Out of order, Kamla!

Well, well, well looka this though!

In the wake of the devastation left in Barbados, St. Vincent but especially St. Lucia by Hurricane Tomas, this was the first thingTrinidad's Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar had to say on Monday:


"We will have to look at ways in which we would be able to assist. But you would recall my comments earlier this year, when I said there must some way in which Trinidad and Tobago would also benefit. So if we are giving assistance with housing for example, and that is one of the areas that we (Prime Minister of St Vincent and myself ) spoke about, ... then we may be able to use Trinidad and Tobago builders and companies, so that whatever money or assistance is given, redounds back in some measure to the people of Trinidad and Tobago."

Naturally, her comments are causing outrage up and down the Caribbean.

Many are saying while they understand and don't even object to the sentiment behind it (aid with conditions is nothing new after all - look every stadium or office block the Chinese build in the region is done by Chinese companies and with Chinese workers to boot) but the way she said it and when she said were completely out of order.

And we here at Islandista agree, though we are not surprised, because Kamla has made her anti-CARICOM stance very clear in a set of mouthings for much of this year-  starting with infamous "ATM" comment earlier this year and continuing with her kvetching about the expense of the CCJ being based in Trinidad - after HER PARTY, the UNC lobbied for it to be there in the 90s.

Her comments are crass, short-sighted and disgracefully unCaribbean for a woman who lived in Jamaica for 14 years and drew a salary from the Jamaican people for at least 10 of those years.

Not only that, they are flat out stupid. "Some way in which Trinidad must benefit?" As the Express rightly pointed out in its editorial today, CARICOM countries "take about 10 per cent of Trinidad's exports." Trinidad, more than any other CARICOM country, has been benefiting for years from intra-regional trade.

What if the citizenry of these countries were so offended that they decided to take the aid but boycott Trinidad's goods?


Simply put, words mean something and Kamla should have chosen her words more carefully before biting one of the hands that feeds her people.

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Miss Haiti Universe's past reflects Haiti's troubles

Photo credit: http://www.missuniverse.com/

Miss Haiti Universe, Sarodj Bertin will be going for the title in Las Vegas on Monday along with 82 other contestants from around the world.

Sarodj is Haiti's first representative in the contest since 1989 and like her country, has a tragic and troubled past.

Her mother Mireille Durocher Bertin, a lawyer and opposition party leader was murdered in 1995 when Sarodj was nine years old, prompting the family to move to the Dominican Republic.

But of course, as is often the case with Haiti, it's by no means straightforward and there are deeper layers of tragedy and intrigue and figuring out the bad guys and good guys in this depends on which side you're looking from.

Even now, the assassination of her mother remains unsolved and with her daughter in the spotlight now, controversial as ever and debate is raging in the Haitian diaspora about both mother and daughter.

Mireille Durocher Bertin was shot to death in broad daylight while being driven through the streets of Port-au-Prince in March 1995 - months before the scheduled June general elections.


She was the passenger in a car being driven by reputed drug dealer Eugene "Junior" Baillergeau when it was blocked off.

According to the New York Times report on it:




" Gunmen came out of a red Mitsubishi jeep shot up the front tire on the driver's side, got out and raked the windshield with automatic weapons, firing from both sides of the car. Then they disappeared."


The assassination was seen at the time as a huge embarassment for then president of Haiti Jean Bertrand Aristide and his sponsor, the US government because Durocher Bertin was an outspoken critic of Aristide and Lavalas.

But and here's a big but... Durocher Bertin was no sweetbread. In fact, according to the LA Times she was:

"Closely linked to former Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras, the Haitian army commander who led the September, 1991, coup that overthrew Aristide. She also served as chief of staff for Emile Jonassaint, the puppet civilian president installed by Cedras in 1994."

The New York Times noted she " became familiar to American television audiences last fall [1994] defending the former military Government.

Blogger Chantel Laurent over at OpEd News has basically argued that Durocher Bertin reaped the whirlwind because of her affiliation with the hugely violent regime that crushed Haiti's democratic movement in the early 1990s.

Of course, none of this is Sarodj's fault. Though she has lived outside of Haiti for most of her life and some Haitians decry her as being 'too Dominican', her pride and joy at representing her country is evident. She told AP:




The Miss Universe pageant has always been a dream for me, since I was a kid. I used to watch the contest and think, "Why is my country not participating? I want to see Haiti participating." ... When I finished college, I gave up on the idea. I thought it would never happen. I thought someday ... I could celebrate the contest and send a girl myself. So when they told me that they were going to do it this year ... I trembled, I cried, I screamed.

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BREAKING NEWS: Kamla Persad-Bissessar first female PM of Trinidad & Tobago

[picapp align="center" wrap="false" link="term=Trinidad+elections&iid=8901433" src="3/6/d/5/Opposition_leader_PersadBissessar_7be6.jpg?adImageId=12976890&imageId=8901433" width="380" height="268" /]

As Denyse Plummer said it then, it has become now - Woman is boss in Trinidad & Tobago.

The news is just in that Kamla Persad-Bissessar will now be the first female Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago, after her People's Partnership coalition won the snap elections in Trinidad and Tobago today with 28 out of 41 seats.


Kamla declared victory from as early as 8:30 p.m. (Eastern Caribbean time) as it became clear the PP was headed to victory and extended the olive branch to PNM supporters saying:

"All are welcome. The door is open."

[picapp align="center" wrap="false" link="term=Trinidad+elections&iid=8901434" src="2/4/5/c/Opposition_leader_Kamla_05ed.jpg?adImageId=12976895&imageId=8901434" width="380" height="253" /]

(About to be former) Prime Minister Patrick Manning only conceded a short while ago, saying "we accept the results and I accept full responsibility."

Things looking sticky for Manning now - this is the second time he called a snap election and lost - the first time being 1995. Yuh can't mek  that kinda mistake twice, especially when you are not that popular.

And just for a final touch ... Denyse Plummer's Dimance Gras 88 performance of ... Woman is Boss.

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Terror in Tivoli and women's role

And so islandistas, it has come to this.

[caption id="attachment_2357" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Photo credit: Ian Allen/Jamaica Gleaner"][/caption]

The ugly, jagged and dark side of the Caribbean's ultimate Jekyll and Hyde island has been unveiling itself in all its horror over the last week as the forces of Dudus have been unleashed against the Jamaican state.

Dramatic?

Not really.

A state of emergency was declared in Kingston yesterday afternoon. The Hannah Town police station and Darling Street police station have been set on fire and their officers forced to flee.

Police officers have been attacked and their vehicle stolen.

And there are increasing reports of roadblocks and marauding gunmen stalking both downtown (Tivoli, Denham Town, Hannah Town, Slipe Road) and uptown (Red Hills, Liguanea, Mona/August Town/Papine, New Kingston).

As we write, reports are coming in that officers of the Jamaica Constabulary Force are trying to reach five injured police officers who are stranded on the grounds of Excelsior High School in Mountain View Avenue.

More pics and analysis under the cut...

You would well know that usually the tone and fare here on Islandista is lighthearted but these are serious times.

Islandistas are the leaders and future leaders of the Caribbean and Jamaica's crisis is all our business, particularly the pivotal role that women are playing in defending Dudus.

[caption id="attachment_2359" align="aligncenter" width="459" caption="Photo credit: Jamaica Gleaner"][/caption]

The cries of the women as reported by the papers were striking - and horrifying too. Claims that Dudus feeds them and sends to school their children. Shouts that he is "next to God."




[caption id="attachment_2361" align="aligncenter" width="409" caption="Photo credit: Jamaica Gleaner"][/caption]



Seriously? How did it get so islandistas? Obviously, it is not the women who are prowling the streets with high-powered guns but still. It is not for nothing that the proverb is 'the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world'.




[caption id="attachment_2362" align="aligncenter" width="410" caption="Photo credit: Jamaica Gleaner"][/caption]



The Observer had a good article on it yesterday, examining the way such women view the dons and how the link between them is built on largesse. Some excerpts:

""When I see them with guns, it's like a normal, everyday thing, but is some a dem same guy dey who support we and mek we feel good, send the pickney dem go a school, gi wi money fi do we hair and nail and protect we," she said.

Other women with whom the Sunday Observer spoke confirmed that a strategy used by their communities to protect gunmen was for women and children to go out into the streets when police and soldiers raid an area. The idea, they said, is to prevent the law enforcers from shooting at gunmen as they would be less inclined to fire once women and children are in the way.


"When times tough wid we, is the same man dem go a road go rob so that we can eat food too," one woman from a Central Kingston community said. "We inna de ghetto nuh get nuh ratings from the people who live a Norbrook, Beverly Hills and Cherry Gardens. Dem think seh nobody good nuh come from the ghetto. We cyaan get nuh good work, and so if di man dem inna we area start do some juggling fe help we, everybody from outside just a come dung pon we so."



What a ting...

If these women pass on this attitude of craven gratitude and dependence on a don to their children, how will the cyle ever be broken? How can it be broken? What can we as islandistas do through charity, through offering the opportunities these women say they have been denied, through mentorship or leadership to break this cycle?

Let's start the discussion.

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Island folk at White House Correspondents Dinner

The biggest night on the Washington D.C. social calendar (outside of the inaugurations of course!) came off on Saturday - the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner.

US First Lady Michelle Obama looked gorrrrrgeous in a fire-red Prabal Gurung dress! [picapp align="center" wrap="false" link="term=Michelle+Obama+2010&iid=8677340" src="9/0/e/7/US_President_Obama_303e.JPG?adImageId=12736560&imageId=8677340" width="380" height="251" /]

A few big up island folk were in attendance too, like former Secretary of State Colin Powell and D.C. mayor Adrian Fenty and his lovely Jamaican-Brit wife Michelle. Check out the pics of the political fabulousness below!

[picapp align="center" wrap="false" link="term=white+house+correspondents+dinner&iid=8677361" src="3/7/0/f/US_President_Obama_7df7.JPG?adImageId=12736542&imageId=8677361" width="380" height="405" /]

[picapp align="center" wrap="false" link="term=adrian+fenty&iid=8677761" src="d/6/7/f/2010_White_House_f054.jpg?adImageId=12736568&imageId=8677761" width="380" height="570" /]

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Kamla Persad-Bissessar takes over as Opposition Leader

[caption id="attachment_2108" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Photo credit: Trinidad Express"][/caption]



She finally did it - Kamla Persad-Bissessar will take her seat today in the Red House in Port-of-Spain as Trinidad & Tobago's first female Oppostion Leader.

On Wednesday, after weeks of public bad john talk from Basdeo Panday and quiet negotiation behind the scenes by Kamla, she finally got enough support from the parliamentary group to become the Opposition Leader. Notable exceptions were Subhas Panday and Mickela Panday, Basdeo's brother and daughter.

Bas in response, picked his battle with the UNC's new chief whip, his frenemy-turned-enemy-again Jack Warner, saying that while he supported Kamla, he would retire to the UNC's back bench as he would not serve under him.

From the Trinidad Guardian:

“Notwithstanding my reservations on the integrity of the recent internal elections of the UNC, I am, in the interest of unity within the party and my desire to see the UNC grow from strength to strength, willing to work with Mrs Kamla Persad-Bissessar, the new Leader of the Opposition. I am, however, not prepared to serve under Jack Warner as chief whip in the Parliament until such time as he renders an account for the millions of dollars received by him on behalf of the party.”

Never a dull moment with Bas, eh?

 

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10-1 is murder!

Or so Sparrow said.

Yet, despite a 10-1 drubbing by Kamla in the UNC leadership elections, Bas, like Denyse Plummer, 'nah leaving.'

Not yet.

Kamla polled 13, 929 votes to Panday's 1,359 votes - or more than 10 times as many votes as the Silver Fox.

But he made it clear in an interview with the Trinidad Express that he will not be relinquishing the Opposition Leader post gracefully.

The Express article is (perhaps unwittingly) hil-ar-ious.

Every other paragraph starts with "told that" and "asked that" and have Panday stonewalling in the most creative ways possible.

An example:

Yesterday, faced with the enormity of his defeat at the UNC polls and the strength of Persad-Bissessar’s mandate to lead, Panday insisted on playing it by the book-pointing out that he was following the country’s Constitution and the UNC’s constitution. And neither say that the Political Leader has to be Opposition Leader.

Told that there was strong view that it would be difficult for him to continue as Opposition Leader in the face of his comprehensive defeat as Political Leader, Panday said: ’I would have thought that they were two different things. I became Leader of the Opposition because of a national election. Now this is a party election and I think they are two different things. Don’t you?’

Told that there was a view that there was an organic connection between the mandate from the party and the mandate from the general electorate, Panday insisted he was following democratic law.

’I accept the democratic decision of the UNC electorate and I would accept the democratic decisions of the UNC Parliamentarians,’ he said.

Asked whether he did not think he should relieve the MPs from the burden of making a decision about his future as Opposition Leader (by resigning), Panday said: ’No.’

Told that new Chairman Jack Warner said he should do the honourable thing, Panday started saying: ’Jack Warner and honourable should not be used ... Anyway the issue is one (post), is (based on) a party election and the other is the result of a national election.’


Told that while that was the legal position, the issue was whether it would be immoral for him to hold on as Opposition Leader in the face of the strong endorsement for Persad-Bissessar from the party electorate, Panday asked: ’Whose morals are you referring to? Yours or mine?’

And so it goes, on and on. Not that I think we expected any different. Kamla have to hold strong now.

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It's Kamla!

She finally did it.

Kamla Persad-Bissessar is now the first woman to lead a major political party in Trinidad's history, after winning the leadership of the UNC last night in a landslide.


She came out of the shadows of her former political mentor,  Basdeo Panday and withstood the attacks from her parliamentary colleagues, most of whom sided with party founder Panday, to prevail as the people's choice.

Not only that, but the entire slate of her backers won spots on the executive as well.


Kamla immediately spoke of the need to heal and unite the party, offering an olive branch to those she defeated:

"In the heart of a campaign, people say things that may offend. But as a mother, a wife, a sister and a daughter, I know how to forgive. I hold no animosity against you."

Of course... the Silver Fox was not quite as gracious in defeat.Before the final results were announced, but when things were already looking grim, the Express asked him if he was ready to offer congratulations to Kamla. Bas had this response:

"’Not yet, certainly there are so many irregularities. I don’t have to concede defeat to anybody, when the elections results are finally declared, that may be the time.’

He also spoke about the other side resorting to 'thuggery', after being booed and jeered by UNC members when he went to cast his vote yesterday morning.

Even after the results were announced, he could not bring himself to utter the words.

From the Express:

Meanwhile a deflated-sounding Panday who stayed at home, indicated that he was not yet ready to concede, that he wouldn’t be going to the party’s Rienzi Complex headquarters last night and wondered why he should. ’I’m having fun..answering my e-mails,’ he said, when asked what he was doing for the evening.

Ah boy... what else you could expect eh?

It will be interesting to see what the next steps will be now. Will the same parliamentary group who sided with Bas, now bow to the people's choice and choose Kamla as the Opposition Leader? Will Bas be able to keep them with him? Will Kamla be tough enough to insist that her colleagues choose her as political leader?


Will his side challenge the results? Will he take his part of the party with him and form yet another political party - to follow the ULF, NAR and Club88?

Oh the bacchanal never ends in Trini politics...

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Is it about time for Kamla?

Woman time now? Kamla Persad-Bissessar




We don't discuss politics much on Islandista, namely because women are still quite under-represented in our regional houses of assembly, so there's not as much to discuss as we'd like.





And quite often, where women aren't under-represented, they are undermined. There have been many capable and intelligent Caribbean female politicians who have waited and waited in the shadows of charismatic male political leaders/mentors to get their chance at leadership, only to be undermined in some way or form - usually by the same mentor who can't let go of power.





Former Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller knows all about it. Barbados' Opposition Leader Mia Mottley is now learning about it.




But Trinidad & Tobago's Opposition MP Kamla Persad-Bissessar could write the book on it.




Every Trini or political junkie islandista recalls her betrayal by mentor Basdeo Panday back in the heat of T&T's 2007 elections, when he chose to lead the party again along with Jack Warner after saying he was not interested in the leadership. This after the loyal Kamla had risen to the task as the party's leader during Panday's enforced absence from Parliament.





And people still talk about her (in?) famous 'No Woman No Cry' speech at a rally during that elections where she vowed her loyalty to the party but said:








"I want to tell my political enemies close to me and far away that Kamla is a woman who gets knocked down, but she gets up again and they are never going to keep me down.




... I never sought to betray this party. I never sought to hold the supporters to ransom... And I never left it. I have never walked out because things weren’t going my way.




... I have worked too long and too hard for both the party and the country and I am not about to give up now.”







But still, she took the insult, sucked salt and stayed loyal to the party and Panday - unlike Maharaj and Jack.




But is the time for that coming to an end?




Last month Kamla announced her intention to contest the leadership of the UNC, declaring:








"No-one is ever going to keep me down again...no one!"







Many will say it's about damn time and point to how the UNC has been devouring itself amidst a pack of the raging male political egos of Ram, Jack and Bas.




Other may say that Kamla is not strong enough to lead the party to victory, especially with wily politicians like Manning and of course Ram, Jack and Bas about the place.





Interestingly enough though, a recent poll by the North American Teachers Association (NACTA) has said that Kamla will win by a landslide.




So what do my Trini islandistas and politically-minded islandistas think?




Will it be, as the people say, 'woman time now' for Kamla?

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Susan Rice is one of Glamour's Women of the Year!

[caption id="attachment_1704" align="alignleft" width="239" caption="Photo credit: Matthias Vriens-McGrath/Glamour.com"][/caption]

 In all the fuss over Rihanna's interview in Glamour's year-end edition, we nearly overlooked Susan Rice,  the United States' U.N Ambassador of Jamaican heritage, who was also named one of Glamour's Women Of The Year.

No less than President Obama bigs her up, telling Glamour she deserves to be a WOTY because:

"She understands the complex threats we face in the twenty-first century, and when those challenges demand action from the international community, Susan gets it done through a combination of skilled diplomacy and sheer determination.”

We love, love, love positive, progressive islandistas and Susan Rice always rises to the occasion as an ambassador not just for the U.S. but for women of Caribbean descent the world over.

Kudos, Ms. Rice.

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Island folk honoured by Congressional Black Caucus

 



[caption id="attachment_1558" align="alignleft" width="293" caption="Sheryl Lee Ralph with her husband Pennsylvania State Senator Vincent Hughes. (Photo credit: Margot Jordon/Black Socialite)"][/caption]

Islandistas and islandistos were all up in the do two weekends ago when the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation held their annual Phoenix Awards and dinner in Washington D.C.

 

As ever, the event was a high-wattage gathering of true black star power and this year was topped off by an address by President Barack Obama.

Several island folk were honoured at this year's awards - Jamaican-born actress Sheryl Lee Ralph, Haitian-born musician and humanitarian Wyclef Jean were among the honorees, as were islandistas by descent Cicely Tyson (born to Nevisian parents) and Susan Rice (of Jamaican descent).

Bermudan Premier Ewart Brown also turned out for the event, as did former Essence head honch Susan L. Taylor (Kittitian and Trini through her parents).

Makes you proud to be from one of these little rocks, doesn't it? : )

Check The Black Socialite and Fab Empire for more pics and coverage!

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Even more political relationship commess

Wow... and here we thought all the political relationship commess was in Turks and Caicos and Guyana.

Turns out it ent done - Barbados has gotten in on the act too!

It's not quite as spicy because unlike TCI and GT, it does not involve the head of the country, just an Opposition senator and his estranged wife, but...! He was a Government Minister in the last administration and the details that have come out thus far are pretty damn spicy.

Apparently, Kerrie Symmonds, who used to be the Minister of State within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade when his party was in power in Barbados, is taking out his anger with his estranged wife on her car.

According to the Barbados Nation, he is supposed to appear in court today for allegedly slashing his wife's Toyota Prado last week and allegedly assaulting her back in June.

This was all laid out as his wife took out a protection order against him.

From the Nation:

Symmonds, of Wilcox House, Christ Church, is scheduled to go before the District "A" Magistrates Court in connection with two incidents. On June 13, 2009, he allegedly assaulted his estranged wife Andrea Symmonds, of Rock Hall, St Thomas.

Last week Thursday he is alleged to have used a spare key to enter her Toyota Prado and slash the car seats.



[caption id="attachment_1323" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="So...the Prado does not look like this anymore. (Photo credit: Aussie Motoring)"][/caption]


Wuhloss.... pepper sauce!

Of course, it is one thing for politicos to do wrong t'ings to their partners in private - we have all heard of the various scandals of politicians and their partners all up and down this island chain.

It is another thing when it leaks out in public and Symmonds promptly resigned from his post as Opposition Senator.

Opposition Leader Mia Mottley said in a statement:

"Earlier today, I received a request from Senator Kerrie Symmonds, who is out of the country, to be relieved of his Senate appointment with immediate effect, citing personal reasons."

Of course, Prime Minister David Thompson could not resist getting a dig in, since Symmonds actually used to run with his side but skipped out on the DLP to join the party in power in the late 90s. He said to reporters yesterday:

"I once thought that Kerrie Symmonds was a rising political star.

He even did his in-service [training] with me and I thought I had imparted [some knowledge and advice]. (But) look at what has happened today . . . . "I wish him all the very best and God's blessings. That's all I can do, truthfully."

Ouch. He has a point, though. Symmonds is a smart guy that had been seen as a rising star, both with the Dees and the Bees and it is kind of surprising that he let things get to this point. I mean... damn man! Scratching up the car? What the hell is this... Waiting to Exhale?

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Political power players with island roots

Eric Holder may be the most prominent Caribbean descendant on the U.S. political scene right now but he's not the only one.

There are quite a few islandistas-by-descent who are on the political scene or the power behind the throne (as it were).

They all just happen to be hugely intelligent and educated, career-minded, successful and fabulous - in other words, the definition of islandistas, even if they are some way from home. These are no ordinary women - but would we expect less of daughters of the Caribbean?

Heading the list is the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, whose maternal grandparents emigrated from the beautiful country parish of Portland in Jamaica to the United States.

[caption id="attachment_1040" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Photo credit: Annie Leibovitz/style.com"][/caption]

Rice, who is featured in this month's Vogue (see pic above) is to put it plainly... super-bright.

A Rhodes Scholar, she attained her doctorate from Oxford University by 25 and joined President Bill Clinton's National Security Council staff when she was 28. By 32, she was the assistant secretary of state - the youngest ever of course. And now she is the second-youngest ever U.N. Ambassador.

Whew.

And she has two children and a husband.

Because yes, sometimes you can have it all - prevent nuclear proliferation and raise well-adjusted children.

Another prominent politico who is an islandista by descent is San Franciso District Attorney Kamala Harris.

 

 


 



[caption id="attachment_1041" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Photo credit: kamalaharris.org"][/caption]

 

 



Harris, who was featured in fellow islandista-by-descent Gwen Ifill's book 'The Breakthrough' was born to a Jamaican father, Professor Donald Harris of Stanford University and an Indian mother, Dr. Shyamala Goapalan.

Harris' election was a lot of firsts - the first female D.A. in San Francisco, the first black D.A. in California (the state that is home to the LAPD, after all) and the first Indian-American D.A. in the United States.

She told Ifill:

"There is something to be said for being the first in terms of breaking the stereotype of who can do what. It's not because  you're the first person that could do it, at all. It's just everyone's ability to imagine who should or can, do what."

She may become yet another first next year, as she's running for Attorney General of California in 2010.

Behind the scenes, but still bringing the tempo of the islands to politics is Washington D.C.'s other first lady - Michelle Cross Fenty, wife of Mayor Adrian Fenty.

Mayor Fenty himself is of Caribbean descent a good ways back - that distinctively Bajan surname is a dead giveaway and indeed his great-grandfather was a Barbadian who emigrated to Panama. People joke that he may be related to Rihanna (aka Robyn Fenty) but that surname is actually so rare in Barbados that he probably is.

However, it is his wife Michelle that has the closer Caribbean connection, born as she was in south London to Jamaican parents. 

Michelle's parents -  her father Charlie was a contractor and part-time reggae singer and her mother Annett was a nurse, emigrated to the United States with their three daughters in 1987.

That reggae influence still holds strong - at her husband's inaugural ball in 2007, she specially requested that the band include a ska number and some reggae!

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Somewhat like First Lady Michelle Obama, she was actually her husband's mentor - but in law school at Howard, rather than at work. Her husband confessed:

"I had probably seen her walking the halls for some time. I asked her to be my mentor. . . . It was love at first sight."

Like the other islandistas-by-descent in this post, Fenty is fearfully bright. She still works as a lawyer with D.C. firm Perkins Coie, in a highly specialised post as a global technology transactional attorney. A Washington Post feature on her noted:

Her legal specialty is so complex her own sister can't explain what she does for a living. "She does something that only eight lawyers in the world do," says Athena Cross, 32, a pharmaceutical representative in Brooklyn, N.Y., exaggerating a bit.

Perkins Coie managing partner John Devaney says more than eight lawyers do what Fenty does, but still, "There are just a limited number."

She is a global technology transactional attorney. Translation: Technology is patented, and different countries have different laws; "my job is to write the contracts designed so that they can build systems that can talk to each other," she said. One deal she negotiated was worth $100 million.

Lawd. See what we said? No ordinary women, these. They make us proud.

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Islandista on the rise: Judge Sonia Sotomayor

Boricua... morena! Boricua... morena!

Here at islandista we get prouder each day as we witness islandistas around the world continuing to show the depth of talent and skill emanating from these tiny isles scattered along the Caribbean sea.

On Tuesday, U.S. President Barack Obama nominated boricua Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. 



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If she is chosen, Sotomayor will be the first Latina to sit on the highest court in the US and certainly the first Supreme Court Justice of Caribbean descent.

She is currently a federal appellate judge on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. She was first named to a U.S. District Court in 1992 by Bush I and elevated to her current position by President Bill Clinton.

Sotomayor's parents Celina and Juan both emigrated to the United States from Puerto Rico sometime during World War II. Her father died when she was nine and she actually did not become fluent in English until after his death, because he spoke only Spanish.

However her mother is still alive and Sotomayor credits her with instilling in her the importance of education. Apparently Celina Sotomayor, like many Caribbean mummies, did not ramp when it came to education - Sotomayor said in a previous interview that she had an "almost fanatical emphasis on education" and it was her drive that pushed Sonia to attend first Princeton and then Yale Law School. Judge Sotomayor paid tearful tribute to her mother at the nomination announcement on Tuesday, declaring:

"My heart today is bursting with gratitude for all you have for me. Yet there is one extraordinary person who is my life inspiration. That person is my mother, Celina Sotomayor. My mother has devoted her life to my brother and me. She worked often two jobs to help support us after dad died. I have often said that I am all I am because of her and I am only half the woman she is."

Sotomayor was raised in a housing project in the South Bronx and like many, many other Caribbean people living in New York City, kept close to her roots.

Her cousin Jose Garcia Baez told the Associated Press that she visits the island once or twice a year, adding:

"She is a typical Puerto Rican. She always has kept in touch with Puerto Rico regardless of the job she has had."

Of course, the right wing-nuts of the Repug party are already sharpening their claws for Sotomayor. Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh have already rushed in like the fools they are, using their now standard fall-back against any person of colour  and calling Sotomayor a racist, twisting a comment she made years ago and demanding that she withdraw her nomination.

Long... dutty... suck... teeth. They still ent realise what time it is, nuh?

 

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United States AG Eric Holder comes 'home'

Guess who's back? Back again?

Ok, ok, I really should not channel Eminem of all creatures for such a great occasion as this - the first black Attorney General of the United States of America visiting the island of his parents and foreparents.

That's right - US Attorney General and Caribbean son Eric Holder touched down in Barbados yesterday afternoon for his first visit since becoming the most powerful legal eagle in the USA.

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First words as he arrived? "I'm home!"

Or ... maybe he said "looka muh hey" in a pitch-perfect Bajan accent and that is why those Barbadian diplomats are grinning so much... I would love that!




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Anyhow, Holder is in Barbados where his father Eric Sr. was born and where his maternal grandparents are from, for a three day visit. He's set to have talks with some CARICOM attorneys general and also speak at the official opening of  the Tamarind Hall Municipal Complex in his father's native parish of St Joseph. On hearing he was coming, Barbadian officials promptly decided to name it after him - you know we don't lag on naming things for people here in de islands - look Antigua have a Mount Obama! Loves it.

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Michelle Obama in Europe - fashion hits and misses

The ever-fabulous First Lady of the US, Michelle Obama is in Europe with her husband right now on his first major foreign tour.

Thus far there has been a G-20 summit, a meeting with the Queen and there is still a NATO summit and a US-EU summit to go before the whirlwind trip is over.

There is the matter of a global economic crisis to solve (G-20 leaders decided to give a trilli to the IMF as part of the solution), the Afghan war and Gitmo detainees to discuss and North Korea is huffing and puffing and threatening to shoot off a missile in the midst of all of this.

But the prospect that has really captured the attention of fashionistas the world over and had them slavering is... what will Michelle wear?

This question has quickly been followed by fevered speculation over what will be worn when Michelle meets the other glamazon First Lady - supermodel Carla Bruni-Sarkozy of France.

The thought of it has had fashionistas dizzy with excitement for the last few days and the moment finally arrived today when the two met in France. Both ladies stuck to their favourites - Mrs. O to a patterned, black and raspberry Thakoon coat and dress and Mrs. B to cool grey Dior.






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I was a bit relieved when I saw Michelle in the dress and saw how lovely it was because I really did not care much for the coat.

 While this outfit was both a bit of a miss and a definite hit, some of the First Lady's other choices on her Euro trip have been more straightforward. There have been some unequivocal hits - like the black, bell-skirted Azzedine Alaia she wore to the NATO concert.



The outfit she wore to meet the Queen of England was an unfortunate miss - and all because of one item of the outfit - the schlumpy cardigan she wore over a perfectly lovely sleeveless black and white silk crepe dress from inauguration designer Isabel Toledo.







Photo credit: John Stillwell/AFP/Getty Images


Very disappointing. You just don't toss a sweater over an outfit when you are meeting any head of state, whether titular or elected.


A smart, structured bolero like the one she wore over the previously mentioned NATO concert Azzedine Alaia outfit would have suited it better, in my opinion.

 

 

 





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Another unfortunate miss - and another instance of a cardigan getting in the way of a good outfit was the asymetrical Junya Watanbe cardigan she wore over a teal Jason Wu dress to visit a school in London yesterday.




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 I get (I guess) that Junya Watanabe is a bit more edgy but it was ugly. If she wasn't the First Lady and was not pairing it with a prissy dress and heels but was a club hipster pairing it with skinny jeans and high tops, it could have been hot. But, circumstances make the style sometimes and in these circumstances it just looked like a loud, ill-fitting cardi.


However, her hits have outweighed her misses on this trip and they generally do.




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For instance, this J.Crew combination she wore on her visit to Downing Street and then to a cancer treatment facility, was gorgeous. I especially love the mint-green colour of the skirt. It may seem silly, as an islandista to mention the spring-like hopefulness of the colour, but any islandista who has lived in 'foreign' and experienced the dreariness of her first or umpteenth winter, knows what I am talking about. A bit of a colour does give you a lift.




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The chartreuse (that is the colour description I see over on Obama fashion blog Mrs-O.org, boh... I woulda just said yellow...) Jason Wu dress she wore as she arrived in the UK was great. Again, a very hopeful, vibrant colour that sent political signals as well as nodded to fashion trends.


And she paired it with her fabulous studded Alaia belt that we first drooled over last year when Obama cinched the Democratic nomination.


For all those sniffing at her missteps, I know not one of them can name one thing White House mouse Laura Bush wore


in eight years. Not a fella din care.


The fact that we are paying attention to Mrs. O's clothes, when frankly she is so formidably smart there is a whole lot more we could focus on, shows what a seminal impact she's having.

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Remember where you came from...

We quite liked these pics snapped of Rihanna as she puttered about LA preparing for the Grammies this Sunday.
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We love it not just because of the fab looks on both girls - though we do love the floaty white skirt and quirky touch of the pearls on Rihanna and the plaid shirt in Barbados' national colours on her best friend Melissa.

But the obvious genuine friendship and camraderie evident is good to see. Often celebs end up surrounded by fake friends who can be their downfall. But Rihanna has clearly decided that the small matter of a few thousand miles of sea and land (Melissa studies in Trinidad) is not going to keep her from her real friends and you see Mel around so often, you would be forgiven for thinking she lives in the States.

It brings to mind a comment Rihanna made to men's magazine Complex in 2007 about how she keeps grounded amidst the madness of the entertainment biz.

I'm just not that type to get sucked into bullshit. Everyone has control over what they do as an individual. I'm very sure about who I am as a person and what I'm here to do. I'm here in LA but I am still not here in LA. I come from a very different place and it gives me an advantage.

Good on her.

In other news, LisaRaye McCoy-Misick is still talking... and talking... and talking to essence.com about her two-year marriage to the premier of Turks and Caicos, Michael Misick. And it is pure hilarity, commess, and pappy-show-ness.



On their jet-setting lifestyle:

ESSENCE.com: What sort of things were you interrogated about?

LISARAYE: Our lifestyle. Like, how many times we rented a jet before we purchased our own jet. I told them to my recollection he bought me a jet and we never leased one. Actually, I was going to refurbish the entire jet, which I flew back and forth to Los Angeles in, by adding the family crest in the carpet and some flat screen televisions, and I wouldn't have done that if I was leasing. Also, our credit card and bank statements were examined to figure out where certain monies were coming from, and I signed a loan document for $6 million that I thought was for a house we were building in Los Angeles.ESSENCE.COM: Why would you allow yourself to be placed in the dark on such important personal affairs?
LISARAYE: I don't expect the readers to understand this lifestyle. This lifestyle that I married into was even new for me and on some other level. Things are done differently on this level, so if you have never been there, you can't imagine, because some things just can't be taught. When you are dating or married to a man of Michael's magnitude, you're not sitting there paying the water and electric bills. You have business accountants handle that.


Woman, please. Spare us, do cos yuh talking blasted shite. We got to call a spade a spade. NO PM, Premier or President in de Caribbean ent ballin' like dat. All in T&T, Manning try to ease and lease a private jet through BWEE and people fall in he tail cos they say Trinidad can't afford it. So if big-able T&T that got oil money fuh days can't afford it, how in de hell the premier... not even Prime Minister! of TCI gine afford it? Stuuuupssssssse... And she talking bout how de lifestyle was "on some other level". For damn sure cos it was mock like a $21 bill!

If you can stomach it, the rest of the interview is over on essence.com. In four parts no less - serialising like it is a damn soap opera. Fadda...

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Political relationship commess in GT and TCI

Ok, so for some reason, baaaaare dirt has been spilt in the last two weeks on some high-profile political relationships- the former or soon to be former 'First Ladies' of Guyana and Turks and Caicos have been talking out a lot in the last two weeks about their estranged husbands and their relationships.

The most fascinating commess has been with Varshnie Singh, estranged wife of Guyanese President Bharrat Jagdeo who went public in a press conference last week accusing her husband of "high-tech domestic violence".

The two announced their seperation in 2007 and have been working out a settlement since then, which seems to be part of the problem. In the meantime, Varshnie was still in an apartment in the Presidential complex... until Bharrat allegedly put her out with only the clothes on her back. Cha.



From Stabroek News:

Former First Lady Varshnie Singh yesterday accused President Bharrat Jagdeo of pursuing a vendetta against her and sidelining her children’s charity for showing up the inadequacies of the government’s work.

 

Singh went public yesterday, a day after she was barred from entering State House, the official residence of the President. She told reporters at the mid-morning news conference that she had no clothing apart from what she was wearing at the time.

Wow.

And things only got spicier from there, with Varshnie saying theirs was basically a loveless sham of a marriage almost from the start. She said within a week of their marriage, Jagdeo was locking her out of the bedroom.

“From then on, it was one problem after another, nothing I could do was ever right,” she explained. “Any attempts to find out what went wrong, why he stopped talking to me, why he was so mean, were met with long silences which lasted days on end and I got no answers.”She added “I left to go to the UK to complete my studies and to get away from the loveless and stressful life I found myself in. I told Bharrat that I was not happy and didn’t want to live like this, that we should go our separate ways. He did not want to do so and kept telling me it would be different and that he was sorry. It sounded fine on the phone but when we were together it all went terribly wrong.

“Later he told me he would become President and asked me to come for the swearing in. I told him I didn’t think it was a good idea. I did attend the ceremony not wanting to upset his special day. I also tried to give our relationship another chance. Still nothing improved, it just got worse”.

A few days later she came out with another bombshell, claiming their marriage, which was done according to Hindu rites, was never registered and putting it on Jagdeo, saying that the first two times they were supposed to go get it registered, he claimed to have misplaced the papers and the third time, he was already the president and told her he could not be subjected to court proceedings.

So... technically, they are not married and even though Guyana recognises the rights of common-law wives, they have less recognised rights than an officially married wife. Could this be why their settlement case has been dragging on so long?

Curiouser and curiouser.

Even curiouser is her recounting that Jagdeo was the one initially anxious for them to marry:

 “…They say women drag men up the aisle − it was the other way around."

Not coincidentally, they married about a year before he assumed the presidency of Guyana. And as we have seen, Caribbean people are not overly fond of unmarried political leaders - look how both the PM of St. Lucia and the PM of Belize have nipped up the aisle in the last few months. Anyone who is not married risks the 'battyman' rumours that swirled around P.J. Patterson for years, even though the man was actually a widow. Feel Caribbean people easy?

We ent saying nutten but we just saying...

Anyhoo!

The next set of bacchanal has been in Turks and Caicos islands. Who knew those teeny little sand spits were so much action? Michael Misick is like the most dramatic political leader in years -easy! Between the Hollywood actress wife Lisa Raye and allegedly fighting with the Opposition leader (literal, physical fight) and accusations of sexual assault and rumours of affairs with BET chick Rocsi and big bassa bassa with his estranged wife and her sister and pelting of clothing - it's a full -time soap opera in TCI!



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In an interview with Essence.com, Lisa Raye spoke out about her marriage and break-up.

On her personal sacrifices: 

I feel like I gave up too much of myself and compromised a bit too much. I felt like I wasn't involved enough. I went to the country and wanted to handle those things that I knew, like helping to increase tourism, because I know a lot of people, creating the film festival—those kinds of things.

On accusations of being a 'gold-digger'.

I am not and never grew up in the ghetto. People need to get it right. I grew up on the Southside of Chicago. What people don't realize is that my father was a multimillionaire who owned 12 hotels, motels, a steel mill, a radio station, a club, nursing home, and a law office. So I think it's safe to say I'm a little above middle class and I'm a daddy's girl. I make no apologies for loving the finer things in life or the men I choose to date.

On their bitter divorce and the drama swirling around Misick:

Honestly, I hoped our divorce could be amicable. I'm saying to him, "Let's get it over with so we can move on with our lives. It's not fair to keep me involved in all this mess that I know nothing about... I'm human and enough is enough."

Eh. From where we real islandistas stand,  clearly Americans have a misconception of how much the Premier of a placewith 21 000 people can be balling. It has been driving me nuts how the black magazines and blogs in the United States have been going on about Lisa Raye being the 'First Lady' of TCI when there is NO SUCH concept in the Caribbean - as Varshine Singh discovered, poor ting. Moreover, TCI is not even an independent country - it's an apendage of Britain so how you can be the first lady of a non-nation?  Give me a break. Thanks for the entertainment value Lisa - bye!

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Islamic party protests Rihanna concert

A conservative Islamic party in Malaysia called Parti Islam SeMalaysia,  has been protesting Rihanna's upcoming concert in their capital Kuala Lumpur.

From the Barbados Nation:


The youth wing of the Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) called for a cancellation of the concert on Wednesday, saying Rihanna's performances were unsuitable because of her daring outfits and raunchy dances.


Ok, fair enough - after all, the same party has also protested concerts by The Pussycat Dolls, Gwen Stefani and Avril Lavigne in the past on similar grounds.

However, this is the part that kills me - and you would think people who are in politics and opening their mouth in public would be better informed before they spout foolishness:


The protesters also said inviting the United States-based Rihanna, who turns 21 on February 20, would be akin to supporting US ally Israel, which does not have diplomatic relations with Malaysia, where Islam is the official religion.


I also read in the Malaysia Star that they have said this would be insulting to Palestinians.

Eh?

This seems like a pretty damn tenuous link. I could maybe... maybe! even understand if she was an American, since the U.S. supports Israel and you go from there. Still a tenuous link since an artiste is not a politician - it's Rihanna, not Condoleeza Rice... or even Susan Rice.

But what irks me as an islandista is I suspect that these people do not even know that Rihanna is not an American citizen. She has to go to the US Embassy in Barbados and renew her visa just like everyone else... which she did up to last year when she was here for her Grammy celebration concert.

She is NOT AN AMERICAN. She is a Barbadian and Barbados does not have an embassy or even an honorary consul in Israel because ummmm ... it can't afford it? Countries that are 21 by 14 miles don't have the time or money to concern themselves with the Middle East peace process the way Parti Islam SeMalaysia clearly does.

Utterly ridiculous. It is comforting to see that other Malaysians agree, with one commentator writing in to the Malaysia Star to say:


I am a proud Muslim and I’m not a fan of Rihanna nor will I attend her concert, but I found it offensive and embarrasing to read the article.

Time and time again PAS will come out with some laughable comments. They made the same noise when previous foreign artistes came and also when Chelsea were about to tour Malaysia, just to name a few.

Who are they to impose their interpertation of Islam upon others? We, the Muslims in Malaysia, young and old, are wise and mature enough to decide for ourselves what is good, bad or “un-Islamic”.

And as has been so accurately described by your writer Raslan Sharif in his article on Jan 23, the reasons given by PAS are just ridiculous.


Exactly. If you are going to protest, at least get your reasons together. How exactly does the presence of a Barbadian performer show support to Israel? Because she lives in the U.S. for a few months out of the year? Give me a break.

Anyhow, Rihanna has promised to be a good girl gone back good for the concert. From the Nation again:

 


Barbadian R&B sensation Rihanna will shun skimpy outfits when she performs in Malaysia next month, the concert's organisers said yesterday, becoming the latest international star affected by the Muslim-majority country's strict rules on performers' dress.

Recent concerts by Gwen Stefani and Avril Lavigne faced protests by conservative Muslim Malaysians over immodest clothes.

Under government guidelines, a female performer must be covered from the top of her chest, including her shoulders, to her knees. Rihanna, 20, favours black leather bustiers, shorts and boots.


 

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First Lady picks Jason Wu, Isabel Toledo

Absolutely exhausted (in a great, elated cried with joy a lot way)  islandistas so this will be a short post.

First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama continued to buck the trend by going for little known designer Jason Wu for her inaugural gown and we say to her - well done!

Her inaugural gown is a fluffy cream coloured confection with a cold shoulder bodice which shows off her great arms and shoulders. It has a long train which caused a few problems for the President at the Home States Ball - she had to keep lifting it away from his feet but that may be because the President, bless him, dances like he's feeling his white roots.

For the inauguration ceremony itself she went with a sparkly gold sheath dress and coat by Isabel Toledo and showed her penchant for mixing high fashion with the high street as the Brits would say by rocking it with green J.Crew gloves. She finished it off with green Jimmy Choos.

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Mrs. Obama has been making some under the radar designers very happy with her fashion choices ever since the campaign. Some hardly seem to believe their luck.

When asked in December if he thought he would design Mrs. Obama's inaugural ball, Wu reportedly said:

"Oh, that's a long shot!"

Toledo was equally awe-struck when she was interviewed on Inauguration Day, saying:

"There is nothing that comes close to this moment."

 

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