Original Names of Caribbean Countries

Present Island Name : Anguilla

Indigenous Name :Malliouhana

Origin :Arawak

Meaning: Arrow-Shaped Sea Serpent

Present Island Name: St Martin

Indigenous Name: Soualiga Oualichi

Origin: Arawak

Meaning: Land of Salt

Present Island Name: St. Barths

Indigenous Name: Ouanalao

Origin: Arawak

Present Island Name: Saba

Indigenous Name: Siba Amonhana

Origin: Arawak

Meaning: The Rock

Present Island Name: St. Eustatius

Indigenous Name: Aloi

Origin: Arawak

Meaning: Cashew Tree

Present Island Name: Saint Kitts

Indigenous Name: Liamuiga

Origin: Kalinago

Meaning: Fertile Land

Present Island Name: Nevis

Indigenous Name: Oualie

Origin: Kalinago

Meaning: Land of Beautiful Water

Present Island Name: Montserrat

Indigenous Name: Alliouagana

Origin: Kalinago

Meaning: Land of Prickly Bush

Present Island Name:
Barbuda

Indigenous Name: Wa'omoni

Origin: Kalinago

Present Island Name: Antigua

Indigenous Name: Wadadli

Origin: Kalinago

Meaning: Land of Fish Oil

Redonda: is a very small, uninhabited Caribbean island or islet which is politically a part of the nation of Antigua and Barbuda, in the Leeward Islands, West Indies.

Present Island Name: Guadeloupe

Indigenous Meaning: Kalaoucera

Origin: Kalinago

Meaning: Island of Beautiful Waters


Present Island Name: Marie Galante

Indigenous Name: Aichi/Touloukaera

Marie-Galante is an island of the Caribbean Sea located in the Guadeloupean archipelago. Marie-Galante is constitutionally part of France, as Guadeloupe is an overseas région and département.

Present Island Name: Dominica

Indigenous Name: Wai'tukubuli

Origin: Kalinago

Meaning: Tall is her body

Present Island Name: Martinique

Indigenous Name: Madinina

Origin: Kalinago

Meaning: Land of Flowers

Present Island Name: St. Lucia

Indigenous Name: Hiwanarau, Hewanorra

Origin: Kalinago

Meaning: Land of the Iguana

Present Island Name: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Indigenous Name: Hairoun

Origin: Kalinago

Meaning: Island of the Clouds

Present Island Name: Barbados

Indigenous Name: Ichirouganaim

Origin: Arawak

Meaning: Unknown

Present Island Name: Trinidad and Tobago

Indigenous Name: Kairi, Lele

Origin: Kalinago

Meaning: Land of the hummingbird

Present Island Name: Jamaica

Indigenous Name: Xaymaca

Origin: Arawak, Taíno

Meaning: Land of Wood and Water", or the "Land of Springs"

Present Island Name" Cuba

Indigenous Name:Cubanacan, Coabana

Origin: Taino

Meaning: "where fertile land is abundant" ,
"great place"

Present Island Name: Haiti

Indigenous Name: Aytí

Origin: Taino

Meaning: "Mountainous Land"

Present Island Name: Dominican Republic

Indigenous Name: Kiskeya or Quisqueya

Origin: Taino

Meaning: "highest land"

Present Island Name: Puerto Rico

Indigenous Name: Borinquen, from Borikén

Origin: Taino

Meaning:Great land of the valient noble lord

sources:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Indigenous_Names_of_Eastern_Caribbean_Islands
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caribbean
3. http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/41/327.html

Is China Treating Africans Like Slaves?

In the UK's Daily Mail, reporter Peter Hitchens risked his life to lay out a little discussed aspect of China's increased involvement with Africa. Hitchens asserts that in China's quickening quest to reap the bounty of natural minerals to be had in Africa, some Chinese businessmen treat local African laborers in conditions like one might have found in 18th century mining towns at best and at worst on a slave plantation. Workers endure these conditions for about $3 in wages a day.

Hitchens writes:
I can give you no better explanation in miniature of the wicked thing that I believe is now happening in Africa.Out of desperation, much of the continent is selling itself into a new era of corruption and virtual slavery as China seeks to buy up all the metals, minerals and oil she can lay her hands on: copper for electric and telephone cables, cobalt for mobile phones and jet engines - the basic raw materials of modern life.

Read full article here: How China has created a new slave empire in Africa
Source

News Updates: Sept 30 2008

Third arrest made in shooting at Toronto High School

Bush battles to save bailout after Congress says No

Zimbabwe opposition denies cabinet deal imminent

E. Africa will get 80mln to improve agriculture

Toronto stocks drop 7 percent as U.S. rejects bailout

The Toronto Stock Exchange's main index tumbled nearly 7 percent on Monday, the biggest drop in eight years, as U.S. lawmakers rejected a proposed $700 billion bailout of the financial services sector, sending investors fleeing for the exits.

As the U.S. House voted to reject the Wall Street rescue plan, concerns mounted that the fallout from the crisis in the United States was spreading rapidly around the globe and that the world economy was headed for a sharp downturn.

The S&P/TSX composite index dropped 840.93 points, or 6.93 percent, to 11,285.07, its biggest percentage drop since October 2000, when markets were roiled by the bursting of the tech bubble. On a points basis, it was the biggest decline ever. continue reading

Janet Jackson Concert

Last night I went to the Janet Jackson concert at the Air Canada Centre and it was amazing. Janet is my favourite performer of all time. Check out some piks below.

Bailout bill fails; Dow plunges

The fate of the Bush administration's $700 billion financial bailout plan was abruptly thrown in doubt Monday as a House vote turned against the controversial measure.
The next steps were not immediately clear but supporters were scrambling to put it up for another vote.
What was supposed to be a 15-minute vote stretched past the half-hour mark as leadership scrambled for support.
Investors who had been counting on the rescue plan sent the Dow Jones industrial average down as much as 700 points while watching the measure come up short of the necessary support, before rebounding slightly. The key stock reading was down more than 500 points.
The measure needs 218 votes for passage, but it came up 13 votes short of that target, as the final vote was 228 to 205 against. About 60% of Democrats voted for the measure, but less than a third of Republicans backed it.
President Bush is "very disappointed" by the House vote, his spokesman Tony Fratto said.
A four-hour debate included impassioned pleas for and against the measure from Democrats and Republicans alike. Even some of those arguing the legislation must be approved were quick to point out problems with it.
But in the end, the vote began with both Democratic and Republican leadership telling their members the only way to protect the economy from a spreading credit crunch was to vote for the difficult to swallow measure.
"Our time has run out," said Rep. Spencer Bachus, the ranking Republican on the House Financial Services Committee. "We're going make a decision. There are no other choices, no other alternatives." source

Quote of The Day

The Irish, who were regarded as " the blacks of Europe" took on racist attitudes as soon as they became American. Fredrick Douglass in 1853 pointed this put. The Irish, who in their homeland identified with the oppressed everywhere, "are instantly taught when they step upon our soil to hate and despise the Negro... Sir, the Irish- American will one day find out his mistake".

Noel Ignatiev

Links: Black Irish

Janelle Monáe ‘Many Moons’

Unlocking The Power of Women: Care

Source: Thanks to Great Cosmic Mother

In Egypt, a 3,000-year-old find

Egypt's antiquities council says that archaeologists have unearthed a 3,000-year-old red granite head believed to portray the 19th Dynasty Pharaoh Ramses II.

The Supreme Council of Antiquities says the discovery was made recently at Tell Basta, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of Cairo.

The council's statement Thursday says the 30-inch-high head belonged to a colossal statue of Ramses II that once stood in the area. Its nose is broken and the beard that was once attached to the king's chin is missing.

The site at Tell Basta was dedicated to the cat-goddess Bastet and was an important center from the Old Kingdom until the end of the Roman Period. Archaeologists are still digging at the location for the rest of the statue. source

Wedding Hair Do's

My fav style above.

Source

Russell Hornsby Wedding Photos

“We’re both very practical people,” says Russell. “I didn’t get married because everybody else is doing it. I married the woman I love who will help me grow and we both can help each other run this long distance race called life.”

Congrats to the new married couple I wish them all the best!!

Miracle at St. Anna : Movie Premiere

For more pic click here

Quote of The Day

Love is one thing, knowledge is another.
Kemetian Proverb

Enter-to-win a trip to see Mary J. Blige in Las Vegas / $500 gift basket!

Enter to win the ultimate concert experience with and exclusive fly away trip to see Mary J Blige in Las Vegas on October 17 ,2008. Jet set to Las Vegas, courtesy of Carol's Daughter, with complimentary hotel accommodations, ground transportation around town and 2 tickets to rock with MJB at her concert. Then come home to a Carol's Daughter gift basket worth $500!!

Click here to enter

Fabienne Colas Foundation

The Fabienne Colas Foundation plays an important role in the promotion of Haitian cinema, art and culture around the world. One of its objectives is to become a major source of funding for cultural organizations and production companies striving to promote Haitian cinema.

Fabienne Colas works tirelessly and passionately to support and promote Haitian cinema around the globe. This great passion is the cornerstone of the Fabienne Colas Foundation.

Considered the most popular female actress in Haitian cinema, Ms. Colas is a woman of many talents: actress, scriptwriter, Founding President of the Fabienne Colas Foundation and an active member of a production company. In 2003, she was awarded the Ticket d’Or (Golden Ticket) in Haiti for best actress for her role in the film Barikad (directed by Richard Sénécal) and was also nominated for this same role at the Haitian Entertainment Awards in Florida. Since her arrival in Quebec, Canada, she has appeared on both the big and the small screen (Watatatow, l’Auberge du chien Noir and Comment Conquérir l’Amérique en une nuit). Fabienne is also an active member of both the UDA (Union des Artistes) and the ACTRA (Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists).

Ms. Colas started out as a model and was crowned Miss Haiti in 2000. She has represented Haiti in numerous beauty contests around the world.

Fabienne is a charismatic leader with an unwavering perseverance and drive that lets her achieve anything she sets her mind to. Once she gets going, nothing can stop her.

source

Montreal Voodoo conference brings a religion linked to sorcery to light.

Fabienne Colas is hoping to bring Voodoo, a religion long linked to black magic, into the light.

Colas is the founder of the five-day Montreal International Haitian Film Festival.

She chose to explore the subject of Voodoo with this year's film fest - an exhibition of Voodoo art and artifacts - and a one-day conference.

"Voodoo is still associated with everything evil, the devil, there's a lot of taboos and prejudice surrounding it in our very own community," she said in an interview Saturday.

"(Canadians) believe Voodoo is just dolls and black magic. They only see how Hollywood portrays Voodoo, and within the Haitian community Voodoo has long been linked to slavery."

Voodoo was transplanted to Haiti by Africans during the slave trade, but Haitian Voodoo is a mix of traditions based on African, aboriginal, and Catholic beliefs.

Michel Soukar, an author on Haitian history and society, said the religion was linked to poverty, ignorance and slavery and was forbidden by the colonialists who ruled the island.

"Old practices of slaves were de-valued," he said.

"And anything that could unite the masses was forbidden and persecuted."

The monotheistic religion dominates Haiti's religious landscape. It has no formal theology, congress, or scripture and is predominantly an oral tradition.

Similar forms of Voodoo are also practiced in Brazil and Cuba.

It was only recognized as an official religion in Haiti in 2003 and Montreal's 120,000-strong Haitian community has mixed feelings about the practice.

However, theologian Jean Fils Aime said during the conference that the majority of Quebec Haitians practice Voodoo in one form or other.

Colas admits she didn't understand Voodoo.

"I had all these prejudices and taboos against it," she said.

"It was really ignorance. I though Voodoo was for poor people, for others."

Soukar said numerous economic and social reasons lead to people linking voodoo with black magic, or the so-called left-hand path.

Some of these practices began to dominate the tradition and fetishism and superstition surrounded the beliefs.

"So for many people Voodoo became sorcery, Voodoo is sorcery. But that's not the case," he said in an interview.

"Voodoo is, essentially, the service of the spirits who are intermediaries between God, who believers recognize as the only God-creator of the universe."

Because the 'Grand Maitre' is too remote for personal worship, spirit intermediaries were created to help solve daily problems in human society, he said.

These 401 spirits, or Loas, speak to God for them, mediated by a priest, or houngan, or a priestess, called a mambo.

"Essentially, in its philosophy, Voodoo, like Christianity and other practices, is about love, joy, justice, all these fundamental values that permit humans to develop and blossom," Soukar said.

"It's the path of light."

Source

Quote of The Day

"The first and worst of all frauds is to cheat one's self." -- Phillip James Bailey

Win an iPod Touch from Style.com‏

Enter for a chance to win
an iPod touch from Style.com.

This Fashion Week, enter to win an iPod touch a day from Style.com. Fashion Week in New York, London, Milan, and Paris is running from 9/5 to 10/5 this year. Every day during that time period enter to win an 8GB iPod touch with the Style.com application already installed. The new Style.com app for iPhone and iPod touch allows you to browse the newest runway shows, read all of our blogs and watch video right in the palm of your hand. Enter up to once a day this show season for a chance to win.

Click here and enter to win now!!

Fashion Cares Volunteer Recruitment Process‏

If you live in Toronto and your interested in volunteering for Fashion Cares Read details below.

Thank you all for your patience in waiting for information about volunteering for Fashion Cares 2008.

This email contains important information about the volunteer recruitment process and the placement of volunteers.

About Fashion Cares 2008 - the event

Date: Sunday November 1, 2008
Location: MetroToronto Convention Centre
Theme: Fashion Cares presents Fashion sCares

This year we’re putting the fashion back in Fashion Cares with a spectacle that will blow you away: imagine Halloween meets Haute Couture meets Paris is Burning and you’ve got an idea of where we’re going. It’s very exciting!

There have been many positive changes made to the event this year. These changes have come about in an effort to bring Fashion Cares back to its roots ... an intimate community event.. To that end there have been two major changes that have been implemented that have an impact on volunteers.

Firstly. the decision has been made to discontinue the Boutique. Secondly, the event has been downsized, by reducing the number of Gala and General Admission tickets. In so doing, the volunteer requirements for Fashion Cares has reduced significantly.

Volunteer Recruitment Process

In trying to develop a volunteer recruitment process that was fair and equitable to all volunteers - long term and new - it has been decided that all volunteers must register through the website....www.fashioncares.com. - and complete the volunteer application form. Volunteer placement will be on a first come, first served basis.

The volunteer application form currently appearing on the website is a word document. You have several options in how you want to complete it

1) complete the application online then send by selecting from the menu - File - Send to - Mail Recipient as Attachment
2) print the form, and fax to me at 416.340.7558 to Attention: Jim Billing
3) print the form, scan and email to me at jbilling@actoronto.com as an attachment

If you experience any difficulty in completing the Volunteer Application Form please contact me at 416.340.8484

Submitting an application does not guarantee that you secured a volunteer position. All successful candidates will receive a confirmation email with details regarding their volunteer assignment.

Thank you

Jim Billing
development volunteer coordinator
399 Church Street, 4th floor
Toronto ON M5B 2J6
phone: 416.340.8484 ext 255
fax: 416.340.7558
www.actoronto.org


Fashion Cares 2008 - Saturday, November 1, 2008
Metro Toronto Convention Centre
www.fashioncares.com

" Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive" ... Dalai Lama

News Updates: Sept 22 2008

South African President Mbeki formally resigns

Black Fraternal society rediscovered in Barbados

Oil spikes US25$ a barrel on anxiety over anxiety over U.S ballout

Kayne Joins Lineup For Obama CD

'Tutti Frutti' drummer Earl Palmer dead at 84

Earl Palmer, the session drummer whose pioneering backbeats were recorded on such classics as Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti" and The Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'," has died. He was 84.

Palmer died Friday at his Los Angeles home after fighting a lengthy illness, his spokesman Kevin Sasaki said.

Born in New Orleans in 1924 and later moving to Los Angeles, Palmer worked extensively in both cities, recording with some of the music world's all-time greats on thousands of tracks.

His beats form the backdrop on Ike and Tina Turner's "River Deep, Mountain High," Fats Domino's "The Fat Man" and "I Hear You Knockin"' by Smiley Lewis.

From his Los Angeles home, Palmer drummed for music producer Phil Spector and Motown, and his session credits include artists as diverse as the Monkees, Neil Young and Frank Sinatra.

"He was groundbreaking," said Ed Vodika, the pianist in the Earl Palmer Trio. Palmer "shaped American music for the '50s, '60s and '70s." Continue reading

Quote of The Day

There is a disturbing and persistent attempt ( and it may be quite unconscious, so involuntary has become the racial reflex) to create a white superman to account for all civilization and all major achievements of non- Caucasoid peoples.

Ivan Van Sertima, " They Came Before Columbus

Imagine a Women in Love with Herself: Written by Patricia Lynn Reilly

"Imagine a woman who believes it is right and good that she is a woman. A woman who honors her experience and tells her stories. Who refuses to carry the sins of others within her body and life.

Imagine a woman who has acknowledged the past's influence on the present. A woman who has walked through her past and healed her way into the present.

Imagine a woman in love with her own body. A woman who believes her body is enough just as it is. Who celebrates her bodies rhythms and cycles as an exquisite resource.

Imagine a woman who embraces her sexuality as her own. A woman who delights in pleasuring herself. Who experiences her erotic sensations without shame or guilt.

Imagine a woman who honors the body of the Goddess in her changing body. A woman who celebrates the accumulation of her years and wisdom. Who refuses to use her precious life energy disguising the changes in her body and life.

Imagine a woman who has access to the full range of human emotion. A woman who expresses her feelings clearly and directly. Who allows them to pass through her as gracefully as breath.

Imagine a woman who tells the truth. A woman who trusts her experience of the world and expresses it. Who refuses to defer to the thoughts, perceptions and responses of others.

Imagine a woman who follows her creative impulses. A woman who produces original creations. Who refuses to color inside someone else's lines.

Imagine a woman who names her own gods. A woman who imagines the the Divine in her own image and likeness. Who designs a personal spirituality to inform her daily life.

Imagine a woman who refuses to surrender to gods gurus and higher powers. A woman who has descended into her own inner life. Who asserts her will in harmony with it's impulses and instincts.

Imagine a woman who is interested in her own life. A woman who emabraces her life as a teacher, healer and challenge. Who is Grateful for the ordinary moments of beauty and grace.

Imagine a woman who authors her own life. A woman who trusts her inner sense of what is right for her. Who refuses to twist her life out of shape to meet the expectations of others.

Imagine a woman who participates in her own life. A woman who meets each challenge with creativity. Who takes action on her own behalf with clarity and strength.

Imagine a woman who has crafted a fully formed solitude. A woman who is available to herself. Who choses friends and lovers with the capicity to respect her solitude.

Imagine a woman who refuses to diminish her life so that others will feel better. A woman who brings the fullness of her years, experience and wisdom into each relationship. Who expects others to be challenged and blessed by her presence in their lives.

Imagine a woman who assumes equality in her relationships. A woman who no longer believes she is inferior to men and in need of their salvation. Who has taken her rightful place beside them in the human community.

Imagine a woman who refuses to use her precious life energy managing crisis and conflict. A woman whose relationships deepen in satisfaction and contentment without depleting her. Who chooses Friends and Lovers with the necessary skills to navigate through the challenges of life.

Imagine a woman who values the woman in her life. Who sits in circles of women. Who is reminded of the truth about herself when she forgets.

Imagine a woman who has relinquished the desire for intellectual safety and approval. A woman who makes a powerful statement with every word she speaks and every action she takes. Who asserts to herself the right to reorder her own world.

Imagine a woman who has grown in knowledge and love of herself. A woman who has vowed faithfulness to her own life and capacities. Who remains loyal to herself...Regardless."

IMAGINE YOURSELF AS THIS WOMAN. Written by Patricia Lynn Reilly