In 1958, Martha Ruby Holland (nee Nicholson) founded the first Ruby Holland School of Music in British Guiana, South America. She was an avid believer in music education and the art. She believed that everyone possessed creative talent and spent her life providing artistic opportunities for students regardless of their age, social standing or financial means. Martha’s approach to teaching music (the piano) was unique and quite enriching. She offered her students a rich array…
Guyanese, Tracey Lewis, of Engine 222 in Bedford-Stuyvesant Brooklyn has become the second black female in the department’s history to be promoted to Lieutenant. Lewis has been a firefighter for 17 years, starting off as a cadet in 1997. She was an emergency medical technician before joining Engine 222. “You encounter resistance every day, but I can’t let that stop me from going forward,” Lewis said during the promotion ceremony at the Christian Cultural…
“Women are going to form a chain, a greater sisterhood than the world has ever known.” ― Nellie L. McClung.
Leona Lewis was born on April 3, 1985 in the London Borough of Islington , to Aural Josiah “Joe” Lewis, a youth worker from Guyana and Maria Lewis, a British social worker of Welsh, Italian and Irish descent. A multi-platinum selling artist and three-time Grammy Award nominee, Lewis’s most successful single, “Bleeding Love”, reached number one in over 30 countries around the world, and was the best-selling single worldwide in 2008. She was proclaimed ‘Top…
Rashada Harry is the Founder of Your Future Your Ambition, a social enterprise she created in 2012, which aims to encourage people from Black, Asian and Ethnic Minority backgrounds into Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) related careers. Since its launch 6 years ago over 4500 students have attended the YFYA annual event. The social enterprise has been recognized for its excellence and the directors as leaders and role models in STEM. Rashada was motivated to…
Dr. Michelle Mickle Foster has been the President and CEO of The Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation, in West Virginia, since February 2016. Prior to this position, she served as the CEO of the Kanawha Institute for Social Research & Action, Inc. (KISRA) for 17-1/2 years. She developed all of KISRA’s 13 major programs that are in the areas of Health, Employment, Asset Development and Learning. Michelle was born in Guyana, the oldest child of three….
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…
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…
Nyack College’s 2015 Valedictorian: From Guyana to Morgan Stanley Nyack College’s 2015 Valedictorian: From Guyana to Morgan Stanley
Joy-Ann (“Joy”) Reid is the former managing editor of TheGrio.com and host of the AM Joy show on MSNBC. She is also a political columnist for the Miami Herald and editor of the political blog The Reid Report and is known for her very insightful and liberal political views. Joy was born to an African father from the Congo, and her late mother was from Guyana. Joy has also worked as an Internet news editor…
On Sept. 9 in a lavish ceremony in Temple Hills, Maryland, Guyanese Ariana Austin married Prince Joel Makonnen who is the great-grandson of Haile Selassie, the last emperor of Ethiopia. Mr. Makonnen, known as Prince Yoel, is the 35-year-old great-grandson of Haile Selassie, the last emperor of Ethiopia. Ms. Austin, 33, is of African-American and Guyanese descent; her maternal grandfather was a lord mayor of Georgetown, the capital of Guyana. · Their marriage had been…
Former Miss Guyana World, Guyana Universe, Miss United Nations and Miss Jamzone International Soyini Fraser will take to the stage once again, this time to represent Guyana at the Miss Grand International Pageant 2015 to be held in Bangkok, Thailand on Sunday, October 25. The third edition of the Miss Grand International will see delegates from around the world assembling to compete fiercely in the world renowned pageant. Fraser, who is no stranger to pageantry,…
As a highly successful voters’ rights lawyer in the US, Marcia is able to help thousands of persons, particularly minorities, through her work and hopes to replicate her successes in Guyana. Now 46 years old, Marcia lives in Washington D.C. with her husband and two daughters. Though she has lived in America for more than three decades, Marcia said that she had never forgotten her roots. Promoting democratic rights in Guyana and beyond…Lawyer Marcia Johnson-Blanco…
Bishops: My Turbulent Colonial Youth More books by Mona Williams: Her list of books include: How we made a colour television show (1973); The turtle who longed to be a bird (1973); Christmas in Guyana (1974); The day I swam the river (1974); How the goat lost his voice (1974); Old Medicine (1974); The ant who refused titles (1975); Granny (1975); Father Martin Heale (1975); Old Bell (1975); When I went to the pictures (1975);…
Navigators Travel to Guyana gives a taste of what Guyana has to offer to its readers, and it is the follow up to Navigators Travel to Barbados written by Howard Liverpool. This time our intrepid explorers travel to Guyana and learn about the history and geography of the country. They also sample some of the local cuisine and have a scary encounter with a ram sheep. It’s a children’s book geared to kids from ages…