“To remind you of life” | On Caribbean resilience By Nicholas Laughlin | Caribbean Resilience (1 May 2020) A note to our readers from editor Nicholas Laughlin, as we present our first specially curated online-only edition of Caribbean Beat
Roger Robinson: A Portable Paradise | The Read By Caribbean Beat | Caribbean Resilience (1 May 2020) Delving with equal insight into pleasure and sorrow, Robinson argues that “earthly joy is, or ought to be, just within, but is often just beyond our reach.”
Kelly Sinnapah Mary: Riddles of survival | Portfolio By Shereen Ali | Issue 159 (September/October 2019), Caribbean Resilience (1 May 2020) Working across mediums, Guadeloupean artist Kelly Sinnapah Mary creates images with a fairytale quality, mingling cruelty and enchantment, as she explores postcolonial dilemmas and the resistance of self-invention, writes Shereen Ann Ali
The war after the war | On this day By James Ferguson | Caribbean Resilience (1 May 2020), Issue 154 (November/December 2018) Thousands of men from the British West Indies enlisted in the armed forces during the First World War, playing a crucial but often thankless role in the Allied victory. And when the fighting was over, another struggle for respect and recognition began — feeding a new wave of self-determination in the Caribbean. James Ferguson remembers the events of a century ago that set it all in motion
Donna Symmonds: “what she know about cricket?” By Georgia Popplewell | Issue 42 (March/April 2000), Caribbean Resilience (1 May 2020) She’s Barbadian. An attorney-at-law. A cricket commentator for the past 14 years. She is Donna Symmonds, the first woman to successfully breach the hallowed walls of the commentary box. Georgia Popplewell reports
The Merikins: heroes of the forgotten war By Judy Raymond | Caribbean Resilience (1 May 2020), Issue 140 (July/August 2016) Two hundred years ago, a group of free black veterans of the War of 1812 arrived in Trinidad. In the island’s deep south, the villages they founded still preserve the traditions of the “Merikins,” as writer Judy Raymond and photographer Marlon Rouse discover — and still have much to teach their fellow citizens
A simple man By Caribbean Beat | Caribbean Resilience (1 May 2020), Issue 54 (March/April 2002) A short story by Irma Rambaran
Sapto Sopawiro: man of shadows By Chandra van Binnendijk | Caribbean Resilience (1 May 2020), Issue 132 (March/April 2015) The ancient shadow-puppet theatre of Java, known as wayang, was brought to Suriname in the nineteenth century — and survives thanks to the efforts of dalang Sapto Sopawiro. Chandra van Binnendijk meets the master
Karen de Souza and (Red) Threads that bind By Lisa Allen-Agostini | Caribbean Resilience (1 May 2020), Issue 130 (November/December 2014) The Guyanese advocacy group Red Thread began in 1986 to help women at a time of economic problems. Thirty years later, the collective is a major force in the region advocating for the rights of women and young people. Lisa Allen-Agostini talks to co-founder Karen de Souza and learns about the power of grassroots activism
Andy Palacio: bard of the Garifuna goes home By Simon Lee | Issue 91 (May/June 2008), Caribbean Resilience (1 May 2020) Andy Palacio died at the peak of his career. Simon Lee traces the life of the Belizean world music star
Staceyann Chin: “I have walked long hard roads to get here” By Caroline Taylor | Caribbean Resilience (1 May 2020), Issue 90 (March/April 2008) Jamaican poet Staceyann Chin tells Caroline Taylor about her harrowing journey to fame
Tracking Anansi By Emily Zobel Marshall | Caribbean Resilience (1 May 2020), Issue 88 (November/December 2007) Emily Zobel Marshall finds Anansi, the star of Caribbean folktales, among the Maroons of Jamaica
Running commentary By Kellie Magnus | Caribbean Resilience (1 May 2020), Issue 156 (March/April 2019), Issue 78 (March/April 2006) Kellie Magnus used to run with headphones on. Back in Jamaica, she discovers a whole new soundtrack
Cold comfort By Pam Mordecai | Caribbean Resilience (1 May 2020), Issue 66 (March/April 2004) “Is three hard thing to be in this place — a woman that’s black, and that’s old.” A short story by Pam Mordecai
Going Ramayn in Trinidad By Niala Maharaj | Caribbean Resilience (1 May 2020), Issue 42 (March/April 2000) Niala Maharaj on a traditional Trinidad therapy - the musical rendition of a sacred Hindu test, the Ramayana
Why Warri By Valerie Jones | Caribbean Resilience (1 May 2020), Issue 6 (Summer 1993) Rooted in Africa, warri is a board game of fiendish complexity, and is still played in Barbados and Antigua. Meet the last of the warriors
The People Before Columbus By Kim Johnson | Issue 3 (Autumn 1992), Caribbean Resilience (1 May 2020) Kim Johnson goes in search of the people who lived in the Caribbean before Columbus' caravels sailed over the eastern horizon
