From earthquake fundraisers in Miami to business forums in Port-au-Prince, conversations about a homeland in crisis are giving way to a new political possibility in the United States — or a missed opportunity for the South Florida Haitian American community.
The residents of Hillcrest Condominium Building 23 in Hollywood regarded their association president Bonnie Andrews Soloman as a “trustworthy'' woman with a penchant for playing the penny slots at local casinos.
An FIU researcher studying sharks in the Everglades had to be hospitalized after suffering a shark attack Wednesday afternoon.
A federal court ruling in Louisiana could pave the way for thousands of Florida homeowners with defective drywall to collect damages for repairs to their homes.
By Basil Walters Observer staff reporter
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
A tonic is generally regarded as a brew taken for the improvement of one’s health. While acknowledging this, the popular online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, also offers a musical definition of the word tonic. It states, “tonic is the first note of a musical composition” and further notes — “In western European tonal music of the 18th and 19th centuries, the tonic centre was the most important of all the different tone centres which a composer used in a piece of music, with most pieces beginning and ending on the tonic,…..”
So the question that readily comes to mind therefore, just what was the thinking behind the conception of the Jamaican musical aggregation called Dubtonic Kru?
“Well, Dub, that came about because of how we play the music which is the foundation…So dub being the foundation, a lot of rub-a-dub, hardcore rough-edge, roots music. Then tonic — we always wanted to make sure that we are representing a medicinal musical brand. It’s more a situation if you listen, the lyrics they should be edifying and the music should allow you to move and put you into a positive vibes,” explains Beleon White
Continuing the definition of his five-man musical outfit, the dreadlocks drummer/vocalist better known as Jubba, philosophises “…Right now the focus is just music and people. Bringing people together through music with a positive influence. Music that makes you dance and music that gives you some real vibration to think about. Music to educate and entertain.”
The full complement of the approximately 15-year-old Dubtonic Kru are vocalist/bassist Strickland Stone, vocalist/guitarist Omar “Lanzo” Johnson, Horace “Kamau” Morgan (percussionist/vocalist), and keyboardist/vocalist Luke Dixon.
“We are at a stage right now where we are in a state of emergency. The state of emergency is really a world crisis where people need vibes and words to comfort them. To edify them. It’s all about love and unity and the upliftment of mankind. Not just one race, but all races,” Jubba told the Observer
“We see ourselves as world citizens,” he goes on, “and being apart of different cultures ….But music is music and we use it and our talent in the best way possible. And as a result of travelling throughout Europe for a number of years and seeing what people gravitate to, we realise that it’s about music and diverse kind of music but moreso, what was important to us was to bring our culture through that vibration….and set some trends with positive music…”
Luke was once Tony Rebel’s session/sideman, and Jubba along with Stone have recorded with Burning Spear, Mighty Diamonds, Daddy U Roy, and with the exception of Burning Spear, toured with them as well. They have also toured with Max Romeo, Ethiopians, Congos, and composed albums for Bushman, Junior Kelly, Chuck Fender, Richie Spice, along list of artistes mainly cultural.
Dubtonic Kru has composed music for Champaigne Records for groups such as Voicemail’s Ready To Party, D’Angel’s Downtown Girl Living Uptown Life, and recorded with just about everybody.
Their most recent self-titled album was released in December 2009. Their first, Jungle Fever was released in 2007. A compilation of both albums featuring the favourites on each has just been completed. Just finished editing also is a video for it (the compilation set) which should be released in two weeks called Sunshine Girl.
Having recently ended a tour of the US with Mykal Roze, Dubtonic Kru’s focus now is on the annual trip to Europe for the summer festivals. “We have included the US this year in our roster because there is now a demand since the tour with Mykal Roze, as we have expanded the boundaries as we are going across the boarders,” revealed Kamau.
In 2005, a descision was made to become a show band — doing less jobs as a backing band.
One of our major concerts is Bands Incorporated. The first one was in May of last year. And then we had a second one in December. We have not gotten around organising one for this year yet, but we are still thinking about it,” kamau said.
“The response has been great,” he enthused, “People enjoyed the shows. Appearing on the shows were groups like Rootz Underground. The first one was like a collaborated effort with us and them together and then they appeared again a second time. And we hope to continue that relationship with them going forward. C-Sharp was on the first edition as well. The second edition saw groups like Raging Fire, Mystical Revolution Band, and the Uprising Band.”
By Esteban Israel
HAVANA, Cuba (Reuters) — With US-Cuba relations at their lowest point since President Barack Obama took office last year, Cuban singer Carlos Varela will launch a six-city US tour next month with hopes of bringing the two countries a little closer.
Varela, often referred to as Cuba’s Bob Dylan, will start in Los Angeles with a concert on May 5, then work his way across the country for a final show on May 15.
Varela, 47, last performed a concert tour in the United States in 1998 but put on an impromptu show for members of Congress in Washington in December while lobbying for new US policy toward communist-led Cuba.
Varela and his band will tour the United States amid new tensions triggered by the December arrest in Cuba of a US contractor suspected of espionage and the February death of a Cuban political prisoner on a hunger strike.
Obama, who took office in January 2009, said early on he wanted a “new era” in long-hostile US-Cuba relations and took modest steps toward rapprochement.
But he has adopted a harsher tone in recent weeks, saying Cuba has not reciprocated and has in fact shown its same old “clenched fist” with the arrest of the American and mistreatment of island dissidents.
Cuba, in turn, has stepped up criticism of Washington in state-run media, and accused it of orchestrating, with Europe, an international media campaign against the island.
The bearded, black-clad Varela told Reuters in a recent interview his songs, known for their metaphorical social criticism, cannot by themselves bridge the political gap between the two countries.
“But they can touch a man’s heart. And it is men who wage wars, build hatred, separation, borders and religions,” he said. “We musicians often are closer to the people than politicians,” he said peering through dark glasses during a break in rehearsals at a warehouse near Karl Marx Theater.
His concert tour will be the latest in a series of cultural exchanges under the Obama administration, which views them as a way of increasing people-to-people contact with Cuba.
Cuban musicians including the salsa band Los Van Van and Buena Vista Social Club singer Omara Portuondo have crossed the Straits of Florida to perform for American audiences.
Under the Obama’s predecessor, President George W. Bush, Cuban performers, including Varela, were mostly prevented from playing in the U.S. He was denied a visa in 2004.
US band Kool and the Gang played at Havana’s Anti-Imperialist Tribunal on December 20.
Varela believes the cultural exchanges will survive renewed US-Cuban hostility and predicts more US musicians soon will play in Cuba.
“Art in general can contribute a lot to relations among neighbors,” Varela said. “We can’t spend so many years so far away and yet so close.”
In addition to Los Angeles, Varela’s other US stops will include Oakland, Chicago, Boston and New York City. He will also play private events in San Francisco and Sonoma, California, and a concert on May 16 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
HAVANA, Cuba (AFP) – Facing intense demand for housing, the communist government of President Raul Castro is granting permits that let Cubans build homes with their own resources, officials said on Tuesday.
In communist Cuba, where the state runs the economy, home building until now has been a government affair.
Cuba, with 11.2 million people, has a severe housing shortage aggravated by three hurricanes that tore through the island two years ago, damaging half a million homes and causing 10 billion dollars in damage.
According to government figures more than half a million homes are needed.
The Cuban government announced in 2006 a goal of building 100,000 new homes a year, a target that eventually was cut in half.
Last year Castro authorized Cubans to “build your homes with whatever you can.”
Cuba’s Housing Institute has started granting “self-effort” building permits, the state-run Radio Rebelde said Tuesday.
The permits are to build new homes, or expand or repair existing homes, Institute president Roberto Vazquez said.
More than 80 percent of Cubans are homeowners, but by law cannot sell their homes. They can however swap them under a government system called the permuta.
Some building materials are sold in government run stores at subsidized prices, but most are sold in stores that only accept foreign currency.
It was not immediately clear how most Cubans, who make an average of about 20 dollars a month, might obtain supplies with which to build.
People who receive money sent back by family living abroad, a small minority, certainly look likely to benefit.
Average Cubans often turn to the black market and buy construction materials pilfered from government supplies or construction sites
British High Commissioner Eric Jenkinson says he is interested in the outcome of the local general election and also the one back home in the United Kingdom.
General election in the UK is carded for May 6, while Trinidad and Tobago go to the polls on May 24.
Jenkinson made the comment after paying a courtesy call on San Fernando Mayor, Alderman Kenneth Ferguson yesterday at the San Fernando City Hall. He said they discussed issues relating to the social, political and economical situations in the country.
The High Commissioner said he was also interested in political issues because the general election are of great importance to the people of TT.
“It gives the temperature of the city,†he said. He said general elections in the UK and TT are alike since they work under a similar system with similar battles going on at the same time.
Asked if he had any recommendations for dealing with political campaign, he said, “not really.†But he said TT and the UK can learn from each other.
“ It’s a two-way process,†he added.
He said he was also interested in the issue of crime and wondered why the crime situation was better controlled in San Fernando as compared to Port-of-Spain.
While talk show hosts, Dennis “Sprangalang†Hall and Christopher Seon escaped unscathed, their employer, Power 102 FM, was not so lucky. Yesterday, the radio station was found guilty of criminal contempt and fined $25,000. The station was given 28 days to pay the fine. Last week, Hall and Seon apologised for their comments on the Power Drive on March 23 and were allowed to leave the court without a fine or jail term. But yesterday, Justice Herbert Volney, presiding in the Port-of-Spain First Criminal Court, found Power 102 guilty of criminal contempt.
When the matter was called yesterday, O’Brien Haynes, chief executive officer, turned up representing the radio station. Volney said he considered the submissions and perused the evidence and found Power 102 had crossed the line. In response, Haynes said after listening to the tape of the broadcast, he realised the seriousness of the offence. He said it was difficult for the station to control “mouth to microphone†professionals. Haynes said the station needed to take a serious approach in managing the professionals they hired. The CEO said the station must ensure that did not happen again.
Volney said the radio station should have specific guidelines so it would control what went on with broadcast shows. He added: “With a licence to broadcast, comes a responsibility. They have a legal obligation to the citizens. “Although judges are not cloistered, and not above criticism, they must be respected and not scorned by the public. The judiciary must not be brought into ridicule.†Volney said Power 102 had shown no remorse or contrition. He said the station offered little to purge the contempt. “Do not cross the line. The judiciary will defend its turf. We respect the freedom of the press. We are the guardians of the freedom of the press.†he said.
THE FACTS
It was alleged that on March 23, in the midst of a murder trial before Volney, Hall and Seon, during the afternoon programme, Power Drive, made comments which would have had the effect of influencing the jurors sitting in the case, or potential jurors in the event of a retrial, thereby derailing the criminal justice system. At the time of the programme, Kerry Ann Hosang was before Volney charged with the murder of Reena Kissoon, 28, at Phase Seven, La Horquetta, on September 3, 2005.
The case ended on March 24 with a hung jury and Volney ordered a retrial. Farees Hosein appeared for the two commentators and radio station. Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Roger Gaspard, and State attorney Tricia Hudlin-Cooper, appeared for the State. From the outset, Volney said he had heard a recording of the radio programme which took place between 5 pm and 6 pm. At the centre of the matter was a T&T Guardian report, published on page 7 of the March 23 edition, headlined, “Accused: Cop was my client.â€
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