On December 3rd, Venezuela will hold a referendum to decide whether to formally claim Essequibo, a region long disputed with Guyana, as a Venezuelan state. Should they decide to move forward with the claim, Guyana would lose over 70% of its territory, much of which has been the source of the nation’s newfound wealth.
Hello and Happy 2023!
I can’t believe how much happened in 2022. We came out of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mia Mottley secured a second 5-year term as Prime Minister of Barbados, Russia started a war with Ukraine, and Herschel Walker lost the Georgia election - but so did Stacey Abrams. You know, yin… yan. The same was true for DysChick. Despite personal tragedies, I was able to be outside like garb – nope. I refuse to make that a phrase.
So what’s my plan for 2023? Rest.
If you’ve been following DysChick, you know that I have a fear of flying; however, I have a greater fear of missing out on an epic event. Tipsy in Miami announced that it would feature the King of Soca and the King of Afrobeats and the FOMO was just too real.
Machel Montano has been making the rounds this year promoting his brand, encouraging nations to “Save the Soil,” and making sure that you know he is still the King of Soca after 40 years in the business. Burna Boy is the most popular Afrobeats artiste right now with his hit single “Last Last” reaching over 6 million streams on Spotify.
With these two heavyweights on the bill, you know DysChick had to fly to fete! Yet despite having the top artistes, the event was not E-P-I-C.
So let's recap America’s first six months of 2022:
Over 250 mass shootings including the Buffalo massacre, the elementary school shooting in Texas, a gunman opening fire on a crowded NYC subway, and the attack on a church in California
The number of deaths from COVID-19 surpassed 1 million
Eric Adams becomes Mayor of New York City (smh)
Are we great yet? No? Okay, how about this, we just decided to revoke a woman’s right to chose when and if she wants to become a mother.
We released our second episode of Season 6 of the Rant and Rave podcast. In this episode we talk about Machel Montano and Indian super yogi Sadhguru’s campaign to “Save the Soil.” The campaign has already resulted in six Caribbean nations (Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, Guyana, and Barbados) signing the Memorandum of Understanding and pledging to adopt long-term policy to safeguard soil and promote ecologically-friendly initiatives. We RANT about what this means for Caribbean tourism, the economy, and what we can do to reverse the climate crisis. But who is Sadhguru?
This is not a review of a party or Carnival. This is a review of an event that shocked America. On Tuesday, November 8th, 2016 billionaire Donald Trump was elected President of the United States. As the child of immigrants, this not only shocks me, but concerns me.
It's been one week since Labor Day. A day where West Indians celebrate the culture and pageantry of the Caribbean with festivities throughout the long weekend culminating in a parade along Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn. However, this day was full of disappointments and tragedy. The predawn j'ouvert street party was once again marred by violence and the annual parade was a lackluster crawl.
I was so ready for this weekend to be horrible. With all of the parties that were cancelled and shut down last year, I was prepared for multiple "Due to circumstances beyond our control" posts. Surprisingly, this was not the case. I saw very few cancellations and they were mostly due to the storm that never came. In fact, I had a lot of fun at the events I attended. Therefore, I decided to blog about what my fellow party goers said worked well and what they want to see promoters do more often.
On July 28th, the much-anticipated film Bazodee premiered at The PlayStation Theater in Manhattan. Set in Trinidad during Carnival, Bazodee is a story of a young woman, Anita Ponchouri (played by British actress Natalie Perera) who is due to marry the son of a wealthy London businessman but finds herself in an emotional upheaval when she meets a down-on-his-luck musician played by Trinidadian soca superstar, Machel Montano. The story explores Anita’s internal conflict between duty and passion. The musical dramedey (thanks for the term Natalie) also showcases West Indian culture and soca music.
On July 21st, the soca community turned out to support Brooklyn's own legend-in-the-making, Lyrikal at his debut album release party. Carribbean heavyweights Majah Hype and Machel Montano, as well as Brooklyn's own One Voice, Rayzor of the Request Band, Dawg E. Slaughter, turned the low key Suite 36 in midtown Manhattan into the place to be on Thursdaynight.
For those of you who did not make it to Bermuda Heroes Weekend, you missed out. In only its second year, this new carnival has become a can't-miss event for artists, deejays, and now DysChick.
The weekend consists of parties and activities over the span of a four-day weekend promoted by Bermuda Heroes Weekend. If you are planning to attend next year's event, here are the 5 things you need to know before you go.
Is it just me, or was this past Memorial Weekend a real disappointment? I used to abandon sleep and sobriety for four full days in order to take advantage of the kickoff to the summer party season. This time around, I actually had two nights of deep sleep as this was one of the tamest Memorial Weekends I've ever experienced.
You know you have a problem when you have a P.C.D. tabanca. If you were inside Stage 48 on Sunday for P.C.D. (Post-Carnival Depression) then you understand. ShorBlu Events, Back2Basics Ent & Live By The Henny teamed up to bring us a party that was meant to assuage our nostalgia for Trinidad Carnival, but has instead become the annual event that we can't stop talking about afterwards.
