Alicia John-Powell facing down cancer

[caption id="attachment_1709" align="alignright" width="188" caption="Photo credit: Trinidad Guardian"][/caption]

We spent quite some time mulling over the headline for this post.

We really wanted to get across how we feel about how 'Ms. Basia' , tv host and magazine publisher Alicia John-Powell has dealt with her breast cancer diagnosis and battle - with fierceness and grace and can-do spirit.

This is the way I choose to do my fight and anyone who wants to join me is free to do so,” she told the Trinidad Guardian about her all guns blazing approach to the disease.

John-Powell, who is the wife of former WI cricketer Ricardo Powell, found out she had breast cancer earlier this year, on a family trip to Disney Land.

Since then, she has undegone chemo and a bilateral mastectomy (removing tissue from both breasts - done for patients considered to have a high risk of reoccurence).

She has also used her high profile and media outlets to push a message of hope for others with cancer.

Her mastectomy is set to be shown on the Basia TV show at a later date. She explained to the Guardian that she wanted to demystify the disease and educate people.

“I had sad moments, I cried, I had different people hold my hand at different stages. I want to expose things people don’t tell you about, like the early menopause. I know I will save lives and people will discover lumps and go to the doctor.”

She has also formed the Basia Support Network, which was launched last Monday in Trinidad. The theme of the network is 'Maintaining Happiness'  and the network will seek to do that for cancer patients and survivors, through a  different means, including medical sponsorship, therapeutic yoga, inspirational lectures and diet consultations.

 

[caption id="attachment_1710" align="aligncenter" width="392" caption="John-Powell (left) and Marcia Miranda at the launch of the Basia Survivor Network. (Photo credit: Newsday)"][/caption]

 

John-Powell explained the thinking behind the theme at the launch:

"I am living proof that it’s not always that bad, with support and love you can win the battle and that is what the network is about."

We at Islandista say 'fight on!'

 

Lisa Hype's proud of her bleaching... no, really.

Well, just listen to this mess.

We wish she was being tongue in cheek, but no, Lisa Hype, the 'first lady' of Vybz Kartel's Portmore/Gaza Empire is dead serious about being proud of bleaching out her skin.

She told the Jamaica Star earlier this week:

"A bleaching a run the place and it all right because dat fi show yuh seh yuh a tek care of yourself."

EH? I cannot even follow that logic... so destroying your skin is taking care of yourself now? Since when and how come nobody ent tell us here at islandista?

Lisa's well proud of the track too, telling the Star that it running tings:

"Di girl dem seh mi a lock it fi dem this year. A me alone a talk fi dem. Mi nuh know which girl nowadays nah bleach, even fi use likkle Nadinola and rub on fi mek dem face cool.

People a bun it (bleaching). Nuff a dem a bun it and dem gal a do it. Mi nuh hear nobody lash out against the song. Everybody see mi and seh it gone."

She also admitted (as if we couldn't tell from her duppy face) that she has been bleaching for about two years because she likes the look.

Ordinarily you know, we would want to just throw up our hands in despair but trust, this got we vex.

What de hell is wrong with Kartel and Gaza? A so dem mus dark and anti-progressive?

Everything that is wrong and despicable in society them must tek up and glorify, from sexing underage teenagers (Virginity) to dissing up university students to pushing this destructive Gaza/Gully rivalry to bleaching?

Blasted idiots.

Gaza we seh? Am, NO.

'When is it going to stop?' Rihanna gives details on assault

Really graphic and honestly... just sad details are coming out today from Rihanna's extensive interview on ABC with Diane Sawyer, which has ABC has been leaking in bits and pieces over the last two days.

She told Sawyer:

"It wasn't the same person that says I love you. It was not those... eyes. He had ... no soul in his eyes. Just blank. ...He was clearly blacked out. There was no person when I looked at him."

"All I kept thinking all the time: When is it going to stop? When it is going to stop?"

She also shot down the loose talk that it was anything like a fight in the Lamborghini that night - it was a beatdown.

Rihanna speaks out

Rihanna has finally spoken out about her feelings about what went down earlier this year after she was beaten by her ex(?) boyfriend Chris Brown on the morning of the Grammy Awards.

She did an interview with Glamour magazine, which is set to come in their December issue - they dropped a preview of it today (no doubt to beat out ABC).

A few of the snippets:

On the photo of her being leaked.

It was humiliating; that is not a photo you would show to anybody. I felt completely taken advantage of. I felt like people were making it into a fun topic on the Internet, and it’s my life. I was disappointed, especially when I found out the photo was [supposedly leaked by] two women.

On the chaos immediately afterwards:

It has taught me so much. I felt like I went to sleep as Rihanna and woke up as Britney Spears. That was the level of media chaos that happened the next day. It was like, What, there are helicopters circling my house? There are 100 people in my cul-de-sac? What do you mean, I can’t go back home?

On what she wants her message to other young women suffering from domestic violence to be:

Domestic violence is a big secret. No kid goes around and lets people know their parents fight. Teenage girls can’t tell their parents that their boyfriend beat them up. You don’t dare let your neighbor know that you fight. It’s one of the things we [women] will hide, because it’s embarrassing. My story was broadcast all over the world for people to see, and they have followed every step of my recovery.

Our take on this?

We're glad she spoke. We really hope against hope that she is not being pressured to do so just to pub her album. That would be the rankest exploitation.

We know a lot of the ignorant commenters out there would like domestic violence to be a black or white issue, so they can justify their hatred/jealousy of Rihanna.

Leona Lewis ATTACKED at book signing!

[caption id="attachment_1600" align="alignleft" width="315" caption="Photo credit: Xposure"][/caption]

Well what the fecking feck?!



 

British singer (and islandista by descent) Leona Lewis was randomly slapped by a male 'fan' at a book signing today at a Waterstone's book store in London.

One eyewitness told the BBC:

"My brother saw the whole incident. He [the attacker] walked up there with the book, she signed it and, as she looked up, he just punched her."

Another said:

"She was running out with her hand over her eye and I just saw a man on the floor. Suddenly the security all jumped on him and they were trying to pull him out and he was just laughing, he thought it was funny.'

Obviously, the book signing did not continue as Leona was majorly shaken up, even if not too badly hurt (from initial reports).

Her management released a statement a short while ago saying:

'Leona was the victim of an unprovoked attack this afternoon at her book signing. The police were called immediately and medical attention has been sought.

'Leona is understandably shaken and apologises to the fans she was unable to meet and complete signings for.

 

Poor girl. Of all the celebs to get slapped, why Leona who is from all accounts, a really sweet girl?

 

I guess duppy really know who to frighten boy... bet he wouldn't have tried that on Naomi!

LAPD officers suspended for Rihanna photo leak

From the 'we knew it wasn't over' files...

Two Los Angeles Police Department officers have been suspended for leaking the shocking photo of Rihanna after her beating by Chris Brown.

We all remember the pic of Rihanna's battered, swollen, disfigured face.

Well, the LAPD was not at all happy that the pic was leaked and have been investigating it ever since.

And now, they seem to have narrowed in on two officers - ironically enough, both women. Tsk.

From the LA Times:

One of the officers, identified by sources as Rebecca M. Reyes, is a nine-year veteran of the department and was last assigned to the Wilshire Division. Her attorney told The Times that a search warrant in connection with the leak investigation had been served on her Los Angeles home.

 The other, Blanca Lopez, is a rookie officer with the Hollenbeck Division and was a housemate of Reyes, according to sources, who spoke on the condition that they not be named because it was an ongoing investigation.

Both have been “assigned to home” pending the outcome of the probe, according to the sources who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to talk publicly about the investigation.

Sigh.

Jourdan Dunn 'in' and out of Fashion Week

For a brief moment, it looked like Jourdan Dunn, who is five months pregnant, would be walking the runway at the upcoming New York Fashion Week for the Spring/Summer '10 collections.

The news flew across the internet yesterday afternoon and this morning, when Models.com posted a picture of Jourdan's card, which was included among those for the season.

Fashionologie picked up on it and included the tidbit in a mixer post and then New York Magazine picked up on it from there and off it went, causing a temporary spike of excitement and speculation among fashionistas.

But ... it was all for nought.

Turns out Jourdan will not be walking this season. By 11 a.m. this morning, a rep from her agency Women agency, confirmed that Jourdan will not be appearing in any of the shows.

Move along folks! Nothing to see here...

Another soca mummy - Destra pregnant

Wha de jail...!

How on earth did we at islandista miss this?

Soca songbird Destra Garcia is joining the line of soca mummies as she is pregnant with her first child.

She revealed this in an interview with the Trinidad Express last week.

She told the Express she did not even realise she was pregnant for a while as she "always had a bit of an iregular cycle" and she had no morning sickness.

However, she did notice that she had become a bit more bountiful up top, as she had gone up by two bra cup sizes.

The father to be is her long-time boyfriend, Brian Morris, who is the sound engineer for her band, Atlantik. He says the couple is planning marriage to go with baby in the "not too distant future".

However, like the other soca mummies - Alison Hinds, Denyse Belfon and most recently, Fay-Ann Lyons, Destra does not seem to intend to stop performing.

At a recent show at Adam Smith Square in Woodbrook, Saucy Wow coached Destra on how to do de wickedest preggers wine, much to the delight of all the fans.

The baby is due in January 2010 - right, right before Carnival 2010 and it will be interesting to see how Destra copes with the public pressure that is sure to come to bear on her.

You know how we West Indians like to act like pregnancy is a illness that requires a woman to be bed-ridden.

In the meantime, we at Islandista offer our congrats to the mummy to be!

Michael Jackson death ruled a homicide

Oh sheeeeet. Dr. Conrad Murray is now really in potta/shit street/up a creek without a paddle. You pick the metaphor.

The Los Angeles County Coroner has ruled that the King of Pop's death was a homicide and the likely cause was a lethal combination of drugs.

Every news outlet and their mother is running with the AP report where a law enforcement official confirmed that the death is being treated as a homicide.

FYI - dat is murder hear?

Apparently, the forensic exams found that high levels of the anesthetic propofol along with two other sedatives was what caused Jackson's death.

Of course, this has has been widely speculated on for weeks, ever since Jackson's nutritionist Cherilyn Lee revealed that he had begged her to get the anesthetic Dipravan (another name for propofol) for him, in the weeks before his death.

Dr. Murray, who has been the target of a manslaughter investigation for weeks now apparently told investigators that he had been treating Jackson for insomnia for nearly six weeks with 50 milligrams of propofol every night. Via an IV drip.

Celebs really are not like you and me.

Murray told the investigators he worried that Jackson was forming an addiction to the propofol (no shit - anyone taking a powerful drug only used in hospitals and using it every night just to drop a sleep is obviously addicted. Why would Murray as a doctor give it to him in the first place?).

Anyhow, so he was trying to wean Jackson off the propofol by lowering the dosage and mixing it in with other sedatives.

Curiouser and curiouser.

Yet, it must have seemed to be working because two days before Jackson died, he managed to fall asleep with 'just' the two other sedatives.

But then in the wee hours of of June 25th, Murray reportedly tried all kinds of non-propofol alternatives to get Jackson to sleep, including regular old Valium.

None worked and Jackson demanded the propofol so finally Murray gave in around 10:40 a.m.


And the rest... well, we know it from there.

Awful and sad.

Jourdan Dunn confirms pregnancy

Jourdan Dunn has confirmed what we reported a few days back - she is indeed pregnant.

In an interview with Vogue.co.uk, Jourdan said she was excited about motherhood:

"I'm really looking forward to the future and having my baby... I'm lucky - I'm feeling really well. I'm healthy and happy!"

Vogue also reported that the father is Jourdan's boyfriend of many years and that Jourdan plans to continue working between London and New York after the baby's birth in December.

Bits and pieces - Lara fete back on, socially aware fashion and more...

Yes islandistas, I have another pelau post here for you - a bit of this and a bit of that and you know seh it always good!

First up - apparently Brian Lara's all-inclusive Crop-Over party is back on. The Prince changed his mind over a week ago so all systems are go once again.

No details on what caused him to change his mind and work the party into his schedule but we're guessing that some fervent pleading from Bajan party-goers may have gone down.

In other news, Barbadian fashion designer Toni Thorne of Bouik is bringing social awareness to fashion with the launch of a new campaign to promote HIV/AIDS awareness, called Wear The Issue.



[caption id="attachment_1282" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="Photo source: Wear the Issue Facebook page"][/caption]

Chris Brown says what he did was 'inexcusable'

Chris Brown is sorry. Five months after he assaulted Rihanna, the teenyboppers former (?) king has come out and publicly apologised to Rihanna and his fans. In the video which was posted to his website, Brown took full responsibility for what happened that night, saying:

"I'm not going to sit here and make any excuses… What I did was inexcusable."

He also confirmed that he and Rihanna have been in contact since the assault, saying he has told her "countless times" how sorry he is. First up, we'd like to say - at least he was man enough to apologise. Shoot, Ike always maintained he did nothing wrong. So for the young boy to man up and admit his wrong, we will give him credit for that. Of course, there are still a whole lot of questions.

Caribbean commess around the Jacksons

As if there was not enough drama surrounding the death of Michael Jackson, a whole lot of Caribbean-style commess has been added to the mix.

We all know by now that Jackson's last doctor, Dr. Conrad Murray is a Grenadian-Trini and that he has been repeatedly questioned by investigators on Jackson's last moments, what drugs he would have prescribed for Jackson and even had his car impounded.

But on top of that, Dr. Murray is apparently a Caribbean-style village ram, fathering six children with five different women. And these women were not playing with his tail. He apparently had a trail of debt and liens on his salary, due to numerous child support claims.

Some justice for Esmin Green at last

Islandistas, you remember Esmin Green, don't you?

Please don't forget her. Esmin Green is a potent symbol of what can happen when society is too cynical and too absorbed to notice people.

Esmin Green was the Jamaican-born former teacher-turned-New York City-housekeeper who died on the floor of King's County Hospital in Brooklyn. She had been waiting for care for over 24 hours when she fell from her chair and thrashed in distress on the floor for a long while and even tried to get back on her chair. But no-one came to her aid, even though several passed her by and she lay on the floor for an hour before a nurse realised she was dead.

The story provoked outrage and Green's family rightly sued.

Now her family has received some... but still only some belated justice for Ms.Green. Yesterday, New York City accepted full responsibility for her death and have agreed to pay her family US$2 million for her wrongful death.

However, that is not nor should it be the end. This is not a settlement. Ms. Green's family has made that very clear, with their lawyer Sanford Rubenstein saying:

“What remains most important to this family is the criminal culpability for those responsible for what happened and those who attempted to cover it up, which continues, after all this time, to remain under investigation by the New York City Department of Investigation. In no way does this settlement affect that investigation, and the family remains adamant in its demands that anyone who committed a criminal act with regard to the death of Esmin Green or the attempt to cover it up be prosecuted criminally to the full extent of the law.”

We still await true justice for Esmin Green.

Hardears yuh won't hear...

 Rihanna's dad Ronald Fenty was in the  media again yesterday bemoaning his daughter's actions. According to stories in the Barbados Nation and further afield in US Magazine, neither he nor her mother or brother have been able to get through to her since she reconciled with Chris Brown.

In the US Magazine interview, he said that he has been calling and texting her to no avail.

I don't know what to say, honest to god. I've been hearing so many stories. I don't feel any pain anymore. I've gone numb. I've heard so much. But I can't get on to her. Her mother can't get on to her, her brother told me she changed her email. Somebody has a stranglehold on her. I'm lost.

I'll text the old numbers she had, and I call them. One girl answered, and she said, "This is not Robyn's number anymore." I asked, "Do you work for Robyn? Do you deal with Robyn?" And the girl hung up, so I don't know what's going on anymore. I'm lost.

Speaking to the Nation, he complained:

"Everything I have heard has been on the Internet. The one time I saw her, all she had time to tell me is 'Dad I am okay'. Her managers and bodyguards treat us like nobody. They wouldn't even let me get close to my daughter, so right now I have no idea what is really going on in her life."

 His distress and anger at the situation is palpable with the Nation reporting:

I am numb. I am in disbelief, in shock, call it what you want, but I don't even know if it's true. All I know is that I don't believe it," he told the SUNDAY SUN yesterday.

"For any man to stand and watch his daughter reunite with an [alleged] abuser is a father's worst nightmare," an obviously upset Fenty added.

Chaa ... I really feel for the whole family. Her father is the only one speaking out but if what he is saying is true, imagine how much worse this must be for her mother and brothers who are even closer to her than her father. Surely Monica Fenty must be shedding tears every night. It is one thing to know your daughter is being abused and she has gone back to her abuser. It is entirely another thing when she is millions of miles away from you, you are being cut off from reaching her and everything you can find out is through the internet or television.

Ri-ri, what you doing to your family at all though? Have mercy - if not for yourself, at least for your parents and younger brothers.



Moreover, remember what the old people say ' hard ears yuh won't hear... own way yuh gine feel'. How much more you really want to feel?

Especially when this boy is rumoured to be the one that called the press on you all to alert them to your reconciliation? You don't see he is willing to drag you down with him? That is love?

It's a girl for Fay-Ann and Bunji!

Ok, it's for real this time!

Road March and double Soca Monarch Fay-Ann Lyons gave birth to her first child, a baby girl at the Mount Hope Hospital's Maternity Unit around noon yesterday.



[caption id="attachment_715" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="After making a vocal appearance at the Soca Monarch finals just over a week ago, Fay-Ann Lyons and Bunji Garlin's baby girl made her real appearance in the world yesterday."][/caption]



While her and Bunji's manager Ian Pantin, assured the media that she was fine, there must have been some scary moments leading up to it as Fay-Ann was compelled to deliver via caesarean section after she was admitted to the hospital on Friday suffering from pre-eclampsia.

Pre-eclampsia is a condition that occurs in as many as 10% of first-time mothers and can be pretty dangerous, leading to hypertension in the expectant mother and can only be cured by induced delivery, caesarean section or abortion (if it occurs early in the pregnancy).

Moreover, it can precede the more dangerous eclampsia, which carries a mortality rate of 1.8%.

Unfortunately for the Soca power couple, especially with the pre-eclampsia scare, Bunji was not even able to be there for her delivery.

From the Trinidad Express:

Husband and three-time International Power Soca Monarch Ian "Bunji Garlin" Alvarez missed the greatest show of his wife's life, only managing to arrive at her bedside later in the evening from Tobago where he had gone to fulfill contractual obligations.

However, all's well that ends well, so let's just send up a little prayer for the Alvarez-Lyons family and offer congratulations to Soca's First Family!

Women + food = misery

So as I was licking cheesecake off of my fingers, this thought occurred to me - why do women have such torturous relationships with food?

I must admit the thought did not come unbidden. I had just had a conversation with one of my workmates offering her a bit of said cheesecake and she recoiled as if I had offered her arsenic.

"Oh nonononononono ... I'm not eating cheese!" she said, shaking her head vigourously.

A little while earlier I had been having a conversation with an older (but still female) workmate who was discussing meal options to have if "you don't want to feel too stuffed". It included salad.

Which is apparently the holy grail of meals these days. Gone are the days when salad was something to go on the side - now it's purporting to be the whole meal - with a little white meat or fish on the side. Rice and peas, macaroni, even a humble yam or breadfruit are all taboo things among women eaters in this post-Atkins world.

Can't women and food just get along? Men don't seem to have quite such a complicated relationship with food (though this is changing - I was in a car with 3 guys the other day and suggested going for sub sandwiches, only to be told that they were all 'fyah bunning carbs').

You can't gather more than 3 women these days without them anxiously dissecting their diet and exercise plans. A girl can't enjoy a chocolate bar or piece of cake without being subjected to wistful or reproachful (or often both) looks from other women who either long to be so carefree or abhor such scandalous behaviour.

And of course every few months, everyone is swept away in passion by the latest diet trend - be it the lemonade diet or the Zone diet or whatever.

I understand wanting to be fit. I even understand going on a diet. But I don't understand how and why we got to the point that we feel our default reaction to basic food items like bread and cheese should be shame, horror or wariness. When it get so?

Walk good, Esmin Green

Today, Esmin Green was buried in her homeland of Jamaica at a service at the Duxes Seventh-Day Adventist Church in St. Catherine. The Jamaica Observer summed it up well, with a headline reading 'Esmin Green will not be ignored today'.

Her case will not be ignored for a long time as more heartbreaking details of her last moments on earth keep being unearthed.

According to the medical examiner's report, Esmin Green died of deep vein thrombosis - blood clots induced by a long period of physical inactivity. In other words, the 24 HOURS she had been sitting waiting on a chair in the emergency to get a room and be attended to. Good lord ...

She fell to the floor and thrashed for 30 MINUTES before she fell still and died. It was another 30 minutes by the time anyone checked her.

I don't know what to say. I have no words for such inhumanity.  It reminds me of the Kitty Genovese or bystander syndrome - the diffusion of responsibility or the indifference of good men.

All I have to offer is this - 'walk good' Ms. Green ... as people would say back a yaad. May light eternal shine upon you.