This Is Jamaica (&caribbean)

Royals Pay Tribute To Caribbean Contribution

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Prince Charles throws party for migrants and their children who helped make Britain great, as Mary Isokarirai writes for The Voice.

THE ROYAL family threw open the doors of St James’s Palace to celebrate the contribution of British Caribbean communities at an event last week.

Hosted by The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, the reception on May 7 was attended by more than 200 guests of Caribbean descent from the worlds of business, politics, sport, entertainment, charity and the media.

Alongside famous faces like celebrity chef Levi Roots and actor Rudolph Walker OBE were recipients of the Queen’s Honours and the High Commissioners of the Caribbean countries, who played a role in selecting the guest list.

Roots, an entrepreneur who found fame on BBC’s Dragon Den’, told The Voice: “I think the Prince is fantastic, I think he is misunderstood by people, perhaps even myself would have thought he was more standoffish.

“Actually he is a very warm ….[Full article HERE]

UK CONCERTS

BERES HAMMOND, MORGAN HERITAGE & MARCIA GRIFFITHS (flyer attached)

July 17^th :          London @ IndigO2 Greenwich
July 18^th :          Bristol @ O2 Academy
July 19^th :          Birmingham @ Bingley Hall
July 20^th :          Huddersfield @ Cathedral
July 21^st :          London @ Academy

Am I Related to Basquiat?

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Tracing Your Roots: A reader researching famous ties gets a few pointers for finding Haitian roots from Henry Louis Gates in this article from The Root.

Many of our readers wonder if they have famous kin. This week’s advice is especially useful to people of Haitian descent who are trying to trace their forebears, whether those kin are well-known or simply well-loved.

“Hi, I represent the music rock band the Penelopes. Our band’s lead singer,Axel Basquiat, was born and raised in Paris, but his father (Paul Basquiat) and his grandfather (Vincent Basquiat) are from Haiti. We know the famous artist Jean-Michel Basquiat’s family was also from Haiti, and we wonder if there’s any way to research and see if they are related somehow. We are based in London, so we are not too familiar on organizations in Haiti that might be able to help us. Axel has been wondering about this connection all his life, and we thought we can try to help him find it.” —Winnie Lam

Jean-Michel Basquiat was an internationally acclaimed artist known for neo-expressionist paintings steeped in history, social critique and his origins as a graffiti artist. Sadly, he died young, succumbing to a drug overdose in…….[Full article HERE]

Carnival fun and Moss Side Moss Side

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Carnival fun and Moss Side Moss Side carnival is one of the highlights of the Manchester social calendar, and the largest celebration of Caribbean culture in the region, as Paul Britton reports in this article for The Manchester Evening News. [Follow the link below for a beautiful photo gallery.] It’s one of the highlights of the Manchester social calender – and the largest celebration of Caribbean culture in the region. The vibrant colours and costumes of carnival day in Moss Side have been enjoyed by thousands for more than three decades. Countless images of smiling, joyous faces have been captured on camera for posterity over the years. Manchester’s Caribbean Carnival is held every August in and around Alexandra Park, with the park the focal point of the carnival since its launch in 1971. Revellers enjoy the sights and sounds of the Caribbean as processions wind through the streets to the sound of steel bands. The celebration is central to Moss Side’s community and attracts crowds from Whalley Range, Longsight, Cheetham Hill and Hulme. Moss Side has also welcomed a catalogue of famous faces to its streets over the years. The Way We Were series looks back at memorable appearances and visits from celebrities, including Prince Charles and Naseem Hamed. Facist and former MP Oswald Mosley addressed crowds at Alexandra Park in 1960 and political activist and Hollywood actress Vanessa Redgrave, who founded the Workers Revolutionary Party in the 1970s, stood for Parliament in the Moss Side by-election of 1978. She polled just 394 votes to finish in last position. Prince Charles joined in the custard pie fun on a visit to a Moss Side community centre in 1983. Sports stars have been welcomed in Moss Side in their droves. Boxers Chris Eubank and Prince Naseem Hamed have both visited to address youngsters and open facilities. The Manchester Giants basketball team paid a visit to youngsters at the Chrysalis Community Project on Gooch Close and Manchester United legend Sir Bobby Charlton even laced up his boots for a charity match between Moss Side FC and a Salford select side.

Brixton London - Spoken Word

THIS SUNDAY , 209 COLDHARBOUR LANE , BRIXTON SW9 4-9 PM…NICENESS

To be continued…..

The case for compensating the Caribbean

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In 1838, British slave owners in the English-speaking Caribbean received £11.6 (US$17.8) billion in today’s value as compensation for the emancipation of their “property” — 655,780 human beings of African descent that they had been enslaved, brutalised and exploited. The freed slaves, by comparison, received nothing in recompense for their dehumanisation, cruel treatment, the abuse of their labour, and the plain injustice of their enslavement.

The monies paid to sláves owners have been studied and assembled by a team of academics from University College London, including Dr Nick Draper, who spent three years pulling together 46,000 records which they have now launched as an Internet database. The website is: ucl.ac.uk/lbs

The benefits of those……[Full article HERE]

Stamp to honour politician and civil rights campaigner John Archer, first Afro-Caribbean elected to public office in UK

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Mystery face among first class Britons: John Archer, first Afro-Caribbean elected to public office in London, honoured alongside Lloyd George in new set of stamps. He became first of Afro-Caribbean heritage elected to public office in 1906, as ELEANOR HARDING reports in this article for The Voice.

They are meant to celebrate Britain’s most famous characters in history.

But among the instantly-recognisable faces of Royal Mail’s ‘Great Britons’ stamp set is one that may leave you a little lost.

John Archer, former Mayor or Battersea, is one of the characters featured in the set - a choice which is likely to leave some stamp collectors a little confused.

For while his achievements heading up a London borough are indeed admirable, they are not quite as well-known as those of his fellow countrymen.

The set of 10 first class stamps, released today,  also includes David Lloyd George, Benjamin Britten and Vivien Leigh.

Royal Mail said it aimed to include people in sport, journalism, music, politics and the arts whose anniversaries of birth fall in 2013.

A spokesman said that the unconventional choice of Mr Archer recognised the contribution he made to public life as ‘the first person of African-Caribbean descent to hold civic office in London’.