Caribbean Life News Update – 24 January 2017 
‘A Shared Dream’ concert wows Brooklyn College audience
BY TANGERINE CLARKE
The powerful message of hope, and the legacy of the civil rights movement, rang throughout the auditorium of the Walt Whitman Theater of Brooklyn College, when Senator, Kevin Parker hosted the 13th Annual “A Shared Dream” celebration, in conjunction with the foundation to honor late iconic leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Chase may keep a man out of prison
BY TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER | BOOKS
Catch me if you can. ……….You might have said that once, giggling. You may have yelled it at a game one afternoon. You said it, maybe, in a flirtatious manner on some romantic evening. Run, run, run, catch me if you can because, as in “Man on the Run” by Carl Weber, this chase may keep a man out of prison.
Ex-teachers prez welcomes opening of Argyle International Airport
BY NELSON A. KING
Jackson Farrell, the long-standing president of the Brooklyn, New York-based St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ Ex-Teachers Association, has joined the vast number of Vincentians in the Diaspora and at home in welcoming the Feb. 14 opening of the Argyle International Airport (AIA).
Civil disobedience during the prez inauguration
BY TEQUILA MINSKY | NEW YORK
Council Member Jumaane Williams got emotional addressing the press before he and six others sat down in the middle of 5th Ave. at the very moment the presidential inauguration was taking place in Washington DC. on Friday. “My mother is with us,” he said, and they both then hugged.
Jamaican national nabbed with cocaine in beef patties
BY NELSON A. KING | CARIBBEAN
The United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency says officers at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport have nabbed a Jamaican national with cocaine in beef patties.
Vigil remembers Haitian earthquake
BY ALEXANDRA SIMON | NEW YORK
Many Haitian-Americans commemorated seven years since Haiti’s devastating earthquake in 2010 at Brooklyn College’s student center on Jan. 12.
Caribbean RoundUp
BY AZAD ALI | CARIBBEAN
Grenada
A United States-based company will invest US$58 million in the Grenada tourism industry under the island’s Citizenship by Investment Program (CIP).
Bichotte continues fight to protect women’s reproductive freedom
BY NELSON A. KING | NEW YORK
Brooklyn Democratic Assembly Member Rodneyse Bichotte says she has helped pass two critical pieces of legislation to strengthen and protect women’s reproductive rights.
Trinidad sets new legal age for marriage
BY AZAD ALI | CARIBBEAN
The Trinidad and Tobago government has passed legislation to make 18 years the new legal age of marriage— ending decades of child marriages.
Another Barbados ratings drop
BY GEORGE ALLEYNE | CARIBBEAN
Barbados’ economy has suffered another bad review, this from a Caribbean financial rating agency that lowered by one notch the island’s local and foreign currency bond ratings, and placed a negative outlook on them.
1.5 million Haitians face hunger
BY NELSON A. KING | CARIBBEAN
The United Nations says while the number of Haitians facing hunger in areas hardest hit by Hurricane Matthew has declined steadily in the three months since the deadly storm ripped through the French-speaking Caribbean nation, more than 1.5 million people nevertheless remain food insecure.
The dreams from Obama’s America
BY DINESH SHARMA
Obama will be remembered as one of the greatest political orators of our times.
Adoptee tracks down birth-mom in bittersweet biopic
BY KAM WILLIAMS | MOVIES
Saroo (Dev Patel) had the misfortune of being born into poverty in India’s Khandwa district. He lived there with his single-mom, Kamla (Priyanka Bose), along with his big brother, Guddu (Abhishek Bharate), and younger sister, Shekila (Khushi Solanki).
Independent & Foreign Films
BY KAM WILLIAMS | MOVIES
Behemoth (Unrated) Eco-documentary illustrating the devastating toll exacted by mining on China’s population and landscape. (In Mandarin with subtitles)
The Daughter (Unrated) Adaptation of “The Wild Duck,” Henrik Ibsen’s classic play revolving around a man (Paul Schneider) who uncovers a dark family secret when he returns home to attend his father’s (Geoffrey Rush) wedding. Featuring Nicholas Hope, Sam Neill and Ewen Leslie.
Caribbean American ex-senator jailed for five years
BY NELSON A. KING
A United States federal district judge in Brooklyn has sentenced a former Caribbean American legislator to five years in prison after he was convicted two years ago for trying to prevent a federal probe and making false statements to government agents.
REGGAE ROOTS
BY ALEXANDRA SIMON | MUSIC & FASHION
Nigerian-American Reggae artist T-Kross is connecting the music genre back to its roots. The singer who released his single “Mama,” says he wants to showcase to fans of the genre, where the popular Jamaican sound got its roots.
Mikey General & Karamanti release ‘Back Against The Wall’
MUSIC & FASHION
Dancehall artist Karamanti has joined forces with Reggae’s living legend, Mikey General, to send a powerful message to Africans at home and in the diaspora. The message is being sent in the form of a song entitled “Back Against The Wall.”
