Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

Kevin and Raesha signed on for hosting duties Information is scant right now but get ready for a media dump from the FMC about the Digital 2020 Toronto Caribbean Carnival   Raesha Sirois   By Stephen Weir  When it comes to the upcoming Virtual Toronto Caribbean Carnival  MUM s is the word as far as detailed information about the event is concerned.  However the Caribbean Camera has heard through the grapevine that a deluge of information the 2020 Digital Carnival is soon to be released by the organizers of this unique online July event. We do know that the  Toronto Caribbean Carnival 2020 is getting ready to digitally jump up beginning July 3 rd  with an official City Hall Proclamation of Toronto Caribbean Carnival Month. Over the next four weeks there will be programming of Steelpan music, live Calypso performances, a virtual King and Queen competition, a Junior Parade and the Grand Parade itself. “For several nights in July there will be performances using footag

Historic T&T ice cream now being pedaled in Ontario mainstream stores   Charles Neale (stylized) For Trinis who have long memories remember Sweet N’ Nice, a traditional  San Fernando street ice cream. For readers who have no idea what we are talking about, the sweet news is that many major supermarket chains in the province are stocking (or about to) this Caribbean style ice cream.  Photo Left  Charles Neale Some 80 years ago, Charles Neale was a fixture on the streets of Port O Spain.  He created ice cream flavours from the fruits that grow on the island, guava, pineapple, and coconuts.  Selling from an icebox attached to his bike he would pedal through the streets calling out to the kids “Come get your Sweet N’ Nice Ice Cream.” Charles Neale is gone now, but his daughter Rose and his grandchildren are using those original recipes to give consumers an all-natural product that isn’t chocolate based. Made in Vaughan north of the city the family has bi

 BUSY BEING CREATIVE IN HER DOWNTOWN TORONTO DIGS Rhoma Spencer is an actor, director, storyteller and broadcast journalist who began her career in her birth nation of Trinidad and Tobago.   On stage, performing in TV shows, movies parts, and public events; heck, I have even seen her in costume at a high profile Scarborough funeral last year. Up until the virus shutdown Spencer was one of the busiest live performance actresses in Toronto.  Over the weekend she did a Question / Answer with our reporter Stephen Weir. Question 1:  Where are you spending the quarantine? If you are alone, do you have ways of communicating with friends and family? Answer 1 : I spend it at home in downtown Toronto with two other family members in my three bedroom townhouse. Question 2:  As an actress and entertainer and performer, you seem to be always involved in very cool projects. What was 2020 shaping up to be for you before the shutdown? Answer 2:  The year started off with a bang i

Caribbean Tales Film Festival is going online!   The theatres were booked, the movies picked and the stars were making plans to come to the city and walk the Caribbean Tales International’s (CTFF) red carpet this September.  On Wednesday the CTFF advised the Caribbean Camera’s Stephen Weir that while the show must go on, it will not be taking place in any bijous in the year of COVID 19! “It is not happening in theatres this year. It will be a live-stream festival,” spokeswoman Fennella Bruce told the Caribbean Camera. “ It won't (be held in any movie house), unless there is a drastic change in COVID-19 protocol from Provincial and Toronto Health Officials.” The 15th annual movie fest will now run from September 9th until October 2nd and will take place on-line with eight individual nights of films and 25 short films of live-stream entertainment.  As well, during the summer months there will be community programming made available through the festival’s innovative

Reyez on the money with the world's best. Raise a Guinness to their records - by sweirsweir At a time when everything cultural is now only available via smart phones and computers, it is hard for a singer to get noticed when performing online, unless of course you are talking about Jessie Reyez. In late April she teamed up with Oprah, Michelle Obama, Elton John, Celine Dion and Michael Bublé to perform to the world and set a couple of Guinness records in the process. Jimmy Fallon and friends It was an online music festival called One World: Together at Home and some of the world’s biggest names virtually came together to raise money in aid of COVID-19 relief. The history making digital festival was co-hosted by the World Health Organization and Global Citizen. Earlier this week Guinness World Records contacted me to say that the global broadcast and digital event achieved two Guinness World Records titles. The online event set a record for most musical acts to perfor

Toronto Caribbean Carnival 2020   Ready to Jump Digitally This July By Stephen Weir for the Caribbean Camera:  Ooh la la costumes. Thundering pans. Sweet calypso. And while they are at it, throw in a few big name soca performers. Toronto Caribbean Carnival 2020 is getting ready to digitally jump up and thumb noses at the Coronavirus  come July. While the annual summer festival in downtown Toronto has been cancelled this year because of  COVD-19, the festival  with its rich traditions will be coming to a computer screen near you in about five weeks Late yesterday afternoon, Aneesa Oumarally, CEO of the Festival Management Committee (FMC) which organizes the carnival, told The Caribbean Camera that it ‘s ” all systems go  for the Big Event. “The goal of the Digital Carnival is to remember yesteryear, remember what we are missing and showcase the the carnival to the world at large, to those that don’t come downtown and sit on the grass,” said Oumarally. Carnival Yes

Brand new association to amplify the success stories of Canadian media members of African descent. Moses Mawa By Stephen Weir  Whispers about a new Black media association was being formed was first being heard back in March after a Friday night Toronto get-together with members of the press and community business leaders.  Now, despite the Coronus virus shutdown, it is official, the  Black Media Association  (BMA) has been born. On Tuesday the newly formed group sent out an explanatory press release to media outlets across the country. The  BMA  says that it seeks to engage Black membership from the entire field of Canadian media.  It is committed to assist with the gathering, archiving and disseminating information about the success stories of Canadian people of African descent.   The founder and chairman of this new association is  Moses Mawa  (pictured above) .  He and his wife  Patricia  own and operate the Toronto based 24-hour  Afroglobal Television  chann

Home Schooling’s Flickring Life Line – UK’s National Archives Steps Up Its Caribbean Collection of Photos Need a photograph of downtown Port of Spain, from let’s say, 1899? Or, ever seen a picture of Haiti’s first Mardi Gras? Flickr, the world’s largest repository of photographs – 6 billion and counting – is a useful tool for a family’s home schooling duties. For the past decade, Flickr has been working with more than 135 archives, museums and historical associations to make historic photographs and graphic treasures available to the public for personal and school use. Now, in this period of forced home studies for school aged children, the Flickr archive programme (called the Commons) is proving to be an easy to use, resource with pictures you can’t easily or freely get anywhere else! Guadeloupe woman 1899 Canadian museums, the George Eastman Museum, the US Library of Congress, The State Library of New South Wales and the Smithsonian are just a few of the institutio

Kaie Kellough Wins  $65,000 Griffin Poetry Prize By Stephen Weir - Guyanese Canadian poet Kaie Kellough has won the $65,000 Griffin Poetry Prize for his  book, Magnetic Equator. This prize – the largest in the English-speaking world – is awarded each year to two poets ( one Canadian and the other, international). Kellough was born in British Columbia and now lives in Montreal.  His maternal family is originally from Guyana and much of his poetry revolves around his Caribbean heritage and life experiences. “This particular book is partly set in Guyana (in Georgetown and in the rainforest),” Kellough told the Caribbean Camera shortly after winning the Prize. “It is also set in Calgary, where I spent many of my formative years.” ”The book moves back and forth between north and south, Calgary and Georgetown, as it tries to answer some very fundamental questions that many of us ask: who am I and how did I get here? ” I’m very much interested in family history, and in the

By the Grace of Jerk, the party will go on.  Just don’t get Jerk Sauce on your computer screen During this Pandemic an oft-asked question of the Caribbean Camera is, what summer events have been cancelled? Quick answer: EVERYTHING … unless you are talking about the annual Grace JerkFest, which is taking the party online this August! Late last week the Toronto government announced it has cancelled all City-permitted major festivals and events which attract an attendance of at least 25,000 through August 31st. That means that everything including the Toronto Caribbean Carnival, the Pride Parade, Taste of the Danforth, and horrors, the venerable CNE have been shelved as a result of City Hall’s action. The Grace International Jerk Food & Music Festival is, by virtue of its popularity and size, on the City’s hit list. However JerkFest may not be taking place as normal, but it isn’t throwing in the bib on 2020 either. The producers of the Grace International Jerk Food

ONE CARIBBEAN TELEVISION IS FREE UNTIL THE END OF JUNE! One Caribbean Television , a 24/7-television network that provides news, lifestyle and entertainment programming about the Caribbean and its people, is pleased to announce a free preview on Bell Fibe TV, Channel 2481, until June 30, 2020. While millions of Canadians adhere to the stay-at-home order, One Caribbean Television will bring them the sights and sounds of the Caribbean until they are able to resume travel to the re gion. Roughly four million Canadians traveled to the Caribbean last year. Throughout the free preview period, the network will air a special report, COVID-19: Impact on the Caribbean – an in-depth look at how COVID-19 has impacted nearly every aspect of life in the Caribbean. The network is based in Erie, Pennsylvania and has a close relationship with the Caribbean community in Toronto. For the past five years One Caribbean Television has provided live coverage the Toronto Caribbean Festival. As