Sept2013

ARIBBEANNE OVEOFree Publication

CONNECTION

Oh To Be in Love - Obtaining a Green Card through Marriage

Page 9

CARIBBEAN

Mighty Sparrow in Coma Page 6

COMMUNITY

Interview with Jermaine TaylorSoccer Player of the Dynamo

Page 4

www.olchouston.com281-769-2253 One Love Caribbean

September 2013L COMMUNITY • CULTURE • CONNECTIONS

LOVE BIRDCaribbean and American Cuisine

9750 Hwy 6 South, #102, Sugarland TX 77478

WHEN YOU DON’T FEEL LIKE COOKING... ...LET ME COOK FE’ YU.

281-933-1448

OxtailJerk PorkCurry GoatJerk ChickenCurry ShrimpStew PeasEscovitch fish

TRANS CARIBE

SHIPPERS AND MOVERS11450 Bissonnet St. Suite 103

Houston, TX 77099

Office: 281 568 8960 Cell: 281 740 8868

trans.caribe@yahoo. com

We ShipBarrels, Boxes, Vehicles, etc.Send to Family and FriendsDoor to Door Delivery

TRANS CARIBE SHIPPERSMOVERS

Volume 6 Issue 9

New

Name

- Sa

me G

reat

Food

Only A Few Weeks For Houston RunOliver Samuels’ Embassy Saga

One Love CARIBBEAN is published monthly.

All materials published in One Love CARIBBEAN is Copyrighted by One Love CARIBBEAN and may not be reproduced without our writ-ten permission. All rights reserved.

Disclaimer:One Love CARIBBEAN is not responsible for any claims made by advertisers. The views and opinions express herein do not neces-sarily reflect the publisher. One Love CARIBBEAN assumes no responsibility for unsolicited manuscript, photographs, and other material unless accompa-nied by a self addressed stamped envelope.

ADVERTISE YOUR EVENT ON THIS PAGE AT A LOW RATE

Page 2 • ONE LOVE CARIBBEAN • September 2013DIRECTORY

LOVE BIRD RESTAUANT281-933-1448

Front Page

THEE TRINI HUT 832-367-4771

Page 2

All CARIBBEAN SEAFOOD281-575-1013

Page 16

Island Spice Restaurant281-859-1499

Front Page

Where to Eat

EventsOliver Samuels in

Embassy SagaSeptember 22, 2013

St. Kitts/Nevis Independence Gala

Sept 28, 2013

CONTENTSThe Publisher’s Thoughts

Community 4, 5Only A Few Weeks For Houston Run Oliver Samuels’ Embassy SagaAn Interview with Jermaine Taylor Soccer Player of the Houston DynamoJamaicans in Houston Celebrate IndependenceTMW host its Annual Tea and Hat ExtravaganzaJamaicans in Houston Celebrate IndependenceWhy are Incarceration Rates so High in the Caribbean?

Caribbean 6, 7Mighty Sparrow in ComaJamaica Gov’t Urged To Legalize GanjaGrenada’s Former Governor General Scoon Dies at 78Russians Invest of US$50M in St. Kitts/NevisUS Suspended Assistance to the Saint Lucia Police ForceDominica Assists Its Indigenous PeopleT&T PM Kamla Reshuffles Her Cabinet

ConnectionPell Grant Changes May Impact College EnrollmentIssacharites or Topaz Stones: One of the Teaching Tribes11 School Supplies: Some Essentials for a Successful School YearHouston Mayoral Election of 2013

Open EditorialInsular Cases may be on the ropesOh To Be in Love - Obtaining a Green Card through Marriage

MedicalHow do I Best Care for My Teeth as an Adult?

What Do You Know about Electronic Cigarettes

Whooping Cough Prompts Texas Health Alert

Celeb

rate F

ive Ye

arsWest Indian Style Food

THEE TRINI HUT

Goat RotiBeef Roti

Chicken RotiShrimp Roti

Aloo Pie Oxtail

Jerk ChickenDoubles

19214 CLAY RD, KATY, TX 77449

You have tried the REST. Now try the Best

FRIDAYSDJ Music

Happy Hour Draft Beer

CATERINGSPECIAL EVENT

WeddingsParties

The Place Where Trinis Meet on the Weekend

ROTIMADE FRESH

DAILY

Authentic

832-683-4231832-367-4771

Restaurant and Bar

Free Space

One Love CARIBBEANP.O. Box 742291

Houston, TX 77274281-769-2253

Websitewww.olchouston.com

Sylvanus DonaieFounder/PublisherPhone: [email protected]

Andrea Jean BaptisteBusiness ManagerPhone: [email protected]

Main OfficeP.O Box 742291Houston, TX 77274Phone: [email protected]

Billing DepartmentP.O Box 742291Houston, TX 77274Office: [email protected]

Entertainment EditorDJ Uncle [email protected]

Medical EditorDr. Ka-Ron Y. [email protected]

Staff WritersSylvanus DonaieDJ Uncle LMarcelline Chitolie

Dr. Daintee G. JonesTerry Layne

Thecia Jenkins Leslie A. Richardson Charmaine Bailey

AdvertisingTel: 281-769-2253Tel: 832-881-9745Tel: 504-460-9638

Like us on

one love caribbean

The Publisher’s ThoughtsFive years ago, I had neither the knowl-edge nor the experience in starting a newspaper; however, I saw a void in the community, and I proceeded to fill it. Today, looking back and seeking the rationale for success, I understand that although I financed and operated the project, it was the Houston Carib-bean community who understood the need, embraced the cause, and sup-ported the newspaper. Last month, we quietly celebrated the fifth year anni-versary of One Love Caribbean.

While most of us didn’t study to be-come writers or journalists, we noticed that Houston lacked a mouthpiece for our Caribbean community and this rendered us as silent beings. Our peo-ple are too great to be ignored or over-looked. This type of light can’t hide in the shadows. One Love Caribbean filled this void of silence by showcas-ing local leaders and news of concern for the community.

I looked back at the very first and sec-ond publication (August 2008/Septem-ber 2008), and I saw the names of Niki Ocasio, Veronica Ricketts, Marilyn Douglas Jones, and Dr. KaRon Wade. Thereafter, I saw Andrea Jean Bap-tiste, DJ Uncle L, Marcelline Chitolie, Terry Layne, Thecia Jenkins, Leslie A. Richardson, and Charmaine Bailey. These writers pen their thoughts and contribute to their readership.

Notwithstanding, there are many busi-ness owners who allow the publication to be distributed in their establish-ments. The list is long, but permit me to mention Ms. Ina Foster of Carib-bean Cuisine and Tony of Caribbean Snacks in Baytown; their businesses have been key distribution points of OLC from day one.

Of course, we salute our advertisers! They provide the fuel that keeps the paper going.

I have learned life lessons along the way. I learned about the strength to reach out and contribute to our com-munity, and I found solace in new friends who cared as much about jus-tice as I did. I hope that my experi-ence inspires someone else to move forward with life even when their are not sure what’s in front of him.

Now I will be quiet and allow commu-nity members to tell us about the paper.

Dr. Errol EcclesWell, as someone told me, “he saw a void and he filled it,” and I think he’s been filling that void quite well actually; and I’m proud to read One Love Carib-bean.

Dr. Kelvin S. MoultonOh, congratulations! Congratulations! ..on your performance... Well, on a scale of one to 10, I’ll give you an 11. The reason is that you have been tremen-dously instrumental [Because of] all of the papers. You and the team bring the Caribbean people together, and the read-ership has been very, very good indeed. We think very highly of your paper. We think very highly of what you’ve been doing for the community and for the so-ciety, and we consider that if you contin-ue doing what you’re doing, this nation will be brought together, especially Ca-ribbean people because we need to unite as one and act together in attributing and doing a lot for this community.

Professor Marilyn Douglas JonesThe paper keeps improving all the time. People like the new look. The articles are good. The publisher’s notes are pretty controversial sometimes, but congratulations. Good job! And we like the fact that we can get it online as well for some of the more techno people who don’t make it to the restaurants. It’s been pretty good.

Attorney Khalfani FullertonI think the paper is great. It’s vital in the community. You have timely news that’s very informative, and it’s basi-cally bringing the Caribbean commu-nity together. I think it’s a high quality publication. I always look forward to reading the paper, especially the editori-als. [You have] some very good thought provoking editorials.

Paul SouthWell the paper is doing great. It’s al-ways a good read and never a dull mo-ment when you pick it up to read. It covers everything that’s needed for the community. It gives a lot of information pertaining to business in the community and just general basic information about the community, not just here in Houston but the main news coming also from the

Caribbean islands.And what do you do?

Cedric BuchananOne Love [Caribbean newspaper] is the number one Caribbean es-tablishment in Houston. Its pub-lication is very informative, and we hope you have another five years before you know it. So keep up the good job, brother Sylvanus and your team. You all are doing a magnificent job with this maga-zine.

Errol Anthony Wilks,It’s always lovely when some-thing positive happens in our community and throughout the five years, there have been some very thought provoking editori-als and articles, and those are the ones I appreciate. I urge everyone if there’s something that you dis-agree with or you like, you should actually write letters to the editors because the editors welcome that kind of dialogue and it’s a way that you can keep the paper inter-esting. It’s very informative and I look forward to seeing it every month when it comes out.

So until then, One Love!

Sylvanus Donaie, BA, BSEE, MTM, MPM, MBAPublisher

Of course, I love when you disagree with me, and I want to hear from you. If you disagree, please let me know. You can al-ways email me at [email protected].

Only A Few Weeks For Houston RunOliver Samuels’ Embassy Saga

Page 4 ONE LOVE CARIBBEAN SEPTEMBER 2013

By Andrea Jean BaptisteContributing Writer

The interview with Jermaine Taylor (JT) took place at Kingston Rum Bar on Beech-nut in Houston.

Jermaine Taylor is a Jamaican soccer player, who currently plays for theHouston Dynamo in Major League Soccer. He is a calm, experienced defender who is an anchor at center back and remains a fix-ture for Jamaica national team. He is from Portland, Jamaica. OLC: Welcome, Jermaine, and thanks for the opportunity to talk to us here at One Love.JT: Thank you.

OLC: How long have you been in the City? JT: Actually, I have been in Houston since February 2012. I am hoping to be here for a while, 6 or 7 years.

OLC: So what is your position on the team [Houston Dynamo]?JT: Actually, I am utility player. I play any-where in the back: center back, left back …anywhere thereabout. I work in whatever position that I am in to the best of my ability.

OLC: You know, soccer is one of the most popular games for us here in the [English influenced] Caribbean. We love to play soccer, second to cricket probably; I am not sure which one at the top of our recreation-al sports. I think soccer might be the one because it is easy to get a ball and play. I remember seeing young boys and girls playing the game on the grass fields. How can we as Caribbean people here in Hous-ton support soccer? How do we get people to come in regularly buy season tickets?

JT: Well actually, first and foremost you have to have love and passion for the game. Being a Jamaican, it is kind of shameful to see we do not love the game that much, in terms of watching it or com-ing and support it. Yes, we have sup-porters; we have a few supporters from the Southwest side, who support us a lot. They come to games. We have a few Ja-maicans that come out to support us. As I said, you have to have a love for the game and those guys have that love. You have to keep up with social networks to see who is playing where. There is in-formation on the Dynamo website and the Jamaica Football Association website. It’s all about publicizing games and play-ers. We are being comfortably supported by our fans; I will not take that away from them, but we can always do with more support. It is also how we’re correspond-ing and responding to each other. We have to bond with each other.

OLC: How has Houston Dynamo reached out to the community and the greater com-munity at large? Because I think, there is a certain expectation that is only the His-panic or Latino community supports soc-cer, or maybe the White community, but you have a strong Caribbean community in Houston, probably over 50,000 people, and a lot of them are men who grew up playing soccer. How has the Houston Dy-

namo reached out to the Caribbean com-munity? This is market that I don’t think that they are tapping into.

JT: I would not say that way. In terms of Caribbean players, it has to do with the selection of the coach and how they go around doing selection of players. And you know, most of the time, we have our Caribbean tournaments with the Cubans, Trinidadians, and Jamaicans. Most of the time, these games are played every two years during the off season for the MLS. The coaching team watches a couple of games of the Jamaica National team, and that is where they saw me and I was se-lected at the time. They liked me as a center back and they decided to bring me to Houston as a player. I think they are doing a pretty good job.

OLC: How can we get people in the Hous-ton Caribbean community to come out to games? What methods is Houston Dy-namo using to communicate with fans? Unless you are a diehard fan, you do not really know what is going on with games. How can we keep Houston Dynamo in the eyes of Caribbean people? I think that is something they would love to do in their spare time. How can we increase the presence of Caribbean people at these games?

JT: You have to think about how you go about doing things. You have to think on the social network; we have Comcast who televise the games for us, and interviews on players. They have been doing a pret-ty good job of letting people know when there are games. We use newspapers, Twitter, and Facebook. It is also up to the individual whether you want to support or not. You have to do your research to find out more about games.

OLC: So where do you see yourself in the future?

JT: I recently signed an extension with Houston Dynamo for the next few years. I am looking forward to keep to stay in good shape. I look forward continue to playing not only in the MLS, but in other countries also. I hope to play in Europe. You never know where you chances lie.

OLC: Well thank you very much Jermaine for speaking with One Love.

There will only a few week for the local run for Oliver Samuels’ Embassy Saga, as international demand for the play has it booked up to December. It opens in Hous-ton on September 22, 2013.

Samuels said, “I can seriously state that this is one of the best productions Hous-ton will ever see.”

Samuels asked, “Who among us is without an ‘embassy saga’ or embassy drama? Do you remember that episode on JBC TV in the ‘80s where a young handsome man dressed in earmuffs and winter coat tried to go overseas at Norman Manley Airport, but never knew he needed a visa? Well, if you thought that was funny, wait until you see this.”

Samuels did not mention that 2013 is su-per special for him. He feels blessed to be 65 years old this year, and with recent cries in many circles about ‘young people time’, Oliver has defied the odds by still reigning as the King of Comedy. What’s even more interesting is that his last production, Who a Di Don, was a most-watched play for 2012 and insiders predict that Embassy Saga will be even bigger.

How do you top two tours to the USA, two tours to Canada and a play that had

a double billing 16 months after it first opened? Samuels wrote a brilliant script, assembled the appropriate cast and crew, recruited Douglas Prout to direct, and the result is a masterpiece. As with Who a Di Don, Embassy Saga delivers a compel-ling story of family life in Jamaica, but has more punchlines and moments of belly-cramping laughter.

Embassy Saga mixes suspense, dra-ma and comedy. The audience will feel at times that they are watching a reality show, but nothing will prepare them for the dramatic end. It may be Oliver’s 65th, but Jamaicans got the present with Embassy Saga.

Oliver Samuels and Audrey Reid

An Interview with Jermaine TaylorSoccer Player of the Houston Dynamo

OLC: On August 3, 2013, the Jamaica Foundation of Houston (JFH) held their Annual Independence Gala to celebrate Jamaica’s 51st anniversary of Indepen-dence. Hundreds of Jamaicans and their guest turned out for the affair at the Hil-ton Americas in Houston. Attendees dined and danced into the wee hours to the dy-namic sounds of the Code Red Band from Florida.

In his address, JFH President, W. Arnold Richards, reminded Jamaicans, “…lets be thankful for all the opportunities that this great country, The United States of Amer-ica, had afforded us and continue to show through our generosity and goodwill how strong and proud we are of our Jamaican Heritage and to demonstrate to the world that we are high achievers and can be the best at whatever we choses to pursue.”

Richards noted key accomplishment of the foundation. “There was our first JA-GA Reggae festival held in Galveston on the weekend of April 14-15, 2011 of which

April 14th was proclaimed Jamaica Day by the Mayor of Galveston.” This year, the second JA-GA Reggae festival in Galves-ton was held with tremendous ovation.

This year, JFH gave 15 scholarship awarded to college-bound students.

The Foundation gave an “Award of Ex-cellence” to four Jamaicans for their out-standing contribution to the community: Clinton Wong, Errol Erling, Gloria Camp-bell, and Andy Adams.Jamaica gained independence from Brit-ain in 1962 under its first Prime Minister Sir Alexander Bustamante.

The JFH has almost 35 years of service to the Greater Houston community from its inception as the Jamaican Association to now as a 501c3 foundation with the mission to promote cultural understand-ing, education and volunteerism.

The event’s master of ceremonies was Jose Grinan of Fox TV channel 26.

Andy Adam (center) receive “Award of Excellence” by JFH

Jamaicans in Houston Celebrate Independence

One Love CaribbeanCall 281-769 2253

ResidentialCommercialConstructionRemodelInstallationRepairsEstimatesSewer LinesFaucetsToiletsWater LinesWater HeatersSecond Opinion

INSURED

Servicing all your plumbing needs

AAASelect PlumbingPete “JP” Gowdie

Master PlumberOffice: (713) [email protected]

Fax: (281) 458-0698AAASelectPlumbing.com

License by the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners MPL# 40264

SEPTEMBER 2013 ONE LOVE CARIBBEAN Page 5

1 USA 7162 St. Kitts and Nevis 7144 Virgin Islands (US) 5395 Cuba 5107 Anguilla 4878 Russian Federation 4799 Belize 47610 Virgin Islands (UK) 46011 Bahamas 44412 Grenada 42413 El Salvador 42214 Bermuda 41716 Dominica 40416 Panama 40418 Antigua/Barbuda 39520 Cayman Islands 38221 Barbados 37922 St. Vincent and the

Grenadines376

23 St. Maarten (NA) 36925 Curaçao 33127 St. Lucia 31729 Costa Rica 31430 Puerto Rico 31142 Trinidad &Tobago 28147 French Guiana 26751 Guyana 26052 Colombia 24554 Dominican Re-

public240

58 Martinique 23360 Aruba 22875 Suriname 19186 Guadeloupe 16488 Jamaica 16391 Venezuela 161104 Nicaragua 148154 Haiti 95

Prison Population Rates per 100,000 of the national population

It is no secret that the United States incarcerates proportion-ally more of its citizens than any other country on earth. But shock-ingly, the Caribbean islands fol-low with the world’s highest rates of incarceration, according to the International Centre for Prison Studies (ICPS).

St Kitts/Nevis and the U.S. Virgin Islands have incarceration rates over 700 per 100,000 people. Haiti is the only Caribbean coun-try with a rate below the world average.

Many are pointing fingers at the regions’ neighbor to the north, the United States, as the rea-son to this conundrum of mass incarceration in the Caribbean. Enforcement of war on drug is forefront. Many are imprisoned on drug-related offenses.

In its 2013 analysis of prison

populations, the Centre stated that in December 2013, Barba-dos had 1054 people in prison; its incarceration rate was 379 per 100,000 people giving it a global ranking of 21 out of 223 nations.

Likewise, St. Kitts/Nevis had 330 people behind bars, which give it an incarceration rate of 701 per 100,000 people. Its global rank-ing is number two (2) placing St. Kitts/Nevis with the Caribbean region highest rate of incarcera-tion. The U.S. Virgin Islands has the fourth highest rate of incar-ceration in the world.

As December 2012, a sample of prison population included Saint Lucia (568), Jamaica (4,500), Dominica (275), Grenada (441), and Trinidad & Tobago (3,800).

Read more about you specific nation of interest at www.prison-studies.org.

Why are Incarceration Rates so High in the Caribbean?

August 19, 2013 -- Mayor Annise Parker, the City of Houston Le-gal Department and the Houston Parks and Recreation Depart-ment (HPARD) announced the City has recovered $300,000 to restore recent damage to Wood-land Park by a private developer. Woodland Park, located at 212 Parkview, is a 19.67 acre park near White Oak Bayou in the Woodland Heights neighborhood in City Council District H. It has been a city park since 1914. “The residents of Woodland Park were justified in their outrage over this tragic act. There is no way to be able to fully restore the veg-etation and trees that grew there over so many years, however we were amenable to a settlement in this case,” said Mayor Annise Parker. “The City of Houston fought to ensure the developer would pay for the vegetation to be replanted, and hopefully it can begin to grow again without fur-ther incident. We believe this is fair and will compensate the city for the amount of work needed to restore the area.”

During the week of June 3-7, 2013, private developers con-structing several townhomes on private property adjacent to the Park caused substantial damage to nearly one acre. The dam-age included removal of trees, vegetation, and harmful grading of soil. Although the developers promptly offered to pay the costs of restoring the Park to its origi-nal condition, there were major disagreements regarding how this should be accomplished, and what the costs would be. The Houston Parks and Rec-reation Department moved promptly to determine the best approach to restore the Park. The City Legal Department part-nered with HPARD to negotiate a fair settlement amount with the developers. Those joint efforts culminated with the $300,000 payment received last Friday. “I’m pleased a compromise has been reached that creates a path towards the restoration of Wood-land Park,” said Mayor Pro Tem Ed Gonzalez, District H. “The

destruction that occurred in early June was devastating and I’m looking forward to joining com-munity members in crafting a plan of action and ensuring that all terms of the settlement are followed. I’m confident that the members of the Parks and Rec-reation Department are the best folks to perform the work needed at Woodland Park. I’m also very grateful to the Friends of Wood-land Park for their hard work over many years and stay committed to the goal of revitalizing this hid-den gem of green space in our city.”

Missouri City has scheduled ex-tra spray days to take a bite out of the pesky mosquito populations, which have increased recently due to hot temperatures and rain. The City will spray all neighbor-hoods every Thursday between the hours of 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.

An environmentally friendly pes-ticide, Kontrol 30-30, will be used and special attention will be given to locations where mos-quitoes swarm, including public drainage areas and parks.

The City will continue to monitor the issue and may repeat the ex-tra sprayings if necessary.

“Mosquitoes can be a health hazard and the additional spray-ing will complement the preven-tion measures we already have in place to keep the populations low,” said Sharon Valiante, As-sistant Director of Public Works. “Residents can assist with the control measures as well. Your best defense against being bitten is to be prepared.”

Mosquito control methods that staff recommends to residents include:

• Empty any containers that col-lect standing water.• Empty wading pools.• Clear away backyard clippings where mosquitoes can breed.• Change water in bird baths and flower cuttings every few days.• Clean drainage ditches of de-bris and weeds.• Clear rain gutters• Report illegal dumping of tires

• Store pet food and water dishes that are not being used.• Do not leave garbage can lids lying upside down and do not al-low water to collect in the bottom of garbage cans.• Use repellent when outdoors• pray your yard with an outdoor mosquito spray.• Spray inside your home using a “flying insect spray”. Please be sure to follow directions on the label.• Wear protective clothing while outside.

Missouri City to Control Mosquitoes Swarm

Houston Receives $300K Settlement to Restore City Park Damaged by Local Developer

The Texas Multicultural Women (TMW) will host its Annual Tea and Hat Extravaganza on Sun-day, September 29, 2013 at 2:00 p.m. at the Hilton Hotel - West-chase, 9999 Westheimer Road, Houston, Texas 77042. Sponsor booths and entertainment begin at 2:00 p.m. This annual fund-raiser will feature: tea, music and other entertainment.

TMW is a 501(C)3 non-profit or-ganization founded in 2008 by Veronica Ricketts - President. The group exists to offer commu-nity support by directing services and resources to assist families

transitioning to the Houston area and by collaborating with other organizations that support hu-manitarian needs locally and in-ternationally, including women’s advocacy groups. For additional information and tickets please contact Veronica Ricketts at 713-320-2950, Sybil Connors at 281-468-5390 or you may send an email to [email protected]. For more information about TMW and the upcoming tea and hat extravaganza, please visit our website at www.texasmulticultur-alwomen.org.

TMW host its Annual Tea and Hat Extravaganza

ARIBBEANARIBBEANBriefs

Attorney Latania [email protected]

713-884-6353

Don’t tackle immigration issues alone. Get help from Attorney Latania Mena, a Caribbean native, who understands

Caribbean culture and issues.

We are experienced in the areas of :Dream Act Applications, Green Card Issues,

Deportation, Citizenship, Fiancé Visa, & Appeals

10039 Bissonnet St. Suite 337 Houston, TX 77036

(between Belfway 8 and Hwy 59)Evening and weekend appointments available.

Admitted to practice in New YorkEligible to represent clients throughout the U.S. on immigration matters.

Practice in Texas is limited to Immigration & Nationality Law Not Certified by Texas Board of Legal Specialization

Free

confidential phone

and in-office

consultation


This is a report from the Trinidad Express Newspaper on the Mighty Sparrow.

According to a brief statement, “The family of Slinger Francisco, “The Mighty Spar-row,” is sad to announce that the Calypso King Of The World is in a New York hospi-tal in a coma. The family is asking fans and the people of Trinidad and Tobago to pray for him and to respect their privacy. There were reports yesterday that leg-endary calypsonian the Mighty Sparrow (Slinger Francisco) is at a New York hospi-tal in serious condition.

A note on the Timeline of the Muzic Play-erz DJ duo Facebook page stated that sources close to them informed them of his condition.

The Express was told by someone who knows Sparrow that he was “very de-pressed” last week.Calls to Sparrow’s home and mobile phones in New York went unanswered, as well as calls to his home in Trinidad, where his wife, Margaret Francisco, spends much of her time.

General secretary of the Trinbago Unified Calypsonians Organization Wayne “Kass-

man” McDonald, told the Express they had not been informed that Sparrow was in hospital and could not confirm such.

Sparrow was supposed to be presented a lifetime achievement award last Thursday by the Trinidad and Tobago Consulate in New York.

The calypsonian did not attend the cer-emony and instead sent his son, Richard Francisco, to receive the award on his be-half, with a message that he was unable to attend the function.

Jamaica, August 30, 2013 - The Portia Simpson Miller led administration is be-ing urged to legalize and regulate marijuana as the nation’s economy could benefit from such a move.

This is according to the Ex-ecutive Director of the US base Drug Policy Alliance, Ethan Nadelmann who believes that although a study has not been carried out surrounding the ben-efits of marijuana legaliza-tion, anecdotal evidence suggests it could be the next big crop for the island.

“If you legally regulate marijuana, first, you stop wasting tens of millions of dollars per year on enforc-ing a policy, secondly you reduce the opportunities for police corruption, you begin to raise tax revenue from the domestic sales of cannabis and you can begin to recruit tourism on that basis.”

He pointed out that the United States has no cred-ibility in lecturing any coun-try on changing its mari-juana legislations because 20 states in the U.S. has legally regulated marijuana and are reaping the ben-efits from it.

Meanwhile, well known Ja-maican scientist, Dr. Henry Lowe believes the Portia Simpson Miller adminis-tration should take a seri-ous look at developing the medical marijuana industry.

Lowe told an editor’s forum at the Jamaica Gleaner that the Government is missing out on billions of dollars, which could be earned from the wide range of cosmeceutical, neutraceu-tical and pharmaceutical products being developed across the world.

“I think Jamaica has got a clear leadership role in medical ganja, and I am

calling on the Government of Jamaica - including the parliamentary Opposition - to take a look at this, so we can move forward and do what we need to do… be-cause it has real potential.”

Lowe argued that while the cultivation of marijuana is illegal and most of the de-bate has been centered on the smoking of marijuana, emphasis must now shift to the medical and exten-sion, economic potential for Jamaica.

Source: Caribbean 360

Jamaica Gov’t Urged To Legalize Ganja

Grenada’s Former Governor General Scoon Dies at 78

Guyana Build Ethanol Dehydration Unit

Grenadians and the Carib-bean mourn the death of former Governor-General Sir Paul Scoon; he passed away on September 2, 2013.

Scoon served as Grena-da’s Head of State (1978-1992) during a difficult pe-riod of tremendous turmoil in the country. Sworn in on October 4, 1978 as the island’s second Governor General, he found himself, within six months, faced with the reality of the New Jewel Movement (NJM) revolution.

The revolutionaries sus-pended the Constitution

and the Office of the Gover-nor General was placed in a precarious position for four years.

Following the military in-tervention by the United States and Caribbean Forces in October 1983, Paul, as the Representative of Her Majesty the Queen-who remained as Head of State, even after indepen-dence, assumed control of the business of the State, ensuring a return to Par-liamentary democracy by appointing an Interim Gov-ernment which arranged for General Elections to be held under a reinstated

Constitution.

According to WINN FM, Former Prime Minister Till-man Thomas says Sir Paul made a sterling contribu-tion to Grenada’s develop-ment and helped protect the democratic process in the Spice Isle.”

London, 30 August 2013: The first ever biofuel ethanol plant in Guyana was started up and com-missioned on August 20, 2013 by the President of Guyana, accompanied by ministers, and members of the Inter-American Devel-opment Bank (IDB).

The demonstration plant is a cornerstone of the government’s energy and transport policy which in-cludes moving towards a 10% ethanol blend (E10). The demonstration unit will use black strap molasses as a feedstock, which is essentially a waste stream, from the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) Albion Sugar Factory.

The President of Guyana,

Donald Ramotar said of the commissioning “I’m in-deed delighted to be here this afternoon to share this moment and occasion with you. The success that this plant has given us already tells us about the potential that we have in this industry and in the country in trying to find energy security and cheaper energy for our own development.”

The plant is based on the best available technology to ensure maximum en-ergy and water efficiency. The dehydration plant has been designed, built and installed by Whitefox Tech-nologies Limited and uses membrane technology to concentrate the ethanol to ensure maximum efficiency and ease of use.

The plant was designed to produce an ethanol pu-rity of 99.6 vol% for fuel grade ethanol, but during start-up the plant was op-erated at purities of more than 99.9 vol%. The plant will produce two streams: pure ethanol and pure wa-ter that can be re-used in the plant with no further treatment needed.

Mighty Sparrow in Coma

The Mighty Sparrow

IT PAYS TO ADVERTISE WITH

Your Community Paper


Photo: Sea Bridge 1/2 Ferry travel between St. Kitts and Nevis carry-ing cars, passengers and cargo. Credit : WINN-FM

Aug. 29, 2013 - (CUOPM) St. Kitts and Nevis’ Prime Minister Dr. Denzil L. Douglas welcomed the start of two projects at Sandy Bank on St. Kitts’ South East Peninsula which involves foreign direct investment of over US$50 million.

The projects by Russian inves-tors will see the construction of the 50 two-bedroom villas as part of the US$37 million Ocean Grove Development and the Windswept Residence Club of 9 villas at a cost of US$13 million.

Ocean Grove Villas is a joint venture between the Christophe Harbour Development Company and the Canada-based Apex Capital Partners Corporation.

“We look forward to the start-up of construction of your villas which will be located so strategi-cally next to the area of the Pa-

vilion Beach Club. This project is also significant because it is the first major investment to be put together in St. Kitts by a Russian group,” said St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister, the Right Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas at the sym-bolic ground breaking ceremony.

Dr. Douglas note that St. Kitts and Nevis is an international country and it is not by any acci-dent that this investment comes at a time when his Government is in the process of removing the requirement for an entry visa for Russian visitors.

“We see Russia as a new and desirable market for both inves-tors and visitors for our country, and you can be assured that my Government will continue to take the necessary steps to improve the flow of trade and investment between our two democratic countries,” said Dr. Douglas.

Russians Invest of US$50M in St. Kitts/Nevis

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar yesterday promoted Gary Griffith, her former national security adviser, to the post of National Security Minister, “fired” two ministers and reshuffled and split the portfolios of several United National Congress (UNC) frontliners in her third Cabinet reshuffle. Griffith, who replaced Emmanuel George, former state board chairman Gerald Hadeed and one-time senator Raziah Ahmed will be brought into the Parliament as People’s Partner-ship (PP) senators. Persad-Bissessar, in announc-ing the three additions and other changes before colleagues at her St Clair, Port-of-Spain, office yesterday, said it was a move towards a reinvigorated Govern-ment. “This ushers in a new era of my Government,” the PM said, adding she wanted to fast-track delivery and development. “I can assure you that no one will escape scrutiny of his or her performance and satisfaction of the public interest. This is lift-off time—launch of the most ag-gressive development and pro-gressive period of governance in T&T’s history.” The PM also said

of the changes: “Every single member listed here has been ad-vised of the accelerated progress expected in each area for which they are responsible. “Performance reviews will be conducted on a regular basis and if necessary further changes will be made. Citizens will also have an opportunity to make opinions known through the National Con-versation platform.” The Prime Minister removed Jamal Mo-hammed from the Communica-tions Ministry after he served a year and Christlyn Moore from the Justice Ministry. Moore was brought in last September to re-

place Herbert Volney, who was fired over the Section 34 issue. Persad Bissessar, however, said: “I do believe they did very well but I want improved delivery...we’ll have further discussions with them (on future plans for Moham-med and Moore).” Mohammed was replaced by former Airports Authority chairman Hadeed and Moore by George. Griffith was a captain in the army and was also a high profiler with the previous UNC administrations. He subse-quently joined the COP, returned to the UNC in 2010, only to re-sign again in June. Continue on Page 14

PM Kamla Persad-Bissessar

T&T PM Kamla Reshuffles Her Cabinet

Dominica Assists Its Indigenous PeopleThe Government of Dominica continues to invest significant amount of resources to enhance the living conditions of the is-land’s indigenous people.

One of the areas of consideration is housing for the Kalinago peo-ple, who are living in deplorable conditions.

The Kalinago Territory is lo-cated on Dominica’s east coast, stretching from Bataca in the north to Sineku in the south. Throughout the territory, there are dozens of settlements where one can experience the rich cul-tural heritage and many beautiful natural attractions of the island.

Most recent, the governments of Venezuela and China have as-sisted in funding such projects. One beneficiary is Reny Au-

guiste of the Kalinago Territory. He received one of the houses built under the Chinese funded project. “I am quite elated as to having a home,” the young man said. ”Pretty much, I had been struggling for the longest while to have a home of my own.”

Auguiste indicated that coming from the territory has made obtain-ing a housing loan problematic.

“I’m from the Territory and it’s very difficult to access loans in terms of building houses in the territory because of the whole [matter] of land title and so forth. I’ve been trying different banks and different loan agencies to get a small loan as a start off to have my own location,” he said.

Auguiste proudly expressed his thanks saying, “Having this house,

of course, would be a blessing to a young man such as myself, who is just starting a family.”

The concept of a Kalinago man, with his Kalinago woman and child to tend to, having his own home to house his family is part of the pride of Kalinago culture. “It’s a Kalinago thing,” informed Auguiste.

OLC: Last month, the United States suspended assistance to the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force (RSLPF). Washington ex-plained that it is the result of alle-gations of unlawful police killings, a serious human rights violation.

The action was publicly highlight-ed when RSLPF Police Com-missioner Vernon Francois was prevented from traveling to the United States to attend a confer-ence of Black Police Chiefs.

In a statement, “The Department of State has made a policy deci-sion to withdraw training and ma-terial assistance to the Royal St. Lucia Police force due to credible allegations of gross human rights violations.”

The 2012 Human Rights Reports stated that there was limited progress in the inquests and oth-er investigations into the 12 fatal police shootings that took place during 2011; some reportedly committed by officers associated with an ad hoc task force within the police department.

Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Antho-ny in a nationwide radio and tele-vision broadcast, acknowledged

the “extra-judicial killings” by the police force. “It is in the interest of all concerned that the full facts of what occurred be disclosed, not only to satisfy the United States but, importantly, to clear those officers whose reputations are at risk. In the final analysis, the citizens of Saint Lucia must have confidence in those who are charged with law enforce-ment,” said the PM.

The Police Commissioner lashed back, “Those who are accusing the Royal St. Lucia Police Force of serious human rights viola-tions need to produce the evi-dence – or remain silent.”

In the meantime, “We are going full steam ahead to do the things we have to do to ensure that the citizenry is safe,” Francois said, adding that while the withdrawal of aid and logistical support to the police force has its down side, the local constabulary can sustain operations in the short term.

US Suspended Assistance to the Saint Lucia Police Force

Commissioner Vernon Francois


One Love CaribbeanPhoto of the Month


Islanders on the MoveGloria V. Campbell

In the Performing Arts

OLC: Gloria V. Campbell has been a student of drama and the-atre from her days as a student of the St. Elizabeth Technical High School in Jamaica, until she land-ed in Houston, Texas in the late 1980s. During those years she studied theatre at the premier Caribbean institution of the Edna Manley College of the Performing Arts in Kingston, Jamaica and af-ter graduation taught her craft at the Immaculate Conception High School in St. Andrew, Jamaica.

Her own time on the stage in-cludes plays like “ “Eden”, De “Yard” and “Boeing Boeing” - where she showcased her Trini-dadian accent playing the role of a flight attendant and sharing the stage with some of Jamaica’s most prolific actors of the day.

On her arrival to Houston Gloria immediately recognized that al-though there was a large popu-lation of African and Caribbean people, there was a cultural gap in the offerings of theatre and stage in the area. There were no Caribbean stage productions being done. Her first foray into importing Jamaican theatre to Houston, Texas was in Novem-ber 2nd, 1991 when the legend-ary Oliver Samuels starred in “Irie Neighbours” with Volier “Maffie Johnson which was staged at the now defunct “Music Hall”.

Gloria’s theatre journey included the popular play “Mi Yuh an Mi Taxi”, another Oliver Samuels Production. “Toy Boy” and “Femi-nine Justice” written by the pro-lific playwright Basil Dawkins, quickly followed. All these plays received positive reviews and the audience clearly indicated a de-sire for more.

Her dream is to have the Jamai-ca’s national motto: “Out of Many One People” manifested in her American life by having African and Caribbean people of diverse racial and religious background in attendance at productions such as Embassy Saga. She dreams of Asian, Indian, Cau-casian people as well as Chris-tians, Muslims, Rastafarians, Buddhists coming together to ex-perience the culture of Jamaican through theatre.

Gloria took a hiatus from pro-moting her dream but she is back with a delightful slice of Jamaican drama production at its best through Oliver Samuel’s “Embassy Saga”. This play cap-tures a moment in time of real life conflicts, tears, laughter and joys that are typical experiences in Jamaican culture. Prepare for a gut-wrenching belly-full of laugh-ter and new kind of enthusiasm in the Houston Caribbean com-munity.

Earl and Gracie of Grace Café at the Third World Concert in Houston

The definition of chilling out like we did back home

Third World “The Reggae Ambassadors” live at Stereo Live in Houston. Kyra of Neutral Sister (right).

A Music Spirit USA Event

Houston Global JamA God Alone Promotion

PHOTOSPHOTOS LIEELIFECARIBBEAN

Houston CaribbeanBy DJ Uncle L

All forms of music, from R&B to Reggae and beyond, rely on the power of the voice to carry the message and the emotion of a song from the recording booth straight to the hearts of the lis-tener. However in recent times, the quality of a singer’s voice is often the last thing that is brought to our attention.

In an era where a Soca artist’s main tool is the power of his/her waist, a Reggae artist’s main concern is his/her swag-level, and an R&B artist’s focus is on his/her jewelry, the listening pub-lic has forgotten the value of a truly great voice and has con-demned those possessing such voices to life in the shadows. Silena Murrell has been in those shadows, but now she is deter-mined to step out of them and let out the secret that real singing is back, and great voices will be heard again wherever music is being played.

While Silena Murrell calls her-self “Music’s Best Kept Secret,” she is anything but a newcomer to the music scene. Born in New Jersey and raised in Ventura, CA, she has been putting in a great deal of work, singing background for the likes of R&B heavy-weights Aaliyah, Tamia, and “The Dream”, while also writing music with Kenneth “Babyface” Ed-monds and the Braxtons.

When I asked her about when she first knew that she wanted to be a singer, she laughed and re-called singing for her grandfather and the rest of the family when she was 4 years old and singing solos in church when she was 6 years old. However she first saw that she could make a career in music when Mr. James, her el-ementary school choir director, took she and two other girls to a studio to record the song “Fame” for a children’s album, paying each of them $50 for their efforts. Her pursuit of that fame has been traced with a slight amount of misfortune and missed opportu-nities, but to her credit, she has forged on and not allowed cir-cumstances to stop her. She was an original member of the R&B group “Brownstone” but four months after she left the group to forge a solo career, they signed for Michael Jackson’s “MJJ Mu-sic.”

Later on, she signed a solo deal with Universal Records

in 2004 and recorded a full al-bum for them, but the company downsized and her album was shelved. One of the songs origi-nally slated to be on that album was the R&B ballad that Silena wrote titled, “Bring It Home (Body Rock)”, which Beyoncé wanted for one of her albums. The cur-rent Mrs. Carter wanted the song so much that she actually created a YouTube video of her singing the song. However, as the Universal Records team was unwilling to part with the rights to the song, Silena never got the opportunity to sell it to Beyoncé.

Despite these setbacks Silena has been committed to improving her craft and sticking to her ca-reer. She credits the music icon and legend Prince for giving her the best advice about the indus-try. While sitting in on a record-ing session with him, he told her, “Ask yourself. When you are writ-ing and creating music, can you play it and enjoy it like it is not you? Would you want to listen to your own music?” Silena has taken this advice to heart and has been making music that she wants to listen to and no longer wants to keep a secret from the world.

This new attitude is manifested in the music that will be part of her new album titled, “Phoenix”, that will be released towards the end of 2013. Silena said, “The name “Phoenix” comes from my rebirth and me rising from the ashes and coming from behind the scenes. I have been behind the scenes long enough. Some people in the industry know me, but now it is time for people to know me!” The first single and video is an up-tempo R&B/Reggae song called “Caribbean Boy” featuring reg-gae artist, Dillgin.

The song is an ode to her love of reggae culture and a playful in-terpretation of her own personal “How Stella Got Her Groove Continue on Page 10

Silena Murrell

NOW


Silena MurrellThis Phoenix Is No Longer Music’s Best Kept Secret

ONNECTIONSONNECTIONSPell Grant Changes May Impact College Enrollment

Terry LayneStaff Writer [email protected]

I felt sort of compelled to elabo-rate a bit further on last month’s topic on student loans, simply to demonstrate how rippling our financial fallout has been. Be-cause of the “belt tightening” we’ve seen at the Federal and State levels following our Wall Street crash in 2008; recent changes in the Pell Grant Pro-gram may predictably have a negative impact on college en-rollment and graduation rates in families, at the lower income groups across the country. According to Freddie Allen of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), it was only two years ago when the Depart-ment of Education made chang-es to several federal student loan programs resulting in more stringent rules for meeting eligi-bility requirements and/or keep-ing loans. For example, parents now need to have a near spot-less credit history in a climate of tough economic times as the one we are currently experiencing. And don’t forget that we’re still working our way back from the recession of 2008. We’re still in the woods!

The changes were reportedly necessary to curb the number of student loan defaults registered during the recession, due to job losses and other related finan-cial setbacks. Now as we make it harder for families in the lower income groups to obtain student loans, then these families will be less able to pay the cost of col-lege tuitions. The changes have already shown a negative effect college enrollment; particularly among those institutions which traditionally serve low income groups, like the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HB-CUs).

I’ll make one example then I’ll move on. In 2012, Benedict Col-lege in South Carolina reportedly

found only 30% of those who ap-plied for federal student loans were eligible; while this year just 9% of applicants proved to be eligible. And this is happening all across the nation for low income group families. As a result, HB-CUs are now forced to cut aca-demic programs and personnel simply to adjust to new financial pressures for operational dollars. This is not to say that HBCUs weren’t struggling for money be-fore the recession. Those who are following their history know about the “paradoxical journey” of these institutions. The people for whom HBCUs were built when attendance was disallowed any-where else are now taking enroll-ment dollars everywhere else, but to HBCUs. I realize this is not the entire picture. There are clearly other parts to the prob-lem; but I believe there is some merit in mentioning it, if only to bring the matter into our conver-sations toward resolutions. I’ll just quickly add that Congress-man Al Green is a proud gradu-ate of Texas Southern University, right there in the Third Ward. By the way, if we look closer; we’ll find the paradoxical shift in many other parts of our living journeys.

So where do we go from here about paying for college and stu-dent loans. The one thing which we can be certain is that there is no single way to go about much of anything. This whole matter about the cost of college tuitions and student loans is a current topic of national debate as we speak. We ought to be weighing in on these discussions. Fami-lies need to be informed, and the best way I know about finding information is by seeking infor-mation. Sources are all around us. The reality of families navi-gating through these financial tidal waves at times call for some good old fashion creativity. It just can’t be only what seems to be popular thinking at the time.

Most readers are suspicious by now that a lot of the debate around student loans and Pell Grant cuts bears political un-derpinnings. If we continue to use phrases like, “I’m not politi-cal; I’m spiritual;” then we might just be talking ourselves out of the realm of critical thinking on a

lot of matters requiring baseline data for effective decision mak-ing in families. First, let’s simply remind ourselves that we are all spiritual; so let’s move that out of the way. Nobody can support a credible argument about another person’s spiritual being, or lack-ing of.

Secondly, most of our readers know that almost everything we do involve some degree of poli-tics. So even the sliced bread we eat bears a lot of political decisions long before it gets into our mouths. Let’s quit kid-ding ourselves. Now back to our focus on student loans. Re-member that “bipartisan deal” reached by a group of senators in July 2013? As we may recall, the interest rate on student loans doubled at 6.8% on July 1, after Congress failed to get the job done in the preceding months. A “deal” was cut for new loans in 2013 to be set at 3.86%, super-seding the higher imposed rate of July 1. And while this may sound appealing on face value, it is important to know that the in-terest rate will rise incrementally each successive year through 2017 to the level of 7.0%. The end result means that the rate at that time would have been higher than if they had left it at the July 1 level from the get go. Students end up paying more in the long run. Pretty cool stuff, isn’t it?

Well, the point being made is that families can’t just go on do-ing “business as usual” with an apathetic excuse of not being “political” and especially at a time when we are all faced with hard choices and decisions about the rising cost of preparing our next generations for our highly competitive marketplace. If we should ever become more ac-tive participants in our economic system, which we all love, it will be to our own advantage to be at least informed in such a manner that renders us more prepared to make more effective decisions or choices, not only about student loans but also about all other matters of our living journey. Terry is a retired counselor with broad experience in the fields of mental health and education for more than thirty years. Layne hold a MA in Counseling and MA in Psychology.



Issacharites or Topaz stones One of the Teaching Tribes

By Dr. Daintee JonesContributing Writer

Of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, I have a favorite. It is the Tribe of Issachar that focuses upon teaching, building businesses, and studying astronomy. I am a humanities professor, but I also understand business theories and processes. My undergradu-ate degree was in business ad-ministration. While I am not an avid astronomer, I do tend to symbolically look towards the heavens for answers to life’s questions.

The other teaching tribe is the Naftalite tribe (Naftali). Within a future article, I will examine this tribe of which I think One Love Caribbean publisher, Professor Sylvanus Donaie, appears to be a member.

The tribes are named for Reuben (described in the OLC August 2013 issue), Issachar, Zebulun, Gad, Asher, Joseph (divided amongst his sons – Ephraim and Manasseh), Dan, Naftali, Judah, Benjamin, Simeon, and Levi. I’ve divided the twelve tribes into the categories of warriors (Reu-ben, Gad, Ephraim (Joseph’s son), Benjamin, Simeon), busi-nesspeople (Zebulun, Manasseh (Joseph’s son), Judah) teachers (Issachar, Naftali), artists (Asher, Dan) and preachers (Levi). Issachar is the ninth son of Ja-cob and Leah’s fifth son. His name means, “reward or to hire for payment.” Jacob gives this description of Issachar. “Issachar is a rawboned donkey lying down between two saddlebags. When he sees how good is his resting place and how pleasant his land, he will bend his shoulder to the burden and submit to forced la-bour” (Gen 49:14-15). Regard-ing Issachar, Moses adds, “Re-joice […] Issachar, in your tents. They will summon people to the mountain and there offer sacri-

fices of righteousness; they will feast […] on the treasures hid-den in the sand” (Deut 33:18-19). Job, Barak, and the judge Debo-rah are said to be descendants of Issachar IBeerepoot, 2013, www.returning-home.net/issachar.pdf)

Because of these scriptures, the contributing writer of the article, “Choosing a Tribe: The Character-istics of the 12 Tribes of Israel” lists these attributes of Issacharites:• Hardworking, great stamina• Down to earth• Good business acumen – able to make much of their hard work• Scholarly, academic, good stu-dent of Torah• Persuasive in argument, eager to make converts• Astronomers

If you are not comfortable using a Judeo-Christian title to define yourself, try using the stone type that represents this tribe. It is the topaz that is found on the biblical Aaron’s breastplate. Think of the symbolism of the golden yellow color as you contemplate the in-tellect of the Issacharites.

Based upon these definitions, I am definitely an Issacharite tribal member. Is this tribe appealing to you? If so, visit www.dignityjobs.wordpress.com in order to see some possible purpose-driven careers that are linked to the Is-sachar tribe or Topaz stone traits.

From Page 9Back” moment stemming from an enjoyable trip to Jamaica. While her career has been focused on creating R&B music, this sort of musical diversion is nothing new for Silena, whose appreciation for Reggae and Dancehall mu-sic was first sparked by Pinch-ers’ classic, “I’m A Don”. Another standout track is the R&B/Reg-gae ballad, “Beautiful Love”, on which Silena weaves a sultry reggae spell about true intimacy over a horn-laden rhythm built by an upcoming LA producer named Cleve.

Armed with a new outlook and a new album, Silena is ready to take her musical talent and her beautiful voice, not to South

Beach (a la LeBron James), but on tour for the world to see and enjoy. Her team is finalizing tour dates and working on videos for the other potential releases from the album. She knows that she is a better singer, songwriter, performer, and person, and she is ready for the spotlight and the pressure that accompanies it. As she says, “The greater the task, the longer it takes to achieve it.” The secret is out. Silena’s time is coming.

Charmaine BaileyStaff [email protected]

Summer is over and once again the fo-cus is on school and the year ahead. Parents often welcome this with re-lief that the kids are once again out of the house, and joyfully purchase the required educational supplies for the academic year. On the other hand, stu-dents often greet the new school year with some sadness and even dread and fear. Fear? Yes, of the unknown – new challenges, new teachers, new peers, new classes and subjects, increased dif-ficulty of subject content; fear of failure, rejection by peers, peer pressure, even physical danger. As a parent and/or a student, one can take charge of the new school year by paying attention to some other essential supplies – of a spiritual nature: 1) A relationship with Christ, 2) Faith and 3) Prayer.

Throughout the Scriptures there are tes-timonies to the fact that spiritual strength, (i.e. being strong in faith and spirit), is an important key to success in life. The lives of Joseph in Genesis 37, 39-48 and Daniel in the book of Daniel demon-strate this. These young men suffered severe hardships and persecution but their strength of spirit and determination to obey God and live up to the standards that they were taught sustained and

strengthened them and resulted in favor and success. Studies have shown that children and young people who have a faith in God are less likely to succumb to peer pressure, the attraction of gang membership and the temptation of us-ing drugs. Therefore it is important that parents equip their children by nurturing an active faith that will lead them to their own relationship with Christ. This has to be done intentionally and not left to happenstance. Simply sending them to church is not enough; it must be fostered at home. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 “And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.” Teach them, tell them, and show them the Scriptures; pray with them and most importantly, live it before them. Encourage and guide with positive words; do not discourage, criticize or put down.

Teachers, this school year determine to let God be your Strength and Guide as you impart truth into the lives of your stu-dents. Touch them not only by delivering cold academic facts, but also by foster-ing a warm sense of purpose and direc-tion.

Students, your parents’ faith is not suf-ficient to keep you. Establish your own relationship with Christ and know Him for yourself. Pray daily and trust Him, know-ing that He is with you even at school. He will help you to understand the tough subjects, to build relationships, to relate to your teachers and professors and to prepare for exams. He is the omniscient One – He knows and understands all things – and He will help you to under-stand and remember your subject mat-ter. He is the Essential Supply as well as the Supplier. Have a blessed and suc-cessful school year!

Charmaine Bailey is a speaker and a Christian Education Teacher. She studied Christian Educa-tion at Jamaica Theological Seminary and hold a BA Linguistics from the University of the West Indies.

School Supplies: Some Essentials for a Successful School Year

AN INSPIRATIONAL MOMENT Encouragement from the Word of God


Marcia Head Jamaica

Blondel WilesJamaica

Marlene Seaton HunteJamaica

Laurina DonaieVirgin Islands

Argelia SavoryPanama

Gerald Bellot Dominica

Edwin Polimis.St. Lucia

Chris WaltersJamaica

Carly RamjitGuyana

Cynthie GastonSt. Lucia

Ron HamiltonVirgin Islands

Natasha Chung Jamaica

BIRTHDAYS IN THE DIASPORA

The Houston Mayoral Election of 2013 will take place on No-vember 5, 2013. The incumbent Mayor Annise Parker will seek a third two-year term in office. If no candidate receives a major-ity of the vote, the top two candidates will battle each other in a runoff election on December 14, 2013.

Declared candidates include:(1) Drab, Charyl L(2) Dick, Eric(3) Cook, Don (4) Douglas, Keryl Burgess (5) Hall, III, Benjamin L(6) Parker, Annise D.(7) Fitzsimmons, Michael J. (8) Lane, Victoria A.(9) Jenkins, Derek

Houston Mayoral Election of 2013

The sights of the St. Kitts/Nevis Association Beach Party in Highland, TX

OPEN EDITORIALInsular Cases may be on the ropes


IMMIGRATION NEWS

By Latania L. Mena Attorney at Law

Marriage transcends religion, culture, language and even soca. Many from the Caribbean can at-test to that special experience, the pomp, pride and the curried goat. The reasons to marry in-clude legal, social, emotional, economical, spiritual and reli-gious factors, and vary across individuals and cultures.

Regardless of the reasons for marriage or the memories cre-ated, all foreign nationals seek-ing to make the U.S. their perma-nent home must prove one thing: they share a bona fide marriage based on mutual love and affec-tion and which was entered into with the intent of establishing a life together. If the U.S. Citizen-ship & Immigration Services (USCIS) concludes that the par-ties married solely or primarily to obtain U.S. immigration benefits, such as a green card, it will is-sue a marriage fraud finding and deny the I-130 petition.

Proving the Marriage is Bona Fide

Documents to help prove that the marriage is bona include more than a marriage certificate and proof that all prior marriages were terminated. Evidence of a common residence, joint bank accounts, other shared or com-mingled assets, birth certificates of children born to the parties, all help to establish that the mar-riage is a bona fide one. How-ever, these documents complete only one piece of the puzzle.

The parties must also ace the marriage interview and survive the additional fraud checks. Many Caribbean Nationals can attest to the increasing difficulty of se-curing a permanent card through marriage. This is due largely to marriage fraud amendments to the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), and the implementa-tion of new fraud alert policies. The changes to the law include a conditional residence require-ment for green card applicants from marriages less than twenty-four months old. In such cases the green card is granted for an initial two years, and requiring the filing of an I-751 petition with USCIS to remove the conditions and keep the permanent status. If the new green card holder fails to file the petition to remove the conditions, or fails to file the peti-tion timely, the green card status is automatically terminated.

But many couples never make it through the initial interview to get the conditional green card in the first place. Vast age differences, language barriers, cultural dif-

ferences, separate residences, unconvincing answers about a spouse’s personal history are all treated as red flags and may be considered findings of fraud. Because a marriage fraud find-ing leads to brutal immigration consequences, consulting an experienced immigration attor-ney is always a great first step for a Caribbean National seeking permanent residence through a marriage-based green card.

Social Media and Your Green Card Petition

Among the policies implemented by USCIS to combat the issue of a foreign national marrying a U.S. citizen solely to obtain a green card, USCIS employed a large number of fraud officers. A fraud officer’s function is solely to determine whether a marriage is a sham. So when an I-130 peti-tion is submitted to USCIS one of its first stops is before a fraud officer. The officer spends his time scouring social media plat-forms, checking personal data registries, credit card and bank information, motor vehicle regis-try information, and property reg-istry data, on his quest to detect discrepancies in the information provided by the parties to sup-port their petition.

Many people do not realize that not disclosing their marriages in their Face Book profiles will only serve to hurt their cases; yes even those photos of treks across the U.S. without the en-dearing spouse will only be viewed with severe scrutiny and treated as a red flag! A Face Book page without a single pic-ture of your spouse and life long partner is as equally damning as not knowing the names of your in-laws! After all, the advance-ment in technology and telecom-munication tools has impacted every aspect of life, including the marriage-based green card.

Latania Mena is an Immigration At-torney and a Caribbean National based in the Southwest Houston, Texas. She is admitted to the New York Bar, the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York, is an active member of the American Immigration Lawyers As-sociation (AILA) and the Houston Bar Association.

Oh To Be in LoveObtaining a Green Card through MarriageBy Dr. Daintee Jones

Contributing Writer

On the 50th Anniversary of Mar-tin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, more than 4 mil-lion Americans living in U.S. terri-tories – a population greater than that of nearly half the states – are still waiting to realize the dream.

Speaking from the Lincoln mon-ument, King proclaimed that “When the architects of our re-public wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir.” That promise has fallen far short for the resi-dents of U.S. territories because of a series of controversial Su-preme Court decisions known as the Insular Cases.

The Insular Cases considered whether the Constitution “follows the flag” to overseas territories acquired after the 1898 Spanish-American War. Breaking from prior precedent, they established a judicial doctrine recognizing two classes of U.S. territories: “incorporated” territories where the Constitution applies in full, and “unincorporated” territories where only certain constitutional rights apply.

First Circuit Judge Juan Torruella has criticized this as a “doctrine of separate and unequal,” compar-ing the Insular Cases to Plessy v. Ferguson, which just a few years before the Insular Cases had cre-ated a legal fiction to sanction racial segregation. As in Plessy, Justice John Marshall Harlan was a passionate dissenter in the In-sular Cases, writing: “The idea that this country may acquire ter-ritories anywhere upon the earth . . . and hold them as mere colo-nies or provinces,-the people in-habiting them to enjoy only such rights as Congress chooses to accord to them,-is wholly incon-sistent with the spirit and genius, as well as with the words, of the Constitution.”Like Plessy, the Insular Cases belong in the dustbin of history. Just as our constitutional rights should not depend on the color of our skin, neither should they depend on where we live within the United States. Fortunately, the Insular Cases may be on the ropes.

In 2008, the Supreme Court in Boumediene v. Bush cited ap-provingly to Justice Brennan’s view in an earlier case that “[w]hatever the validity of the [Insular Cases] in the particular historical context in which they were de-cided, those cases are clearly not

authority for questioning the ap-plication of [constitutional rights in U.S. territories today].” Quite simply, “[t]he Constitution grants Congress and the President the power to acquire, dispose of, and govern territory, not the power to decide when and where its terms apply.”

The significance of the Insular Cases in U.S. territories today will be front and center in a case ap-pealed today to the D.C. Circuit. Tuaua v. United States considers whether Congress has the power to exclude people born in U.S. territories from the Constitution’s guarantee of birthright citizen-ship. The Tuaua plaintiffs, born in American Samoa, are labeled by federal statute as “nationals, but not citizens, of the United States.” In June, the District Court dismissed the case, plac-ing dicta from the Insular Cases ahead of the text and history of the Fourteenth Amendment to conclude that “citizenship is not guaranteed to people born in un-incorporated territories.”

The argument that the Consti-tution’s guarantee of birthright citizenship applies throughout the territorial limits of the United States has received strong sup-port from across the ideologi-cal spectrum. In 2008, former Solicitor General Ted Olson and Harvard Professor Lawrence Tribe explained in a joint memo examining the eligibility of John McCain to run for President that “birth on soil that is under the sov-ereignty of the United States, but not within a State” satisfies the requirement for being a “‘natural born’ citizen,” in light of “the well-established principle that ‘natural born’ citizenship includes birth within the territory and allegiance of the United States.”

In 1995, Walter Dellinger wrote as head of the Office of Legal Counsel that “[t]hroughout this country’s history, the fundamen-tal legal principle governing citi-

zenship has been that birth within the territorial limits of the United States confers United States citi-zenship.” Former Texas Solicitor General James Ho echoed this view in the Heritage Guide to the Constitution: “Under the long-standing English common-law principle of jus soli, persons born within the territory of the sover-eign (other than children of en-emy aliens or foreign diplomats) are citizens from birth.”

On appeal, the D.C. Circuit will have the opportunity to embrace the Constitution’s text and fol-low Boumediene’s guidance to help turn the page on the Insular Cases.

But the Insular Cases and ques-tions about birthright citizenship are only part of the problem. Residents of U.S. territories are also structurally disenfranchised, denied the right to vote for Presi-dent and lacking any voting rep-resentation in Congress. At the same time, they serve at dispro-portionately high rates in the U.S. Armed Forces. Voting rights for Americans living in the territories and the District of Columbia is a topic that deserves its own post, but suffice to say, as Martin Lu-ther King, Jr., did 50 years ago, “Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy.”

Neil Weare is lead counsel in Tuaua v. United States, and president of We the People Project, a national organization working to achieve equal rights and representation for the nearly 5 million Americans living in U.S. territories and the District of Columbia. The column was written for the American Constitu-tion Society.

What Do You Know about Electronic Cigarettes

SUMMERTIME

OLC: Teenage students as well as adults are increasingly using electronic cigarettes, according to the National Youth Tobacco Survey. In fact, the study shows that during 2011 to 2012, e-cigarette usage increased from 3.3% to 6.8% among students in grades 6 to 12.

Health officials show concerned by saying that the study suggests many kids are now getting a first taste of nicotine through elec-tronic cigarettes and moving on to regular tobacco products.

So what is an electronic ciga-rette? Electronic cigarettes, also called e-cigarettes, are battery-powered devices that deliver nicotine to the user through an aerosol puff. Depending on the brand, it may contain some fruit, mint, or chocolate flavorings.

“E-cigarette use is growing rap-idly,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden, MD, MPH. “There is still a lot we don’t know about these products, including whether they will decrease or increase use of traditional cigarettes.”

Potentially harmful ingredients also have been documented in some e-cigarette cartridges, in-cluding irritants, genotoxins, and animal compounds. However, they’ve often been described as a less dangerous alternative to

regular cigarettes.

How safe are electronic ciga-rettes? According to manufac-turers, electronic cigarettes can contain several levels of nicotine. Many users and onlookers are questioning the nicotine, which is the major component in tradition-al cigarettes. Some groups are suspicious that electronic ciga-rette companies intend to use nicotine as an additive to guar-antee that customers develop an addiction to alternative smoking products.

E-cigarettes that are not mar-keted for therapeutic purposes are currently unregulated by the Food and Drug Administration, and in most states there are no restrictions on the sale of e-ciga-rettes to minors.

Use of e-cigarettes has increased among U.S. adult current and former smokers in recent years; however, the extent of use among youths is uncertain.

Dr. Ka-Ron Y. WadeHow do I Best Care for My Teeth as an Adult?

Dr. Ka-Ron Y. Wade, DDS

tender gums that tend to bleed when you brush them. If you notice any of these symptoms, see your dentist before serious problems develop. Advanced stages of gum disease may lead to tooth loss.

The health of your gums can also affect your overall health. Recent studies have shown a possible link between periodontitis (a gum disease) and other diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease and a possible link to premature births. To prevent gum disease from getting started in the first place, be sure to brush twice a day, floss daily and schedule professional cleanings every six months.

• Cavities around existing fillings (called recurrent decay) and decay on the root surfaces of the teeth become more common as we age. So it’s important to brush with a fluoride toothpaste, floss daily and see your dentist regularly.

• Sensitivity can be an increasing problem as one ages. Your gums naturally recede over time, exposing areas of the tooth that are not protected by enamel. These areas are particularly prone to pain due to cold or hot foods or beverages. In severe cases cold air, as well as sensitivity to sour and sweet drinks and foods, can occur. If you experience sensitivity, try an anti-sensitivity toothpaste. If the problem persists, see your dentist, as the sensitivity may be an indication of a more serious condition, such as a cavity or a

By Dr. Ka-Ron Y. Wade, DDS Medical Editor

Adults face certain difficulty with their oral health. However, we [dentist] can help you confront most of these challenges quite successfully.

First, the key to keeping a bright, healthy smile throughout adulthood is to practice proper oral hygiene. Even adults can get cavities, as well as gum disease, that can lead to serious problems. Throughout your adult life, it’s important to continue to:

• Brush twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste to remove plaque-the sticky film on your teeth that’s the main cause of tooth decay.

• Floss daily to remove plaque from between your teeth and under your gumline, before it can harden into tartar. Once tartar has formed, it can only be removed by a professional cleaning.

• Limit sugary or starchy foods, especially sticky snacks. The more often you snack between meals, the more chances you give the acids in plaque to attack your tooth enamel.

• Visit your dentist regularly for professional cleanings and checkups.

However, even if you brush and floss regularly, there are certain oral health issues adults face.

• Gum disease begins as gingivitis, which in this early stage is still reversible. Symptoms of gingivitis include red, swollen or

cracked or fractured tooth.

• Crowns are used to strengthen damaged teeth. A crown entirely covers or “caps” a damaged tooth. Besides strengthening a damaged tooth, a crown can be used to improve its appearance, shape or alignment. Implants and bridges are used to replace missing ones.

Dental implants replace one or more teeth or are used to attach full or partial dentures. Consult with your dentist to see if implants are right for you. Bridges are commonly used to replace one or more missing teeth. They span the space where the teeth are missing. Bridges are cemented to the natural teeth or implants surrounding the empty space.

Dr. Ka-Ron Wade is a practicing Cosmetic dentist at The Dentistry of Dr. Ka-Ron Wade in Houston, Texas. Wade is a member of the Academy of General Dentistry, the American Orthodontic Society, American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, and the American Association of Women Dentist.

Whooping Cough Prompts Texas Health AlertThe Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) is urg-ing people to make sure they’re vaccinated against whooping cough, also known as Pertussis, after projections show the num-ber of people sick with the deadly disease this year is on track to reach the highest level in more than 50 years.

“This is extremely concerning. If cases continue to be diagnosed at the current rate, we will see the most Texas cases since the 1950s,” said Dr. Lisa Cornelius, DSHS infectious diseases medi-cal officer. “Pertussis is highly infectious and can cause seri-ous complications, especially in babies, so people should take it seriously.”

DSHS issued a health alert today advising doctors on diagnosing and treating whooping cough. The state health department also strongly encourages people to make sure their children’s and their own vaccinations are up to date. While infants remain the

most at risk, people of all ages can still get whooping cough.

As of August 27, 2013 Texas has reported 1,935 pertussis cases to the CDC. If cases continue to be diagnosed and reported at the current rate, Texas will report the highest number of pertussis cases it has had in over 50 years. The annual total likely will surpass the recent high of 3,358 cases in 2009. There have also been two whooping cough-related deaths in Texas this year, both of infants too young to be vaccinated.

To better protect babies, DSHS recommends pregnant women get a dose of whooping cough vaccine during every pregnancy, preferably between 27 and 36 weeks of pregnancy. This helps protect the baby before he or she can start the vaccination series at 2 months old and helps keep the mother from getting sick and infecting the baby. Fathers, sib-lings, extended family members, medical providers and others who will be around newborns

should also be vaccinated. Many babies get whooping cough from adults or older brothers or sisters who don’t even know they have the disease. While symptoms are usually milder in teens and adults, whooping cough can be life threatening for babies be-cause of the risk of apnea, an interruption in breathing.

Whooping cough is a bacterial infection that often starts with cold-like symptoms and a mild cough. After a week or two, se-vere coughing can begin and last for several weeks. Coughing fits may be followed by vomiting or a “whooping” sound, the reason the disease is also called “whooping cough.” Whooping cough spreads easily through the air when an in-fected person breathes, coughs, or sneezes. People with whoop-ing cough are most contagious while they have cold-like symp-toms and during the first two weeks after coughing starts.

Anyone with an unexplained, prolonged cough or who has had

close contact with a person with whooping cough should contact their health care provider. Early diagnosis and treatment may reduce the severity of symp-toms and shorten the contagious period. Doctors who suspect a whooping cough infection are required to report it to their lo-cal health department within one working day. Patients who have whooping cough should not go back to work or school until

they’ve completed five days of antibiotic treatment.

Parents are urged to check their children’s shot records to be sure they are completely vaccinated against whooping cough and should keep infants, especially those less than 6 months old, away from people with a cough. Adults should talk to their medical provider about receiving a boost-er dose of the Tdap vaccine.

One Love CaribbeanCall 281-769-2253

COMMUNITY MARKETPLACESeptember 2013 • ONE LOVE CARIBBEAN • Page 14

Mount Bethel House of Prayer in Houston6818 Cullen Boulevard Houston, TX 77021‎

Spiritual Baptist Church

Mother Kathleen Joseph(713) 842-2990

From Page 7 Trinidad PMThe Prime Minister said Griffith was familiar with the Govern-ment’s plans for national security and had been an adviser to the National Security Council. She said she wanted someone with a military background to drive national security projects. Say-ing George had been an interim security minister, the PM said he had been excellent in that area and had the skills for his new portfolio as Justice Minister. Persad-Bissessar appointed Ahmed to the post of Minister of State in the Ministry of Gender, Youth and Child Development. Ahmed, an insurance executive, had served in the Senate during 2000 to 2007. Ahmed will func-tion alongside Clifton De Coteau, who was switched from Ministry of National Diversity and So-cial Integration to head Gender, Youth and Child Development. Replacing De Coteau to head

the Diversity Ministry is COP MP Rodger Samuel, who has been promoted from his position as Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister. Samuel last month had threatened to resign, then embarked on a fast for T&T. The COP had lobbied for him to be given bigger responsibilities, party officials said yesterday. The PM also split the ministries of UNC frontliners Suruj Ram-bachan and Roodal Moonilal and shifted Chandresh Sharma. Rambachan lost Local Govern-ment to Marlene Coudray, who formerly held Gender, Youth and Child Development. Rambachan retained the Works Ministry. Moo-nilal’s mega-Ministry of Housing, Land and Marine Affairs was divid-ed with former Minister of State Jai-ram Seemungal. Moonilal retained Housing and Urban Development, while Seemungal, formerly a junior minister in Food Production, was promoted to Minister of Land and Marine Resources.

WHO AM I?I am me…….Trying to bring out the inner-man in meI am me connect to that plan upon this landThere will never be anotherYou can only be my brotherCan’t you see! He or she is not meBecause there’s only ONE me

I am me before creationLeading to conception, He made it His intentionPursued it as a mission, to shape this unique me

The free me, forgive meRelease me, to be meThe “real me” can never dieYou will see her in your memories of the past, present, future….She doesn’t need a name to be meAnd doesn’t need the law to prove meHer inner thoughts reveal meThe life she lives defines me………Only to be one me!

A POEM CONTRIBUTION“The Epitome of Life” by Carolyn Walker

OLC: Barbados Prime Minister Freundel Stuart has identified Debt Sustainability as a critical issue for many of the Small Is-land Developing States (SIDS). He made the comments at the feature address at the opening ceremony of a three-day SIDS Inter-Regional Preparatory Meet-ing in Barbados

It is a distinct group of developing countries facing similar social, economic and environmental vulnerabilities. Caribbean SIDS faces unique challenges in their effort to diversify their economies and markets in order to increase their degree of food security, self-reliance and promote sus-tainable livelihoods. The impact of the global financial and eco-nomic crisis of 2006 has been

particularly devastating on SIDS given their openness to the glob-al financial and economic system and high dependence on a nar-row range of income generating sectors such as tourism.

Mr. Stuart expressed the view that the Third International Con-ference on SIDS, which will be held in Samoa in 2014, must be used to find and share solu-tions to this challenge, which is a major constraint to these states achieving sustainable develop-ment.

“I, therefore, wish to submit that greater attention must be paid to the identification of tangible, implementable and targeted interventions to strengthen op-portunities for cooperation and

Freundel StuartPrime Minister of Barbados

collaboration across the three SIDS regions. Notwithstand-ing, our many vulnerabilities and

constraints, collectively, we have had unique experiences and have provided solutions to many problems. Surely, we can share these experiences and solutions as best practices,” he remarked.

SIDS is divided in three regions: Caribbean AIMS (Atlantic, Indian Ocean and South China Sea), and Pacific Region. Caribbean SIDS includes Antigua and Bar-buda, Bahamas, Barbados, Be-lize, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Suri-name.

Tis im dat?Come man! Beat im up

Stay tune for another epi-sode of Bad Boy Errol

Barbados: Debt Sustainability a Critical Issue Says PM Stuart

The best kept secret in the beau-ty industry for women of color! Flori Roberts and Interface! We have 15 shades of color!

Call or order online

832-754-9619. Website: www.colormefine.com

Preservation of WealthI will buy your precious metals and pay you

commissions for new referralsNow, you and everyone in your circle can acquire

precious metals – share this opportunity with othersBe your own Boss and enjoy tremendous tax advantage of

owning a business

Connie Ford713-854-8373 | [email protected]

www.preservationofwealth.net/extraincome

Page 15 • ONE LOVE CARIBBEAN • September 2012 ISLAND STYLEE

ISLAND RECIPESTHE ART OF CARIBBEAN COOKING

JOKES, SATIRE, AND POEMS

ULTUREULTURE

Souse

Flying Fish and Cou-cou

Taste of Barbados

Cussing Out De BossTwo West Indians were drinking in a bar and complaining about their boss that he is a real pain in the butt always giving them a hard time. The next day they met at bar again and the Lucian began boasting to the Trini, “Boy ah cuss out de boss man real good, and when ah done, ah ask ‘e fuh a raise and he gih it to me.”

Trini looked at Lucian in surprise and asked “You mean he did’n fire you?” So the next day Trini went in to work and began to cuss up the boss who looked at him and promptly fired him on the spot. That afternoon when Trini met Lucian in the bar again, he told him what hap-pened earlier. Lucian explained “Trini muh friend, when I cuss de bossman, I cuss he in muh mind.”

Big Shot LawyerBig shot Trini, Joe grew up in Barataria by Jumbee bridge, then went away to attend college and law school. He de-cided to come back to T&T because he felt he could be a Big Shot at home. He really wanted to impress everyone. So he returned and opened his new law office on St Vincent Street among the big sawatees. The first day, he saw a man coming up the passageway. He decided to cre-ate a big impression for this new pro-spective client when he arrived. As the man came to the door Joe grab up the phone. He motioned the man in, all the while talking. “No. Absolutely not! You tell those clowns in New York that I won’t settle this case for less than one million. Yes, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear that case next week. I’ll be making the primary argument and the other mem-bers of my team will provide the neces-sary support.” He went on playing himself, “Okay, tell the DA that I’ll meet with him next week to discuss the details.” The “conversation” went on for almost five minutes. All the while the man sat patiently and quite unperturbed as Joe rattled instructions filled with endless legal jargon. Finally, Joe put down the phone and turned to the man, “I’m sorry for the delay but as you can see, I’m very busy. What can I do for you?” The man replied, “I’m from TSTT, the telephone company, I came to hook up your phone.”

Mango SeasonThree men were sentenced to die - a Chinese, a Jamaican, and Trinidadian. On the day they were sentenced to hang, the priest asked each man, “What’s your last wish?”

The Chinese said “Give me a moo goo gai pan.” After he ate the meal, they hung him. The Jamaican was next. He said “give me some ackee, saltfish, and jerk chicken.” After he ate his meal, they hung him too. The Trinidadian then gave his last wish. He said: “Well! Yo know, its a very long time that I haven’t sucked a mango.” The priest replied: “Sorry, its not man-go season.”

The Trini replied, “Well, I will wait.”

Bajan Rice and PeasCourtesy of Erskine Gittens.

Ingredients16oz dried pigeon peas, 1 cup rice

3-4 dried bay leaves, ½ lb. pig tail, small onion

thyme, marjoram,2 cloves of garlic

black pepper, saltWater

Directions Cook dried pigeon peas with chopped onions, pepper, salt and enough wa-ter to cover peas. Some people put in pigtail in theirs to give it a cook flavor. When the peas are cooked, then you add the seasoning of thyme, marjoram, and bay leaf. You add rice and lower the heat and let simmer. Peas and rice should be soft when it is cooked.

SouseCourtesy of Erskine Gittens.

Ingredients 3 lbs. pig feet cooked, 4 large limes

Salt to taste , 1 medium onion1 large cucumber, 1 green pepper

1 scotch bonnet pepper, parsley

DirectionsDice cucumber, onion red and green pepper, parsley, and a little scotch pep-per. Place in a pan. Add some lime or salt to taste. Add cooked pig foot meat. Mix it up with the pickle and that is souse.

Cassava PoneCourtesy of Judy Foster

Ingredients2 cups grated casssava,

2 cup flour 1½ cups sugar, 1 tsp salt

¼ lb butter, 2 cups milk 2 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla essence

2 cups grated coconut

DirectionsMix the cassava, coconut, sugar and flour, then you add butter, milk, eggs and essence. You have to mix good until the it stiff and bake it at 350 de-grees. It is also called Yucca pone. Cassava Pone

Bajan Rice and Pea

Kathleen’s KitchenFor de best Trini food in Houston

Rice White

Peas & RiceVeggie Rice

MeatCurry Goat

Oxtail

Trini TingsRoti

DoublesPolorie

Bake GoodCurrant Roll

CakeCoconut Drop

13114 South Post Oak RoadHouston Texas

Sit and dine to the comfort sounds ofCaribbean Music and enjoy Trini delicacies

Chicken / Fish Curry StewJerkFry 713-728-1113

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

Maya Angelou

The free bird leapson the back of the winand floats downstreamtill the current endsand dips his wingsin the orange sun raysand dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalksdown his narrow cagecan seldom see throughhis bars of ragehis wings are clipped andhis feet are tiedso he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird singswith fearful trillof the things unknownbut longed for stilland is tune is heardon the distant hillfor the caged birdsings of freedom

The free bird thinks of another breezean the trade winds soft through the sighing treesand the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawnand he names the sky his own.

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreamshis shadow shouts on a nightmare screamhis wings are clipped and his feet are tiedso he opens his throat to sing

The caged bird singswith a fearful trillof things unknownbut longed for stilland his tune is heardon the distant hillfor the caged birdsings of freedom.

AmericaClaude McKay

Although she feeds me bread of bitterness,And sinks into my throat her tiger’s tooth,Stealing my breath of life, I will confessI love this cultured hell that tests my youth!Her vigor flows like tides into my blood,Giving me strength erect against her hate.Her bigness sweeps my being like a flood.Yet as a rebel fronts a king in state,I stand within her walls with not a shredOf terror, malice, not a word of jeer.Darkly I gaze into the days ahead,And see her might and granite wonders there,Beneath the touch of Time’s unerring hand,Like priceless treasures sinking in the sand.

Bajan Cou-CouCourtesy of Reggie Clarke Sr.Ingredients 15 okras 1 lb. cornmeal 10 cups water 1 tsp. salt 3 tbsp. butter

Directions Soak the cornmeal in 4 cups of water. Place okra, butter, and salt in the re-maining water in the pot and allow to boil. Add the wet cornmeal, and start to stir.

Stir continuously until you get to a nice smooth consistency. The coo-coo test is if the stick that you stir with can stand up straight in the pot.

Steamed Flying FishCourtesy of Reggie Clarke Sr.Ingredients 8 Flying Fish, scaled, boned, and butterflied3 tbsp Bajan seasoning (also called green seasoning)1 tbsp. unsalted butter2 large onions, slicedcloves garlic, sliced1 tsp. black pepper2 large tomatoes, chopped3 tbsp. tomatoes sauce½ tsp. Bajan Hot Sauce2 cups water2 tbsp thyme1 tsp marjoramLime juice, as needed Salt, as needed

Directions Seasoned flying fish with some Bajan seasoning and lots of black pepper. Chop up onions, bell pepper, salt, thyme, marjoram finely. That is what you put down the grooves of the fish. Heat up oil. Sauté onions, bell pep-pers, and Bajan hot sauce.

Add tomatoes and butter. Mix all to-gether and sauté them. Then you add in water or tomato sauce and bring to a boil. Put in fish, lower the heat, and let cook.

The Dentistry of

“CHANGING THE WORLD ONE SMILE AT A TIME”ZOOM WHITENING!Our office utilizes the Zoom chairside whitening procedure as seen on the television show Extreme Makeover & The Swan. The procedure for Zoom Whitening is quick & painless.

$200.00 OFF regular price of $600.00TMJ ProblemsHeadaches, limited Jaw Opening, Neck or Shoulder pain? Tell your Dentist. It could be caused from a bad bite. Dr. Ka-Ron Wade is a Neuromuscular Dentist trained at the prestigious Las Vegas Institute in Nevada.

SNAP-ON-SMILE!The Snap-on-Smile is a temporary smile design that snaps over your natural teeth.Ask Dr. Ka-Ron Wade any questions about the new Snap-on-Smile.

Dr. Ka-Ron Wade, DDSCALL OUR OFFICE FOR A FREE COSMETIC CONSULTATION

Check out Our NEW Website!www.cosmeticdt.com 713.654.7756

General & Cosmetic Dentistry2101 Crawford Suite 103 Houston, TX 77002

Financing available through Care Credit & Chase Health Advance2009 Pinnacle Award Winner

All Caribbean Seafood and Produce

13655 Bissonnet Road, Houston, Texas 77083 281.575.1013 / 281.575.0898

OUR PROMISEOur staff has a wide experience in sea-food preparation and storage which en-sure only the freshest and the best qual-ity seafood is sold to our customers.

Corner of Bissonnet and Eldridge -- across from Auto Zone

BUTTER fish hOG sNAPPER sALTED cOD

sALT MAcKERALPiG TAiLsALT BEEf

DOcTOR fish GOAT fish

PARROT fish YELLOw TAiL RED sNAPPER

sPRATKiNGfish

Fried FishJerk Chicken

Jerk PorkCurry Goat

Conch SoupFestivalBammy

Breadfruit(when available)

Closed on MondayWeek day: 10 am to 8pmSunday: 11am to 6pm

ARIBBEANNE OVEO L