![JetBlue to Begin Flights to Port-au-Prince, Haiti
(Subscribe to our blogs HERE & HERE)
Destinations in Latin America and the Caribbean make up almost one-third of JetBlue’s route network. In the Caribbean, JetBlue flies to Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, among a total of ten Caribbean countries. This June, the airline will begin nonstop service between Fort Lauderdale and Medellín, Colombia; and in November to Lima, Peru (subject to receipt of government operating authority). Now the airline announced its plan to serve Port-au-Prince, Haiti, with daily nonstop service from both New York City and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood starting in December 2013.
From Toussaint Louverture International Airport (PAP) in the Haitian capital, JetBlue plans to offer one daily nonstop flight to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and twice daily flights to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL), subject to receipt of government operating authority. Port-au-Prince will be JetBlue’s 82nd BlueCity with service to begin on December 5, 2013.
In addition to JetBlue’s nonstop…..[Full article HERE]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/a6a7d09e1f3bc61fad972a7835cc3a5a/tumblr_mn3pvmhCSG1r9bbqfo1_500.jpg)
JetBlue to Begin Flights to Port-au-Prince, Haiti
(Subscribe to our blogs HERE & HERE)
Destinations in Latin America and the Caribbean make up almost one-third of JetBlue’s route network. In the Caribbean, JetBlue flies to Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, among a total of ten Caribbean countries. This June, the airline will begin nonstop service between Fort Lauderdale and Medellín, Colombia; and in November to Lima, Peru (subject to receipt of government operating authority). Now the airline announced its plan to serve Port-au-Prince, Haiti, with daily nonstop service from both New York City and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood starting in December 2013.
From Toussaint Louverture International Airport (PAP) in the Haitian capital, JetBlue plans to offer one daily nonstop flight to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and twice daily flights to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL), subject to receipt of government operating authority. Port-au-Prince will be JetBlue’s 82nd BlueCity with service to begin on December 5, 2013.
In addition to JetBlue’s nonstop…..[Full article HERE]
Nahki Wells First Bermudian to Score at Wembley
(Subscribe to our blogs HERE & HERE)
Bermuda is celebrating the achievements of Nahki Wells—with a total of 25 goals for the season, and interested clubs circling, now, he is the first Bermudian to score at Wembley, England’s national stadium.
So there it is. Wells collects his medal, hugs the chairman and goes off to celebrate. Not before he’s made a lot of Bradford fans happy by saying he wants to play in League One with them next season. Still think a big bid might alter things on that front but that speculation is for another day. For now, and in particular for those in Bermuda, it’s a day to celebrate a marvelous achievement by the former CedarBridge Academy pupil.
Wells: ‘It’s a dream come true. We worked so hard together. I think we’ve played the most games in the country, and to come this far and finish it off in this fashion is unbelievable. “It’s a big game and we wanted to come confident, not arrogant. We came and did what we had to do and to win this comfortably is unbelievable.”
Does he want to stay at Bradford? “Absolutely. When you’re doing well you get all the attention but it wouldn’t possible without all the players keeping you going. I’m contracted to Bradford so I will be playing League One next season.”
Nahki Wells is named the man of the match. As if his day couldn’t get any better.
![Everald Brown
(Subscribe to our blogs HERE & HERE)
The National Gallery of Jamaica blog features self-taught painter Everald Brown, whose work is part of the ongoing “Natural Histories” exhibition [see National Gallery of Jamaica Hosts “Natural Histories” Exhibition]:
The work of self-taught painter and sculptor Everald Brown is best understood in the context of religious Rastafari and African-Jamaican spirituality. Like many other religious Rastafarians, Brother Brown was attracted to the teachings and ritual practices of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and in the early 1960s established the Assembly of the Living, a self-styled mission of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church which was located at 82 ½ Spanish Town Road. The beliefs, ritual practices and symbols of Brother Brown and his church community were however far from “orthodox’” and freely combined elements of religious Rastafari, Freemasonry, Kumina, Revival, and Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity.
This eclectic spirituality is evident throughout Everald Brown’s artistic work, most obviously in those works that depict his own ritual practices and mystical symbols but it is also implied in his landscapes and his depictions of rocks and vegetation. In these works, nature is celebrated for its bountifulness to humankind, as the material incarnation of the divine.
Brother Brown’s preoccupation with this theme became more pronounced after he moved his family to Murray Mountain, in the hills of St Ann in 1973. Inspired by the grandiose vistas and suggestive erosions and vegetation of the limestone landscape of central Jamaica, his mystical imagination took full flight, leading to paintings such as Bush Have Ears (1976) that reflect a vision of nature and the land in which everything is imbued with spiritual meaning and ancient truths, to be revealed by the artist-mystic. Brown’s “natural mysticism” is also evident in the later Cotton Duppy Tree (1994), although the ghostly cotton tree in this work is more obviously linked to Jamaican popular culture, in which the cotton tree is seen as a dwelling space for spirits and an “axis mundi” which links the earthly and spiritual realms.
[Shown above: Everald Brown’s “Bush Have Ears” (1976).]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/5a25a3ed1d713b402348b57f25d478c7/tumblr_mn1em0vs3Q1r9bbqfo1_500.jpg)
Everald Brown
(Subscribe to our blogs HERE & HERE)
The National Gallery of Jamaica blog features self-taught painter Everald Brown, whose work is part of the ongoing “Natural Histories” exhibition [see National Gallery of Jamaica Hosts “Natural Histories” Exhibition]:
The work of self-taught painter and sculptor Everald Brown is best understood in the context of religious Rastafari and African-Jamaican spirituality. Like many other religious Rastafarians, Brother Brown was attracted to the teachings and ritual practices of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and in the early 1960s established the Assembly of the Living, a self-styled mission of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church which was located at 82 ½ Spanish Town Road. The beliefs, ritual practices and symbols of Brother Brown and his church community were however far from “orthodox’” and freely combined elements of religious Rastafari, Freemasonry, Kumina, Revival, and Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity.
This eclectic spirituality is evident throughout Everald Brown’s artistic work, most obviously in those works that depict his own ritual practices and mystical symbols but it is also implied in his landscapes and his depictions of rocks and vegetation. In these works, nature is celebrated for its bountifulness to humankind, as the material incarnation of the divine.
Brother Brown’s preoccupation with this theme became more pronounced after he moved his family to Murray Mountain, in the hills of St Ann in 1973. Inspired by the grandiose vistas and suggestive erosions and vegetation of the limestone landscape of central Jamaica, his mystical imagination took full flight, leading to paintings such as Bush Have Ears (1976) that reflect a vision of nature and the land in which everything is imbued with spiritual meaning and ancient truths, to be revealed by the artist-mystic. Brown’s “natural mysticism” is also evident in the later Cotton Duppy Tree (1994), although the ghostly cotton tree in this work is more obviously linked to Jamaican popular culture, in which the cotton tree is seen as a dwelling space for spirits and an “axis mundi” which links the earthly and spiritual realms.
[Shown above: Everald Brown’s “Bush Have Ears” (1976).]
READ A BOOK: Leo Alexander’s New Book Humanizes Caribbean Prostitutes
(Subscribe to our blogs HERE & HERE)
New collection of anecdotes reveals prostitutes as relatable people.
In his new book “Putas of the Caribbean(Prostitutes of the Caribbean)” (published by AuthorHouse), author Leo Alexanderexplores the world of legal prostitution in the Caribbean.
Based on true events, Alexander’s book takes readers inside the lives andexperiences of prostitutes working in the Caribbean. Readers will hear their stories and those of their clients in this intriguing collection.
An excerpt from “Putas of the Caribbean (Prostitutes of the Caribbean)”:
“In many places throughout the Caribbean and Latin America prostitution is legal or tolerated. Work places in these parts consist of bars, whorehouses, nightclubs, taverns, street, casinos and hotel lobbies. Like many places in the world, most islands in the Caribbean will have a place to visit. However you will find that the working girls typically come from other Islands or South America.”
“No matter why these women decide to get into the business, they are human with great hearts and soul,” Alexander says. “Many people have a bad opinion of these women, so I wanted to shed a new light on these women and to humanize their lives.”
“Putas of the Caribbean (Prostitutes of the Caribbean)” By Leo Alexander Softcover | 5 x 8 in | 174 pages | ISBN 9781463405236 E-Book | 174 pages | ISBN 9781463405243 Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Explosive Caribbean Infused Creole Jazz
(Subscribe to our blogs HERE & HERE)
TJNELSON reviews Etienne Charles’ Creole Soul (Culture Shock Music, 2013) for WorldMusicCentral.org.
Trumpeter Etienne Charles’s Creole Soul isn’t World Music Central’s usual fare, but because our readers are clever, worldly and there’s probably a good number of jazz fans amongst the lot of you I’m going to make an exception. While the world music threads on the latest by this Trinidad-born musician and composer are a bit tenuous, there is a Caribbean flavor woven throughout the fabric of Creole Soul.
With previous recordings that include Folklore, Kaiso and Culture Shock, Mr. Charles, a professor at Michigan State University, leaves nothing out of the mix on Creole Soul in his continuing musical exploration and incorporating his own Caribbean roots, along with French, Spanish, Calypso, R & B, Reggae and blues influences, to create a savagely bold jazz sound that is captivating.
Joined by Jacques Schwartz-Bart on tenor saxophone, Brian Hogans on alto saxophone, Alex Wintz on guitar, Obed Calvaire on drums, D’Achee and Daniel Sadownick on percussion, Kris Bowers on piano on Fender Rhodes and Ben Williams on bass, Mr. Charles reigns supreme on trumpet and fugelhorn and offers up percussion as well. Opening with Haitian chant by Erol Josue on “Creole,” before slipping into some delicious percussion on the extension of “Creole,” Mr. Charles and company heat up this high-energy jazzy track that thrums with a yummy underlying funk before more goodness from Mr. Josue.
Possessed of a subterranean smoothness, Creole Soul moves slickly into “The Folks,” before slipping into the clipped hipness of “You Don’t Love Me,” punctuated by some dishy bass lines provided by Mr. Williams and piano by Kris Bowers. Throughout Mr. Charles’s neat, sharply worked trumpet playing will have fans sitting up and begging for more. There is plenty to laud on Creole Soul, tracks like the Caribbean rhythms that saturate “Roots” or the mellow turns of “Memories” or the silky smoothness of Thelonious Monk’s “Green Chimneys.”
Fans also get a version of Bob Marley’s “Turn Your Lights Down Low.” Equally good is the lovely “Midnight,” the dreamy “Close Your Eyes” and closing track “Doin’ The Thing.”
While I would put Mr. Charles squarely in the jazz genre, there is plenty of an international flavor on Creole Soul. The heady explosive potency of Mr. Charles on the trumpet is reason enough to check out this recording. Fans should also note that Mr. Charles is headed out on a world tour, so fans should be sure to check out the schedule for a chance to hear Mr. Charles in person.
![I Came to Haiti to Do Good …
(Subscribe to our blogs HERE & HERE)
This op-ed piece by NORA SCHENKEL appeared in The New York Times.
WHEN I was living in Haiti, people often asked me for money. Strangers in the street held out their hands to me on the rare occasions that I walked by on foot. The construction workers shoveling sand in front of my house stopped as I closed the gate on my way to work, pointed to their throats. “I’m hungry,” that meant.
I came to Haiti in May 2011 as a development worker with an international nongovernmental organization. I liked Haiti from the start, but in my 15 months here, I struggled with the feeling that my job was ….[Full article HERE]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/b76cb0582cd1298d79ea5fb02bc00150/tumblr_mn0h5o9OtR1r9bbqfo1_500.jpg)
I Came to Haiti to Do Good …
(Subscribe to our blogs HERE & HERE)
This op-ed piece by NORA SCHENKEL appeared in The New York Times.
WHEN I was living in Haiti, people often asked me for money. Strangers in the street held out their hands to me on the rare occasions that I walked by on foot. The construction workers shoveling sand in front of my house stopped as I closed the gate on my way to work, pointed to their throats. “I’m hungry,” that meant.
I came to Haiti in May 2011 as a development worker with an international nongovernmental organization. I liked Haiti from the start, but in my 15 months here, I struggled with the feeling that my job was ….[Full article HERE]
Vybz Kartel Conspiracy Trial Postponed AGAIN, Gaza Slim Sound Off
(Subscribe to our blogs HERE & HERE)
Vybz Kartel conspiracy trial was again delayed and Gaza Slim is furious.
The case against the self proclaim Worl’Boss and his co-accused Gaza Slim, real name Vanessa Saddler, and Andre “Pim Pim” Henry was mentioned in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrates Court yesterday.
However, the trial failed to get underway and was subsequently postponed until July.
Speaking with Irie FM, Gaza Slim says the constant delays is getting frustrating.
“Them just constantly putting it off and putting it off,” Gaza Slim said. “But its god we put our trust in and not mankind so what is to be must be.”
Gaza Slim also said she is channeling her focus on her musical career and is hoping Vybz Kartel would be released sometime soon.
Vybz Kartel oft-delayed murder trial is scheduled for May 27, however, fans are keeping their fingers cross that there will be no more delays.
KINGSTON, Jamaica - A police corporal in Jamaica has been arrested after authorities say he called a prisoner’s family and stated he could release the inmate in exchange for $10,000.
![Haitian Migrants Flee via Puerto Rico
(Subscribe to our blogs HERE & HERE)
Danica Coto and Trenton Daniel report on how Haitian migrants find safer passage to the U.S. mainland through Puerto Rico. They call it “a newly popular route” that has caught officials in the Caribbean by surprise; I had assumed that this route had been a popular choice for years. They write:
Hundreds of Haitian migrants have made their way to Puerto Rico in recent months. They’ve found that if they can make it to the U.S. territory without getting arrested, they can fly on to U.S. cities such as Miami, Boston or New York without having to show a passport, although some kind of identification, such as a driver’s license, is needed. Immigration authorities checking travelers before they leave Puerto Rico for the U.S. mainland sometimes find them carrying fake driver’s licenses or other identification, but counterfeit documents are not always detected.
[…] There are no official statistics on how many Haitians have successfully made their way illegally to Puerto Rico, or how many have traveled on to the U.S. mainland. But the trend worries officials in the U.S. and the Dominican Republic, with both countries reporting a jump in arrests of Puerto Rico-bound Haitians.
Migrants reportedly are paying smugglers $1,000-$1,500 for a trip to Puerto Rico, located less than 100 miles east of the island of Hispaniola, which is shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti. At the same time, Dominican officials have detained more than 400 Haitians bound for Puerto Rico in the past four months, compared with just a handful annually in previous years, said Victor Pilier, the Dominican Republic’s director of naval intelligence. “It’s an excessive amount,” said Pilier, who oversaw the capture of 78 Haitians headed to Puerto Rico in late April before sending them back home. “It’s unusual.”
U.S. officials in the past six months captured 352 Haitian migrants who were bound for Puerto Rico or were found on or near the island. Coast Guard statistics show that between October 2010 and September 2011, only 13 such migrants were found, and at most five Puerto Rico-bound Haitians were arrested in the two years before that. The odds of reaching the U.S. mainland directly from Haiti have dropped as the U.S. Coast Guard beefs up patrols by Hamilton class cutters, or what Haitian migrants simply refer to as “Amilton.”
Along with trying to sail directly to the U.S. mainland, Haitians in the past attempted to get to the United States through long-established smuggling networks on islands including the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/8f6b89cc0d255ba119e0e3247a7c7ab5/tumblr_mmxsf7gQ731r9bbqfo1_500.jpg)
Haitian Migrants Flee via Puerto Rico
(Subscribe to our blogs HERE & HERE)
Danica Coto and Trenton Daniel report on how Haitian migrants find safer passage to the U.S. mainland through Puerto Rico. They call it “a newly popular route” that has caught officials in the Caribbean by surprise; I had assumed that this route had been a popular choice for years. They write:
Hundreds of Haitian migrants have made their way to Puerto Rico in recent months. They’ve found that if they can make it to the U.S. territory without getting arrested, they can fly on to U.S. cities such as Miami, Boston or New York without having to show a passport, although some kind of identification, such as a driver’s license, is needed. Immigration authorities checking travelers before they leave Puerto Rico for the U.S. mainland sometimes find them carrying fake driver’s licenses or other identification, but counterfeit documents are not always detected.
[…] There are no official statistics on how many Haitians have successfully made their way illegally to Puerto Rico, or how many have traveled on to the U.S. mainland. But the trend worries officials in the U.S. and the Dominican Republic, with both countries reporting a jump in arrests of Puerto Rico-bound Haitians.
Migrants reportedly are paying smugglers $1,000-$1,500 for a trip to Puerto Rico, located less than 100 miles east of the island of Hispaniola, which is shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti. At the same time, Dominican officials have detained more than 400 Haitians bound for Puerto Rico in the past four months, compared with just a handful annually in previous years, said Victor Pilier, the Dominican Republic’s director of naval intelligence. “It’s an excessive amount,” said Pilier, who oversaw the capture of 78 Haitians headed to Puerto Rico in late April before sending them back home. “It’s unusual.”
U.S. officials in the past six months captured 352 Haitian migrants who were bound for Puerto Rico or were found on or near the island. Coast Guard statistics show that between October 2010 and September 2011, only 13 such migrants were found, and at most five Puerto Rico-bound Haitians were arrested in the two years before that. The odds of reaching the U.S. mainland directly from Haiti have dropped as the U.S. Coast Guard beefs up patrols by Hamilton class cutters, or what Haitian migrants simply refer to as “Amilton.”
Along with trying to sail directly to the U.S. mainland, Haitians in the past attempted to get to the United States through long-established smuggling networks on islands including the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos.
