Guyanese Girls Rock

13 Jun: She Rocks! Professor, Anthropologist & Published Author – Dr. Oneka LaBennett

Dr. Oneka LaBennett is Associate Professor of Africana Studies at Cornell University. She received her Ph.D. in Social Anthropology from Harvard University in 2002, and her B.A. in Sociology and Anthropology from Wesleyan University in 1994. Born in Guyana and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Dr. LaBennett’s research and teaching interests include popular culture; race, gender and consumption; urban anthropology; transnationalism and diaspora; and Caribbean migration. Dr. LaBennett is the author of She’s Mad Real:…

02 Jun: She Rocks! Waveney Ann Moore: Award Winning Journalist/ Pulitzer Prize Finalist

Waveney Ann Moore is a general assignment reporter for the Tampa Bay Times. She covers a wide range of topics in the metropolitan area, most recently the debate over the future of the St. Petersburg Pier. She was a finalist for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for “For Their Own Good,” about abuse at Florida’s oldest reform school. The series won the Dart Award for covering trauma, the Casey Medal for exemplary reporting on children and…

02 Jun: Meet the Newly Crowned Miss Guyana World 2014, Rafieya Aasieya Husain, She Rocks!

With a yearning desire for success and the belief that anything is possible, 21 year old Rafieya’s ambitions include becoming a CPA ( Certified Public Accountant), owning and operating a Financial Business, winning Miss World, walking the Runways of Paris and Milan and to support a Non-Profit that focuses on children. With several titles to her name, she is no stranger to pageantry and describes herself as fearless, persistent and dedicated and practical. She is…

22 May: She Rocks! Women’s & Children’s Rights Activist, Karen De Souza, Receives Caribbean Award for Excellence

Activist Karen De Souza is one of the three recipients of the 2014 Laureates of the Anthony N Sabga Caribbean Awards forExcellence. The Anthony N Sabga Caribbean Awards for Excellence (ANSCAFE) is the English-speaking Caribbean’s leading recognition programme in Arts, Sciences, and Public and Civic Work. De Souza is a women’s and children’s rights activist from Guyana. She is the co-founder of Red Thread, an advocacy organisation which provides service and support, education, and advocacy…

21 May: She Rocks! Lorna E. Welshman-Neblett – Sales & Marketing Connoisseur at Clarins Fragrance Group

Lorna E. Welshman-Neblett has reached a pinnacle that few women of color have attained in the fragrance industry. More than 20 years ago she launched Angel, the first Thierry Mugler perfume, in the U.S. market. The fragrance has been flying off high-end shelves since. Welshman-Neblett’s career in the fragrance industry began in the late 1970s, when Elizabeth Arden established a separate fragrance company with Chloe, Burberrys and others. Welshman-Neblett started working with Thierry Mugler Parfums…

05 May: She Rocks! Oonya Kempadoo – Internationally Published and Acclaimed Author

Oonya Kempadoo is an internationally published and acclaimed author, born in England in 1966 to Guyanese parents. She was brought up in Guyana and studied art in Amsterdam. Oonya has lived and worked for most of her life in various Caribbean islands including Trinidad, Tobago, St. Lucia, and is currently based in Grenada. A creative writer and novelist, she also works freelance as a researcher and consultant in the arts, private sector, with youth and…

30 Apr: She Rocks Her Guyanese Heritage! Yaani King – Accomplished Film and TV Actor!

Yaani King is an American actor of Guyanese descent. The only daughter of an NYPD officer mother, Yaani was born on August 10, 1981 in Flatbush, Brooklyn, and raised in Queens. She has two elder brothers, she spent most of her childhood around the theater, as her mother was a stage and commercial actress before becoming a police officer. As a teen, she was accepted to the High School of Performing Arts at Lincoln Center…