Keeping Caribbean Impact in Print

AN OPINION

Relight the Torch of the Caribbean Diaspora

BROOKLYN, NY: Is it just me... or is there a hint of the ‘we can’t do anything about it’ mentality when our small Caribbean-American focused newspapers stop printing? Yes, the economy is bad but news is always important and newspapers are the most believed venue for news and information for many in this Diaspora...

Well, I’m not happy about it, and I’m sure that the sage members of the Diaspora are not prepared to loose a part of their fiber that still resonates as the best way to get the real story… The printed words of newspapers have seen better days for centuries; newspapers moved from telling us who died, got married, bought land and who was wanted for crimes, to being tomes of information and financial betterment. What’s happening now is that people have more choices to get news. But newspapers are nowhere near becoming lost in our history, especially with the variety of community papers that are available for the Caribbean American Diaspora.

Print newspapers and their online versions combined today are more popular than imagined, and yet mainstream media reports always seem to imply the print industry as gasping for air at the throat in the clutches of a digital hand.

Case in point is Caribbean Impact, based in New York and known as the Torch of the Caribbean-American Diaspora in its tri-state hub. Since its inception, the paper has been published and distributed freely in their hub and transported to the Maryland-DC, Atlanta and Florida areas that boast significant numbers of Caribbean-Americans. They found a niche in ensuring coverage for each island in business, politics, culture and folklore. The print version was followed by an online version http://www.caribimpact.net which enjoyed viewership internationally from the Caribbean and Guyana, to Europe and Africa and even to Turkey.

I’m not complaining about the internet as a vehicle for delivery of news and more; I think the internet does lots of things right. It allows papers like Caribbean Impact to compete, on breaking or expanded news. It provides additional information beyond what’s printed on paper, including documents that substantiate specific news reports. It enables us to creating links to other stories and past articles can be easily retrieved from the online archives. It’s made the growth of our Diasporic publications like CaribbeanWorldNews.com, Caribbean360.com and Caribbeannetnews.com and more, progress nicely. However, I do think it’s a troubling that print newspapers are losing readership; and getting our very community to understand the importance of their support is

Your help is needed to fund the continued printing of this paper which is distributed and provided freely to you, the community it serves.

Apart from being among the contributing writers who volunteer their ability to the paper for its bi-weekly publishing I’m among those disturbed by the threatened loss of print news. If you’ve been paying attention, then you know this is a tough time for newspapers. Advertising revenues and circulation is down. Readership is shifting to the internet, and the economic base that sustained print papers is not presently there either. The consequences have meant an impromptu hiatus for papers like Caribbean Impact. Their last issue printed was published on April 1, 2009.

Caribbean Impact was founded in 2003 by Dennis Nelson, Edgar Henry and Godfrey Wray, their vision was to provided news and information for the Guyanese and Caribbean-American community members who’d emigrated here. With dedicated sections of news covering the various islands and countries, Caribbean Impact provides indebt reporting and coverage beyond the bits and pieces of mainstream publications and media, editorials and opinions. This publication includes the community it serves; there are personal highlights from milestone birthdays to academic achievement, humor and obituaries; customary for the audience who like the feel of reading something they would if still living ‘back-home’. Newspapers are valuable and authoritative sources of information in the ex-patriot Caribbean-American mind; and newspapers are the usual source of quick news updates reported on the radio.

MAKE AN IMPACT…

This is an appeal to the Caribbean Diaspora at large to step up and support Caribbean Impact to ensure that we maintain coverage of the current events that matter to us.

The Friends of Caribbean Impact is the first group to openly call for the revival and upkeep of this paper; they plan to host a series of fund raising benefits begining on July 4th. Show your support for Caribbean Impact by making a donation or becoming an Advertising Patron of the publication.

You can also make a personal donation to Caribbean Impact; send it to the Brooklyn office at 282 East 42nd Street, Brooklyn, NY 11203 – Attention: Godfrey Wray

Brooklyn's Free Summer Concerts - UPDATE 08.24.09

The Seaside Summer Concert Series, now in its 31st year, is the largest free outdoor music series in New York. Throughout the years, the Thursday-night series has attracted top-name classic rock, pop, oldies, contemporary and Latin performers to Asser Levy/Seaside Park, at West 5th Avenue and Surf Avenue in Coney Island/Brighton Beach.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Concert Series is celebrating its spectacular 27th season with a star-studded line-up of gospel, classic soul, contemporary, Caribbean and R&B artists. The free concerts are Monday nights at Wingate Field, entrances on Brooklyn Avenue (Rutland Road and Winthrop Street).

SEAN PAUL is being REPLACED TONIGHT with MACHEL MONTANO!

http://brooklynconcerts.com/index.html

From a youth for our youths

Saggin Pants

Pass this on to Our Youth, Our Parents, Our Black Men and Women
Letter from a college student

The other day, a friend of mine visited me in the lobby of my dorm just to chat while her laundry was drying. As we were chatting, two young freshmen came by. One of the 2 boys wanted to 'talk' to my friend (as in date). She asked him how old they were, and both of the boys replied 18. My friend and I both laughed hysterically because we are both 22 years old.

After my friend left, the young men were still hanging around and one wanted to know how he could gain her interest.

The first thing I told him to do was to pull up his pants! He asked why, and then said he liked saggin ' his pants. I told him to come over to my computer and spell the word saggin'. Then I told him to write the word saggin ' backwards.
S-A-G-G-I-N
N-I-G- G-A-S

I told him the origin of that look was from centuries ago. It was the intent of slave owners to demoralize the field workers by forbidding them to wear a belt as they worked in the fields or at any other rigorous job. In addition, men in prison wore their pants low when they were 'spoken for'. The other reason their pants looked like that was they were not allowed to have belts because prisoners were likely to try to commit suicide.
And, saggin' pants prevents you from running.

We as young Black people have to be the ones to effect change. We are dying. The media has made a mockery of the Black American. Even our brothers and sisters from Africa don't take us seriously. Something as simple as pulling up your pants and standing with your head held high could make the biggest difference in the world's perception of us. It is time to do right by ourselves. We need to love and embrace each other. No one is going to do that for us.

It all comes down to perception. What people perceive is what reality to them is. We have to change not only the media's perception of us, but we need to change our perception of ourselves.

Remember all eyes are on you Black Man. All eyes are on you Black Woman.. All eyes are on your Black Child. People point the finger at us and expect us to engage in negative and illegal activities, to manifest loud, boisterous behavior, to spend our hard earned money in their stores, buying goods we don't need, or really want. We have allowed not only the media, but the government and the world to portray us as a 'sub-culture. ' They have stripped our culture down to the point where the image of Black people is perpetuated as rappers, athletes, drug users, and consumers of junk food, expensive tennis shoes, expensive cars, expensive TVs, cell phones and not investing in homes for our families. We are so much more!!!!!!!

To all our Black Men : It's time to stand up. There are billions of Black Women who want to do nothing more than worship the ground that you walk on. We are so in love with your potential. We want to have your back, we want to love, support and cherish every ounce of your being. But with that you have to show that you are willing to be the head of our households. You have to prove yourselves worthy of our submission. We need you to be hard working...Not a hustler. We need you to seek higher education, to seek spirituality. We need you to stand! And trust us; we will have your back. We know! that it gets hard. We know you get weary. Trust and believe that there is nothing that a Black Man and a Black Woman can't handle with GOD on their side.

To all our Black Women : It is also time for you to stand up. It is time for you to stop using our bodies as our primary form of communication. It is time to be that virtuous woman that Proverbs spoke of. You cannot sit by the wayside while our men are dying by the masses. You are the epitome of Black Love. It starts within you. You need to speak with conviction to let not only our Black Men know, but the world, that you are the Mothers of this world. You are so powerful. You are so beautiful. You need to love ! and embrace every blessing God has given us physically, emotionally and spiritually.

For all our Black Children : We need to love them. We need to teach them. We need to stand up for them. We need to protect them. We need to show them that there are no 'get rich quick' schemes. We need to tell them that they WILL die trying if they submit to a life of crime and deceit. We need to teach our children that no one will love them the way we can. And being a basketball player, a rapper, or a drug dealer is not reality . It's not realistic and only a small percentage of people ever make it as a rapper or professional athlete. We need to teach our children that we can be more than rappers and athletes. ! We can be the owners of these sports teams. We can be the CEO's of OUR fortune 500 companies. We need to believe in literacy. I am almost certain if we were to look back to the 1930's and 40's, the literacy rates for Black American Children are probably still the same.

'This is the year of empowerment. ' God will empower us to accomplish things this year that will be mind blowing'.

STAND & BE COUNTED with CARIBID2010.com

"Stand Up and Be Counted"
Census data directly affects how more than $300 billion per year in federal and state funding is allocated to communities for neighborhood improvements, public health, education, transportation and much more.

WWW.CARIBID2010.COM
JOIN THE MOVEMENT

CABA's Moving and Shaking in NJ

CABA’s Gala Dinner brings NJ Governor Out

By Allison Skeete


The Caribbean American Business Association (CABA) of New Jersey hosted its annual Gala Dinner recently and the four year old not for profit organization was joined by New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine who did more than make a courtesy appearance. The Governor came in and spent the cocktail hour engaged in genuine conversations with the group of successful entrepreneurs of Caribbean Ancestry who are minority business owners in the state he leads.

Along with the Counsel Generals of Grenada and Trinidad & Tobago, Derrick James and Dr. Harold Robertson, Corzine listened to concerns about stimulus funding for businesses owned by the group that represents a growing part of many constituencies in the United States. He also spoke as dinner began giving much hope that they will be able to continue doing business in this difficult economic time.

NJ Council Official Elsie Dublin-Foster shared with guests that the New Jersey governor was the first to create an official box to check for Caribbean American residents of this state; a bit of information very relevant today as the New York Group CARIBID2010 is seeking to have that very same box become a part of the US Census to address the growing income and profits benefits from this diverse and often overlooked and undercounted group.

The Gala Dinner was the stage for CABA to honor those in the New Jersey business community and this year the group heralded such stalwarts like Deborah Collins, Esq., who serves in Essex County as the Executive Director Economic Development Corporation and Director, Small Business Development and Affirmative Action.

Judge Julien Neals currently Corporation Counsel for the City of Newark; as Corporation Counsel, Judge Neals manages attorneys who practice in areas, including Contracts & Legislation, Labor, Civil Litigation, Real Estate, Tax Appeals & Tax Abatements, Workers’ Compensation and Municipal Prosecutions and Trevor Layne MD, a leading oncologist in New Jersey. They were recognized for their strength, courage, vision and commitment in upholding a positive image in the community.