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TRINIDADIAN ELEVATED TO THE WASHINGTON STATE SUPREME COURT

5/1/2020

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Trinidadian born Judge  Helen Whitener has been appointed to the Washington State Supreme Court.  Supreme Court Justices are elected by voters to six-year terms. Whitener who left Trinidad when she was 16 years old, to attend college in the US, was a criminal litigator  in the US for 14 years, as both a prosecutor and defence attorney before she became a judge.
She earned her bachelor’s degree from Baruch College in New York and her law degree from Seattle University School of Law. She also serves as co-chair of the Washington State Minority and Justice Commission and as a member of the Civil Legal Aid Oversight Committee.
Last year, Whitener was awarded the Washington State Bar Association’s C.Z. Smith Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Award, the King County Washington Women Lawyers President Award, the Tacoma-Pierce County Bar Association’s Diversity Award and the Seattle University School of Law’s Woman of the Year Award. 
Judge  Whitener visited Trinidad in June 2015 as part of the U.S. Embassy’s celebration of June as  National Caribbean American Heritage and   Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender  Pride (LGBT) months. She is openly gay, according to the US Embassy in Port of Spain.
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Trini nurses shine in New York covid19 battle

4/26/2020

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​TT-born nurses based in the US Ria Anderson, left, and Lisa-Marie John
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 WITH almost half the US covid19 deaths in the state of New York, and almost 10,000 in the city, Marabella-born US-trained nurse Lisa-Maria John said she hopped on a plane to what is now referred to as “ground zero” because she was bound by duty.
Coming from a family of nurses, with three aunts and two cousins caring for the sick, the 32-year-old progressive-care nurse said she left the safety of Virginia, where the pandemic is not as widespread, took a 21-day contract, grabbed a one-hour flight, and the next day began caring for patients with the most severe cases of the virus. 
As of Saturday morning, New York State had 222,284 cases and 14,636 deaths, and New York City had 131,263 cases, with 8,893 deaths.​
“The outbreak is nowhere as bad as it is in New York,” John said. “It can’t be compared to anywhere else in the world right now except for maybe Italy.”​
No one knows the seriousness of the disease’s effect on the state as well as Ria Anderson, who works in another hospital in New York City.
Born and raised in Maloney, Anderson, 43, contracted covid19 on the job. She spent less than a week at home. Now she is back at work, caring for her patients, with the mindset that it will get better, and until that happens, she will do all she can.
Both women spoke with Sunday Newsday via WhatsApp calls and texts. ​
Anderson’s only regret is passing the virus to her four-year-old son Ethan.​ “Initially I was scared, not for myself but my son,” explained Anderson, a single mother. “Unfortunately he had mild symptoms and had to be isolated for 14 days. 
“I had a lot of guilt. But I knew we were both healthy and would overcome it. My family, on the other hand – that includes my cousins, aunts and brothers – were very concerned and scared that the outcome would not be favourable.
“Now that I feel good and back out to work they (gave) a sigh of relief.”​
Anderson developed symptoms on March 24, was tested two days later and on April 3 was confirmed positive. Her treatment was Tylenol and keeping herself hydrated.
By April 9 she was back to work, having been cleared to return.
PPE protection​ a must
With over eight years as an ICU-trained nurse, Anderson said she has had the burden of watching patients suffering the worst effects of the virus, and, with visits banned, patients dying without their loved ones around them. ​
John, whose contract ends on April 21, said she has worked 12-hour shifts for 13 days without a break.
Her first day off was on April 15. She spent most of it sleeping, and the rest replenishing her groceries and “taking in some fresh air and sunlight.”
She too fights the virus in the ICU, which is outside her specialty as a progressive care nurse.
But, she said, “This is not the first disease that nurses have faced. If you are afraid of a disease, then do not become a nurse. You are trained – use the training.
“I do not work if I do not have the personal protective equipment (PPE); it is in my contract. If I get sick, then I will have to tell my patients to go around and make room for me. So it is important that health care workers are protected.”​
While John has all the PPE she needs, Anderson said there were times when it was in short supply, but the job had to be done.
She recalled at one time reusing the same mask for an entire week.​
“I understand there’s limited supplies, but the changing of guidelines to accommodate insufficient materials is not the answer, and, most importantly, I believe is not safe.
“The suggestion at one time of using a bandanna instead of an N95 mask is beyond me.” ​
That suggestion is on the website of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) as one of several “strategies or options to optimize supplies of facemasks in healthcare settings” for professionals, as a last resort when no facemasks are available.
​Mental strength dealing with covid19​
​Anderson said: “All the patients that I have been caring for have covid19. Unfortunately, a few of them passed away.
“This has been the most heartbreaking experience. No one is allowed to have visitors, due to hospitals being on lockdown, because of the exposure that guests can bring to the hospital. They are all alone, and I am one of the few people they see.”
Meanwhile, “As nurses, we are constantly going into the rooms of patients who are positive, exposing ourselves to the virus.”
But rather than being worried for herself, she said: “I still haven’t fully processed everything that has been going on in the world, but I am thankful to be there for those in time of dire need.​
“Since being tested, I’m so grateful for my life and being able to overcome this virus. I have never been so grateful for my health. Every night I fall asleep I thank God I’m healthy. Every morning I wake up I thank God for another day. I thank God for putting me in a position to help others.
“I wonder what type of scars this will leave on us. What type of bond that it will create?
“As much as I want to run, this is my role. This is what God put me here to do. In spite of the fear that this coronavirus brings, I do not hesitate to get up, get ready and help fight, by taking care of all patients.”​
John wakes up at 4 am every day to catch a chartered bus to work. ​
“Physically, the level of exhaustion I have – I don’t know how I keep going, even as a healthy person I don’t know what is driving me...
“(But) there are no words to describe how difficult it is to lose three to five patients in a day. I tell myself: ‘There are sick people out there. Get up and get to work.’”
She added, “You know, I hate being called a hero. This is just part of the job.”​
​Not everyone around them has been able to accept the risks they have chosen to face.
“My parents were upset when I told them I was going to New York,” John said.
Asked what she did to calm them down, she answered “You ever tried calming a Trini parent?”
Her family are more reconciled to her choice now, and daily phone calls after she returns to her apartment around 8 pm usually soothe their worries.​
Anderson said she was offered but is yet to access the counselling provided by her hospital.
Both women are studying for master’s degrees in nursing. Anderson hopes to graduate next year as a family nurse practitioner, and John is scheduled to graduate in December in nursing education.​
​​NY nurses’ advice to TT​
​Speaking from the epicentre of the covid19 pandemic, the two nurses offered this advice.
Anderson said, “My advice is to stay home, practise proper hygiene and safe distance to stop coronavirus. Simple.”​
John was not as succinct: “I know we as a people abhor being told what to do. We walk to the beat of our (own) drums.
“However, this isn’t the time for that.
“Some may ask, ‘Well, who is you? You just a nurse!’
“Well, I am the nurse who has seen the most patient deaths in her nine-year career. I am the nurse who watched people in their 30s fight for their lives. I am the nurse who listens to the cries of someone begging to not let them die. I am the nurse holding the iPad so a patient’s children can say their goodbyes over FaceTime.​
“I don’t want my experiences for your family.
“This is not the time to be selfish and ignore social-distancing measures because you ‘can’t fight the boredom of being home.’ The only way to curb the spread of covid19 is to social-distance and stay home!” Source: Newsday, April 22, 2020

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Minaj bonds with St Jude’s girls, donates US$25,000 to home

3/10/2020

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For just about 30 min­utes yes­ter­day, Trinidad born rap­per Nic­ki Mi­naj spent time bond­ing with stu­dents of the St Jude’s Home for Girls in Bel­mont.
Mi­naj, seat­ed next to Com­mis­sion­er of Po­lice Gary Grif­fith, spent the time dis­cussing sev­er­al top­ics as the stu­dents asked her nu­mer­ous ques­tions about her ini­tial mo­ti­va­tion to be­come a record­ing artiste to the re­la­tion­ship that be­came her even­tu­al mar­riage to Ken­neth Pet­ty last year.
“I met Mr Pet­ty when I was 17 years old, first of all,” said Mi­naj in a full Tri­ni ac­cent.
“When I met him as a teenag­er, I was like oh God, typ­i­cal bad boy, I’m not gonna be able to lock him down, get out of here. And then he turned out to be... all of that (good)stuff. He’s just that on the out­side,” she said.
She added, “And he be­came ex­act­ly what I need­ed for the bal­ance in my life.”
Mi­naj al­so spoke on the ef­fect of drugs, ro­man­tic re­la­tion­ships as a teenage and even her teenage preg­nan­cy and sub­se­quent abor­tion as she tried to use her life as a les­son for the girls at the home.
“Even in my teenage years, I didn’t know which way I was gonna turn. I had a lot of things go­ing on, I’ve ex­pe­ri­enced be­ing in a home with do­mes­tic vi­o­lence. I’ve ex­pe­ri­enced you know, be­ing at a very dif­fi­cult cross­road in my life as a teenag­er and some­times as a teenag­er when things hap­pen you feel like there’s no up from there some­times,”
said Mi­naj.
“I don’t know what is go­ing on in your life but it feels so dif­fi­cult when you’re go­ing through it, but you will get through it. You will get out of it. I was one of those girls who ex­pe­ri­enced be­ing preg­nant as a teenag­er and you know I was so ashamed to tell my moth­er that. Till this day I nev­er told my moth­er. I felt like I let my­self down, and I felt like if any­one were to find out my whole fam­i­ly would be ashamed of me,” she said.
She added, “I want you guys to use, if you want to use my life as a les­son in the fact that there are al­ways bet­ter days ahead. I want you guys to be en­cour­aged.”
“There has to be some­thing in­side of you, even right now to­day that de­cides, you’re gonna win no mat­ter what. No mat­ter what comes at you,” Mi­naj told the girls.
Mi­naj al­so host­ed an im­promp­tu tal­ent show in which some girls sang Be­y­once’s Ha­lo as well as Mi­naj’s 2014 hit Pills and Po­tions.
She was how­ev­er im­pressed with a spo­ken word piece by one of the girls and ex­pressed some re­gret that she had not record­ed the per­for­mance to so­cial me­dia.
They then con­vinced Mi­naj, with the aid of a smart­phone do a verse from her hit song Mega­tron and a cou­ple lines from her verse on Mo­tor­sport.
Mi­naj al­so asked the stu­dents what they felt they need­ed in the com­mu­ni­ty, as she said she hoped to cre­ate a space for the youths in the area.
Be­fore leav­ing, Mi­naj do­nat­ed $US25,000 to home. Source: Trinidad Guardian, Feb 2020







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Trinidad’s Kalisa Villafana becomes first black woman to earn a Ph.D. in nuclear physics at Florida University

3/1/2020

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Kalisa Villafana made history last August as the first black female graduate at Florida State University (FSU) to earn a doctoral degree in nuclear physics.
Villafana is thus, only the 96th black woman in the United States with a Ph.D. in physics.
“It’s overwhelming and a pretty big deal,” she said of her history shattering achievement. 
“It feels great to be the first at Florida State, and I hope that more young women are encouraged to pursue physics degrees. Diversity and inclusion are necessary. Everyone can contribute different perspectives to various fields.”
A native of Trinidad and Tobago, Villafana, had her undergraduate degree from Florida A&M University. 
Villafana’s quest to becoming a physicist started when she was 12. She was exposed to “tons of physics experiments” when she was growing up as a student of an all-girl Catholic school.
Villafana took several courses during her time at Holy Faith Convent in her home country, where she and other girls were exposed to loads of physics experiments.
“I thought it was interesting. From then on, I said I want to be a physicist. That never changed,” she said.
She would then return to Trinidad and Tobago to work and return to the United States after a year to ensure her childhood dream came to fruition.
“When it comes to a Ph.D. program you have to feel like you’re going to thrive and the people there want you to succeed,” Florida State University News quoted Villafana as saying. “That was what I got from FSU. None of the other schools I visited gave me that energy.”
After choosing Mark Riley, a world-renowned physicist, to be her adviser, the rest was history for Villafana. Riley chaired the physics department when Villafana first arrived at FSU.
“Kalisa is absolutely fabulous,” Riley, who’s now dean of the FSU Graduate School said. “She is brilliant, persistent and has a super sense of humor. It has been a joy to work with her and the research results she has produced are outstanding. She has an amazing future ahead of her.”
Aware of the fact that the world of physics is mostly white and male, Villafana hopes her achievement would serve as an inspiration to young black girls.
“I always encourage young women to pursue what they are passionate about and what makes them excited, even if they are a minority in the field,” she said.
“Hopefully, other young girls are motivated when they see us, even though the field is predominantly white and male,” Villafana added. 
Villafana, who wants to specialize in cancer research, working as a medical physicist further noted that she wanted to “show them how to get to the next point.” 
“In Trinidad, many people don’t know how to get to the United States and get a Ph.D. that’s paid for by the school. They don’t know how to go from being an international student from the islands to a doctor in the U.S.”
Villafana currently works as a process engineer with the Intel Corporation in Arizona. Her achievement inspired her mother and sister to go to college. My mom went back to school and got her bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and my young sister started her bachelor’s program as well,” Villafana said. “When you do certain things, especially coming from a small place in Trinidad, people are encouraged.”
Source: Facelive Africa, Feb 2020


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Tobago tech wizard blazing a trail

2/23/2020

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Sekani Solomon is a down-to-earth, quirky, driven Tobagonian living in New York City. He is a senior motion designer currently working at Cash App in Square.
He has now pivoted to working full-time in the tech area and earlier this month he told Newsday, in five years he sees himself as being an instrumental player in design in one of the largest financial technology companies in the world.
Solomon first made his debut in the Black Panther movie in 2017, after he was a part of the production team responsible for building the movie's main title sequence. Before this he designed commercial projects for Dolby, Apple, Facebook, GE, IBM and Disney.
His latest accomplishment was becoming the first creative from TT, out of 500 entries from 45 countries, to be inducted in a Young Guns 17, hosted by The One Club for Creativity in New York. The One Club for Creativity is for people excelling in film, animation, graphic design to name a few.
The entries are narrowed down to 89 and from this, 28 winners are selected and awarded based on the merits of their work.
Young Guns competition is a yearly competition for creative talents under the age of 30.
He told Newsday wining a Young Guns award is no surprise to him because of the time and effort invested into his skill.
“I was so happy that the time and effort I’ve put in is being recognised in this way,” he said
On The One Club’s website, under Sekani’s entry, principal and founder Gordon Jee said he enjoyed judging the work all of the animators who entered this year but “Sekani’s work stood out in ways that made me excited when I viewed his entries.”
He commended Solomon’s brilliant, clear and effortlessly use of textures and “the strength of the silhouettes chosen to capture maximum drama.”
Solomon told Newsday he came from humble beginnings growing up in Hope, Tobago. “Like any kid I loved being outside, riding bikes and playing in nature.”
Solomon always had a creative side as he would draw often and make his own toys using cardboard and tape. For him, spending time by the river was also another activity he loved doing.
Many people aren’t aware that he also has a love for music and can play the guitar and drums. He also enjoys snowboarding and skimboarding (a type of surfing) in his free time.
At 15 years he was introduced to photoshop and he began dabbling in creativity.
“For me, it was a natural progression from drawing on paper. Naturally at that age, I was terrible at it. I decided to leave the arts behind to focus on sciences which, alongside law and business, is typically reinforced as one of the few pathways to success, and rediscovered it later on when I was 18 and fell in love.”
This was the beginning of journey that changed his life in many ways he told Newsday.
But before he found his place in the creative industry, he told Newsday he moved away from the arts because he though it wasn’t feasible and sustainable. “Fortunately for me I was quite wrong. I always felt like I wanted to do something creative.
“I wanted to be a software engineer, even though I was doing graphic arts and motion a lot in my free time. Eventually I looked for colleges that had both graphic design and software engineering courses before deciding to fully do graphic design. I then decided I wanted to do motion design.”
He said his talent began to get noticed and awards started coming in.
“I worked on the main titles for a show called Manhattan, for which we won the Outstanding Main Title Emmy at the 67th primetime Emmy Awards."
He also worked on the main titles for Vinyl on HBO (directed by Martin Scorsace) which was nominated for an Outstanding Main Title at the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards. Solomon was also involved in shows like Godless and Gypsy on Netflix.
When asked for his thoughts on the animation and film industry in Tobago, Solomon said he sees potential for growth. “I think the challenge is bringing awareness to the value of design and educating clients of the process, cost and benefits of high-end design.
“Tobago’s image can benefit from visual products such as good branding, website, digital content and commercials. All this helps in telling the story of Tobago and improving how it looks to the world.” He hopes to see more local productions from young people in Tobago.
Solomon believes consistency was the key to his success and now advises those in in the creative industry be diligent, hard working and to understand that the field goes beyond TT. “That doesn’t necessarily mean you have to leave. You need to develop your skills to compete internationally, there’s a lot of competition so you need to be among the best. Find mentors and other artists that are in the position you want to be in and soak up as much information as possible; networking is a huge factor in this industry.”
Solomon encouraged the THA to invest more in digital arts and design education and awareness.
“I don’t think the value of design is yet fully understood in Trinidad and Tobago. There is a reason companies collectively spend billions of dollars yearly on design, advertising and branding. We need to help create tangible skills. In my opinion, our education system depends way too much on testing, which isn't an accurate way to determine what tangible way someone can contribute.
“In addition, we are only getting more and more screens which mean more demand to put things on them, so the more people capable of having those skills, the more foreign revenue we can earn. Nothing can be done if we don't have the skillset.” Source: Newsday.

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Calypso Rose receives prestigious French national award

2/23/2020

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Linda McCartha Monica Sandy-Lewis aka Calypso Rose, is presented with the Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters, the highest French award for Arts and Culture, from French Ambassador Serge Lavroff, at the French Embassy, Mary Street, St, Clair on Thursday. - ANGELO MARCELLE
CALYPSO ROSE, one of TT's most distinguished international artistes, has received yet another prestigious international award. On Thursday, the 79-year-old was named Officer of Arts and Humanities, on behalf of the French Government, at the residence of the French ambassador to TT.
The award is regarded as one of the highest honours among the four French Ministerial Orders of Merit. She is said to be a well-known name in France and has previously won awards in the country, including the world album of the year award at the Victoire de la Musique awards in 2017, the Grand Prize for world music at Sacem Grand Prix and the 2016 artist award for world music by Womex at the 18th Womex Awards in Spain.
The ever-smiling Calypso Rose, whose real name is Linda McCartha Sandy-Lewis, was present at the embassy to receive the award, despite coming off a typically hectic travel schedule. She received a medal and certificate to validate her most recent achievement, which was delivered by the French ambassador to TT Serge Lavroff, who said he, like much of France, is a fan of the veteran singer/songwriter. Source: Newsday, Feb 20, 2020
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Poet raised in Trinidad wins prestigious T.S Eliot Prize for poetry

2/3/2020

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A British dub poet who was raised in Trinidad has won the prestigious T.S. Eliot Prize for his book A Portable Paradise.
Poet Roger Robinson won the £25,000 award which was announced on January 13 at a ceremony in London.
Nine other books were shortlisted for the prize, the most valuable in UK poetry, and considered one of the literary world’s highest-profile honours.
Robinson is only the second Caribbean writer to win the prize, following Nobel laureate Derek Walcott, who won in 2011 for his book White Egrets.
A release from Bocas Lit Fest said Robinson's book. published by Peepal Tree Press, ranges in subject from family and ancestry to the perils of making art, but has been most celebrated for a sequence of poems addressing London’s tragic Grenfell Tower fire.
“There was a strong sense of humanity to the book,” said the chair of the prize judges, poet John Burnside.
“It came down to how moving the personal poems were and how relatable and accessible his poetry about his family was, alongside the more political parts about black history, Grenfell and the NHS. There is a wonderful balance of the public and the personal in this collection. It is passionate and sociologically engaged….
“Poets have always written about injustices like racism and misogyny, because poetry is a great medium for that, as it engages all of our faculties, our abilities as humans, our empathies. When people are overtaken about rationality, they forget humanity and pity. Poetry reminds us of those traits again.”
Born in London to Trinidadian parents, Robinson was raised in Trinidad. He returned to Britain at age 19 and since then has divided his time between the two countries — calling himself “a British resident with a Trini sensibility.”
Beginning as a spoken word performer in the 1990s, he was chosen as a British Next Generation poet in 1999, and published his first collection, Suckle, in 2009. His book The Butterfly Hotel was longlisted for the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature in 2014.
“Roger Robinson’s win is a triumph not just for him but for Caribbean poetry,” says Marina Salandy-Brown, founder and director of the Bocas Lit Fest. “As well as for our partner Peepal Tree Press, the most prolific publisher of Caribbean poets over the past three decades. This is a time of great opportunity for our writers.”
Robinson is scheduled to participate in the 2020 NGC Bocas Lit Fest in May.
The T.S. Eliot Prize is the latest in a series of recent international successes for Trinidad-born authors. In November 2019, writer Ian Williams was named the winner of Canada’s Giller Prize, that country’s most prestigious award for fiction, for his novel Reproduction. (The Giller Prize was previously won by Trinidad-born Andre Alexis in 2015.)
Also in 2019, Claire Adam won the Desmond Elliot Prize — “the UK’s most prestigious award for first-time novelists” — for Golden Child. In 2016, Vahni Capildeo was named winner of the Forward Prize for Poetry for her book Measures of Expatriation, and in 2017 and 2018 poets Richard Georges and Shivanee Ramlochan were shortlisted for the Forward Felix Dennis Prize for Best First Collection.
According to Bocas, Caribbean writers have taken home many other coveted prizes in the UK and USA in the last four to five years
The 2020 NGC Bocas Lit Fest, this country’s annual literary festival is set to take place May 1 t- 3 and The Bocas Lit Fest which runs it will officially launch its plans for its 10th year with an ‘open house’ event on January 22 at The Writers Centre, 14 Alcazar Street, St Clair.   Source: The Loop, Jan 14, 2020
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can you limbo like this trini?

1/16/2020

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sam mendes thanks his trini grandfather...

1/14/2020

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Sam Mendes poses in the press room with the awards for best director, motion picture and best motion picture drama for "1917" at the 77th annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
British filmmaker Sam Mendes has thanked his Trinidadian grandfather for inspiring his film 1917.
In his acceptance speech as winner of the Best Director of a Motion Picture at this weekend's Golden Globes awards, Mendes praised his grandfather Alfred Hubert Mendes.
"He signed up for the First World War, age 17 and I hope he is looking down on us and I fervently hope it never ever happens again," he said.
Born in Trinidad in 1897, Alfred went to England at the age of 15 to attend school but enrolled in the army where he served in the Rifle Brigade.
The movie 1917 is loosely based on Alfred's role as a messenger during the war which is chronicled in his book: The Autobiography of Alfred H. Mendes 1897–1991 published in 2002 by the University of the West Indies Press.
Referencing the book, the site History vs Hollywood said that after serving with the 1st Battalion Rifle Brigade, Alfred was sent to Oisemont, not far from Dieppe, France, where he trained to be a signaller. He was then sent to the Battle of Passchendaele in Belgium.
On October 12, 1917, hundreds of British soldiers, including Alfred, set out to reclaim the village of Poelcappelle, which had been overtaken by the Germans. The British soldiers suffered heavy losses with 158 of the 484 men in Alfred's battalion killed, wounded, or unaccounted for. 
Alfred volunteered to be a runner to locate the positions of the survivors so they could be rescued and for his efforts, he received the Military Medal of Bravery.
Following his service, Alfred returned to Trinidad and established himself as a writer. He produced a literary magazine called Trinidad with CLR James and contributed to The Beacon journal in Trinidad among other publications in the US and Europe.
He authored two novels, Pitch Lake in 1934 and Black Fauns in 1935. 
In 1940, according to Wikipedia, Alfred abandoned writing and became the General Manager of the Port Services Department.
He was also one of the founding members of the United Front, a party with socialist leanings that participated in the 1946 general elections.
Alfred died in 1991 in Barbados.
Source: The Loop, January 8, 2020



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Trini artist for Atlanta exhibition

1/3/2020

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The work of Trinidadian artist Andrea McKenzie has been recognised with an award in Atlanta, Georgia, US, and will also be displayed this month in the Atlanta Mayor's Gallery.
McKenzie, who is based in Atlanta, recently won the 2019 I am Black, I am Power, Art and Creativity award from the Black People United Global Network with "Black" being an acronym for Beautiful Living Ancestors Controlling Kingdoms Irreplaceable Amazing Melanin.
The founder and CEO of Black People United Global Network, Dr Angela Harris, said the body, which was founded in December 2015, seeks to "strategically honour people of all nationalities and religions in the black race from all around the world.
"Our mission is to collectively come together under one roof to give recognition to well-deserving individuals who have gone above and beyond to help the relevancy of our image as a race to have a positive influence on our families, communities and business through their God-given gifts and talents."
McKenzie told Newsday via e-mail that she was nominated anonymously for the award.
"I felt honoured to be recognised amongst thousands of artists in the city of Atlanta, Georgia. I always work hard towards perfecting my craft and achieving my goals. Receiving this award brought great fulfilment and pride to be able to represent my country internationally in the arts."
McKenzie's work was also selected by the mayor of Atlanta, Keisha Lance Bottoms, to be exhibited at the Mayor's Gallery, City Hall, Atlanta, from November 14- January 4 in a dual exhibition called SANKOFA (go back and get it).
"I'm very excited to be given this amazing opportunity."
The exhibit will feature ten pieces from McKenzie of mixed media including glass, acrylic, resin, glitter and cowrie shells. She said her new, unique style is giving her the breakthrough, "as no one is doing it in Georgia."
Atlanta's Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs (OCA), in an online post, announced the exhibition by McKenzie and Ghana-born artist Alfred Addo. The joint exhibition commemorates the ideas embodied in Ghana’s Year of Return, a reflection on the 400th anniversary of the first enslaved Africans' arrival in Jamestown, Virginia.
Addo was born to a family of artists and has been exposed to art since infancy. OCA noted his primary inspiration came from his father, who exhibited his work regularly and challenged Addo to produce unique artwork.
"Although Addo was passionate about art, he also possessed a keen interest in the physical sciences, a field he found satisfyingly challenging. He was torn between going to college to study medicine and pursuing his passion to be a professional artist. In the end, he chose to follow his passion and pursue art full-time.
"Since then, Addo has specialised in sculpture as his core medium. Interestingly, his physical science background led him to experiment with different materials, including sawdust, which he played with as a child in the sawmill where his father bought and cut wood for his sculptures. Naturally, Addo grew up loving this medium and decided to make it the main material he uses in all his artwork. Passionate about the sustainability of the earth, Addo perfected the method of recycling sawdust and waste materials to create various types of sculptures and relief works."
Addo has successfully participated in many international art exhibitions in places including Johannesburg, Cape Town, New York, Chicago, Washington, DC, Miami, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Atlanta, San Diego, California, Martha’s Vineyard and in his home city Accra, Ghana.
OCA described McKenzie as "a true island girl" who comes from one of the most culturally diverse nations in the world, TT, and her natural aptitude for creativity was nurtured at an early age because of her family’s involvement in the nation’s world-famous Carnival.
"McKenzie’s fascination with contrast, textures, and fabrics was the fuel behind her kaleidoscope-like pieces. She uniquely infused glass, acrylic, and other materials on varying canvas, which propelled her into achieving a viable international clientèle."
OCA noted throughout her young career, she has exhibited works in multiple nations including TT and neighbouring Caribbean islands. Her art has also been exhibited in New York, Washington, DC, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Seattle, London and Australia.
In 2013, after losing her job in event marketing, McKenzie pursued her passion for art and became a full-time artist, with clients in the US and Europe. As a full-time artist, she does commissioned pieces where people contact her via e-mail or on her website and let her know what they want, whether it is for their homes or businesses.
Her first exhibition, Pieces of Me, was held in Trinidad in 2013 and featured 25 pieces about her and life experiences, including first love and first disappointment.
McKenzie has clients from countries such as the US, Sweden, England, Scotland and TT. She works primarily with acrylic on canvas or wood board. Her dream is to have her pieces featured in the set decoration of successful television shows and box office movies and showcased all over the world.
To see more of McKenzie’s work visit her Instagram @andreas.heart and her art page on Facebook at Andrea’s Unique Art. Source: Newsday, Nov. 2019.

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