays. Comment

Fashion: New York-based Guyanese designer, Stacey Angoy received loud applause at a 50th Independence Fundraiser in Rosedale Queens, recently, when she showed off her Stacey A Collection designs, set for the Guyana Fashion Week 2016 to celebrate Guyana’s Jubilee. Comment

Music: Randy Weston, the legendary jazz pianist, composer and bandleader, will be celebrated at a special free program, from 6 to 8 pm on Friday, June 10, at Brooklyn’s Medgar Evers College (MEC). Comment

St Vincent: Antigua The Professional Organization for Women in Antigua & Barbuda (POWA) and Women Against Rape (WAR) are in support of a recommendation that abortion should be an option for women who are pregnant and may be infected with the Zika virus. Comment

Guyana: The Guyana government has handed over a copy of the report of a Commission of Enquiry (COE) into the death of noted historian and political scientist Dr. Walter Rodney to Attorney General Basil Williams to be laid in Parliament. Comment

St Kitts and Nevis: TEMPO Networks is celebrating its 10 years in existence by hosting an event “Caribbean Rocks NYC – TEMPO Turns 10” at the legendary BB King’s Blues Club and Grill on Sunday, June 5, 2016. Comment

Trinidad and Tobago: Homicides in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago are expected to rise to alarming levels and the Eastern Caribbean islands could see an increase in murders currently resembling those reported in Jamaica. Comment

With over three billion downloads and counting, Angry Birds is the most popular app of all time. Nevertheless, one need not be familiar with the video game to enjoy this delightful animated adventure. Comment

Brooklyn: On Saturday, June 11, from noon to sun down, The People of the Sun Middle Passage will be holding the “27th Annual Tribute to Our Ancestors of the Middle Passage” at 17th Street and the boardwalk, Coney Island, Brooklyn. Comment

Movies: Holy Hell (Unrated) Mind control documentary revisiting The Buddhafield, an ill-fated, religious sect located in L.A. in the Eighties which was run by a charismatic cult leader called Michel. Comment

St Vincent: The Organization of American States (OAS) says that the final report on the general elections in St. Vincent and the Grenadines has reiterated concerns and achievements of the process. Comment

People: Tony Speelman, a committed labor leader who has dedicated nearly four decades of fighting for hard working men and women, was unanimously elected president of the over 20,000 member United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1500 (UFCW). Robert Newell, who began his career in 1990 pushing shopping carts at Pathmark, was unanimously elected secretary-treasurer. Comment

Books: “Just wait til you’re older!” Oh, how you hate hearing that! Wait til you’re grown. You need to get bigger. You can’t do that now, you’re too little. But why not? Why can’t you start dreaming of someday right now, while you’re still a kid? As you’ll see in the new book “Trombone Shorty” by Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews, illustrated by Bryan Collier, dreams can come true at any age. Comment

Sports: Despite winning its second World Twenty20 title in five years, the West Indies team has dropped to third in the ICC rankings in that format of the game. Comment

Jamaica: The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency says officers from its Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) have arrested a number of Jamaicans in the Pennsylvania area among 84 individuals during a weeklong operation targeting criminal and other immigration violators. Comment

Barbados: Barbadian governments are normally known for their prudence, limited levels of corruption and respect for public opinion but the administration of Prime Minister Fruendel Stuart appears to be determined to buck that tradition by insisting that both locals and visitors entering and leaving the island must be subjected to fingerprinting. Comment

Brooklyn: Brooklyn Council Member Dr. Mathieu Eugene continues his long fight for summer youth funding. On Monday, Eugene, chairman of the City Council’s Youth Services Committee, was joined by his colleagues, as well as youth advocates from throughout New York City, in rallying on the steps of City Hall to save summer programs for 34,000 children. Comment

St Kitts and Nevis: St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Timothy Harris and a delegation are expected to attend the May 20 inauguration of Taiwan’s first female president. Tsai Ing-wen was elected as Taiwan’s president on Jan. 16, 2016. Comment

Haiti: Brooklyn Council Member Dr. Mathieu Eugene is gearing up for a big Haitian Flag Day celebration this weekend. Comment

Music: Grammy Award winning R&B legend Regina Belle has been added to the powerful lineup for the 2016 ‘Groovin In The Park’ concert which unfolds at Roy Wilkins Park in Queens, New York on Sunday, June 26. The news was recently announced on Groovin Radio, WVIP, 93.5 FM in New York City. Comment

Viewpoints: Let’s hope that the process still underway that will soon culminate, barring something almost apocalyptic, in Hillary Clinton becoming the Democratic presidential nominee, will usher in an across-the-board sanity in the Democratic ranks that expunges a potentially self-defeating hysteria in some quarters. Comment

Jamaica: Jamaica is set to take full advantage of the benefits of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and to this effect Prime Minister Andrew Holness has appointed a Review Committee to position the country for the benefits under the organization. Comment

Sports: PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) _ David Villa scored a contentious goal as New York City won 2-1 at Portland on Sunday to take a share of the lead in Major League Soccer’s Eastern Conference. Comment

Viewpoints: ROME, May 16, 2016 (IPS) - A new spectre is haunting the world. It is not the spectre of communism, as Marx’s Manifesto famously proclaimed. It is the spectre of fear, which has increasingly become the rationale behind politics. And, as the old proverb says, fear is not a good counselor. Comments (1)

Jamaica: Whoever said the “sky is the limit” did not impress Jamaican Janice G. Smith. She probably looked out at the horizon and then the ocean and decided on a different direction. After enlisting in the U.S. Navy 27 years ago, Smith was recently appointed commander of a guided missile destroyer and became the first immigrant Jamaican to assume the helm. Comment

Brooklyn: Popular Brooklyn 7th Day Adventist Church Pastor Gilford T. Monrose is conducting a major youth conference in Ridgecrest, N.C., from June 30–July 4. Comments (1)

Brooklyn: Mayor Bill de Blasio and Council Member Laurie A. Cumbo on Sunday, May 14 co-named Clinton Avenue between Myrtle Avenue and Willoughby Avenue as Carey Gabay Way in honor of the former first deputy counsel for the Empire State Development Corporation, who lost his life last year hours before the J’Ouvert festival. Last Sunday, he would have turned 44. Comment

Fashion: A young television producer, with a penchant for elegance, has won the Best Dressed Competition at an annual tea party organized by the United Vincie Cultural Group of Brooklyn (UVCGB). Comment

Veteran reggae singer Jimmy Riley, who died recently, will be honored posthumously by Irie Jam Radio, WVIP with the ‘Caribbean Heritage Award’ at the third annual Oracabessa Festival, slated for Roy Wilkins Park in Queens, NY on Memorial Day, Monday, May 30, 2016 Comment

Grenada: The President of the United States, Barack Obama, and the U.S. First Lady, Michelle Obama, have recognized former Grenada Ambassador to the United Nations Dr. Lamuel Stanislaus as “a part of our great American story.” Comments (2)

Grenada: Mothers Day 2016 will forever resonate with memories of Carmel Noel’s last day on earth. The Birch Grove, St. Andrew-born Grenadian mother and grand-mother held firm to the sentiments of the day despite an impending appointment some would describe as a date with the God. Comment

Brooklyn: Saraphina Bernard, who came to American from Haiti just three years ago, and loves science, had a beautiful smile on her face, on Saturday, May 14, the same smile she wants to see on the faces of her clients, after she graduates with a degree in dentistry. Comment

Movies: Kyle Budwell (Jack O’Connell) was a working-class guy from Queens who never had enough cash in the bank to play the market until his mother died and left him $60,000. Against his better judgment, the rough-edged truck driver put every penny of that inheritance into Ibis Clear Capital, a security being promoted by TV money guru Lee Gates as “safer than a savings account.” Comment

Fashion: Summer Sizzle BVI Fashion and Lifestyle brought the warm weather to New York city on Wednesday, May 11, when the British Virgin Islands Tourist Board, and CEO of Summer Sizzle BVI, Terry Donovan, launched the 8th Annual event in the swanky Yumi Katsura Couture Showroom on Manhattan’s Westside. Comment

Sports: West Indies batting legend Brian Lara would like to see the return of all-rounders Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo for next month’s Tri-nation series involving Australia and South Africa. Comment

Jamaica: KINGSTON, Jamaica (IPS) - Jimmi Jones and wife Sandra Lee’s fish farm in Belize City is unique. His fish tanks supply water and nutrients for his vegetable garden needs and the plants filter the water that is recycled back to the tanks. Comments (1)

The Ogle Airport in Guyana has been renamed the F. Correia International Airport. Comment

Movies: Art Bastard (Unrated) Reverential biopic about maverick artist Robert Cenedella, an inveterate iconoclast who has managed to enjoy an enduring career without compromising his rebellious spirit. Comment

Trinidad and Tobago: Caribbean Representatives of all the 25-nations Association of Caribbean States (ACS) will attend the seventh summit of the regional organization from June 2–4 at Havana’s Convention Center, Cuba. Comment

Trinidad and Tobago: The simmering years-old row between Trinidad and Jamaica over the way Jamaicans are treated while visiting Trinidad is shifting from a row over free movement of Caribbean nationals into an all out trade war as Jamaica moves to retaliate against a neighbor it says is sometimes too arrogant and insensitive. Comment

Renowned regional and international cricket commentator and journalist Tony Cozier, 75, died in his native Barbados at the Bayview Hospital where he was hospitalized for the past few days. Comment

Brooklyn: Despite some obstacles, the inaugural Miss Plus Size Universe Women’s Conference in New York was “quite a success,” organizers say. Comment

Sports: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced that India would play a four-match Test series in the Caribbean, starting in July this year — signaling renewed relations between the BCCI and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB). Comment

Trinidad and Tobago: The office of International Education at Brooklyn’s Medgar Evers College (MEC), City University of New York (CUNY) last Thursday held its inaugural International Education Awards Ceremony amid much fanfare, honoring four outstanding individuals. Comment

Viewpoints: Now that Donald Trump’s outwitting whatever constitutes the Republican “establishment” is complete, the party is forced to look in the mirror and behold the ghastly image staring back. Comment

Brooklyn: Brooklyn Council Member Jumaane D. Williams has characterized as a “bittersweet victory” Monday’s indictment of Manhattan developer Steve Croman on 20 felony charges related to allegations of tenant intimidation and fraud on May 9. Comment

Guyana: Imagine in 2016, a television personality delivering coverage of the political primary campaigns and other news singing to calypso music? Unimaginable on CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, FOX or MSNBC or any national medium in the United States, however, Guyana-born Cy Grant dared to try and successfully executed this feat on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC-TV) almost six decades ago. Comment

Music: Clearly out-performing nine other contenders, a female newcomer to calypso / soca Saturday night / Sunday morning won the New Song Competition in New York, as Vincy Mas kicked off in Brooklyn, coinciding with the official launch of the national carnival in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Comment

Music: Community2Community (C2C) will kick off its 6th Annual “Hope and A Future” — A Celebration of Haiti (HAAF) on Saturday, May 14, 2016 at noon. The event, which takes place at BRIC Arts Media House, 647 Fulton St., Brooklyn, NY, will end at 5 pm. Comments (1)

Arts & Theater: The Harlem School of Arts Theatre Department is launching “One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show” a consistently hilarious, emotionally stirring and beautifully written satirical comedy directed by Artistic Director Alfred Preisser. Comment

Sports: The International Cricket Council (ICC) — cricket’s world governing body — has lashed out at the behavior of some members of the West Indies team following the final of the Twenty20 World Cup in India in April this year. Comment

Sports: SEATTLE (AP) _ Through the first eight games of the season, neither Clint Dempsey nor Jordan Morris had a goal in the same game for the Seattle Sounders. Comment

Music: Haiti Cultural Exchange is hosting its second Biennial Celebration of Haitian Arts & Culture, an inter-disciplinary two-month springtime festival that began May 1 and run until June 30. Comment

Movies: Founder of New York-based Caribbean Film Academy (CaFA), Romola Lucas, will return to her homeland, along with co-founder Justen Blaize to showcase the brilliant work of Caribbean and Guyanese filmmakers, during the first Timehri Film Festival in celebration of Guyana’s 50th Independence Jubilee. Comment

New York: The New York-based Bloomberg Philanthropies on Wednesday announced that 290 cities across Latin America and the Caribbean have submitted ideas to solve major challenges and improve city life for the 2016 Mayors Challenge. Comment

Trinidad and Tobago: The Trinidad and Tobago government wants to ask the court to have several people designated as terrorists so as to freeze their assets. Comment

Trinidad and Tobago: Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Dr. Timothy Harris championed CARICOM’s case on correspondent banking during an important consultation in Washington, D.C., with State and Treasury officials at the U.S. Department of State on Tuesday, May 3. Comment

Books: The rules are very simple: don’t, don’t, and don’t. Don’t swing the bat too late. Don’t hug the ball while running down the court. Don’t get tackled. And whatever you do, don’t let the other guy win. Rules are rules and in sports, you have to follow them. But why are games played like that, with different balls and a field of certain size? “On the Origins of Sports” by Gary Belsky & Neil Fine, explains those head-scratchers. Comment

Viewpoints: During a CNN presidential town hall on Feb. 3, an 81-year-old man from Concord, NH, with phase IV colon cancer, Jim Kinhan, asked Hillary Clinton what she could do to “help advance the respectful conversation that is needed around this personal choice that people may make, as we age and deal with health issues or be the caregivers of those people, to help enhance and — their end of life with dignity.” Comment

Trinidad and Tobago: The message to the Caribbean people is to make our own government. And so, our own economies. There are enough riches on the ground, in the communities, to do so. Comment

Antigua Antigua and Barbuda Minister of Trade Chet Greene said his country will continue to speak out against the false allegations against the region as “high risk” for financial services and the label of “tax havens.” Comment

Trinidad and Tobago: Despite several challenges facing the twin-island republic, Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley says his new People’s National Movement (PNM) administration is “making steady progress” in addressing them. Comment

Grenada: The United States Congress has recognized former Grenada Ambassador Dr. Lamuel Stanislaus as a “true hero in our society,” as the erstwhile envoy celebrates his 95th birthday. Comments (1)

Jamaica: Jamaica Prime Minister Andrew Holness said the government will be sparing no effort in the fight against crime. Comment

Movies: Nat (Jonathan Pryce) is the owner of Dayan and Son, a Kosher bakery located in London. The store’s name is a bit of a misnomer since he’s been the only Dayan working there ever since his father passed away. Comment

He’s Jamaican it! Comment

Movies: Guyanese-born Film Director Mason Richards is scouting Guyana’s Kaieteur Falls, the largest single-drop waterfall in the world, as the possible location to shoot the full-length feature of his award-winning film “The Seawall,” to celebrate Guyana’s 50th Independence Golden Jubilee. Comment

Brooklyn: Brooklyn bicyclists and bibliophiles can register now for “Bike the Branches,” a daylong bike ride through Brooklyn Public Library’s (BPL) 60-branch system. Comment

Guyana: Presidents’ College of Guyana will benefit from funds raised at the (GAC) Guyana Action Committee’s 50th Independence Gala at Georgetown Pegasus Hotel, on May 21, according to Operations Director Bonita Montague. Comment

St Vincent: Hundreds of Vincentian and Caribbean nationals in Brooklyn last Sunday paid their last respects to Keith “Slick” Bonadie-Clarke, one of St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ greater mid-fielders ever in soccer, who died on April 18 at Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center in Brooklyn. He was 58. Comment

Movies: I Am Wrath (R for profanity and violence) Revenge thriller about a grieving widower (John Travolta) who takes the law into his own hands after corrupt cops fail to find his wife’s (Rebecca De Mornay) killer. With Amanda Schull, Christopher Meloni and Sam Trammell. Comment

Antigua: Successive governments in St. Kitts might have been one of the first countries in the Caribbean Community to allow foreigners to buy local citizenship and use its national passport to travel the world as if the person was actually born there but authorities in Antigua have in recent days been showing off various innovations of its version of the program. Comment

Guyana: The World Bank says it will be deepening engagement with Guyana in the next two years by strengthening climate resilience, improving education quality and laying the ground for private sector development. Comment

Haiti: Last week on April 29, an abundance of Haitian and Haitianist Ph.Ds mingled in the penthouse of the Student Union at Brooklyn College to informally kick-off the launch of the new CUNY-Haitian Studies Institute. Brooklyn College is its home. Attending scholars traveled from all parts of the U.S. including metro area New Yorkers and from Montreal and Paris to Haiti. Comment

Music: Jamaica’s longest running summer music festival has been acquired by a new owner who wants to slash Reggae Sumfest from its heyday high of seven days to a mere two-night showcase of entertainment talents. Comment

Arts & Theater: Jamaicans have always found a place in the cast of the “Lion King,” Broadway’s most profitable musical. From 1994 when the animated film classic starred James Earl Jones, Whoopi Goldberg, Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane, Robert Guillaume, Cheech Marin and others, Jamaican Madge Sinclair voiced the character Sarabi. Comment

Viewpoints: The election of 2016, like others in the past, will pit those in the electorate who would have the soul of America represented as steeped in values suggestive of an enlightened 21st century sensitivity and those who would just as soon revert to the norms of a checkered American past. Comment

Grenada: Hundreds of Grenadians turned out to pay their last respect to Grenada’s first native Bishop of the Catholic Church, The Most Reverend Vincent Matthew Darius, O.P., D.D. during a funeral on Monday, May 1 in Brooklyn. Comment

Arts & Theater: It was no surprise that “Hamilton,” — a hip-hop musical about a Caribbean-born, founding father and the first treasury secretary — would sweep top nods for Broadway’s best honors. Tuesday, the enlightening production about Charlestown, Nevis-born Alexander Hamilton won 16 Tony nominations, a feat no other musical has ever accomplished. Comment

People: United States Treasury Secretary Jack Lew recently announced that the $20 bill, the most widely circulated currency in America will bear the images of two prominent Americans – one male, the other female, one Black, the other white, one a slave the other a slave owner. Comment

Brooklyn: The sign on the façade of Modern MD Urgent Care at 436 Utica Avenue in Brooklyn, says ‘no appointment necessary,” an invitation to any consumer with a medical emergency that is non-life threatening. Comment

Cuba: May 02, 2016. HAVANA, Cuba—This week, Cuba is the tech capital of the region. From May 2 to 6, some 700 technology experts and professionals from across the region gather in western Havana for the annual meeting of the Internet Registry for Latin America and the Caribbean (LACNIC). Comment

St Vincent: The screams and rallies of Vincentian nationals in the United States, who trekked by bus and car to Franklin Field Stadium, at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, did not go in vain, as athletes from the Thomas Saunders Secondary School (TSSS) continue to make the nation very proud in the century-plus-old Penn Relays. Comment

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has turned down an offer by the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) to contest two Twenty20 Internationals in Pakistan. Comment

St Vincent: The Bronx-based St. Matthias Charities, Inc. on Saturday honored three outstanding community figures at its fifth annual fundraising Dinner and Awards Ceremony in Brooklyn. Comments (1)

Guyana: Karen Kraus, chief operations officer of North Carolina based Dynamic International Airways, said Dynamic International Airways remains committed to a long-term partnership with the people of Guyana to provide affordable flights from JFK to Georgetown, and is honored to celebrate the 50th Independence Golden Jubilee. Comments (1)

Books: Your vote matters. At least that’s what they tell you, but you have your doubts. You’re ONE of millions of people who’ll go to the polls in November. You’re a raindrop in the sea, a needle in a voting haystack. But as you’ll see in “Brown is the New White” by Steve Phillips, you are more powerful than you think. Comment

Movies: Rell (Jordan Peele) was so inconsolable after being dumped by his girlfriend that getting high didn’t help ease the pain. But then, while crying on the shoulder of his cousin Clarence (Keegan-Michael Key), a cute, little kitten appeared on his doorstep. Comments (1)

People: The National Association of University Women (NAUW), Long Island Branch on Sunday awarded US$1,000 scholarships to seven deserving high school graduating students to help them pursue tertiary education. Comment

Viewpoints: Now that the weather’s warming and tornado and hurricane seasons are approaching, expect to start hearing more talk about climate change. Here in New York, Governor Cuomo has made it clear that he wants our state to be a leader in fighting against climate change. Comment

Arts & Theater: On Thursday, April 21, ARTs East New York (AENY) celebrated a sparkling and expanded new home. Community activists, electeds including Council Member Laurie Cumbo, and developer Martin Dunn cut the ribbon for the new headquarters, community space and art gallery at Livonia Commons. Comment

Movies: Beautiful Something (Unrated) Homoerotic ensemble drama following the fates of four gay males (Colman Domingo, Zack Ryan, John Lescault and Brian Sheppard) dealing with relationships over the course of one very eventful evening. With David Melissaratos, Grant Lancaster and Matthew Rios. Comment

Trinidad and Tobago: The United States Department of State has warned its citizens in Trinidad and Tobago to avoid “hot spots” and taking taxis in several areas because of increasing crime. Comment

Viewpoints: GENEVA, April 26, 2016 (IPS) - The U.S. was the cause of the crisis but has come out better than anyone else in the advanced world and better than many developing countries. During the crisis there was a widespread perception that this was the end of US hegemony. It was end of the dollar as the major reserve currency. Comment

Bronx: NEW YORK (AP) – High school seniors on their way to college were feted by U.S. first lady Michelle Obama and a host of celebrities on Tuesday as she encouraged them to make the most of their college experiences, get involved in campus life and ask for help when they need it. Comment

Grenada: According to a reliable clerical source, arrangements have been made for Grenadians in New York City to be able to join in celebrating a Memorial Mass for The Most Reverend Vincent Matthew Darius, O.P., the first native Bishop of the Roman Catholic Church in Grenada, Carriacou & Petite Martinique. Comment

St Vincent: Amid concerns in some quarters in the United States over “opportunities open for Vincentian athletes” in the U.S., Sports Minister Cecil “Ces” McKie has confirmed that the administration of Prime Minister Dr. Ralph E. Gonsalves is supporting four Vincentian athletes at Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn, New York. Comment

Belize: GUATEMALA CITY (AP) _ The tiny Central American country of Belize has accused larger neighbor Guatemala of “amassing” troops along the two countries’ border following the death of a 13-year-old boy in a shooting incident apparently involving Belizean soldiers. Comment

National: Two high-ranking United States congressional representatives have introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives legislation that they say would “prioritize” U.S.-Caribbean relations. Comment

St Vincent: As the Argyle International Airport nears completion, new Vincentian Economic Planning Minister Camillo Gonsalves is appealing to nationals in the Diaspora to invest in the country before it’s too late, saying that St. Vincent and the Grenadines is poised to “take off.” Comment

St Vincent: Keith “Slick” Bonadie-Clarke, one of St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ greater mid-fielders ever in soccer died on April 18 at Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center in Brooklyn. He was 58. Comment

Barbados: When it comes to political stability and general services, the Caribbean Community nation of Barbados is regarded as not only the best Afro-run country in the world but also one of the most organized societies in the western hemisphere. Comment

We raised here recently the issue of national parties in the U.S. being organized and run in a manner that leaves us mystified as to whether “national” leadership of the country’s two dominant parties really does exist. Comment

Grenada: Theresa Grimm once said, “Without teacher appreciation there can’t be any student progress.” On Thursday, April 21, the Barnes & Noble located at 106 Court St. in Brooklyn held the 2016 Barnes & Noble My Favorite Teacher ceremony to honor local winner, Shola Roberts from Grenada; dance teacher at School of Integrated Learning in Brower Park, Brooklyn. Comment

Sports: New Zealand batsman Martin Guptill will lead the Amazon Warriors in this year’s Hero Caribbean Premier League 2016. Comment

Sports: CARSON, California (AP) — Emmanuel Boateng had a goal and two assists as the Los Angeles Galaxy beat Real Salt Lake 5-2 on Saturday night to snap the Utah team’s three-game winning streak. Comment

Music: It was a glorious spring afternoon. The Alexander Avenue stoop in the historic Mott Haven section of the Bronx provided a multi-level staging area for the Afri-Garifuna Jazz Ensemble’s music that brought traditional jazz mixed with Garifuna music to this South Bronx neighborhood. Comment

Arts & Theater: Sign painter, Andrew Allen was born in Georgetown 50 years ago, the exact year Guyana attained independence from Great Britain in 1966. So in a fitting tribute to the land of his birth and the Golden Jubilee, the painter said he wants to make a contribution and is calling on the Guyana government to commission him to paint murals for the upcoming week of celebration. Comments (1)

Arts & Theater: Visual artist Fudd, known for his contemporary abstract paintings with a gritty urban influence and Chef Nina B. are presenting their inaugural event, The House that Art Built a gallery exhibition combining food and art on April 30 at The Living Gallery located in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Comment

Sports: On Saturday, May 7, at 10 am, the people of the Bronx will hit the ground running. That’s the date of Run the Bronx: The 38th Roscoe C. Brown Jr. 10K and 5K Runs and 2-Mile Walk that begins and ends on the campus of Bronx Community College. Launched in 1978 by devoted marathoner, legendary Tuskegee Airman and then BCC president Roscoe Brown, the race that now bears his name has become a signature annual event in the borough. This year’s walk and run will pay a special tribute to Dr. Brown. Comment

Arts & Theater: Author, Speaker and Veteran Television Journalist Cheryl Wills from NY1 News is telling the powerful story about her enslaved ancestor who fought for his freedom as a soldier during The Civil War. Her great, great, great grandfather was the amazing Sandy Wills Comment

Caribbean: The Economic Commission for Latin American and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has called for the creation of a Caribbean Resilience Fund as part of a debt alleviation strategy based on a climate change swap proposal. Comment

Guyana: Guyana’s First Lady Sandra Granger and Sita Nagamootoo, wife of Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, were guests of honor at the Women of Mission International (WOMI) empowerment Awards Gala on Friday, April 8 at the Glen Terrace, Brooklyn, where 10 Guyanese women of valor were honored. Comment

People: A purple inscribed letter addressed to all the people of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern invited an April 21 public celebration of the 90th birthday of the queen of the commonwealth. Comment

Music: Purple reigns….and purple rains. The royal color painted a swath across the nation and in England with good and bad news that at age 90 in England, Queen Elizabeth II became the longest-reigning British monarch and here Prince Rogers Nelson passed away at age 57. Comment

Books: “Here, try this.” Ugh. That’s advice you almost never take because you hate new things. You know what you like, you know what you don’t – and there are plenty of things that fall into the last category. But, as in the new book “Little Shaq Takes a Chance” by Shaquille O’Neal, illustrated by Theodore Taylor III, unless you try something, how do you know for sure? Comment

Legendary former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd believes global and domestic Twenty20 have played an important role in enhancing the skills and professionalism of the regional cricket team. Comment

Sports: West Indies cricket legends are calling for the “immediate resignation” of the Dave Cameron-led West Indies Cricket Board, in line with the recommendations of the WICB / CARICOM Governance Review Panel. Comment

Arts & Theater: An exhibit that brings to the United States a contemporary sample of animation and animated video art that showcases the potential that Caribbean animators offer to the world is being shown at the headquarters of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in Washington, D.C. Comment

Jamaica: The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) says Jamaican track superstar Usain Bolt has joined the Washington-based organization in a campaign to raise awareness of the importance of vaccination in protecting health and preventing disease. Comment