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The Road to CARIFESTA 2017: Canada Sends its First Caribbean Diaspora Contingent

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BY: KABRENA ROBINSON

“I am still pinching myself because at one point in time I had given up hope that It would ever happen,” confessed Rhoma Spencer, Artistic Director of The Canadian-Caribbean Arts Network (C-CAN) as she sat down for an interview at the Black Artists’ Networks Dialogue art gallery following a special meeting.

The meeting was to inform the public of the new grand jubilation, that after eleven years of relentless advocacy by Spencer and colleagues at C-CAN, the goal had finally come to fruition. Canada is now able to send a contingent to the Caribbean Festival of Arts (CARIFESTA XIII) to be held in Barbados from August 17-27, 2017. A historic moment for the community as this will be the first time in history that a contingent from the diaspora will be participating.

The group of over 66 artists, spearheaded by C-CAN, is comprised of a wide variety of Canadian talents, from a dynamic array of dancers to musicians and performances in storytelling and spoken word. Two artists will also be presenting academic papers at the CARIFESTA Symposia. Financing for the initiative is expected to come from public and private agencies, as well as from the fundraising efforts of the participating artists and organizations.

The first CARIFESTA, began in Guyana in 1972 attracting the participation of over 1,000 artists from thirty Caribbean and South American countries. The international multicultural event aims to gather artists, musicians, and authors to exhibit, celebrate, maximize artistic participation and to deepen the awareness and knowledge of the diverse aspirations within the Caribbean and Latin American Community.

While the artists prepare for the fulfilling experience of indulging in the grand celebration of rich Caribbean arts and culture, the journey towards this much-anticipated moment was not a smooth task.

According to Spencer, the CARIFESTA committee over the past years has not been receptive to proposals about participation from the diaspora. Spencer explains that this possibly derives from the idea that artists of the Caribbean community in Canada are offered more opportunities than artists in smaller Caribbean countries.

“I feel it was that kind of a fear of the unknown, but really and truly when we go down we are learning as much and taking from them to bring back with us as artists than they would be led to believe,” Spencer said. 

“I as an artist, I need to always touch base with home to recharge, to be able to come back here and do the work that I want to do by allowing myself to go back to the source and see what is happening in real time.”

Dwayne Morgan, a Canadian spoken word artist, renowned author and founder of Up From The Roots Entertainment is one of the many artists apart of the Canadian-Caribbean delegation of talents to be showcased in Barbados at this year’s CARIFESTA XIII. As a Canadian of Jamaican descent, Morgan regards his inherited culture as being very influential to his successful career. Despite his international success, Morgan sees the experience of being able to attend CARIFESTA representing the Caribbean diaspora as a learning experience and a great platform to showcase the diversity of Caribbean artists working in Canada. 

“There are so many people who are rooted in the Caribbean who leave and go elsewhere and kind of have one foot in the Caribbean and one foot in this new place and being stretched in that way forces you to create something new so we have something that is very new that is not necessarily Canadian not necessarily Caribbean but its this diasporic thing,” he said in an interview.

“We are going to bring down there what we do here but hopefully there are things down there that we will bring back as well that will enhance what it is that we do here in Toronto.”

As the many talented artists and members of C-CAN prepare to embark on this new venture, the hope is that the opportunity will provide a platform to “reconnect, recharge and merge two constantly evolving artistic realities”, a start towards fostering a closer relationship between the Canadian diaspora and the Caribbean community at “home”.

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Junior Contributors

What is Ramadan? People say, we’re fasting; that’s only a part of It

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Photo Credit: Way Home Studio

BY KAHA G. – 15 YEARS OLD

Ramadan is fast approaching! It’s said to be on either Sunday, March 10th, 2024, or Monday, March 11th, 2024, based on the sighting of the crescent moon. However, what is Ramadan? In Islam, Ramadan is the ninth month in the Muslim calendar (we use the lunar calendar) and is the holy month of fasting.

Like I said earlier, it starts and ends with the sighting of the crescent moon. This calendar is different from the Gregorian calendar because “Ramadan begins 10–12 days earlier each year, allowing it to fall in every season throughout a 33-year cycle,” according to Brittanica. This is why, in some cases, Eid (the celebration after Ramadan), can fall on the same day as Christmas.

Additionally, Ramadan is a period where Muslims practice self-restraint, from dawn to dusk from food, drink, sexual activity, and all forms of immoral behaviour. This includes bad deeds as a whole, like swearing, disrespecting your parents, music, etc. Keep in mind that these should be stopped no matter if it is Ramadan, or not. In addition to that, we are encouraged to do many good deeds during this month because the reward for it is multiplied immensely. So, we would partake in good acts like charity, reading the Qur’an (the holy book for Muslims), prayer, and so on.

Before the dawn prayer known as Fajr, we wake up for suhoor which translates to the meal eaten before dawn. We wake up one hour before dawn prayer, eat our suhoor, and read the Qur’an. On the other hand, after the sunset prayer, we have something called iftar, which is the meal we break our fast with.

Now, here is the amazing part of Ramadan. During Ramadan, in the last ten nights, there is a day called Laylat al-Qadr (Arabic word for the night of power). Allah (God) revealed the Qur’an to the prophet Muhammad peace be upon him. This day is so special to the point where all of our supplications are answered, and the angels descend giving the day a sense of tranquility.

According to zakat.org, there is a hadith (a statement, or action from the prophet Muhammed peace be upon him) from An-Nasa’i (a scholar who collects the hadith and puts it into a book) that states the following. “There has come to you the blessed month of Ramadan, in which God, the Mighty and Sublime, has enjoined you to fast. In it, the gates of heaven are opened, and the gates of Hell are closed, and every single devil is chained. In it, God has made a night whose value is greater than a thousand months (Laylat al-Qadr), and whoever is deprived of its goodness will indeed have lost.”

I would like to end with a quote from Mufti Menk, an Islamic scholar. “What is Ramadan? People say, we’re fasting; that’s only a part of it. It is the month of peace, the month of tranquility, the month of cure, the month of goodness, the month of forgiveness, the month of mercy, the month of attaining paradise, the month of the Qur’an, the month of revelation, the month of celebration of being a Muslim. “We don’t just do what we want, we do what the Almighty has ordained.”

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The Poetic Word

Law of Power

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Photo Credit: rawpixel.com

BY GLORIA O’KOYE

If only these babies know what’s the cost

Of the path they are on.

Would decisions being solid

Override the tears from loved ones.

 

If these babies knew how legal aid

Would play with freedom.

Hit or miss

Crown and defense address each other as friends

Debriefing over recess and lunch breaks.

 

These babies would never be ready for the morgue.

Funeral procession, to preparation, dealing with estate after it all.

Even caskets built to be engulfed in flames

Cost grands,

Like money was meant to be burn away

Like forest fires within periods of false prosperity.

 

No empires are immune to the great fall.

These babies aren’t ready

Even Devils may cry.

The dawgs and demons will crumble overtime.

A lifestyle teeming with expiry dates

Only the wise

Sprinkled with luck,

Got a fighting chance to make it out

In one piece and alive

 

Courtrooms are throwing life sentences

The prison gates rejoice like Christmas gifts.

Yet behind the scenes there is tension.

Responsibility being passed down like hot coals

No one wants to take the collateral damage, once a death in custody gets pinned

Right to the point.

 

Graveyard making profits

So, both don’t want street beefs to resolve.

Social work is just the same

Wolves in sheep’s clothing,

Money is the root of it all.

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Junior Contributors

The mathematical miracles in the Qur’an

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BY KAHA G. – 15 YEARS OLD

For those of you who don’t know, the Qur’an is the Holy book for Muslims all around the world. It was revealed to the last Prophet, Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) by Angel Jibreel (Gabriel). In math class, we have been assigned to choose a topic and share how it connects to math, and even though I didn’t choose it, I think it’s interesting to share with you. In this article, I will be talking about the mathematical miracles in the Qur’an.

According to medium.com, the word “Salawat” (prayers) is mentioned five times in the Qur’an, corresponding with the five daily prayers Muslims have to fulfill every day such as: Fajr (Dawn), Dhuhr (Afternoon), Asr (late afternoon), Maghrib (after sunset), and Isha (nighttime).

Additionally, another one is how the word “Sajr” (month) is mentioned 12 times in the Qur’an, just as there are 12 months in a year. As well as, how the word “Yawn” (day), in the singular, is mentioned 365 times in the Quran, just as the number of days there are in a year.

There are more of these with a word and its acronym being mentioned together the same number of times in the Qur’an. For example:

  • “Al Hayat” (life), 145 times – “Al Mawt” (death), 145 times
  • “Al Dunya” (mundane life), 115 times – “Al Ajira” (the afterlife), 115 times
  • “Malaika” (angels), 88 times – “Shayatin” (demons), 88 times
  • “As Salihat” (good deeds), 167 times – “As Sayya’at” (wrongdoings), 167 times
  • “An Nafaa” (benefit), 50 times – “Al Fasad” (corruption), 50 times
  • “Ar Rajul” (man), 24 times – “Al Mar’a” (woman), 24 times

Some say that the Prophet might have done all this himself, however, the Quran was revealed over a span of 23 years in various contexts and circumstances, making it unlikely that a single author could have meticulously planned the numerical miracles presented in the Qur’an.

To think that this book was revealed to the Prophet Muhammed (Peace be upon him) who couldn’t read or write, further shows the authenticity of the Qur’an. Now, my question for you is: What are your thoughts about this topic? Interesting, isn’t it?

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