Celebrating Our Graduates: Rukia Henry Earns Dual Degrees & Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa High Honors

After downloading the app, repeatedly checking in and casting real-time votes, America (and Guyanese around the World) raised the Wall for twenty singers on Rising Star, and our own Lisa Punch is among the chosen few to perform tonight. For the next three weeks, each one-hour episode will showcase three duels. Two similarly-sounding singers will perform a solo of their choice — the first on the open stage, the second from behind the Wall — and whoever…

Soyini George is the designer behind the Washington, DC, handmade baby brand, Yinibini Baby. As a little girl growing up in Guyana, Soyini’s learned to sew from watching her Great Aunt Jean cut, pin and put fabrics together to create stylish clothing.  That was just the beginning of Soyini’s love for art, design and color. One year after graduating from college, and with $100, a dining room table and tons of motivation, she started the Yinibini brand of…

Dr. Nicola Corbin, Ph.D is an assistant professor in the Communication department at Weber State University, in Ogden, Utah.  Dr. Corbin was born in Georgetown, Guyana and immigrated to the United States when she was 16 years old.  She graduated magna cum laude, with a BA Degree in Communications from Seton Hall University and later became an adjunct profession teaching Media Writing, Oral Communication and freshman orientation courses at both Seton Hall and the University of Maryland. Following her…

 Amy Barbour-James  (named Caroline Amy Aileen Barbour-James) was a London-born Guyanese civil rights activist and civil servant. Barbour-James was born in London on 25 January 1906 to Guyanese parents, John and Caroline Barbour-James. They were a middle-class family who lived in west London in the early 20th century. Amy’s father, John Barbour-James, was a postmaster in Victoria-Belfield, in Guiana and was transferred to a post office off the Gold Coast (now: Ghana) in 1902. The family later relocated to London in 1905….

Donna Makeda is definitely a musical force to be reckoned with. She was born in Kwakwani and grew up in New Amsterdam, Berbice, Guyana. Donna started singing and performing over 25 years ago, her foundation in music came from the church, which she attended when she was a little girl. Donna started out as a dancer; she was trained in Afro-Caribbean Dance, Modern Dance, Folk Dance, Kathak and Classical Ballet. At age 16, she opened…

The year was nineteen seventy-five. Barren couple, Pearl and Edward Riley stumbled upon a newborn baby girl. Her cries could only be heard by a true mother, which Pearl immediately became. Bundled up with their new child, they discovered a parcel of artifacts and a scribbled note that read: Sakkara. Pregnant seamstress, Petrina Dugal, became a runaway at the age of twenty-six. She ran away from a brutish husband, Roger, and a well-loved South American…

Two female pioneer aviators were recently presented with their own commemorative stamps, which were launched by the Guyana Post Office. Cheryl Moore was the country’s first female military pilot in 1977 and Beverley Drake, the first female commercial pilot in the same year.

Pauline Melville was born in Guyana in 1948 and has emerged as one of the most accomplished talents on the modern literary scene. Her pre-school years were spent in the then British Guiana. Her father was “mixed-race Guyanese, part South American Indian, African and Scottish”, and her mother came from a “big working-class family” in south London. The family moved to south London in the early 1950s, when she was “five or six”. A professional…

Mashramani is carnival like in nature. This year’s theme is “Showcasing our Culture, Sustaining Our Heritage.” Customarily, this is a colourful festival and is a combination of costume competitions, float parades, masquerade bands and much dancing and merriment in the streets to the sweet sounds of steel pan along with calypso and soca music. The Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport continues annually to create and manage the Mashramani celebrations as the largest national event.

Guyanese, Iris de Freitas, was the first female lawyer in the Caribbean and possible The chance discovery on eBay of a postcard featuring a portrait of a young black woman in university robes has led a Welsh university to honour one of its alumni. As part of its International Women’s Day celebrations on Tuesday 8 March 2016 Aberystwyth University,  a public research university in Aberystwyth, Wales officially named a room in honour of Iris de…

The UK franchise of the Real Housewives is adding a fresh new face to the Cheshire version of the show.  Model, philanthropist, and entrepreneur, Lystra Adams, will make her reality TV debut when she joins returning cast members Dawn Ward, Ester Dohnalová, Hanna Kinsella, Lauren Simon, Nicole Sealey, Rachel Lugo, Seema Malhotra, and Tanya Bardsley for season 12 of the show. Born in Guyana, South America, Lystra originally moved to the UK at the age…

Before there was American Idol, there was Pat Cameron, who as host of the influential radio show, `On Show Young Guyana,` helped give recognition to the musical abilities of many young Guyanese. Pat was born on October 3, 1924 to Lilian Gertrude Christiani and Henry Perot Christiani. A Bishop’s High School graduate, she  worked in the Guyana Civil Service and was trained as a Social Welfare Officer in Jamaica. She entered the world of broadcasting…

Acclaimed soprano, Alyson Cambridge, is celebrating a huge honor having been presented with the Vanguard Trailblazer Award, by the Institute of Caribbean Studies in Washington D.C. Alyson is the first opera singer to have ever been recognized in the genre last night at the Caribbean American Heritage Awards 25th Anniversary Gala. On hand to enjoy the accolades with her was her Guyanese father, Dr. Richard Cambridge and Scandinavian/American mother Joedy Cambridge.  The award was presented…

Congratulations, Katherina Roshana, winner of the Beauty Dome People’s Choice Award.

Dr. Tanya Hinds is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the George Washington University School of Medicine in Washington, DC and is certified by the American Academy of Pediatrics as a Child Abuse Pediatrician. Born in Georgetown, Guyana, Dr. Hinds migrated with her family to the US in the late 80’s.  She attended Queens College in New York before  continued her education at Howard University in Washington DC, where she received a Bachelor’s in 1994 and a…