Editorial

MAURICE BISHOP INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT [January 2018]

Reading Time 1 minsThe Government of Grenada has recently announced plans for a major upgrade of the Maurice Bishop International Airport. These plans include the construction of a new runway alongside the original runway that was the source of controversy engineered by the US State Department under President Ronald Reagan.  As a recognition of the historical value of the airport to the Grenadian people and the sacrifices that made it possible, Big Drum Nation is proud to republish a small but hugely important publication put out by the Grenada Forum in January of 1998. Introduced by Nadia Bishop and authored… Read More »MAURICE BISHOP INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT [January 2018]

Grenadian Olympic Athletes Inspire National Pride & National Unity

Reading Time 2 minsA Big Drum Nation Editorial Bigdrumnation wishes to congratulate the seven young men and women (Kanika Beckles, Oreoluwa Cherebin, Kurt Felix, Kirani James, Corey Ollivierre, and Bralon Taplin) who represented Grenada so proudly in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  These athletes (including the two swimmers) showed the world the highest ideals that Grenadians emulate and aspire to — inner strength, discipline, persistence, grace, humility, goal orientation, and resilience.  An appreciation of our athletes cannot be complete without recognizing the administrators, coaches, and other professionals that provided the necessary preparation and support for their success.… Read More »Grenadian Olympic Athletes Inspire National Pride & National Unity

10/19: MEMORY and REMEMBERING

Reading Time 1 minsMEMORY and REMEMBERING   “There are non-material forces, which cannot be measured precisely, but which nonetheless carry weight.” – Umberto Eco “The evidence shows that this is how the murder was committed” – From “A Fratricide”– Franz Kafka   “In this great future, you can’t forget your past”. -Bob Marley   Conscience strikes ten-nineteen! I returned to Memory where every one here had a fantastic alibi. But Memory remembers the fratricide that crested the fortified hill. Comrade, How do you plug a leaking memory?   An island is just a puny plot; a scar upon the water, according… Read More »10/19: MEMORY and REMEMBERING

Hurricane Janet, September 22, 1955

Reading Time 1 mins Sixty years later today Janet smolders in the Grenadian mind. “Janet”, the Hurricane, stands for fury and apocalyptic fire! Curiously, the word “hurricane” is derived from Harucan, the  name of a Carib “Indian”  god who shot calamitous winds.   Poet Derek Walcott acknowledges the Carib deity in a poem entitled “Huracan”.   Once branching light startles the hair of the coconuts, and on the villas’ asphalt roofs, rain resonates like pebbles in a pan, and only the skirts of surf waltz round the abandoned bandstand, and hear the telephone cables hallooing like fingers tapped over an Indian’s mouth, once the… Read More »Hurricane Janet, September 22, 1955

Phyllis Shand Allfrey

Reading Time 1 mins Dominican Phyllis Shand Allfrey, 1907-1986, poet, journalist, editor, novelist and politician, was the only woman to hold  a Cabinet post-Minister of Labour and Social Affairs – in the Grantley Adams’ led Federal Government of the West Indies,1958-1962. Ms Shand held the ministerial office in the face of much heckling from some of her ministerial colleagues, who believed the woman belonged in the kitchen. Before going to Port-of -Spain, site of the federal government,  Ms Shand published The Orchid House in 1953, a novel that has won the status of ‘Caribbean classic’. Shand, founder of the Dominica Labour… Read More »Phyllis Shand Allfrey

BDN Editorial

Reading Time 2 mins“Universities are tuning out thousands of reporters. They are quite bright and they don’t have to rhyme.” – Slinger Francisco (Mighty Sparrow).   Big Drum Nation wishes to extend congratulations to the thousands of our cultural artists, performers of all stripes, administrators and revelers that have worked assiduously for many months in making a successful Spice Mas 2015. Our heartiest congratulations go out to King Man Ajamu on being our Calypso Monarch for the second consecutive year and for an unprecedented nine times. Special recognition also goes out to Rootsman Kelly (first runner up), and Baracka (the youngest participant and… Read More »BDN Editorial

Big Drum Nation’s Grenada Bibliography (1787 – 2015)

Reading Time 57 mins  Grenada Books local or overseas, by author, title, and year of publication Adkin, Mark. Urgent Fury: The Battle for Grenada: The Truth Behind the Largest U.S. Military Operation Since Vietnam © 1989 Anstis, Shirley. They Call Me … A look at nicknames on the Caribbean island of Grenada Artesian water supply of Carrriacou – Report by E. Lehner with notes on the general geology of the island, Government Printing Office (1933) Badejo, Fabian Adekunle. Revolution As Poetic Inspiration: Grenada in ‘Maroon Lives’  Bain, Francis. A child of the carnival © 1978 Bain, Francis. Beyond the Ballot Box © 1980 Beck, Robert J. The Grenada Invasion:… Read More »Big Drum Nation’s Grenada Bibliography (1787 – 2015)

BRING MORE POWER TO THE SISTAHS!

Reading Time 1 minsMarch 8, 2015 Today is International Women’s Day (IWD). Speaking at the February 27 and 28 conference under the title “Women in Power and decision-making: Building a Different World,” Winnie Byanyima, executive director of Oxfam International, told IPS: “Women tend, when they’re in parliament, for example, to promote women’s rights legislation. When women are in sufficient numbers in parliaments they also promote children’s rights and they tend to speak up more for the interests of communities, local communities, because of their close involvement in community life”. The February 27-28 conclave (held in the Chilean capital, Santiago) began with… Read More »BRING MORE POWER TO THE SISTAHS!

Forty-one- Press on or Perish

Reading Time 1 mins BIGDRUMNATION is back from a longish sabbatical. We have returned just in time to be a part of the various events all meant to celebrate the Birth of the Nation. The celebration of the Nation invites both joy and fear: joy for the possibilities that fly on the wings of a grand journey, and on the other hand a trembling fear of the construction of the new. But we here. We are at forty-one. And 41 must face the truth- we must press on or we perish. A Nation is a quilt of self-minded individuals. This fact… Read More »Forty-one- Press on or Perish