Stay Calm, Be patient; Good Things take time…

Karen Gibson, a full time choir conductor and workshop leader, is a powerhouse of inspiration and energy. One of the UK’s most noted and experienced gospel tutors and facilitator, Karen has been involved with various orchestras, bands, vocal groups, worship teams and choirs for over 25 years.  She  has conducted gospel workshops all over the UK, Europe, Africa and USA and was recently nominated in the categories of Best Contribution to Gospel Music for the GMA’s and…

Maya A. Trotz, Ph.D., born in Georgetown, Guyana is an Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of South Florida (USF), Tampa. She works at the nexus of geochemistry/water quality and global/community sustainability and education with current and previous student research projects in Barbados, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Bolivia, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, and Peru. She currently holds a patent on “Functional composites formed from colloidal polymer particles with photocatalytic metal oxide nanoparticles.” Dr….

Female Officers of the Guyana Defence Force and the Guyana Police Force at the National Park on May 26, 2013 Source:  Stabroek News  – Photos by Arian Browne        .

A family that braids together stays together!  The braiding technique developed by the talented Smith sisters has made them a household name in Kansas City, Missouri and earned them a well-deserved feature in the May issue of Allure Magazine.  Originally from Linden, the five sisters (Glynnis, Shelly, Rhonda, Alecia and Leslyn Smith) are the powerhouse stylists at “Braid Heaven” Hair Salon who have perfected the “bubble braiding” technique.  Here’s their story by Allure Magazine. They…

Guyana’s Female Amateur Baseball Team recently competed in Halifax, Canada for the first 21U (21 and under) women’s invitational tournament.  The tournament, which was hosted by Halifax and Team Nova Scotia, ran from August 4th to August 8th and included teams from different regions in Canada (Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario, British Columbia), and Guyana.  Team Guyana was made of 15 players and 4 coaches.  See Scoreboard HERE.  Congratulations ladies, You Rock! This is the Team’s first time playing…

“Small Business Warrior” Tiffany Johnson wants to help businesses that are overlooked.”  Tiffany is a program manager helping small businesses grow on Amazon.com. She recently spearheaded a new Amazon initiative called the Black Business Accelerator, which provides access to capital, business guidance, mentorship, and marketing support to help Black business owners succeed as sellers in Amazon’s store.  “The role small businesses play in our society is very personal to me,” she said. The daughter of…

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…

UK-based Journalist and Life Skills Speaker,  Sherry Dixon, who we featured back in October 2012  (Sherry Dixon, admitted to Black 100+ Hall Of Fame), recently graced the cover of Nubia Magazine and discusses her life and work in the community. This G.G. was also one of the recipients of the 2013 Stephen Lawrence Women’s Award – named after the slain 18 year old black youth whose 1993 murder galvanized London and forced its criminal justice…

After downloading the app, repeatedly checking in and casting real-time votes, America (and Guyanese around the World) raised the Wall for twenty singers on Rising Star, and our own Lisa Punch is among the chosen few to perform tonight. For the next three weeks, each one-hour episode will showcase three duels. Two similarly-sounding singers will perform a solo of their choice — the first on the open stage, the second from behind the Wall — and whoever…

Recent medical school graduate, Topaz Sampson, is very close to accomplishing her dream of practicing Medicine. A New Amsterdam native, Topaz was part of the graduating Class of 2015 at Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine, and is scheduled to begin residency training at Baylor College of Medicine. While in medical school Topaz was appointed 2014 President of the Student National Medical Association (SNMA), the oldest and largest student-run organization focused on the needs and concerns…

Today children across the country engaged in many activities in celebration of National STEM/STEAM Day.  The focus of this designated day is to encourage students to explore and pursue interests in Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math, and D’Arcy Ortiz provides the perfect inspiration especially for young women. D’Arcy was born in Georgetown, Guyana and was raised by her mother, Yvette Irving, a Medical Laboratory Scientist, who worked with the Ministry of Health Guyana and later years…

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…

Meet Onika Noel, Molecular Biology Graduate/Medical Student at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA in Los Angeles, California. Onika was born in Georgetown, Guyana where she spent her childhood before moving to Brooklyn, New York.  Her interests in the sciences as a teen matured into a motivation to understand the mechanisms of human disease and the application of modern technology to advance treatment and diagnostics. Onika has been engaged in biomedical research as…

Earlier this month I had the pleasure of watching the young women of St. Albans Episcopal Church perform the Maypole dance at the annual Guyana Folk Festival held in Brooklyn, NY.   I remember doing this as a little girl growing up in Guyana dressed up in frilly dresses and socks with colorful hair bows, as we danced and weaved the ribbons to the sound of music. Watching this recreated many, many years later brought back sweet memories. A maypole is a tall…

Twenty five year old Rafieya Aasieya Husain was crowned Miss Universe-Guyana 2017 at the end of the first ever National Pageant to be held in the home of the Miss Universe Pageant. The former Miss World 2014 top eleven finishers and Queen of the Caribbean also romped of with the Most Elegant, Best Interview and Popularity side awards during the event held at York College Performing Arts Center in Queens, New York. Rafieya has been…