Lest we forget ...

It's been six months since the horrific events of January 12th.

 

It has been slow going. Only two per cent of the pledges made in March, when the memories were still fresh, have been fulfilled.

Shamefully (but sadly not unexpectedly) CARICOM is not amongst those donor countries that have fulfilled their pledge promises. Not a penny of the $8,097,166 promised has been paid out as yet, according to www.refondation.ht, the official site tracking the reconstruction efforts.

So, don't forget.

Don't forget that miles of roads are still blocked with rubble.

Don't forget that 1.5 million people are still homeless.

But also, don't forget that Haitians are some of the strongest people on the planet. And if any people can survive such a horrific event, it is the Western world's first black republic.

Ayiti leve. Ayiti kanpe.

Big fail, Shelly-Ann :(

Daaaaammnnnn Shelly!

It's not like we think you wilfully cheated - after all, the drug that showed up in your failed test from the Shanghai meet is neither performance-enhancing nor stimulant-masking.

But it's just not a good look, hon. You know well enough that there are x-amount of haters out there looking for a flaw in Jamaica and by extension, the Caribbean's recent sprint success. The Americans in particular bexxx that we have been routinely cutting dey tail in recent times and your slip up gives them their opportunity to pounce.

And taking your coach's painkillers that he had for his kidney stones? That is so not a good reason to have a black mark against your name.

Yendi to the (Miss) universe ... but some folks vex!

The succint headline in the Jamaica Observer said volumes: 'Yendi again'.

It was announcing that familiar face Yendi Phillips, the former Miss Jamaica World for 2007 (and Asafa Powell's girlfriend) had won Miss Jamaica Universe.

Hardly any surprise since everyone knew Yendi was on a level above the other chicks in the competition.

Of course, it was hardly any surprise either that some folks are not pleased.

There is a virtual cyber-storm of comments on Socia Lingua's congratulatory post on Facebook - 170 and counting, at time of this post.

Basically the jist of people's criticism is that Yendi, having already won Miss Jamaica World, should 'let other girls get a chance' at Miss Jamaica Universe and that it's not fair for her to have gone after both titles.

Now to this we say... would people have made all of this fuss if she didn't win either contest? In the pageant world, particularly in the Caribbean, you tend to get the same crop of chicks competing in several of the different competitions.

So a chick might be Miss (name Caribbean city here) one year and then the next year step up and compete in Miss Carnival/Festival/Carival. And then the next year compete in Miss World if she's doing better or Miss Caribbean Beach Beauty Tropical International if she's not (I made that one up).

Point is, competing in multiple pageants over the years is far from unusual. It just so happens that Yendi won the ones she entered. Moreover, if she had won two minor beauty contests (like Miss Caribbean Beach Beauty Tropical International), I doubt anyone would business. But she's good enough to have won the two big ones.

It is just it go. If she is the best, she just is and since there is no rule preventing her from entering the two contests, we don't quite see why people are so vex about it.

BREAKING NEWS: Kamla Persad-Bissessar first female PM of Trinidad & Tobago

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As Denyse Plummer said it then, it has become now - Woman is boss in Trinidad & Tobago.

The news is just in that Kamla Persad-Bissessar will now be the first female Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago, after her People's Partnership coalition won the snap elections in Trinidad and Tobago today with 28 out of 41 seats.


Kamla declared victory from as early as 8:30 p.m. (Eastern Caribbean time) as it became clear the PP was headed to victory and extended the olive branch to PNM supporters saying:

"All are welcome. The door is open."

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(About to be former) Prime Minister Patrick Manning only conceded a short while ago, saying "we accept the results and I accept full responsibility."

Things looking sticky for Manning now - this is the second time he called a snap election and lost - the first time being 1995. Yuh can't mek  that kinda mistake twice, especially when you are not that popular.

And just for a final touch ... Denyse Plummer's Dimance Gras 88 performance of ... Woman is Boss.

Terror in Tivoli and women's role

And so islandistas, it has come to this.

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The ugly, jagged and dark side of the Caribbean's ultimate Jekyll and Hyde island has been unveiling itself in all its horror over the last week as the forces of Dudus have been unleashed against the Jamaican state.

Dramatic?

Not really.

A state of emergency was declared in Kingston yesterday afternoon. The Hannah Town police station and Darling Street police station have been set on fire and their officers forced to flee.

Police officers have been attacked and their vehicle stolen.

And there are increasing reports of roadblocks and marauding gunmen stalking both downtown (Tivoli, Denham Town, Hannah Town, Slipe Road) and uptown (Red Hills, Liguanea, Mona/August Town/Papine, New Kingston).

As we write, reports are coming in that officers of the Jamaica Constabulary Force are trying to reach five injured police officers who are stranded on the grounds of Excelsior High School in Mountain View Avenue.

More pics and analysis under the cut...

Jourdan Dunn's boyfriend jailed

Sigh.

Why couldn't he just be a nice young man?

The news broke this weekend that Jourdan Dunn's boyfriend (and the father of her two month old son) has been jailed for three years for selling coke.

Weirdly enough his name is Jordan too - Jordan Cummings a 20 year old from  North London.

British tabloid The Sun broke the story, with one unnamed source saying of Cummings:

The police kicked down his front door when they arrested him.

He's well-known on the streets as a dealer. He's been dealing since he was a teenager, and makes about £1,000 a week. He and Jourdan are always out and have been together about five years - though I've never heard marriage mentioned.

Damn.

Kamla Persad-Bissessar takes over as Opposition Leader

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She finally did it - Kamla Persad-Bissessar will take her seat today in the Red House in Port-of-Spain as Trinidad & Tobago's first female Oppostion Leader.

On Wednesday, after weeks of public bad john talk from Basdeo Panday and quiet negotiation behind the scenes by Kamla, she finally got enough support from the parliamentary group to become the Opposition Leader. Notable exceptions were Subhas Panday and Mickela Panday, Basdeo's brother and daughter.

Bas in response, picked his battle with the UNC's new chief whip, his frenemy-turned-enemy-again Jack Warner, saying that while he supported Kamla, he would retire to the UNC's back bench as he would not serve under him.

From the Trinidad Guardian:

“Notwithstanding my reservations on the integrity of the recent internal elections of the UNC, I am, in the interest of unity within the party and my desire to see the UNC grow from strength to strength, willing to work with Mrs Kamla Persad-Bissessar, the new Leader of the Opposition. I am, however, not prepared to serve under Jack Warner as chief whip in the Parliament until such time as he renders an account for the millions of dollars received by him on behalf of the party.”

Never a dull moment with Bas, eh?

 

Jackson doctor CHARGED!

Well, I think we all knew it was just a matter of time.

Dr. Conrad Murray, the Grenadian/Trini former doctor to King of Pop Michael Jackson, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter.

It all went down a while ago in Los Angeles.

Murray's lawer says his will plead not guilty and "fight like hell" to defend himself on the charge.


Several members of the Jackson fam were present for the arraignment including father Joe and mother Katherine and siblings Jermain and Latoya.

Farewell Rex

No, he's not an islandista but every islandista worth her salt should know of Professor Rex Nettleford - since islandistas are after all, cultured Caribbean women and Rex was a cultural icon in this region.

And now he's gone.

Nettleford died yesterday in the U.S. at the age of 76 after having a massive heart attack  a week ago when he was up there for a UWI fund-raising gala.

There are so many worlds in which Rex will be missed - from dance to academia to the seemingly ever smaller world of committed Caribbean regionalists. He truly was a giant and it says a lot for the power of his personality that someone born with nearly every disadvantage you could have in Jamaican society - from being poor to being from the country to his sexuality to complexion - could still rise to iconic status.

We have nothing but admiration for him. Walk good Professor.

10-1 is murder!

Or so Sparrow said.

Yet, despite a 10-1 drubbing by Kamla in the UNC leadership elections, Bas, like Denyse Plummer, 'nah leaving.'

Not yet.

Kamla polled 13, 929 votes to Panday's 1,359 votes - or more than 10 times as many votes as the Silver Fox.

But he made it clear in an interview with the Trinidad Express that he will not be relinquishing the Opposition Leader post gracefully.

The Express article is (perhaps unwittingly) hil-ar-ious.

Every other paragraph starts with "told that" and "asked that" and have Panday stonewalling in the most creative ways possible.

An example:

Yesterday, faced with the enormity of his defeat at the UNC polls and the strength of Persad-Bissessar’s mandate to lead, Panday insisted on playing it by the book-pointing out that he was following the country’s Constitution and the UNC’s constitution. And neither say that the Political Leader has to be Opposition Leader.

Told that there was strong view that it would be difficult for him to continue as Opposition Leader in the face of his comprehensive defeat as Political Leader, Panday said: ’I would have thought that they were two different things. I became Leader of the Opposition because of a national election. Now this is a party election and I think they are two different things. Don’t you?’

Told that there was a view that there was an organic connection between the mandate from the party and the mandate from the general electorate, Panday insisted he was following democratic law.

’I accept the democratic decision of the UNC electorate and I would accept the democratic decisions of the UNC Parliamentarians,’ he said.

Asked whether he did not think he should relieve the MPs from the burden of making a decision about his future as Opposition Leader (by resigning), Panday said: ’No.’

Told that new Chairman Jack Warner said he should do the honourable thing, Panday started saying: ’Jack Warner and honourable should not be used ... Anyway the issue is one (post), is (based on) a party election and the other is the result of a national election.’

Told that while that was the legal position, the issue was whether it would be immoral for him to hold on as Opposition Leader in the face of the strong endorsement for Persad-Bissessar from the party electorate, Panday asked: ’Whose morals are you referring to? Yours or mine?’

And so it goes, on and on. Not that I think we expected any different. Kamla have to hold strong now.

It's Kamla!

She finally did it.

Kamla Persad-Bissessar is now the first woman to lead a major political party in Trinidad's history, after winning the leadership of the UNC last night in a landslide.


She came out of the shadows of her former political mentor,  Basdeo Panday and withstood the attacks from her parliamentary colleagues, most of whom sided with party founder Panday, to prevail as the people's choice.

Not only that, but the entire slate of her backers won spots on the executive as well.


Kamla immediately spoke of the need to heal and unite the party, offering an olive branch to those she defeated:

"In the heart of a campaign, people say things that may offend. But as a mother, a wife, a sister and a daughter, I know how to forgive. I hold no animosity against you."

Of course... the Silver Fox was not quite as gracious in defeat.Before the final results were announced, but when things were already looking grim, the Express asked him if he was ready to offer congratulations to Kamla. Bas had this response:

Island folk part of massive Hope for Haiti telethon

And I can't tell you how...  how moved I am that everybody cares. It means a lot because for so long, no one cared. For so long, no one knew us. And this really means a lot.

- Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon

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Those were the words from a tearful Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon earlier this week on Larry King Live, during a mini telethon which CNN held to raise funds to aid Haiti which was ripped apart by a huge earthquake on January 12th.

Islandistas, we have to tell you -  Garcelle's words really grabbed us - the emotion in her voice when she said "no one cared... no one knew us" was really moving. It made us think of the burden and conflicted emotions that her and other Haitians have to bear loving a country that can be so unremittingly sad.

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This is really what it had to come to for the world to look at Ayiti, to pay attention to the injustices that have been wrought upon it since they first declared independence in 1804.

But at least now they are looking.

And a huge cast of stars, including island folk in Wyclef Jean, Rihanna and Alicia Keys are getting together tomorrow night for what could be one of the biggest telethons of all time - the Hope for Haiti telethon, spearheaded by George Clooney and MTV Networks.

UPDATE: Wyclef defends Yele at NYC press conference

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In our last post, we spoke about how the chorus of cynics had been threatening to swamp all the good that Haitian-American musician Wyclef Jean's Yele Haiti charity has been doing.

Well it seems now that the tide may be turning.

Wyclef held a press conference in New York City today where he  defended Yele and his role in it, breaking down in tears towards the end as he spoke in Creole to the Haitians listening.

Yele President Hugh Locke, defending the charity in more detail, admitted they had been lax on their accounting.

"On the books, it looks as though there was a benefit, but there was not. "It was not done with the intent to do anything other than be efficient.

... We should have been on top of it; we were not."

Even more importantly, significant charity and tax accounting experts have come to Yele's defence as well.

In a CNN report, Marcus Owen, former chief of the IRS unit that oversees non-profits, noted that like Yele did with the Wyclef concert at the center of the controversy, it is routine for individuals to charge their own charities, as long as services are being provided in return.

The report also stated that Owen pointed out that the filing which stated that Yele's rent charges were 'below market' was "an important distinction supporting legitimacy" as "rules require that they be at no more than market value."

Other experts were willing to give Yele the bligh they deserve as well.

Daniel Borochoff, president of the American Institute of Philanthropy in Chicago said:

"They could be well-intentioned, but not take [tax] reporting seriously."

Art Taylor, chief executive of the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance noted that Wyclef's star power and links in Haiti were crucial for Haiti in the long run.

"Maybe six months to a year from now, when the attention of the world turns away from Haiti and moves to something else, his value as a Haitian and a celebrity will be far greater than it is now."

UPDATED: Wyclef under attack: doubts raised about Yele Haiti

It  has been less than a week since Haiti, a member of our Caribbean family, was hit by an absolutely devastating earthquake.

But already the cynics' chorus is tuning up.

On Thursday (two days after), The Smoking Gun website launched a salvo with an article entitled 'Wyclef Jean Charity's Funny Money', claiming that Jean's Yele Haiti charity "has enriched the singer."

They based their charges on an assessment of Yele's tax returns and wrote:

As seen on the following pages from the foundation's 2006 tax return, the group paid $31,200 in rent to Platinum Sound, a Manhattan recording studio owned by Jean and Jerry Duplessis, who, like Jean, is a foundation board member. A $31,200 rent payment was also made in 2007 to Platinum Sound. The rent, tax returns assure, "is priced below market value." The recording studio also was paid $100,000 in 2006 for the "musical performance services of Wyclef Jean at a benefit concert." That six-figure payout, the tax return noted, "was substantially less than market value." The return, of course, does not address why Jean needed to be paid to perform at his own charity's fundraiser. But the largest 2006 payout--a whopping $250,000--went to Telemax, S.A., a for-profit Haiti company in which Jean and Duplessis were said to "own a controlling interest." The money covered "pre-purchased...TV airtime and production services" that were part of the foundation's "outreach efforts" in Haiti.

Wyclef of course, hit back on his return from Haiti, where he has been digging bodies out of the rubble and so on, in the video posted at top, where he gave answers to the questions raised by TSG.

Chief was the claim that he had used Yele Haiti to enrich himself, as claimed by TSG, based on the $100 000 payout in 06 for the charity concert. Wyclef makes it clear this payment was not for himself but for production costs:

"Whatever show you're doing, there's what's called production for the show. You can't do a show without production. You need lights, you need a stage. Where's the band going to come from? You need a manager, you need a tour manager. All of these things have to be accounted for."

Which to us here at Islandista seems like a pretty reasonable explanation. As we look at the evidence, it seems the only thing Yele has been 'guilty' of is being late with their accounting - and not being a professional charity that has been in the 'charity business' for a long time, this is understandable.

Even leading charity ranking site, Charity Navigator, which is itself a bit suspicious of Yele, admitted that "charities are often not especially timely in filing these documents."

They also went on to note that some 69% of Yele's funds goes to program expenses (this is as opposed to administrative overhead costs), though they pointed out that their "research shows the most efficient charities spend at least 75%".

As far as we can see it, the situation is this. Yele Haiti is a relatively new charity organisation and may not be run by people who are in the professional charity business, hence it has a surfeit of enthusiasm and a deficit of efficiency. It needs to improve its administrative and accounting practices, certainly but it does not deserve the accusations and allegations being made of it, especially at a time like this.

And especially when Wyclef, as Haiti's most famous son, has the influence and native contacts to do things in Haiti that other NGOs don't.

Interestingly enough, several experts have written about this same problem which charities often face - that is, people questioning their effectiveness, using overhead expenses as the ONLY measure.

While that is an easy indicator, it cannot be the only measure of whether a charity is doing good work.

Oh Ayiti...

There are no words we really have tonight to express the sorrow and dread we feel for our Caribbean sisters and brothers in Haiti after the earthquake which hit hours ago.


I'm sure every true Caribbean person felt the same way: "Why Haiti? Of all places, why Haiti?"

Is like ... oh gawd nah... dey cyan get a lil bligh? Not even a lil one?


We're heartbroken. We're afraid of what horrors daylight will reveal. We're vex and want to shake our fists at the powers that be, both spiritual and temporal, who seem to have turned their backs on Toussaint and Dessalines' proud republic.

And the lyrics of the bard of Trinidad David Rudder's song rings even truer tonight in our heads.

Haiti we're sorry,

Haiti we're so sorry.

One day we'll turn our heads

Restore your glory.

Mwen desole Ayiti.

Island folk top the World Athletic Awards!

It was a Caribbean sweep at the IAAF World Athlete of the Year Awards in Monaco on Sunday.

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None other than Usain 'Lightning' Bolt won the Male Athlete of the Year Award - naturally. Who can argue with 9.58 and 19.19?

No-one - ever?

Exactly. And we bet the big man is going to fulljoy himself next week at his 9:58 Super Party in Kingston - this is just icing on the cake of his superlative year.


The Female Athlete of the year was Jamaican-born US Athlete Sanya Richards, who finally snagged her first individual gold medal at the World Championships this year, fulfilling the promise expected of a woman who has the most sub-5o second 400 metres of any female in history.

Sanya said that seeing how her countrymen (the Jamaican ones, not the US ones) like Usain enjoyed their running, helped inspire and lift her to that first gold this year in Berlin.

"These athletes were just having so much fun. I was so focused on winning, the medals and the money and everything that came with being a champion that I forgot the simple enjoyment and fun of track and field. ...I just felt like I was running a lot lighter, the races became a lot easier," she told the AP.

I know nuff yaardies have up Sanya for running for the US of A when she lived in Jamaica half her life (she migrated to Florida when she was 12 years old and she's 24 now) but she doesn't leave out JA, neither in word or deed.

Actually, just this month she was in the island for her third Fun 4 Kidz Fast Track programme event, which provides literacy training and extra-curricular activities for children in downtown Kingston high schools.

So big up yuself Sanya and congrats to all our island athletes both here and in the diaspora who continue to make us proud.
Caribbean to the worrrrld!

Susan Rice is one of Glamour's Women of the Year!

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 In all the fuss over Rihanna's interview in Glamour's year-end edition, we nearly overlooked Susan Rice,  the United States' U.N Ambassador of Jamaican heritage, who was also named one of Glamour's Women Of The Year.

No less than President Obama bigs her up, telling Glamour she deserves to be a WOTY because:

"She understands the complex threats we face in the twenty-first century, and when those challenges demand action from the international community, Susan gets it done through a combination of skilled diplomacy and sheer determination.”

We love, love, love positive, progressive islandistas and Susan Rice always rises to the occasion as an ambassador not just for the U.S. but for women of Caribbean descent the world over.

Kudos, Ms. Rice.

'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.

Islandistas (and one islandisto) in big NFL halftime show!

 

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Big things keep happening for island folk on the musical scene!

The latest major breakthrough is a huge performance opportunity for Barbadian singers Shontelle, Vita Chambers and Hal Linton and Guyanese-Canadian Melanie Fiona.

According to our sources, the four have been picked as part of a six-artiste performance at the halftime show of the Detroit Lions vs the Green Bay Packers. The performance is part of their label Universal Motown's 50th anniversary special.

 

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A few weeks back, Shontelle had tweeted that she was praying and hoping really hard for something that could be her biggest opportunity ever but she was mum about it.

NFL. Halftime show. Motown 50th anniversary.

Wunna understand that this is a reaaallll big deal?!


The audience at the game itself is going to be about 70, 000 people - as in about one-quarter of Barbados' population!

Then there will be another 20 million or so people watching it at home - because it's Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving and the NFL are as time honoured an American tradition as it gets!

And FOUR CARIBBEAN PEOPLE will be part of this major, huge show.

Hal commented on his FB page that he is set to sing the Marvin Gaye classic, 'I heard it through the Grapevine' - a perfect fit for him, since he is definitely in that 'soul man' mould and what better way to show off his chops than by performing a tribute to the ultimate soul man?!


No word yet on what Vita and Shontelle will be singing but we will keep you posted.