Tallawah is not an appropriation of any other culture but Jamaica. It is a testament to who and what underlies a vibrant Caribbean history. Tallawah, tallawah, TALLAWAH!
TALLAWAH: “1. Sturdy, strong, not to be underestimated; tough, stubborn.”Dictionary of Jamaican English; second edition edited by F. G. Cassidy and R. B. LePage; Cambridge University Press 1967, 1980; page 436.
ALTHOUGH Chris Gayle’s Jamaica Tallawahs are aptly named, Jamaica’s historical performance in the IAAF World Championships demonstrates the essence of the word tallawah. This uniquely Jamaican word depicts an individual of small stature exhibiting prowess way beyond his/her size, and one who must never be underestimated.
With the 15th World Championships only days away, we can reflect on the rich past of little Jamaica in this world event and recognise that our track stars — and, of course, cricketers — have given Jamaica and Jamaicans a stellar reputation. Look at Jamaica’s performance compared to the approximately 200 countries and 2,000 athletes that attend this biennial event which started in 1983.
The aim of the summit is to bring together the island states of the Caribbean, including the French Departments in the Americas. These territories are particularly vulnerable to climate change and sea level rise, which place their sustainable development at serious risk. There are historic and socio economic factors that have led to increasing greenhouse gas concentrations. Caribbean small island developing states are among the most highly exposed to the risks of climate change.
‘The Caribbean contributes a mere 0.3 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, it bears the brunt of impacts related to climate change. The populations of territories in the region are already forced to adapt to the consequences on their daily lives, change their behaviours and rethink their traditions to deal with it”, according to the Conference journal.
Dr. Hull praised Dr. Harris for demonstrating a deep and broad understanding of the complexities of the fiscal challenges facing St.Kitts-Nevis and declared that the future of the federation is in good hands with Team UNITY .
“He was passionate in his presentation. He has clearly benefited from his longevity of service and it shows in his presentation. His ability to confront head-on the questions raised from the floor was, in each instance, smack on the money,” said Hull on Dr. Harris
“We have two friends that are in conflict and we say, peace. Peaceful co-existence. That is a policy stand that can withstand all of history. That is a policy stand that is consistent with our own membership in the United Nations, which speaks to peace, non-interference in the affairs of other countries save in very exceptional circumstances, and our policy position is consistent with our commitment to the OAS…democratic charter signed in 2011, and consistent with the view that within the system of the OAS there is a mechanism for treating…issues of human rights.”
Ex-Anchorwoman Charlo Greene (Charlene Egbe) for KTVA celebrates her work with Alaska winning the fight to legalized marijuana for recreational use. Greene’s business, The Alaska Cannabis Club, served as the only clearinghouse connecting Alaskan medical marijuana card holders with legal suppliers. Legalizing recreational marijuana in her state not only boosts her business, but lowers the stats for those imprisoned for non-violent crimes in America.
Women of Power organizations, clubs, and seminars draw hundreds of women, yet no one celebrated Charlo Greene’s explosive on the air exit from her KTVA Anchorwoman position except the media. Greene’s choosing her business over profitable employment should empower many women — and men to consider free enterprise. The November 5, 2014 Huffington Post article goes more into detail about what this means to Alaskan politics. Enjoy and a hearty Congratulations, Charlo Greene. #OYRchallenge
Charlo Green quits, September 22, 2014 video:
“Honestly I don’t even know what to say right now aside from the fact that we just made history,” Greene said in a video posted to her Facebook page early Wednesday morning. “It’s a fact. We just made history for doing a good thing. Congratulations.
She’s humble. Very humble. When asked about her writing process, Kincaid said it changes with every book: “I don’t really have a standard. I’m not really a professional anything, a professional teacher or a professional writer. I suppose I’m a professional breather of oxygen.”
She doesn’t like taking life too seriously. “I’ve never thought of myself as having a profession because then I’d have to take life really seriously,” she said. “I hate taking life seriously, because there’s time enough for seriousness. What is death if not serious, and that seems to last forever.”
She saves her nice side for students. When Henry Louis Gates Jr. asked Kincaid to teach at Harvard, where she’s taught since 1992, she said had “never really thought of doing it before” and didn’t feel particularly drawn to it.
However, she says she enjoys it: “It forces me to be kind and to be in a very present state of mind. Writing requires its opposite — it requires no kindness or consideration of others. It forces me to be a nice person.”
Bibliography
List of works from Wikipedia Novels Annie John (1985) Lucy (1990) The Autobiography of My Mother (1995) Mr.Potter (2002) See Now Then (2013) Uncollected fiction
“Ovando” (1989), Conjunctions 14: 75-83
“The Finishing Line” (1990), New York Times Book Review 18
“Biography of a Dress” (1992), Grand Street 11: 92-100
“Song of Roland” (1993), The New Yorker 69: 94-98
“Xuela” (1994), The New Yorker, 70: 82-92 Short story collections
At the Bottom of the River (1983) Nonfiction Books A Small Place (1988) My Brother (1997) Talk Stories (2001) My Garden Book (2001) Among Flowers: A Walk in the Himalayas (2005) Uncollected nonfiction
“Antigua Crossings: A Deep and Blue Passage on the Caribbean Sea“(1978) Rolling Stone: 48-50.
“Figures in the Distance” (1983)
“On Seeing England for the First Time” (1991), Transition Magazine 51: 32-40
“Out of Kenya” (1991) New York Times: A15, A19, with Ellen Pall
“Flowers of Evil: In the Garden” (1992) The New Yorker 68: 154-159
“A Fire by Ice” (1993) The New Yorker 69: 64-67
“Just Reading: In the Garden” (1993) The New Yorker 69: 51-55
“Alien Soil: In the Garden” (1993) The New Yorker 69: 47-52
“This Other Eden” (1993) The New Yorker 69: 69-73
“The Season Past: In the Garden” (1994) The New Yorker 70: 57-61
“In Roseau” (1995) The New Yorker 71: 92-99.
“In History” (1997), The Colors of Nature My Favorite Plant: Writers and Gardeners on the Plants they Love (1998), Editor Children’s Literature
Annie, Gwen, Lilly, Pam, and Tulip (1986) Interviews
Selwyn Cudjoe, “Jamaica Kincaid and the Modernist Project: An Interview,” Callaloo, 12 (Spring 1989): 396-411; reprinted in Caribbean Women Writers: Essays from the First International Conference, ed. Cudjoe (Wellesley, Mass.: Calaloux, 1990): 215-231.
Leslie Garis, “Through West Indian Eyes,” New York Times Magazine (7 October 1990): 42.
Donna Perry, “An Interview with Jamaica Kincaid,” in Reading Black, Reading Feminist: A Critical Anthology, edited by Henry Louis Gates Jr. (New York: Meridian, 1990): 492-510.
Kay Bonetti, “An Interview with Jamaica Kincaid,” Missouri Review, 15, No. 2 (1992): 124-142.
Allan Vorda, “I Come from a Place That’s Very Unreal: An Interview with Jamaica Kincaid,” in Face to Face: Interviews with Contemporary Novelists, ed. Vorda (Houston: Rice University Press, 1993): 77-105.
Moira Ferguson, “A Lot of Memory: An Interview with Jamaica Kincaid,” Kenyon Review, 16 (Winter 1994): 163-188. Awards and honors
1984 Morton Dauwen Zabel Award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters for At the Bottom of the River
1984 Shortlisted for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction for At the Bottom of the River 1984.
1985 Guggenheim Award for Fiction
1985 Finalist for the International Ritz Paris Hemingway Award for Annie John
1997 Shortlisted for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction for The Autobiography of My Mother
1997 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for The Autobiography of My Mother
1999 Lannan Literary Award for Fiction
2000 Prix Femina Étranger for My Brother
2004 American Academy of Arts and Letters
2009 American Academy of Arts and Sciences
2010 Center for Fiction’s Clifton Fadiman Medal for Annie John
2011 Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Tufts University
2014 Before Columbus Foundation American Book Award for See Now Then Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Award.
Many, many Congratulations to Edwidge Danticat on receiving her Honorary Doctorate from Brooklyn College, NY. This woman interwove the stories of Haitian immigrants and their journeys through settlements in New York. A favorite quote from her non-fiction, “Brother, I’m Dying” exemplifies the entirety of the immigrant experience, straddling two lives with one breath:
“It’s not easy to start over in a new place,’ he said. ‘Exile is not for everyone. Someone has to stay behind, to receive the letters and greet family members when they come back.”
― Edwidge Danticat, Brother, I’m Dying”
Today, Brother, I’m Dying became the first nonfiction book to join the Big Read library, and will be available for communities applying for a 2015-16 Big Read grant. Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, the book tells the story of Danticat’s family, and their journey from Haiti to the United States. Danticat herself came to the U.S. at age 12, joining her parents after years of being raised by an uncle. Danticat’s poignant family saga is entwined with Haiti’s civil war and contemporary immigration issues, making the book as much about history as it is about heartbreak, tradition, and courage.
This is what happens when bookish black women start talking about good literature on a lazy holiday weekday. I asked folks on 