Culture

IN CARRIACOU: THE LONG-AWAITED MOTHER AND CHILD RE-MEETING, SEPTEMBER 27-30, 2016

Reading Time 4 mins         (part 2 of 2) Caldwell Taylor   Home is the place where , when you have to go there, they have to take you in. -Robert Frost Our drum is the shortest route to Africa, and the Big Drum ritual signifies the unity of Carriacou’s nine African nations. In order of precedence the nations are: Arada (Rada), Cromati, Igbo, Manding, Temne, Kongo, Chamba, Moko, Banda. The Temne, Number Five in the Big Drum circle,will celebrate a historic reunion in Carriacou, September 27 to 30. The occasion promises to overcome the pain of… Read More »IN CARRIACOU: THE LONG-AWAITED MOTHER AND CHILD RE-MEETING, SEPTEMBER 27-30, 2016

BAI BUREH’S PEOPLE COME HOME TO CARRIACOU: “FOR TRUE, TIME IS REALLY LONGER THAN ROPE”

Reading Time 2 mins[Part 1 or 2] By Caldwell Taylor Bai Bureh (1840-1908) was the fearless Temne fighter who led the 1898 war against British colonialism in Northern Sierra Leone, and, no joke, in the course of his fight he offered a one thousand pound reward for the capture of the British Governor of the territory! The offer was proclaimed in response to the Governor’s call for Bureh’s capture; this call came with a one hundred pound sterling bounty to anyone who provided information that led to the capture of the rebel leader. Bureh was finally taken and was exiled.… Read More »BAI BUREH’S PEOPLE COME HOME TO CARRIACOU: “FOR TRUE, TIME IS REALLY LONGER THAN ROPE”

Our Carnival: Playing the Past, Playing the Present, Previewing the Future

Reading Time 2 minsVarious interviews with Entertainment Agents, Promoters, Carnival Organizers, Calypsonians to support this theme. We are starting out the interview series with Mr. Angus Steele, Entertainment Agent and Owner/Manager of Spice Concoction   BIGDRUMNATION: What brought you to this often- maligned business of calypso, soca, and carnival? Angus:  think it’s more about my love for music since I was growing up (learned to play drums with the Pitt brothers – Richard “Sabina” and Selwyn “Kung Fu”, looking on keenly at the years with Rodney “Doc” Rapier and Eddie Bullen and loving the Classical Guitar around the same time to… Read More »Our Carnival: Playing the Past, Playing the Present, Previewing the Future

Vincy Mas in USA Launches with Big Win for New Artiste

Reading Time 3 minsNew Soca Artiste Wins big During Launch of Vincy Mas in USA By Maxwell Haywood Michelle ‘Hibiscus’ Hillocks created history by spectacularly winning both the New Song Competition, and the first ever New Break-out Artiste prize during the tenth staging of the launch of Vincy Mas in the USA. All this sensation took place on Saturday, May 7, 2016, at Bamboo Gardens in Brooklyn, New York, and was organized by Level Vibes, ably led by Ainsley Primus and Caiphas “Super Eyes” Cuffy. After the singing of the national anthem of both the United States and St Vincent… Read More »Vincy Mas in USA Launches with Big Win for New Artiste

Within Rum and Coca Cola “Gypsy in the Moonlight” book review

Reading Time 4 minsWithin Rum and Coca Cola By Duff Mitchell L. F.  Waldron’s Gypsy in the Moonlight, with its appeal to thoughts and feelings, is a fine piece of literary work. The author presents a sequence of events in a gently gripping tide of narrative that makes the reader anxious to find out what’s next. The story unfolds around the conflict between a mother and daughter as well as between American sailors and the community exemplified in an ex-policeman. Gypsy accounts for the American occupation of Trinidad and Tobago, beginning in 1942 with sailors stationed in Trinidad during World… Read More »Within Rum and Coca Cola “Gypsy in the Moonlight” book review

I Was Once Afraid of Black Stalin – Richard Grant

Reading Time 4 minsFirst Published March 30, 2016 Stalin first came to my attention when I was a high school student in Jamaica. My friends and I marveled at his ability to command the attention of an entire nation.  We understood that everyone listened to him very carefully, and reacted immediately to his words. So, when we heard about the Black Stalin, we were terrified because there was no doubt that a Black Trinidadian dictator would definitely be crueler than his European counterpart. Although I was still young, I was fully aware of the rivalry, and was confident Jamaica could not be outdone, because soon we… Read More »I Was Once Afraid of Black Stalin – Richard Grant

​RIP Phife Dawg “Trini Gladiator”

Reading Time 2 minsA Tribe Called Quest [ATCQ] is known for their optimistic, socially conscious brand of rap. Like with many other dynamic bands, we sometimes miss the tall standing trees amidst a group’s overall vibrant ecosystem. So when the news reached my family of the death of Malik Boyce Taylor, aka Phife Dawg, I reflected on Phife the person, his family, and what ATCQ would have been absent of this Trini yute from Queens. The son of highly acclaimed Trinidadian American poet Cheryl Boyce Taylor, Malik Isaac Boyce Taylor was born in New York City on November 20, 1970.… Read More »​RIP Phife Dawg “Trini Gladiator”

R.I.P. King Rhino

Reading Time 3 minsGrenada has lost a cultural icon.  Former Carriacou and Petit Martinique calypso and soca Monarch Kenly Joseph (better known by the sobriquet Rhino) died from gunshot wounds in Brooklyn, New York on December 4, 2015.  Fans and friends remember Rhino for his joyful disposition, sharp social commentaries, wit, and his exploits as a distinguished parandero. Many are moaning Rhino, especially as the holiday season is upon us, clearly one of the seasons he lived for. For more on the tragedy please visit the story from the Grenada Chronicle.  Big Drum Nation consulted cultural and community activist Nic Cox for… Read More »R.I.P. King Rhino

“One of the best novels set in the Caribbean in the last 50 years” Launches in Brooklyn

Reading Time 2 minsBook launch of ‘Gypsy in the Moonlight’ “Gypsy in the Moonlight,” a novel set in Trinidad and Tobago during World War II, written by Lawrence Waldron, will be formally launched Tuesday evening December 15 at the Brooklyn Public Library branch at 22 Linden Blvd, Brooklyn. The launch, scheduled for 6:00-7:45 PM,  will be hosted by the Caribbean Awareness Committee and the Trinidad and Tobago Folk Arts Institute, in collaboration with the Caribbean Literary and Cultural Center. The book is, as described by the  author, “a historical novel that combines the wry wit, urban commentary and gender anxieties… Read More »“One of the best novels set in the Caribbean in the last 50 years” Launches in Brooklyn