Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

Canada sings a Jamaica Farewell to Belafonte Harry Belafonte, the legendary musician, actor, and civil rights activist, passed away yesterday at the age of 96. His death has sent shockwaves through the Canadian Jamaican community, which he had long championed. Belafonte was born in the USA in 1927 to Caribbean immigrants. He and his brother spent part of their childhood in his mother’s home country, Jamaica, (his father was from Martinique) but later moved back to Harlem. Throughout his career, he celebrated his Caribbean roots and used his platform to advocate for social justice and political change. Belafonte’s impact on the music industry cannot be overstated. He was one of the first Black performers to achieve mainstream success, with hits like “Banana Boat Song” and “Jump In The Line”. He also used his platform to bring attention to Caribbean music and culture, helping to popularize calypso in Canada, the United States, and beyond. In his home base of New York City, Belafonte was ...

  The CBC called her the “Word Warrior”. Lillian Allen Has A New Title Now.  In a move that has delighted Toronto’s literary and dub music communities, City of Toronto staff have recommended acclaimed poet, writer/performer, and arts activist Lillian Allen to become Toronto’s seventh Poet Laureate. The recommendation is pending approval by City Council at its next meeting in May – it is a given that Allen will get the nod. The Jamaican-Canadian was nominated by a selection committee in consultation with the literary community. She is a leader in dub poetry, a politically charged, reggae-infused poetry of resistance and visionary futures. The 74-year-old has been named a foremother of Canadian poetry by the League of Canadian Poets and is a two-time JUNO Award winner and trailblazer in spoken word and dub poetry. Born in Spanish Town, Jamaica, she left that country in 1969, first moving to New York City before settling in Toronto. She is a poet, author, and recording artist, ha...

  Behind the Mask? Not Much. These Costumes are Sexy photos by Gilbert Medina Saturday night, Louis Saldenah, the force behind the Saldenah Carnival, unveiled his secret plans for what 5,000 or so masqueraders will wear on the road this August. Hoping for hot weather on parade day for the Toronto Caribbean Carnival, because behind those masks, there isn't much costume at all!  What a show it was, with sixteen sections showcasing models in skimpy carnival costumes in front of a packed hall at the Grand Cinnamon Banquet Hall (which holds 1,500 people). They wined, strutted, and posed until the wee hours of Sunday morning. The most in-demand DJ at carnival events this spring is a man who calls himself SKF. He kicked off the stage show late Saturday night by introducing the first section of the night, Ronny (Louis's son) Saldenah's Alter Ego.  In carnival talk, Alter Ego refers to people with split personalities or double lives. For parade purposes, the skimpy costumes are de...

  CBC Derails Award Winning Porter Canada/US series BY STEPHEN WEIR The Black-led CBC and BET Plus series The Porter has been making waves in the entertainment industry, but it seems that the success of the show has been short-lived. Despite winning 12 Canadian Screen Awards last week, including Best Drama Series, the series will not be returning for a second season. The Porter, a fictional series based on true facts, tells the story of Canada's Black train porters in the 1920s and a coming-of-age film set in Scarborough. The show was aired last year on CBC Gem in Canada and throughout the USA on BET Plus. The series was praised for its spotlight on the railway workers' pursuit of safer working conditions, better pay, and a union. The show boasts a largely Black Canadian creative team, including co-creator Arnold Pinnock and showrunners Marsha Greene and Annmarie Morais. Late last week, the winners of the Canadian Screen Awards were announced, and The Porter was the television ...

WIDAFEST WINDSOR'S NEW AFRO/CARRIBEAN FESTIVAL IN JULY Although this will be the first year that Windsor will have an African/Caribbean outdoor downtown festival, WIDAFEST will have an experienced festival hand on the tiller. Chris Alexander, a long-time event organizer and former Chief Operating Officer of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival, is now the festival's vice-president and is assisting in getting the seven-day event off the ground. WIDAFEST is the buzzword name for the Windsor International Diaspora African Festival, which is set to make its debut in the city from July 23rd to 30th. It will showcase the rich and diverse cultures of Africa and the Caribbean diaspora  outdoors in downtown Windsor "We are excited to be launching WIDAFEST along Windsor ’ s safe people-friendly Detroit River waterfront," said Chris Alexander. "Windsor is a growing diverse city, and we plan to make this a popular annual event for the people of Windsor and Detroit. ” The festival ...

  Virgin play for the virgin playwright  By Stephen Weir  The Caribbean Camera Inc.  on  April 20, 2023 Rarer than a church handing out money on Sunday to its congregation, the new play Vierge (virgin) is breaking ground with its black all-female cast and its Black female playwright. oh yes, its director is a Zambia-born Black woman. The city has a long history of White male dominated theatre, Vierge is making a huge racial and gender statement that, judging by the rousing Thursday night premier, rocked the standing-room-only Toronto audience. Etobicoke’s Shauna Thompson stars in Vierge, the new play recently unveiled at the factory theatre. The play features Thompson as Divine, a sixteen-year-old who feels like she doesn’t belong anywhere and whose only comfort is her rarely read Bible. However, when her family joins a Montreal Congolese church and she befriends three African Canadian girls in her newly formed youth group, Divine discovers that the world around...

 SANDRA BREWSTER NOW A FINALIST IN $60,000 CANADIAN PHOTOGRAPHY AWARD The Toronto Guyanese community is cheering onn Sandra Brewster, one of the three finalists for the 2023 Scotiabank Photography Award, Canada's largest and most prestigious annual peer-nominated prize for photographic art.   Brewster, who was born to Guyanese parents, is known for her work in drawing, video, photo-based works, and installation that explore themes of identity and representation. Her art is in demand by some of the world's top galleries, and her public sculpture "A Place to Put Your Things" is currently on view at Harbourfront Centre in Toronto. Sandra Brewster works in drawing, video, photo-based works, and installation. Her themes focus on identity and representation, and movement in the depiction of gesture resulting in a re-presentation of the portrait. She uses specific landscapes as metaphors, and manipulates old photographs to centre the people within them. NINA SIMONE BY BREWST...

                 Rated R!!! Section Thinks So   by Stephen Weir It is not as though section leader Thea Jackson didn’t warn people who attended the weekend Revellers Costume launch that her section was going to be an “adults only” catwalk show. In the days leading up to the Park View Manor fete she sent social media notices saying that “When you just know you are everything I will be presenting to you the Rated R!!!! (section),” she wrote. “For 2023 my section is NOT for the weak!”   It turns out she wasn’t kidding! Picture four models snapping whips as they came onto the stage. Black and purple skimpy S&M inspired fish net costumes with black taped breasts, and small silver codpieces to keep it all legal, they put on quite the full contact performance. “The 500+ crowd went crazy when my section came out on stage,  it Is not seen in Toronto  so they loved it,” reported Jackson, “ It was well received, I...

  Airline makes sure that revellers can get their fill of carnival this August! Can’t get enough of carnival now that the pandemic is on the run.When the Toronto Caribbean Carnival winds down on August 7 th  Caribbean Airlines is adding extra flights from Toronto to let revellers jet off to Grenada to take part in Spice Mas! Caribbean Airlines, just announced that it will be adding extra flights from Toronto and New York to Grenada in anticipation of that island’s coming carnival celebration. The Spice Mas Festival is an annual carnival that takes place in Grenada and attracts thousands of visitors from around the world. It is a celebration of Grenadian culture and features live music, dancing, parades, and colorful costumes. Caribbean Airlines says that it has recognized the growing popularity of the Spice Mas Festival and has decided to increase its flights to Grenada to accommodate the influx of visitors. The airline will be adding an additional flight from Toronto and two ...

  And So It Begins. Photographer Anthony Berot Is Comin’ ANTHONY BEROT WITH BANDLEADER PHOTOS - BY SWEIR By Stephen Weir   Anthony Berot has already covered two costume launches in the past week, an FMC open house and is already getting his gear ready for a busy busy April. The EPIC carnival and SunLime launches are in the books and Jamaal Magloire’s Revellers launch at the Grand Luxe  coming up this weekend. The official photographer of the 2023 Toronto Caribbean Carnival figures this his 13 th  year taking pictures of the festival formally known as Caribana. A tall fit 70 something man, he is easy to spot at any and ALL carnival happenings. He has his video camera on a tripod, a camera (often two) around his neck, and when the Soca music is blaring he is dancin’ beside and around his gear. The colourful costume launches.  Blockos.  Children’s events. The King and Queen contest, Pan Alive and the Grand Parade. No living photographer in Canad...

  This Weather Report brought to you by Natasha Ramsahai BY STEPHEN WEIR Last month it was announced during a City TV Breakfast TV broadcast that Natasha Ramsahai  had been promoted to Chief Meteorologist at CityNews Toronto. She is the first person of colour in all of Canada to earn this position. She  is an On-Air Meteorologist for 680 NEWS and Citynews. As a member of the Citynews weather team she is also be seen on the popular Breakfast Television morning show. “ What’s big time notable is this promotion is breaking down barriers,” she posted on Instagram after the news was made official. “It is an honour to hopefully inspire young Canadians who look like me to aim high, never give up, be yourself and go after your dreams.” Prior to joining City TV and AM 680 she worked at the CBC  where she was not only the first meteorologist ever hired by the CBC, she was also the first female on-air meteorologist in the city of Toronto starting in 1999 Ramsahai was born and ...