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?
In Ontario, thousands have flooded the streets throughout 2020 to demand justice for all citizens. In attendance at a protest in Hamilton, ON was Rant and Rave videographer Kordel Fermin. I spoke to him on June 19th to get his perspective of the protests for our podcast series, but his take on the movement caused me to look deeper into how Canada is finally recognizing that they, too, have a history of racism.
June is Pride Month! As the world takes to the streets to stand up for Black Lives, we cannot forget about the people within our communities who face additional struggles. I spoke with Joel Simpson, Founder and Managing Director of the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD), about the progress his organization has made over the last 17 years in Guyana and how quarantine may be helping the gay and trans community.
How many of you are tired of this Coronavirus quarantine? Not because you do not like your home, but because your balance is off. Things we took for granted like brunch, movies, parties, and other activities that helped us cope with the stress of daily life have been taken away. We no longer get to decide what events we will and won’t attend. We are mandated to “stay home.” That sucks. Even as an introvert, I’m sick of quarantine.
Coronavirus has many of us quarantined and isolated from friends, family, f**kboys, and fetes. Per usual, deejays are taking the time to provide some much-needed relief from the covid struggle. Quarantine fetes have been popping up on Instagram and Facebook as deejays use their platforms to keep their fans engaged. The live streams have been so successful that this may be the new wave for deejays.
We are only three months in to 2020 and there’s already been the loss of a legendary basketball player, political unrest in Guyana, America’s Democratic Party in shambles, and now a global pandemic that’s causing governments to restrict international travel, corporate work hours, and large gatherings. For the socaholics among us, these restrictions mean missing out on our best stress reliever: Carnival.
2019 has been a great year for DysChick! I started the year the same way I start every year: hopeful. I had no idea there would be so many exciting firsts and daunting challenges. Here are my top 5:
First, let me say thank you to everyone who attended the final event in our Rant and Rave Summer Chat Series. This was the final installment and covered our most controversial topic to date: Brooklyn’s Caribbean Nightlife. SocaSaySo and I worked hard to find just the right people with whom we can have this discussion… and did we found them!
Brooklyn artistes came out to The Slope Lounge on Jul 24th, 2019 for “Rant and Rave” presented by DysChick & SocaSaySo. The third installment of the 4-part Summer Chat Series focused on Caribbean Arts and Entertainment, which included film, photography, fashion, and music.
