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.
Award winning London-born saxophonist and composer Nubya Garcia makes the cover of Jazzwise Magazine. The September issue features an interview with Nubya, one of the leading forces behind the resurgence of jazz-influenced sounds in the UK. Nubya was born in 1991 in the Camden district of northwest London to a Guyanese mother, Loraine Jansen (Bishops High School alumni); and former civil servant, and a British Trinidadian film maker father. Garcia followed her older siblings to the local…
In the process of letting go for this new year you will lose many things from the past, but it will help you to find yourself.
When she entered her guidance counselor’s office earlier this year, it was not a big revelation. Bibi Sulaman, a senior at Jamaica Gateway to the Sciences High School, had met with her counselor to verify her credits and classes before graduating this June. Casually, her counselor revealed that she was valedictorian of her class of around 150 students. “It wasn’t a surprise,” said Bibi. “[Being valedictorian] wasn’t my goal. I just tried to do my…
Per Channing and his friends…. “The people in Guyana are half the story, they’re incredible. It’s like something out of a storybook. They can fix a car with a roll of duct tape and kill a charging jaguar with a bow and arrow, and all with a calm smile on their face like they’ve done it a million times before.” An Adventure to Remember: Channing Tatum & Friends Explore Guyana
Undra Celeste Duncan is the founder and creative director of Undra Celeste New York; a modern workwear brand for multicultural women. Upon earning a business degree from Howard University, she moved to LA where she studied fashion designing, and later to New York to pursue a career in fashion. She worked for big brands such as Calvin Klein and American Eagle Outfitters before launching her own label in 2014. Undra’s collections have been shown on…
Victoria Marianna Gunraj is the owner of Miami-based Caribbean clothing line and T-shirt Company “DeportedTEES.” Born in Miami, Florida on December 17th, 1989, Victoria’s parents hail from the villages of Wales and Vreed-en-Hoop in West Demerara, Guyana. A graduate of the University of Florida, this 24- year-old business woman earned a B.S. Degree in Food Science and Human Nutrition. Victoria’s passion for fashion and design led her to start her own fashion company in 2011…
Alyssa Raghu shed tears of joy Sunday night when she was advanced to Hollywood for the next round of American Idol. The 15 year old songbird auditioned on the premiere episode on season 16 of the ABC’s singing competition before judges Katy Perry, Lionel Ritchie and Luke Bryan. Born to Guyanese parents, Alyssa is a student at Lake Nona High School in Orlando Florida and also plays the guitar. According to www.wftv.com, Alyssa’s ‘American Idol’ journey…
Too often people mistake Guyana for Ghana. During a recent trip to Florida, I was having a conversation with a colleague about the Mashramani celebrations in Guyana and she said to me “that’s in Africa right?” I’ve also been asked quite a few times “what other language do you speak in Guyana? That’s why I decided to put together this synopsis to enlighten some folks on the difference between “Guyana” in South America and the African nation…
GGR Collection: www.guyanesegirlsrock.org/shop
Born in Georgetown, Guyana and raised in California’s Silicon Valley, hairstylist Marcia Hamilton is known for her ability to mesh old school beauty with up to minute trends and techniques. She discovered her passion for art and style at an early age, but against her mother’s predictions, Marcia had ambitions of becoming an auto mechanic. After a series life changing events, destiny lead Marcia onto the inevitable path of her career in hair. She began…
Guyana’s first female pilot, 72-year-old Lucille Dawsey was honored by the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) on Thursday, November 13, 2014, at the Silhoutte Restaurant in Georgetown. Ms. Dawsey was recognized for the major contributions she made in the aviation arena, and for the many examples, she set for the other female plying the trade. The Guyanese-born retiree received her pilot’s license in 1961 and was attached to TransGuyana Airways Limited at the now Ogle…
COVER GIRL: 22-Year-Old Guyanese model, RoseAnn Sumner, graces the cover of the current issue of Michigan’s Healthy & Fit Magazine. RoseAnn, you migrated from Guyana at the age of 5, is currently studying Diagnostic Molecular Science at Michigan State University. She Rocks! Check out her story >> here.
Alyson Cambridge is an accomplished soprano opera singer, born in 1980 to a Guyanese father (Richard Cambridge) and Danish-American mother. At age 23, while a first-year student at the Curtis Institute of Music, she was the Grand Prize Winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Nine months later she debuted at the MET as Frasquita in Carmen under renowned music conductor/director James Levine; a performance that earned her praises from many news outlets including…
Guyanese Girl Lisa Mary Johanna Punch wowed the judges and viewers last night during the premiere of ABC’s new singing show Rising Star, belting out Whitney Houston’s “How Will I Know” to move on to the second round of the competition. Lisa, who was born in Guyana, migrated with her family to the USA only 6 months ago and made it to the top 30 out of 40,000 auditions. The Rising Star show follows a group…
On Saturday, July 4, Guyana’s first female World Champion Gwendolyn ‘Stealth Bomber’ O’Neil defeated Sonya Lamonakis and captured the heavyweight title in Philipsburg, St Maarten. O’Neil who is now a five-time boxing world champion while at the same time a mother of five children, thanked the fans, her management team and God for the heart-stirring win which put her back on top of the world heavyweight boxing scene. A huge crowd favourite, O’Neil fought to…