Island Soul City Dreams

I reflect. I analyze. I speak my mind. ~ I Keep it Irie ~

Archive for the tag “I Keep it Irie”

28 Mar 2012

My Little Track Star

My nephew Nicholai, the third fastest Under-11 boy in Barbados.

In a recent post, I spoke about the handwritten letter my nephew, Nicholai wrote to me from Barbados. I’m still over the moon about that. Then today, one of my best friends from back home sent me a photograph via WhatsApp. I am here beaming as I relive that euphoric moment of seeing a snapshot of Nicholai from today’s Nation’s newspaper. I am incredibly proud of him and because I could not help myself, I beg your indulgence as I share this moment with you. After success at his school sports, Nicholai competed in the zone events where he qualified for the semi-finals of the National Primary Schools Athletics Championship (NAPSAC). He made it to the finals in the 100m, 200m, 400m and team 400X100m, placing third in the 100m and second in the 400m at the Barbados National Stadium. His performances earned him an overall second place in the Under 11-boys at NAPSAC. This accomplishment came a mere two weeks after he celebrated his 10th birthday! Congratulations to Nicholai!:-)

~ I Keep it Irie ~

Posted in Roots & Culture, Sugarcane Sentiments and tagged Barbados National Stadium, Barbados Primary School Sports, Barbados Track and Field, I Keep it Irie, Maquita Peters, NAPSAC, NAPSAC Barbados, National Primary Schools Athletics Championship (NAPSAC)

25 Mar 2012

6 Comments

Freshly-Baked Homemade Bread, Anyone?

Bajan salt bread hot out the oven.

It is rare for me to buy bread. Not because I don’t like it or as some folks would say, “I’m trying to not eat too much flour,” but because I bake my own bread. It is a family tradition dating back several generations. My maternal grandparents hail from lovely St. Vincent and the Grenadines, where unlike my homeland Barbados, it is commonplace for families to bake their own bread. All 11 of my grandparents’ children and their children bake bread. I grew up watching my mother make every type of Caribbean bread, cake, pastry etc, and her skills were so stellar, neighbors offered to pay her to bake. Baking thus became a key aspect of her livelihood. Mommy didn’t sell everything she baked though; she would often take some to church and share with members of the congregation, drop off a few by a friend’s house or call and invite them over for the freshly baked goodies. If that wasn’t enough, she’d cut me a handful of slices to take to school and share with my friends, and package some for my favorite teacher or the principal. Years later, when I started working as a reporter, she would send similar treats for my colleagues, many of whom became her loyal customers.

I can still remember my first time baking bread. Read more…

Posted in Roots & Culture and tagged Bajan Salt bread, Caribbean Baking in Brooklyn, Caribbean Breakfast, Caribbean Cuisine, Caribbean Diaspora in New York City, Caribbean Doughboy, Caribbean Homemade Bread, Caribbean Johnny Cake, Coconut Bread, Doughboy and saltfish, I Keep it Irie, Maquita Peters, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Vincent Doughboy

23 Mar 2012

15 Comments

I Got Mail – A Handwritten Letter!

Dear Aunty: A handwritten letter from my nephew, Nicholai.

As I do most days, as usual, I got mail today. But it wasn’t the usual mail. Okay, maybe my Verizon mobile bill was part of the usual mail, as was the alumni correspondence from grad school, but the “via air mail” envelope with a postage stamp from Barbados – that was definitely unusual. Breaking the seal, I opened far more sunshine than beautiful Barbados boasts in its 365-day-a-year of sea and sun. I opened a handwritten letter from Nicholai, my 10 year-old nephew. The first thing that grabbed my attention was his impeccable penmanship. From the carefully poised address and date in the upper right corner, to his salutation, “Dear Aunty,” to his endearing sentiments and descriptive storytelling, I marveled at Nicholai’s expertise with ink. But what impressed me most was the clarity with which he expressed his feelings and his command of the English language: grammar, syntax, punctuation etc. In this digital era where crafting thoughts can now be encapsulated in tweets of 140 characters via a computer, tablet or mobile device, these skills exhibited by Nicholai and in particular, the handwritten letter are almost seen as a dying art. Read more…

Posted in Roots & Culture and tagged Bridgetown Barbados, Handwritten letter, I Keep it Irie, Jul-Be-Art Interiors, Jul-Be-Art Interiors Barbados, Julie Benn, Life in New York, Maquita Peters, Penmanship, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, The art of the handwritten letter, The Barbershop Barbados, Trinidad, Via Air Mail

19 Mar 2012

Trayvon: Oh Jah, How Many More?

Trayvon Martin

I am about to sign a petition. But first I want to say why. In a few minutes, when I have finished writing this, I am going to support ColorOfChange.org in asking the Department of Justice to arrest George Zimmerman for killing Trayvon Martin. It is a petition that also calls for an investigation of the Sanford, Florida Police for misconduct in handling the matter.

Since Trayvon’s tragic shooting on February 26, I resisted writing about it because I think I write too much about death; well at least on this page. But this is not just a story about death; this is nothing short of a cold-blooded murder. And there should be justice. Read more…

Posted in Roots & Culture and tagged Civil Rights, ColorOfChange.org, George Zimmerman, I Keep it Irie, Justice, Justice For TrayvonMartin, Maquita Peters, Sanford Police, TrayVon Martin | Leave a comment

13 Mar 2012

6 Comments

What’s The Big Sucking Deal?

My mother told me that I stopped “wetting the bed” when I was about nine months old. Apparently, I was so disgusted by the feel of damp pampers, that as soon as I “had to go” I cried up a storm. To this day, mommy swears no other baby was potty trained faster than her first-born daughter. But it would take her almost another year to wean me off breastfeeding. Apparently, I made up for all the time she didn’t have to change my diapers by clinging to her bosom for far longer than she would have hoped. From the stories she and other relatives have told me, I consumed enough breast milk to render me an addict. With such over indulgence, it’s a wonder I’m not now among the 75 percent of black adults in the US who are lactose intolerant.

My mother stopped breastfeeding me well over three decades ago and she proudly recalls that she often did so in public – just like millions of women throughout history. It is a natural occurrence I see whenever I’m back home in the Caribbean and even here in Brooklyn. I mean, what is so unnatural about a healthy lactating mother feeding her baby the milk her body created for that purpose? Read more…

Posted in Roots & Culture and tagged Beyonce and Blue Ivy, Beyonce breastfeeding Blue Ivy, Beyonce breastfeeding in public, Black women and breastfeeding, I Keep it Irie, Maquita Peters

14 Feb 2012

9 Comments

A Valentine Tribute – Whitney, I Will Always Love You

Whitney Houston

I have never been one to celebrate Valentine’s Day. And no, it’s not because I am jaded about love. My four long-term romantic relationships total about 16 years and were for the most, filled with unconditional love and beautiful lasting memories. Yet, I never get fussy about February 14. When anyone asks why, I’ve always tried to justify my lack of enthusiasm by saying, I’m so constantly showered with love, I don’t need a holiday to commemorate it. Corny, I know, but that’s how I feel. But I get why people are excited about celebrating their love on V-Day. And I don’t think these celebrations are or should be limited to romantic connections.

My fondest V-Day memory is actually from when I was 16 years old and still in secondary school. I was class prefect for some junior students, who on the one hand adored me for my jovial nature and on the other hand “feared” me for being a strict disciplinarian. I was also well-regarded for my punctuality; I’d arrive daily to school about 90 minutes early. On Valentine’s Day that year, I got there at my usual time and standing on the steps by the main entrance were about 12 little boys holding single-stemmed red roses. They were waiting for me. Each handed me a rose as I walked in and one of them, Neil – my colleague in the school’s choir, serenaded me. He knew it was one of my favorite songs and at the time, an anthem for many of us – “The Greatest Love of All” by Whitney Houston. That day, like so many others in my teenage and young adult years was made all the more special because Whitney was part of it. Today, like millions of fans around the world, I mourn her death. Anyone who knows me, knows that I loved Whitney and her music. So for once, I am celebrating Valentine’s Day; I’m celebrating my love for Whitney Houston. Read more…

Posted in Roots & Culture, Sugarcane Sentiments and tagged Celebrating Whitney Houston, I Keep it Irie, Maquita Peters, Valentine's Day, Whitney Houston, Whitney Houston I Will Always Love You, Whitney Houston The Star Spangled Banner

30 Jan 2012

The Anniversary of My 25th Birthday – The Sequel

Ever since I turned 25 (about a decade or so ago), I have been in denial about aging. For sure, I am grateful for life and every year as January turns, I get excited about not just new beginnings, or the uncertainties that lie ahead, but about the celebration of my birthday at month-end. My birthday is made all the more special because I share it with my younger sister, Sancia. No other birthday gift has been able to surpass that beautiful bundle of joy my mom brought into my life the day I turned four. That was a long time ago. Still, because I don’t feel a day over 25, I started calling my annual birthday celebration, “The Anniversary of My 25th Birthday.” This year, I added to that “The Sequel.” But having recently watched an episode of The Dr. OZ Show where he said that it doesn’t matter how old a woman feels, her eggs are still getting older, I got into a slight state of panic. Here I am 10 years (or so) after my 25th birthday and I am still unmarried, still childless and still having a hard time accepting that I’m getting old. Read more…

Posted in Roots & Culture and tagged Accra Beach Barbados, Approaching 40, Barbados, Caribbean, Celebrating My Birthday, Concerns About Aging, For I know The Plans, I Keep it Irie, Maquita Peters, Rockley Beach, Self Love | Leave a comment

07 Dec 2011

The NYPD Misbehaved at The West Indian Day Parade; So Did We. But Was Our Behavior Worth Their Horrific FB Rants?

I’m a proud West Indian. But if I were a member of the New York Police Department, just like many of the officers cited in the now controversial Facebook group, “No More West Indian Day Detail,” I wouldn’t want to work at the West Indian American Day Parade either.

For several years now, New York has been my home, but anyone who knows me has little, if any doubt about my loyalty to my West Indian heritage. I’m perennially waving the blue, yellow and black colours (with a “u”) of my beautiful homeland Barbados. And while I never let anyone forget it’s “Barbados uh come from,” I’m just as vocal in promoting the fact that I’m a bit of what we in the Caribbean call a “callaloo” – the offspring of a Vincentian mother and a Trinidadian father. With that and having lived on three islands in our region, I relish the title “Caribbean woman.”

Yes, I was bred and born in the Caribbean. It’s there I learned about and practiced using the Oxford comma. It’s there I climbed every imaginable tropical fruit tree from mango to coconut. There I had my first kiss and my first heartbreak. It’s in the Caribbean I ran through deep gullies, played cricket on country roads, football (soccer) on lofty green pastures, soaked for countless carefree hours in crystal clear sea waters and basked under golden sunlight on white sand beaches.

My favourite food to cook and eat is Caribbean cuisine. My favourite genres of music are Caribbean: reggae; soca; calypso. And equally musical are my favourite accents – Caribbean. Even my favourite type of man is Caribbean. Everything synonymous with the culture of that chain of islands to the south and west of the North Atlantic Ocean is deeply imbedded in me. I love the Caribbean: our lands, our traditions, our people.

Me at the West Indian American Day Parade 2011

With this type of unconditional love, one can understand that I would always be ready to defend my people no matter where I roam. It’s hard when living in New York, not to adapt to the way of life here, but I’ve tried as much as possible to keep a firm grasp on my Caribbean roots. One key aspect of that is the annual West Indian Carnival – a fixture on my calendar. Read more…

Posted in Roots & Culture and tagged I Keep it Irie, Maquita Peters, NYPD Facebook Rant, NYPD FB Rantings, NYPD Rants West Indian Day Parade, NYPD West Indian Day Parade, West Indian Day Parade 2011, West Indian Day Parade Labor Day 2011 | Leave a comment

29 Nov 2011

14 Comments

Stop Asking Me Foolish Ish Bout My Dreadlocks

Month six of my dreadlocks fall 2003.

I’ve been growing my dreadlocks for the past eight years. I say dreadlocks, because to me they’re more than a hairstyle or some fad being embraced by a particular new wave of black women who are sporting natural tresses as the “in-thing.” My dreadlocks are somehow entwined with my spirituality, my attitude, much of who I am. I’ve heard many women say they started locks because they were having problems with relaxed hair. That wasn’t the case for me. In the 12 years I wore my hair relaxed, I never had any issues. In fact, I’ve always had a healthy head of hair whether worn long or short.

I’d dreamt about having dreadlocks years before I would even begin the process. Read more…

Posted in Roots & Culture and tagged Barbados, Brooklyn, dreadlocks, I Keep it Irie, Maquita Peters, myths about dreadlocks, natural black hair, natural hairstyles, stupid questions about dreadlocks

27 Oct 2011

2 Comments

As Bajan As Yuh Could Get: Remembering David Thompson and Coucou & Flying Fish

David Thompson, late Prime Minister of Barbados.

Oct. 23, 2011 marked a year since my beautiful homeland Barbados lost our beloved Prime Minister David Thompson. I still find it hard to believe that he’s dead. I grew up watching Thompson, then a young politician and attorney-at-law and I fell in love with his oratorical skills, candour, humility and just plain brilliance. In time, at the age of 46, he became our sixth and youngest prime minister under a Democratic Labour Party government. Alas, Thompson never got to complete his task, as his death to pancreatic cancer came mid way through his five-year term. Read more…

Posted in Roots & Culture, Sugarcane Sentiments and tagged Barbados, Barbados Prime Minister David Thompson, Coucou and Flying Fish, David Thompson, I Keep it Irie, Maquita Peters

Island Soul City Dreams

I reflect. I analyze. I speak my mind. ~ I Keep it Irie ~

Archive for the tag “I Keep it Irie”

My Little Track Star

Freshly-Baked Homemade Bread, Anyone?

I Got Mail – A Handwritten Letter!

Trayvon: Oh Jah, How Many More?

What’s The Big Sucking Deal?

A Valentine Tribute – Whitney, I Will Always Love You

The Anniversary of My 25th Birthday – The Sequel

The NYPD Misbehaved at The West Indian Day Parade; So Did We. But Was Our Behavior Worth Their Horrific FB Rants?

Stop Asking Me Foolish Ish Bout My Dreadlocks

As Bajan As Yuh Could Get: Remembering David Thompson and Coucou & Flying Fish

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