As a young girl growing up in Georgetown, Guyana, Kelly-Ann Gibbs Cartwright had a talent for challenging others in conversation. “My parents always told me that I should be a lawyer because of my constant debating technique as a child,” she explains. Her family moved to the U.S. in 1978, and just a few years later when she was a junior in college, Kelly-Ann became seriously interested in following the career path her parents had envisaged. She attended the University…
A for All Profiles
Carmen Munroe is a British actress best known for her role as Shirley, the wife of barber Desmond Ambrose, played by Norman Beaton, in the British TV sitcom Desmond’s (1989 to 1994). She was born in Berbice, Guyana on November 12th, 1932 and has been a resident of the UK since the early 1950’s where she performed with the West Indian Students’ Drama Group. In 1962 she made her professional stage debut at London’s Wyndham’s Theatre in Tennessee Williams’…
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…
Windee Algernon will go down in history as Guyana’s first female army Colonel and the first full-serving female member of any of the Caribbean’s armed forces to hold such a rank. Colonel Algernon was promoted in the Guyana Defense Force from Substantive Lieutenant Colonel to this male dominated rank in January 20, 2012. Reflecting on this milestone, Colonel Algernon told reporters that she has been in the army since 1980, served in a number of appointments and underwent several training…
Shawna Rochelle Kimbrell is a major in the United States Air Force, and the first female African-American fighter pilot in the Air Force history. She was born in Lafayette, Indiana on April 20, 1976, to Guyanese parents, Dr Norman Ng A Qui, and Eve Blackman Ng A Qui after they migrated to the US. Their hard work and dedication paid off in her father earning a degree from Howard University and a doctorate from Purdue University. That focus on…
I’m giddy with excitement to share this sister’s story – from one “shoenista” about another. When a woman stops Samanta Joseph to ask where she got here beautiful Brazilian-made shoes, that woman is often on her way to becoming a customer. Samanta was designing shoes since she was a young girl in Guyana. When her mother ordered her a pair of custom-made sandals to better fit her feet, that experience spawned a business idea. After migrating to the US,…
On the eve of its release in theaters across the country, and coinciding with the upcoming “Diwali” holiday, it’s very fitting to introduce this very talented filmmaker and the woman behind the movie “Festival of Lights.” Shundell Prasad screenwriter, filmmaker and movie director working out of New York and LA. She was born in Guyana but migrated to the US at age 6. Shundell is a graduate of New York University’s Prestigious Tisch School of the Arts, where…
If you’ve ever read the novels The Coloured Girl in the Ring and Calabash Parkway, then you’re familiar with this very talented writer. Brenda Chester DoHarris is a Guyanese writer now living and lecturing in the USA. She as born in Georgetown, Guyana in 1946 to Rebecca Theresa Chester (a nurse-midwife) and Clement Vincent Chester (government dispenser). Brenda is a professor of English at Bowie State University in Bowie, Maryland and a graduate of Columbia…
Meet Guyanese born Deborah Borocas, author of “Guyana’s Tasty Exotic – A contemporary take on the cuisine of Guyana, the Land of Six Peoples.” This cookbook includes 82 recipes with magnificent pictures of the many cuisines that showcases Guyana’s rich culinary history. The book also features pictures of Guyana’s beautiful landscape, its people, folklores, slang and traditions. Deborah started cooking at the tender age of 9. The second of seven children she became her Mother’s kithcen…
Caribbean Squash Queen Nicolette Fernandes was born in Toronto, Canada on June 19, 1983. She moved back to Guyana with her parents at an early age began playing squash competitively at the age of 8. Representing Guyana, she dominated the junior category both domestically and regionally before she became famous for her outstanding performance at various Caribbean Championships. Nicolette made a significant leap when she was just 19-years-old and emerged as Champion at her first Pan American Games. Nicolette has…