It’s a Rainy Day in the Neighborhood!

Owner and principal designer of Shasha Designs (shashadesigns.com), Keisha Edwards, says she has always had a designer’s mind. Born in Georgetown, Guyana, she recalls, as a child, sketching outfits and asking her mother, a seamstress, to bring her creations to life. In fact, coming from a line of seamstresses and tailors has given her an almost hereditary talent. She taught herself to sew, and the art of design, she says, came from God. “The seed…

Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett was born in the Amerindian Village of Santa Rosa, Guyana. She received her early education in Santa Rosa and then move to the capital Georgetown to attend a private school.  Minister Rodrigues-Birkett then left Guyana for Saskatchewan, Canada, on scholarship, to pursue studies in Business Administration and Indian Studies. Following her return to Guyana in 1993, she read successfully for a degree in Social Work at the University of Guyana, while simultaneously managing…

For those of us who have emigrated from Guyana, Demerara Gold is a refreshing reminder of the expectation, excitement and anxiety that we experience in our journey to  join our families in America. I recently had the pleasure of sitting in the front row to watch Ingrid Griffith, the star of Demerara Gold, as she seamlessly transformed into a slew of characters and captivated the audience with her raw emotions and hilarious depictions of events from her…

Congratulations Yvette Irving and daughter, Darcy George, grand prize winners of the “My Guyanese Mom Rock Contest! Runner up contestants Odetta Abiola Young and Angela McPherson will also each receive a GGR T-shirt. .

JEAN SMALL is a Guyanese Jamaican living in Jamaica since 1954. She graduated from the University of the West Indies in Foreign Languages,–French, Spanish and Latin and her profession all her life has been as an educator. She has worked in Guyana, Trinidad, Nigeria, Australia and here in Jamaica as a teacher of French at both Secondary and University levels. Her love since school days has been theatre and she now considers herself first an…

Why wait to be someone else’s queen when you can be your own queen!  The word Queen means woman – any women – a woman with or without riches, fame, position; women from any background, color or creed; women limbless or able-bodied; a Queen of her domain, a Queen to her King; her husband, a Queen is a woman, a woman is a Queen (Wisdom Beyond Being).  So what’s stopping you from being the queen…

Sharon Maas was born in Georgetown, Guyana in 1951. She came from a prominently political family. Her mother was one of Guyana’s earliest feminists, human rights activists and consumer advocates; her father was Press Secretary for opposition leader and later President of Guyana, Dr Cheddi Jagan. She was educated in Guyana and at the Harrogate College in Yorkshire, England. After leaving school she worked as a trainee reporter with the Guyana Graphic in Georgetown, Guyana. She…

Among the senior vice presidents at Rockwell Collins; the Iowa-based provider of avionics and information technology systems and services, Nan Mattai is the only woman. “Just the thought that something I say or do may change a life inspires me to be the best I can be,” Ms. Mattai, the Senior Vice President for Engineering and Technology, wrote in an email interview. “So, as a successful woman in a traditionally male-dominated field, I will try…

Meet Food artist, Indra Mekdeci, CEO and Founder of Reminiscence.  Founded in December 2011, Reminiscence is the premiere source in Guyana for beautifully designed, delicious fruit bouquets and chocolate treats.  Indra was born in Guyana and currently resides in Georgetown where she runs her home-based business. Her mouth watering delicacies include chocolate dipped fruit, cake pops, edible hampers and an assortment of chocolate truffles. The idea for starting Reminescence came to Indra while she was…

Pauline Melville was born in Guyana in 1948 and has emerged as one of the most accomplished talents on the modern literary scene. Her pre-school years were spent in the then British Guiana. Her father was “mixed-race Guyanese, part South American Indian, African and Scottish”, and her mother came from a “big working-class family” in south London. The family moved to south London in the early 1950s, when she was “five or six”. A professional…

Her stage name ‘Big Red’, is symbolic of her maturity; she considers herself a “big girl”, and Red- describes the intensity of her performances – red hot. Born in Georgetown Guyana, Michelle “Big Red” King is the eldest of six children of the talented Desiree Edghill. The proud mother of two sons, Steve and Jonathan, Michelle “Big Red” King is a class act who has mastered the ability to harmonize. She possesses a powerful voice…

Dr. Faith Azelia Harding leaves behind a legacy of impressive political accomplishments and passionate advocacy. A former Minister and PNCR’s first female presidential candidate, Dr. Harding was one of Guyana’s leading political advocate for issues affecting women and children. Born on October 5, 1947 in Georgetown, Guyana to Egbert and Beryl Blackmore, she was the sixth child of a very closely knitted family which consist of three brothers and three sisters. Dr. Harding attended St….

Communication Power and Change in the Caribbean takes a fascinating, holistic, multi-level actor-oriented approach to examining social change in two Caribbean countries. Paloma Mohamed evaluates the power of various communicative artefacts produced by various strata in those societies, investigating what constitutes this power, how it is used, how it is maintained and whose interests are served. The result is a richly researched, deeply thoughtful and passionately argued case for placing communication at the core of…

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…

Judith Zoe Cadore is a proud Houstonian of Guyanese and Grenadian descent. The 26-year-old attorney holds a B.A. from Spelman College & a J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center (UHLC). Zoe was crowned Miss Houston in 2013 and represented the city at the Miss Texas Pageant where she received awards for talent, interview and community service. Her many accomplishments include the UHLC Faculty Distinguished Service Award, being published in the Harvard Journal of…