Dawnn Lewis is a popular actress and singer, perhaps best known for her roles on sitcoms such as A Different World and Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper. She was born on August 13, 1961 in Brooklyn, New York, to Guyanese parents Joyce and Carl Lewis. She attended the High School of Music & Art and graduated at age 16. After high school, Dawnn went on to the University of Miami where she graduated Magna Cum Laude. Career: Dawnn made…
Meet Our Sheroes
In 2004 Maritza Correia McClendon made history when she became the first Black woman to earn a place on the U.S. Olympic Swim Team. She helped to secure the silver medal in the 400-meter freestyle relay at the Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. Maritza was born on December 23, 1981 in San Juan, Puerto Rico to Guyanese parent, Vincent and Anne Correia. In 1988, when Maritza was seven years old, she was diagnosed with severe scoliosis which is…
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…
Today Guyana and other countries around the world celebrates Remembrance Day. Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day or Armistice Day) is commemorated on the 11th November each year, and marks the end of World War I in 1918. Hostilities formally ended “at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month,” in accordance with the Armistice, signed by representatives of Germany and the Entente between 5:12 and 5:20 that morning. (“At the…
Lady Sara Lou Carter, nee Harris was an educator, fashion model, entertainer and humanitarian, born in Wilkesboro, North Carolina in 1926. She married Guyanese Sir John Carter in 1960, after meeting him in 1958 when she visited Guyana to participate in a fashion show. A graduate of Bennett College in North Carolina, Lady Sara taught third grade in her hometown of Wilkesboro, NC for a year. Sara went on to pursue her master’s degree…
Reigning from Guyana, Samantha “Storm” Boyce is living up to her name and taking this industry by “Storm”. Transition from modeling, Storm vigorously worked on her craft as a makeup artist, and through different events and photo shoots, was able to gain a vast amount of experience; which afforded her an opportunity to work with M.A.C. Cosmetics. The invaluable experience she gained while working for the company allowed her to fully launch her makeup career. Storm has…
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…