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Anxiety as Banton Sentencing Nears

Caribbean Photo of the Week

Photo of the Week: On the Beach at Paynes Bay in Barbados

 paynes bay

The latest Caribbean Photo comes from Caribbean Journal reader Harry Ramnath, who sent in this lovely shot of Paynes Bay Beach in Barbados. Have you taken a great photo in the Caribbean? Send it to news@caribjournal.com with CPOTW in the subject line, including your first and last name and the location of the photo. It […]

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Director Chris Browne's Quest to Bring Jamaican Film to the World

By Alexander Britell Despite a number of landmark films shot in Jamaica, from Dr. No, the first James Bond film (along with several other Bond films) to Legends of the Fall, the domestic Jamaican film industry is very much in its infancy. But Chris Browne, the director of Third World Cop, the highest-grossing Jamaican film […]

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A Daughter of Calypso Returns Home

Keina Calliste By Lincoln Depradine Trinidadian Keina Calliste is the daughter of one of the Caribbean’s greatest calypsonians — but despite a family legacy in Grenada, she had never visited the island. “I like it,” she said. “It’s not that much different from Trinidad. We have a lot of similarities.” Calliste’s father was Leroy “Black […]

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Rihanna Discriminated Against for Caribbean Heritage, According to Lawsuit

By Alexander Britell A former lawyer for Gucci who worked on singer Rihanna’s contract with the design firm claims her superior discriminated against the Barbados-born singer because of her Caribbean heritage, according to the text of a complaint filed in federal court in New York City obtained by Caribbean Journal. According to the suit, the […]

A Daughter of Calypso Returns Home

 By Alexander Britell For almost fifteen years beginning in the 1970s, the West Indian cricket team was the best in the world, and perhaps the best side in any sport. In an era of prejudice and racial upheaval, the Windies turned heads and captivated the globe, especially the United Kingdom. Director Stevan Riley, who told […]

New Film Looks Back at the Golden Age of West Indies Cricket

Following their success in the first Cricket World Cup in 1975 and until the 1990s, the West Indies ruled the cricket world. The so-called “calypso cricketers” were a machine, which is now the subject of a feature film, Fire in Babylon, which tells the story of the West Indies’ rise. [BBC Sport]

Singer Spragga Benz Leads Campaign for Leniency in Buju Banton Case

 By the Caribbean Journal staff Singer Spragga Benz is spearheading a campaign on Twitter to encourage fans to send letters supporting leniency for Buju Banton, who is awaiting a sentencing hearing on his conviction on three drug charges. Banton will go before Federal Judge James Moody of the Middle District of Florida on June 23.

Barbados Tourism Board Looks to Rihanna

 Barbados’s Board of Tourism is looking to capitalize on international music star Rihanna’s Bajan heritage, with the board’s new chairman, Adrian Elcock, saying a Barbados appearance by the singer must happen on his watch. “We have to have a relationship with Rihanna,” he said. “Rihanna has to do a concert in Barbados at some point […]

Interview with Beenie Man: Dancehall, Jimmy Cliff and Buju Banton

 Anthony Moses Davis a.k.a Beenie Man has been at the forefront of reggae and dancehall music, both in Jamaica and globally, for two decades. His 2000 album, Art & Life, won the Grammy for Best Reggae Album, and the self-proclaimed “King of the Dancehall” has collaborated with artists from Janet Jackson to Wyclef Jean (who […]

Jamaican Guitar Legend Eugene Grey Talks about His New Album, Burning Spear and the Evolution of Reggae

 By Alexander Britell Guitarist and composer Eugene Grey, in addition to a long-thriving solo career, has played with some of the most famous bands in Jamaican history – from Toots and the Maytals to Burning Spear. Classically trained, Grey has evolved his music as his knowledge has grown, and now he is trying to the […]

Wyclef Jean Claims Gunshot during Haitian Election, Police Say Glass Injury

 After reports emerged this morning that Haitian singer and onetime presidential candidate Wyclef Jean had been shot in the hand the morning of the presidential elections, police are saying he was injured by glass. “The way I can explain it is that the bullet grazed me in my right hand,” Jean said. “I heard blow, […]