The Guyana Cultural Association, the umbrella organization of the Annual Folk Festival in Brooklyn, is calling for volunteers for its July 8 – Aug. 16, Summer Workshop Series, to kick-off its 2024 season, that will include several events in the borough. President, Ave Brewster Haynes told Caribbean Life recently, that as the organization prepares for another exciting folk festival season, the group is reaching out for volunteers. “We are reaching out to extend an invitation for your participation as volunteers. Your expertise, enthusiasm, and dedication would greatly contribute to the success ..read more

BRIC, which considers itself the leading Brooklyn-based leading arts and media institution, announced on Wednesday its 2024 festival lineup for the 46th annual BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! festival at Lena Horne Bandshell in Prospect Park. “The longest-running free performing arts festival in New York City, BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! has become one of the city’s foremost cultural attractions and a beloved annual tradition,” said BRIC, stating that it is the summer-long outdoor concert and performance series that celebrates talent spanning global music icons to chart-topping indie bands. It said “Bro ..read more

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — The Vodou faithful sing, their voices rising above the gunfire erupting miles away as frantic drumbeats drown out their troubles. They pause to swig rum out of small brown bottles, twirling in unison as they sing in Haitian Creole: “We don’t care if they hate us, because they can’t bury us.” Shunned publicly by politicians and intellectuals for centuries, Vodou is transforming into a more powerful and accepted religion across Haiti, where its believers were once persecuted. Increasingly, they seek solace and protection from violent gangs that have killed, raped and ..read more

Guyana’s government Thursday said it gave permission for the US military to fly two powerful F-18 Super Hornet jets over the capital city to demonstrate the close military and other forms of cooperation between this oil exporting Caribbean Community nation and the US. The country had  had about three hours notice of the exercise through an American embassy announcement but most people appeared to have been surprised by the noisy unprecedented fly over that comes in the midst of simmering tensions between Guyana and Venezuela over a large swath of Guyana’s territory. A Guyana governme ..read more

New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday announced the start of a five-borough operation — that will accelerate in the coming weeks — to shut down unlicensed smoke and cannabis shops in the City of New York. “Operation Padlock to Protect” kicks off against businesses unlawfully selling cannabis. After Adams successfully advocated for and municipalities were given the regulatory authority by the state to finally shut down these illegal shops plaguing city streets last month, the city established formal rules allowing the New York City’s Sheriff Office — along with other local law enforcement a ..read more

On the heels of bomb threats at New York City synagogues Saturday night and a 1:1 FBI brief Sunday morning, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer announced that $400 million in new federal funds is now available to boost security and safety at nonprofits, community centers, synagogues, mosques, churches and more. Schumer spoke about the threats Saturday night, talked with Rabbi Ben Spratt at Rodeph Sholom on the UWS Sunday morning, and detailed how he has boosted the fed program that aims to protect these sacred spaces and at-risk targets. “Last night’s bomb threats targeting New York City sy ..read more

As if they have coordinated their moves, three Caribbean Community nations recently took steps to recognize Palestine as a state as support for Palestinians increases and as there is growing condemnation of the Israeli military for allegedly committing genocide. Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad are the latest of nearly a dozen regional nations to recognize Palestinian sovereignty and the two-state solution, meaning that both nations have the right to co-exist as independent states and as neighbors in The Middle East. The moves come just weeks after influential regional Prime Minister Mia Mottley ..read more

Bahamas’ government has tabled legislation for judge only or bench trials but the new system will give defendants and accused persons the option to choose, which system they prefer once authorities determine that that person is competent to do so. The move by the administration of Prime Minister Phillip Davis follows closely on that of Antigua which, like The Bahamas, says the system is better than traditional jury trials as too many panels have returned mysterious verdicts against all, normal judicial expectations. Worse yet, jurors do not have to give reasons for their decisions like judges ..read more

West Indies Women now has a 3-1 lead in their Twenty20 series against hosts Pakistan Women after they failed to perform both with the bat and ball giving them their first loss on the trip by eight wickets. Vice Captain Shemaine Campbelle hit the top score of only 26 and was the only batsman to reach 20 for the Caribbean side, as they could of only muster 84 for nine from their allocated 20 overs after deciding to bat in the fourth match of their five match series at the National Stadium. Pakistan’s left-arm spinner Sadia Iqbal ended with 3 for 18 from four overs to earn the Player-of-the-Match ..read more

West Indies recently announced their provisional 15-member squad during a press conference in Barbados for the ICC Men’s Twenty20 World Cup, which will be staged from June 1-29 in the Caribbean and the United States. All World Cup provisional squads may be changed up to May 25, after which any alterations will require approval from the technical committee of the tournament. The 20 teams have been divided into four groups of five, with the top two teams from each, progressing to the Super Eights. West Indies will feature in Group C of the tournament alongside New Zealand, Afghanistan, Uganda an ..read more