About the Author 
About the Author 
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…
She’s Mad Real: Popular Culture and West Indian Girls in Brooklyn In She’s Mad Real, Oneka LaBennett draws on over a decade of researching teenage West Indian girls in the Flatbush and Crown Heights sections of Brooklyn to argue that Black youth are in fact strategic consumers of popular culture and through this consumption they assert far more agency in defining race, ethnicity, and gender than academic and popular discourses tend to acknowledge. Importantly, LaBennett…
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recently announced the appointment of Catherine Pollard of Guyana as Under-Secretary-General for General Assembly and Conference Management. She will succeed Tegegnework Gettu of Ethiopia, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for his dedicated service and able leadership. Since 2014, Pollard served as Assistant Secretary-General for General Assembly and Conference Management, prior to which she served as Assistant Secretary-General for Human Resources Management from 2008 to 2014. She was previously Chief of Staff…
Luana Pierre is the owner of Pawsome Pets Guyana, a new pet grooming business located in Georgetown. Pawsome Pets Guyana is the only professional pet grooming service in the country. Mrs. Pierre has more than 25 years of experience in animal health and 10 years of pet grooming experience. Luana has been one of my best friends for more than thirty-five years. She was the friend who made me laugh with her dry humor, but…
Happy Birthday to H.E David A. Granger, 8th Executive President of the Republic off Guyana who celebrates his 70th Birthday today! ~ July 15th, 2015 ~
Afuwa Granger is a visual artist, writer, and poet who uses her work to construct a visual language around intersections of identity, particularly race and gender. She was born in Guyana to current President, David Granger and First Lady, Sandra Granger. Afuwa studied in Jamaica at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, and lives and creates her artwork in Vancouver, Canada. Afuwa’s art is based on her family photos and the idea of the immigrant…
“A queen is wise. She has earned her serenity, not having had it bestowed on her but having passer her tests. She has suffered and grown more beautiful because of it. She has proved she can hold her kingdom together. She has become its vision. She cares deeply about something bigger than herself. She rules with authentic power.” ― Marianne Williamson .
Michelle A. Albert, MD, MPH is a general cardiologist with expertise in preventive cardiovascular medicine as well as managing the most critically ill cardiovascular patients with a range of conditions including coronary artery disease, valvular heart disease, cardiomyopathies and vulnerable populations with heart disease such as women and racial/ethnic minorities. Born and raised in Guyana, Dr. Albert had a fairly austere upbringing. The sudden death of her grandfather by cardiac arrest was probably the trigger for…
Kadecia Baird has established herself as New York’s fastest female high school sprinters. This 17 year old star athlete has made a big impact on the track and field community. Kadecia grew up in Campbellville, Georgetown and is a senior at Medgar Evers High School in Brooklyn, New York. She began competing in Guyana, passionately pursuing a junior national title. However her talent sky rocketed after she migrated to the U.S. three years ago. Kadecia is a member of her school’s…
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…
Born on January 16, 1982, Thara Natalie Prashad, musically known as Thara, is an American R&B singer/ songwriter/actress of Guyanese Heritage. Her father is Indo-Guyanese and her mother is part Irish and part African-American. While pursuing degrees in biology and acting at Fordham University, the sassy singer gave up her scholarship to pursue a music career. Thara impressed DJ Clue of Desert Storm Label with her audition and was offered a music contract in 2004….
HISTORY: Emancipation Day is celebrated in Guyana on August 1. Emancipation Day or Freedom Day, as it was earlier called, marks the abolition of slavery in 1834. The end of the abolitionism brought about a new phase in Guyana; the villages started getting established, there was a struggle of the trade union movement and the opening of the hinterland through the pork knockers. Thus, there was an opening for civil services and artesian shops….
New York-based lawyer Denise M. Grant was born in Guyana and is a Partner in the Project Development & Finance Group, Shearman & Sterling,LLP. She is the daughter of Guyana’s former ambassador to the United States, the late Hon. Cedric Grant and the second oldest of four girls (three of whom are lawyers). Denise was raised in England before migrating to the United States in 1982 where she graduated with an International Relations degree from…
Jenise McBride is the CEO of Angelically Kute, a protective-style Hair Salon, and the Founder of H.E.R-Volution University, an online platform that is revolutionalizing hair ergonomics. Over 6 years ago, Jenise decided that she was done with weaves, flat-irons, and relaxers and began her natural hair journey. Like many women who decide to “go natural,” Jenise discovered there were not many styling options. So, she decided to change all of that! Jenise taught herself, and then…
Oslene Carrington is the CEO of the Guyana Economic Development Trust, an independent philanthropic organization that incubates and supports projects that develop the workforce and boost the private sector of Guyana. The US-based philanthropic organization has partnered with the School of Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation (SEBI) of the University of Guyana (UG) to provide funding for an annual Guyana Innovation Prize of $10,000 to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship. The award provides pre-seed funding to commercially…