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KOBO TOWN - stephen weir The  Niagara Caribbean Festival bringing Carnival to the Falls By Stephen Weir While Torontonians have already put away their costumes for another year, in Niagara Falls, the Caribana schooling is just about to begin.   Tomorrow morning the musical group Kobo Town, a fleet of food trucks and a busload of parade veterans will be heading down the QEW to a famous Niagara Falls park to teach tourists how to jump up and get down to the sounds and sights of Canada’s carnival scene. The Niagara Caribbean Festival , a weekend celebration of Caribbean music, dance, and Carnival mas costumes starts at 3pm on Friday August 17th and continues to Sunday August 19th.   The free festival, this year starring a pair of Juno Award winning musical acts and the Canadian Calypso Monarch will be held in the Queen Victoria Park directly opposite the American and Canadian Horseshoe Falls. Connector - Calypso Monarch by sweirsweir This is the t

Former US President Bill Clinton announces a new project to help the Caribbean and is currently in the Islands.   youtube link at bottom of post On Tuesday former President Bill Clinton held an important Caribbean Hurricane relief meeting with more than 400 government and business leaders from the Caribbean and the US. The relief summit was held to make commitments to help communities impacted by last year’s devastating hurricane season. Tuesday’s meeting was the second for his Foundation’s Clinton Global Initiative   (CGI) Action Network on Post-Disaster Recover. The Clinton Foundation issued a press release explaining that the CGI is creating “new, specific, and measurable projects to address critical issues such as disaster preparedness, agricultural production, mental health, energy efficiency, and workforce development. New commitments will aim to assist with immediate needs as well as the long-term recovery and opportunity in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Dom

--> Senator pledges to make August 1st National Emancipation Day across Canada   It all happened underground late last Tuesday night while most of Toronto slept. Looking out over a sea of Caribbean Canadian faces at the start of the annual Freedom Ride; Senator Dr. Wanda Thomas Bernard yelled out “You should see the beautiful view from here!” The Halifax senator, one of only a few Afro-Canadians in the Upper Chamber, was a keynote speaker at the 6th annual Emancipation Day Underground Freedom Train ride. She told the huge audience that she is going to work to make August 1 st a federally proclaimed national day to honour Emancipation Day.  Senator Bernard shared the microphone with the Toronto Caribbean Carnival's Rita Cox, the honourary conductor of the 2018 Freedom Train. They stood on the steps of the Rotunda inside the TTC Union Station. The pair were surrounded by people wanting to join them on a special subway train ride to mark the August 1,1834