Preserving A Part of Puerto Rican History – The “Cuatro”

Reblogged from Repeating Islands: Since 1992, master stringed instrument-maker William R. Cumpiano has devoted part of his time to preserving and promoting his native Puerto Rico’s national instrument—the cuatro—whose history up until then had only been captured in the minds and music of Puerto Ricans, Judith Kelliher reports for MassLatinoNews.com. The cuatro’s history is actually … Continue reading →

Haiti: 'I regret that clean water is so expensive'

Reblogged from Repeating Islands: Giorgio Armani commissioned the Magnum photographer Jim Goldberg to travel to Haiti to bring awareness to his campaign to bring safe drinking water to deprived areas. You can see a gallery of his photos by clicking on the link below. For the original report go to http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/photography/10018657/Haiti-I-regret-that-clean-water-is-so-expensive.html?frame=2546593 Read more… 4 more … Continue reading →

Third day at Toms Creek Park, Planting Trees-- Global Arbor Day

Reblogged from The Critical Historian: Today, Saturday April 27, 2003, when Arbor Day is celebrated throughout the world, a group of Virginia Tech students went to Toms Creek Park to plant trees. This was the third group at this place, but the fourth to take part on this year's Arbor Day activities. Here are the … Continue reading →

The Dominican Republic’s Love Affair with Baseball

Reblogged from Repeating Islands: David Rosenberg writes about Michael Hanson’s photographic study of baseball in the Dominican Republic and his observations on the passionate approach and dedication to his beloved sport in that country, saying that this might explain why the Dominican level of success in professional baseball is so high. When photographer Michael Hanson … Continue reading →

DNA links Trinidad Caribs to Africa and North America

Reblogged from Repeating Islands: Recent work by the North American-based National Geographic Genographic Project on the Carib community in Trinidad, utilising Deoxyribo Nucleic Acid (DNA) has confirmed that members of the community in Arima have very strong ancestral links to Africa and to Native American Indians. The project involved testing 25 members of the 600-strong … Continue reading →

Steel Pulse - Worth His weight in Gold- Garvey cited

Reblogged from The Critical Historian: The persistent legacy of Marcus Garvey Thanks to Glen VanDerMolen for sharing this: “So I was listening to my Reggae pandora station, this came on, and it was singing about so much that was covered in today’s lecture.” “Marcus said.” Read more… 4 more words

Slide Show: Our students featured on the local paper

Reblogged from The Critical Historian: These are some of the Virginia Tech students in the Issues in World History: The African Diaspora class volunteering on Arbor Day with the Blacksburg Town. Here is a link to more info about this activity. Read more… 22 more words

Marcus Garvey

Reblogged from The Critical Historian: Professor Shadle's presenting about Garvey Video Clip of discussing Afro-Centricity and Garvey's "400 millions." Download his PPT here. Read more… 6 more words

Arbor Day(s) or Combite 2013

Today (April 20-2013) we began with 2013 Arbor Day activities. The first group of students from this year’s class (Issues in World History: African Diaspora) planted the first trees– about 40 of them. We ended our planting with a trip to Carole Lee Donuts! This link for last year’s Arbor Day activities. As with other years, … Continue reading →

Edwidge Danticat: Best Books about Haiti

Reblogged from Repeating Islands: Diaspora Stories, a blog that focuses on all matters related to the Haitian Diaspora, recently featured Edwidge Danticat in “Haitian Authors: Edwidge Danticat, Best Books about Haiti.” R. Edmond writes about Danticat’s burden—to represent an entire nation and its Diaspora: It’s almost unfair, really. A group of people never wants to … Continue reading →

Haitians Celebrate ‘Diaspora Week’ at Home

Reblogged from Repeating Islands: Jacqueline Charles (The Miami Herald) writes that hundreds of Haitians living abroad in France, Canada and the United States are expected to fly home this week for Haiti’s celebrations surrounding Diaspora Week. The five-day gathering, she says, will not only highlight the contributions and concerns of Haiti’s estimated 4.5 million citizens … Continue reading →

Caribbean Urged to Harness Urbanization to Achieve Millennium Development Goals

Reblogged from Repeating Islands: A new report—the joint Global Monitoring Report (GMR) 2013 by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF)—urges Caribbean countries to harness urbanization in order to help achieve the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) stressing that urbanization helps pull people out of poverty and advances progress towards the MDGs, but, … Continue reading →

The term "illegal immigrant"

Reblogged from Abagond: The term "illegal immigrant" (1930s- ) means an undocumented immigrant, one without papers to stay in the country. The older term was "illegal alien", common in English in the 1970s and 1980s, rare in American news stories since 2003. An illegal immigrant can mean someone who: crossed the border illegally, overstayed a student … Continue reading →

REVIEWS: Modernity Challenged, or how I learned to love others

Geoffrey Fox <gf@geoffreyfox.com> and Lorrin Thomas <lthomas2@camden.rutgers.edu> have indulged us with two fine reviews: 1- Fox: “Frustrated Bourbons vs. Urban Reality in Old Mexico“ http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=31423 2- Thomas: “Against A U.S.-Dominated Modernity“ http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=31919 The theme of modernity, be it in Mexico, Cuba, or the United States, ties Fox and Thomas’ reviews together. Though one more than the other, … Continue reading →

2 Puerto Rico Sites Now US Historic Landmarks

Reblogged from Repeating Islands: Two Puerto Rican sites have been named U.S. historic landmarks: the colonial district of Old San Juan and the home of a poet and literary critic, the Associated Press reports. Old San Juan is the oldest city of any U.S. state or jurisdiction. It is also the site of the oldest … Continue reading →

What's It Going to Take to Get Men to Stop Raping Women? | Alternet

Reblogged from Habari Gani, America!: “I wouldn’t say she was completely passed out but she wasn’t in any state to make a decision for herself.”  That’s what one of the witnesses in the Steubenville, Ohio, trial told police of the 16-year-old girl at the center of the case,  according to ABC News. Perhaps that witness was one … Continue reading →

How A Single National Park Might Help Transform a Nation: Haiti's Pic Macaya

Reblogged from Repeating Islands: Haiti‘s Challenges
Haiti’s President Michel Martelly (“Sweet Micky” to his music fans) has been urging the world to view Haiti as a tourist destination. It certainly used to be. In 1975, Hillary and Bill Clinton honeymooned in Haiti, as have countless other couples. More importantly, Haiti is, for all her heartache, simply … Continue reading →

Jules Verne’s Forgotten Bermuda Adventure

Reblogged from Repeating Islands: This article appeared in Bernews.com. Follow the link below for the original report, lots of interesting graphics and a video. His prodigious imagination took him on journeys to the earth’s core, into lunar orbit — and to an imaginary islet off the coast of Bermuda where a mad genius develops a … Continue reading →

The Winter of the Monarch

Reblogged from Repeating Islands: Mexican novelist Homero Aridjis and Florida professor Lincoln P. Brower published today an op-ed piece in The New York Times that speak to the interconnectedness of our North and South American ecologies. It is a sad tale of the fate of our migrating butterflies. IN the village of Contepec, in Michoacán, … Continue reading →

El Yunque, Majestic Rocky Icon of Puerto Rico: Impervious to the Ravages of Time?

Reblogged from Repeating Islands: Anvil-shaped promontory formed inside an ancient supervolcano, as Cheryl Dybas reports in this reports for the National Science Foundation. El Yunque. It could be the name of an ancient chieftain. On the island of Puerto Rico, in a sense it is. El Yunque, which means "the anvil" in Spanish, is a … Continue reading →