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Posts tagged as “Jamaica”

African Art to Shine at Miami’s Art Basel December 6-9

By goodblacknews on December 1, 2012

Mickalene Thomas: Qusuquzah, Une Trés Belle Négresse 2, part of the 2012 Art Basel

The 11th annual art carnival known as Art Basel Miami Beach is set to kick off next week and will feature Art Africa Miami as its cultural hub. The Miami Beach Convention Center will be hosting the showcase for more than 50 contemporary artists from the global African Diaspora from Dec. 6 to 9.  Typically, Art Basel (which was founded in 1970) pulls from more than 250 leading art galleries from the U.S., Canada, Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia, exhibiting modern artworks by more than 2,000 artists. Until 2011, when Neil Hall — owner of TheUrbanCollective’s Art Africa Miami — stepped in, the main show hadn’t had black galleries represented.

Allyson Felix and Usain Bolt Win IAAF Athlete of the Year Awards

By goodblacknews on November 25, 2012
Allyson Felix and Usain Bolt

Olympic gold medallists Usain Bolt and Allyson Felix have won the male and female athlete of the year awards.  Both athletes were honored by the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) at a ceremony in Barcelona on Saturday.  Jamaican Bolt, who retained his 100m and 200m titles in the London Olympics, is the first man to win the award four times  Felix won three gold medals and claimed the award ahead of Britain’s Jessica Ennis, who was on the shortlist.

Snoop Dogg Launches Food Initiative in Jamaica

By goodblacknews on November 15, 2012
Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg is connecting with Jamaica. The music star has announced a partnership with Reed’s Ginger Brew to aid the Mind Gardens Project, his latest non-profit initiative to create sustainable, organic community gardens. The gardens will provide fresh fruits and vegetables to children in Jamaica.

“When I went to Jamaica, we took time to visit these communities in Kingston, and I was deeply affected by the poverty and lack of good food available to the children,” revealed Snoop in a written statement. “No child should go hungry. After all the inspiration Jamaica had provided me, I felt compelled to create a program to give back to the community.”

The project has already begun work in Kingston affecting two major communities, Trench Town and Tivoli Gardens. To find out more about the initiative, visit MindGardens.org or Causes.com/MindGardens.

article by Arielle Loren via bet.com

Harvard Professor Karine Gibbs Wins $875,000 Packard Fellowship

By goodblacknews on November 2, 2012

In 1988 the Packard Foundation established the Fellowships for Science and Engineering. The goal was to allow some of the nation’s most promising young scientists to pursue their work without the worry of financing their work.

Now each year 16 fellows are selected from 50 major research universities. Each fellow receives a total of $875,000 over the ensuing five years. To be eligible, faculty members must be in the first three years of their academic careers in the fields of physics, astronomy, chemistry, mathematics, biology, computer science, earth science, ocean science, or in any field of engineering. There are no restrictions on how the fellows use their funds to compliment their research. Since 1988, more than 400 faculty members have become Packard Fellows, receiving more than $230 million in grants.

Karine A. Gibbs, an assistant professor of molecular and cellular biology at Harvard University, is one of the 16 Packard Fellows this year. Her research focuses on identifying the mechanisms underlying self-recognition in the bacterium Proteus mirabilis.

A native of Jamaica, Dr. Gibbs was raised in Baltimore. She is a graduate of Harvard University and holds a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from Stanford University.

article via jbhe.com

Harlem Renaissance Novel By Claude McKay Is Found

By goodblacknews on September 15, 2012

Author Claude McKay in the 1920s.

A Columbia graduate student and his adviser have authenticated the student’s discovery of an unknown manuscript of a 1941 novel by Claude McKay, a leading Harlem Renaissance writer and author of the first novel by a black American to become a best seller.  The manuscript, “Amiable With Big Teeth: A Novel of the Love Affair Between the Communists and the Poor Black Sheep of Harlem,” was discovered in a previously untouched university archive and offers an unusual window on the ideas and events (like Mussolini’s invasion of Ethiopia) that animated Harlem on the cusp of World War II. The two scholars have received permission from the McKay estate to publish the novel, a satire set in 1936, with an introduction about how it was found and its provenance verified.

First Listen: 'Out Of Many: 50 Years Of Reggae Music' : NPR

By goodblacknews on July 26, 2012

Gregory Issacs

The concept of the compilation Out of Many: 50 Years of Reggae Music is simple. 50 years ago, Jamaica won independence from the British-ruled West Indies Federation. Around that same time, popular music in Jamaica began solidifying into some of the many sounds we now think of as reggae. Out of Many tells those two stories in parallel, with one song selected to represent the sound of each year from 1962 to 2012.

First Listen: ‘Out Of Many: 50 Years Of Reggae Music’ : NPR

By goodblacknews on July 26, 2012

Gregory Issacs

The concept of the compilation Out of Many: 50 Years of Reggae Music is simple. 50 years ago, Jamaica won independence from the British-ruled West Indies Federation. Around that same time, popular music in Jamaica began solidifying into some of the many sounds we now think of as reggae. Out of Many tells those two stories in parallel, with one song selected to represent the sound of each year from 1962 to 2012.

82-year-old Jacquie ‘Tajah’ Murdock Is Star of Lanvin’s ‘Real People’ Campaign

By goodblacknews on July 26, 2012

82-year-old Jacquie ‘Tajah’ Murdock  Photo: Steven Meisel
The Lanvin fashion line has cast real people instead of professional models in the French label’s autumn and winter 2012 campaigns. Several pictures have surfaced of the spreads, but the one generating the most buzz features 82-year-old Jacquie “Tajah” Murdock, a black model of Jamaican decent.