COVER GIRL: Singer Lisa Punch on the cover of Guyana Entertainment Magazine (GEM)

Tarana Dance Centre was a vision brought to life by Artistic Director, Deviekha Chetram.  Born and raised in Alexander Village, Guyana, Deviekha has always demonstrated a keen interest in Indian dance since childhood and developed her own free style as she performed and choreographed dances for local events in Guyana. This enthusiasm led her to seek formal training in Kathak at the Indian Cultural Centre, Georgetown, Guyana. She considers herself lucky to have received her…

Educator, author, researcher, community advocate and TV and radio host Dr. Janice Emanuel-Bunn was born in Guyana and migrated to the United States in 1983 and settled in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. Dr. Emanuel-Bunn has always demonstrated great interest in the community by conducting mentoring, domestic violence prevention, health and youth empowerment programs for many years. She said her passion is to “sow seeds of greatness in others.” She has served the Seventh-day Adventist church in…

Dr. Oneeka Williams is a Harvard Medical School Graduate who ranks among the top urologic surgeons in the United States. She was born and raised in Guyana and moved with her family to Barbados at the age of 10. From an early age, her science teacher mother and journalist father instilled in her a love for the sciences and writing. “My childhood was filled with the joys of discovery and exploration as my science teacher…

Samantha Cross is a new up and coming triple threat singer/songwriter and dancer who goes by the name SCross. She was born in Linden at Mackenzie Hospital, but now lives in Canada. Growing up Samantha always knew that she wanted to be an entertainer. She started singing at the age of 8 and performed her  first solo with her church choir. Over the years, Samantha has performed at many venues including some well known clubs,…

US Vice President-elect Kamala Harris received her COVID-19 vaccine live on television Tuesday and urged the public to trust the process.  A mask-wearing Harris received the first of her two shots at United Medical Center, located in an area of Washington, DC with a large African-American population. Her husband Doug Emhoff was also to be vaccinated. Patricia Cummings, clinical nurse manager at United Medical Center, administered the vaccine. Cummings was born in Guyana and is…

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…

IT was no surprise recently when the dazzling Onesha Hutson outclassed a field of other talented competitors to whisk away the coveted Miss Guyana Global International 2014 crown. In a ‘chit-chat’ with Entertainment Bombshell, the bubbly lass related that while she was not intimidated by her competition, she however had to bring her ‘A’ game to outrun the other beauties who were all intelligent and gifted in one way or the other. Expressing her pleasure…

Guyanese  gospel singer/songwriter, Trenacia Esseboom-McKend, is known for her powerful vocals which set her apart from many in the local gospel music industry. She is the first born of two children to Bishop Terrence Esseboom (University of Guyana Print Journalism Lecturer) and Vanessa Esseboom, who both Pastor at the Light of Lights New Testament Church in Georgetown. She acknowledged in the past that growing up with parents who are Pastors has helped her walk with…

Roxanne Jacqueline Persaud was elected to the  New York State Assembly in November 2014. In January, 2015 she was sworn in as the first female, first black, first Guyanese to hold the position of Assembly member for the 59th Assembly District in Brooklyn, New York . Assemblywoman Persaud is a longtime advocate for her community and an avid volunteer. Her dedication to serving her community has motivated her to serve in various capacities. Assemblywoman Persaud …

This Sunday, June 22, at 9pm, Guyanese recording artist Lisa Punch will be a Rising Star contestant on ABC Television. Please go to your Smartphone’s app store to download Rising Star app so that you can vote for her.  Get more information about the show at http://abc.go.com/shows/rising-star.  Let us help this Guyanese Girl to win! Make sure you watch the show and vote. Voting is live and the window to vote is short, so you…

  Born in Guyana in January 1923,  Patricia Gomes has purposefully dedicated more than half of her life to theatre and along the way has been quite accomplished in other areas. She has, as they say, “done it all” – from stage plays to storytelling to dancing her life away, much to the enjoyment of the audiences she thrilled.  In 2010, Ms. Gomes was named by “Special Person”  by Kaieteur News, and in an interview…

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:…

Zena Hallam is a Florida-based  certified aromatherapist, reflexologist, and modern day alchemist. She first experienced the power of natural therapies as a girl in Guyana, South America, watching her mother heal the people of her village—including her grandmother, who would have lost her leg and then her life to diabetes, if not for Zena’s mother’s knowledge of herbal medicine. Watching others heal and thrive was a truly transformative experience for Zena. She decided to formally study…

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…

(By Mondale Smith) From winning the Star Guyana show many moons ago to becoming a celebrated Guyanese artiste under the DP Records Label, Lisa Mary Johanna Punch is no stranger to the local music scene. Infact she has a new song set for release on Monday and eventually an an entire album featuring 12 songs to be released incrementally under the DP Records Label. That album album will be available on over 40 online music…