Month: June 2025

Rickford Burke, president of the Brooklyn-based Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID), welcomed the dismissal of the defamatory libel charges against him by Guyana's Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire late Friday, June 20.   Earlier Friday, the justice ruled that criminal defamatory libel is unconstitutional and violates the enshrined right to freedom of expression.  “I thank the court for this historic ruling,” Burke told Caribbean Life. “The judgment of the Chief […]

New Yorkers love their city, but they are very clear about what they don’t love about living here: noise, trash, illegal vending, open-air drug use, reckless driving, double parking, and other everyday offenses. These and many other quality-of-life issues affect not just the reality of public safety, but the feeling of safety that makes life in our city possible. As we have so often said, public safety is about more […]

A thorn in the side for years of the governing People's Progressive Party (PPP), Guyanese authorities have announced plans and efforts to have a top Brooklyn-based political activist extradited to Guyana to face alleged extortion charges. Critics say that if American authorities agree to a request to send Rickford Burke back to his native Guyana in the coming months, this would fulfill the PPP's long-held ambition to silence one of […]

Earlier this year, I met a young graduate who had spent the entire summer searching for a job that matched her education — without success. As the weeks passed and her options narrowed, she applied to a local meat shop, hoping to find some form of employment. But even there, she was turned away – she was “overqualified” to pack chicken legs. Her story is not unique. Across several Caribbean […]

With just $50 and a dream of a lasting legacy, Jamaican-born Andrew Morris tells his story of Sam’s Caribbean Marketplace in West Hempstead, Nassau County, Long Island, which he owns with his wife, Jean. “I often think back to 1979, when Jean and I, two teenagers from Jamaica, arrived in New York—separately, strangers to each other, but unknowingly bound by fate,” Morris told Caribbean Life on Friday, June 20. “We […]

As pop royalty Beyonce wrapped her six-night engagement in Tottenham, England, in Brooklyn, Nottingham-born British author John Masouri schooled New Yorkers on the impact of Jamaica's home-grown music in the UK through the decades. Although the time difference across the Pond did not correspond with daylight savings time on the East Coast, fans of both genres claimed the significant events brought "music to our ears." "Queen Bey is the best […]

“The Ghosts of Gwendolyn Montgomery” by Clarence A. Haynes c.2026, Legacy Lit                                          $29.00                                         240 pages   You fit right in. Whatever it takes, that’s all right. Changing your mind and being one with the group is human nature. To relax your presence to maintain goodwill. To stay quiet and under the radar – but be careful. As in the new book, “The Ghosts of Gwendolyn Montgomery” by Clarence A. […]

Guyanese-born reggae artist Colle' Kharis is riding the musical wave of success with his new album, Lot 13. He said it is a deeply personal and culturally rooted collection of songs that continues to reflect his journey as an artist of Caribbean heritage.  "I am thrilled to announce the release of my new album, Lot 13," he told Caribbean Life of the June 11 drop of the powerful follow-up to the […]

Brooklyn Democratic Party Chair Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn strongly urges everyone to join the rapidly growing roster of Brooklyn Democratic voters to rank Andrew Cuomo #1 for election as New York City Mayor. "Our city and nation are facing extraordinary challenges—from ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) raids and civil rights, job reductions, education funding crises, and reduced support for our most vulnerable," said Bichotte Hermelyn, the daughter of Haitian immigrants, who […]