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John Brown Russwurm was born in Port Antonio, Jamaica, the son of a black woman and an English merchant. He lived in Jamaica until his father sent him to Quebec at age eight for a better education. He and his father moved to Maine in 1812; his father died shortly thereafter in 1815, but not before changing his name from John Brown to John Brown Russwurm. John lived on with his family after his stepmother remarried. They continued to encourage his education and helped him to enter Bowdoin College. He was the first African American to graduate from that college and the third African-American to graduate from college in America. Mr. Russwurm became interested in Black liberation during college. He wrote term papers on Toussaint L'Overture and his graduation speech focused on the Haitian Revolution. He considered immigration to Haiti or teaching in Boston but decided to move to New York where he met Samuel Cornish. He and Cornish, a Presbyterian minister edited and published the very first African-American newspaper, "Freedom's Journal", which first appeared in 1827. It was started as a response to the racism of established media, an advocate for abolition and education of free Blacks. Russwurm eventually converted to the belief that Blacks could only prosper through recolonization to Africa. As a result, Cornish left the paper and the newspaper's readership turned against Russwurm. In 1829, he left the newspaper and immigrated to Liberia. Liberia suffered a dearth of Black intellectuals during this time and Mr. Russwurm was much in demand.He worked as Colonial Secretary for four years and edited the Liberia Herald for five. In 1836 he became the first black Governor of Maryland County, Liberia. He learned many African languages, established positive relationships with neighboring nations, encouraged African-American immigration and worked diplomatically with whites. His administration also supported and enhanced agriculture and trade. In 1833, John married Sarah McGill, daughter of the Lieutenant-Governor of Monrovia, Liberia,they had four children. A monument has been erected to Mr. Russwurm on the island off the coast of Liberia.

In honor of National Caribbean-Heritage Month, 2015 - Mona Scott-Young Mona Scott-Young is a multi-millionaire business and television mogul who was born and raised in Haiti. She is the CEO of Monami Entertainment, a multimedia entertainment company that produces VH1's hit reality program, "Love and Hip-Hop". Her company has also produced numerous spin-offs from the show such as "Chrissy & Mr. Jones", "K. Michelle: My Life", and "The Gossip Game" on VH1. Additionally it has also produced shows such as "Donald Trump Presents: The Ultimate Merger" on TV One and; "Cocaine: History Between the Lines" on the History Channel. Ms. Young got her start as a temp at Radio City Music Hall where she caught the attention of a group called Track Masters and became their Manager. Mona subsequently started her own company, Violator Management and became an in-demand Record Executive, Manager and mentor to big name celebrities such as Missy Elliott, 50 Cent and LL Cool J. As co- owner and founder of Violator Management, she built a reputation of success and reaped considerable financial rewards. Scott-Young founded her own management company, Monami Entertainment after leaving Violator. Along with its traditional music management role, Monami has considerable impact on the television landscape, and has now expanded into film projects with its first feature length film, "The Promise Keepers". Mona most recently ventured into brand marketing and is part owner and Chief Marketing Officer of a ready-to-drink moscato line, Myx Fusions. In addition to running her business Ms. Scott-Young is known for many charitable contributions and has been recognized by many organizations including Black Enterprise, Vibe magazine, the National Association of Black Females in Music Entertainment, as well as the National Congress and Convention of Haitian-Americans. She has also been honored with ASCAP's "Woman Behind the Music" Award and Ad Age's "Marketer of the Year" Award. Ms. Scott-Young currently serves on the boards of the Haitian Roundtable, the RSQ Foundation, and the GrassROOTS Foundation.

King of the Dancehall Beenie Man will be performing at that ESSENCE Fest MainStage on the Fourth of July. Beenie man will be creating fireworks in New Orleans with his live crew, The Zagga Zow Band , with dozens of explosive no. 1 hits The weekend will be filled with empowering experiences and electrifying performances from various artists such as Usher, Missy Elliott, Erykah Badu, Common and many more. Nephew Tommy from The Steve Harvey Morning Show will return as the Mainstage host, with special DJ moments by Doug E. Fresh.

Jamaican entertainer Keith "Anthony B" Blair was arrested in Port of Spain, Trinidad after performing at the Redemption 2 concert. An arrest warrant was issued for Anthony B after promoter Barry Lewis claimed he owed him money and Lewis's attorneys filed an application for a Fugae warrant under the Absconding Debtors Act. A judge Justice Andre Des Vignes ordered that court marshals immediately arrest Blair. In court documents Lewis stated that Blair had failed to perform at a concert on Independence Day 2013, after an agreement was made between one of Blair's booking agents for Blair to perform at the concert in Trinidad. Lewis claimed spent $73,126 to secure the services for the concert's headline performer. The amount represented the deposit for Blair's performance and airfare for him and his representatives. Lewis also stated that on August 28, 2013 he was informed that Blair could not meet his contractual obligation. Lewis hired two other performers. A video of Blair's apology for his absence was shown to patrons at the concert. Court documents state that Blair failed to compensate Lewis and Lewis sued Blair claiming damages for breach of contract, interest and cost. Blair was later release and ordered to pay Lewis US$7,000 immediately and the balance of $27,976 on or before June 30 with cost in the sum of $5,000. Lewis was represented by attorneys Michael Rooplal and Carina Jailal. Attorney Fitzgerald Hinds appeared on Blair's behalf.

Victoria Small clinched the title at the 1st annual Miss Barbados UK 2015 which took place on Saturday 25th April at Bush Hall in London. Seven contestants vied for the title, but in the end Small with her poised was crowned the first Miss Barbados UK. She lives in Reading and is currently a full -time business and finance student with aspirations of having her own creative media business in the future. First runner up went to Marika Kinch, was also awarded Most Improved, Most Creative Wear, Most Dedicated and the people’s choice award. Sophia Mackay was second runner-up and took the picture perfect and Miss Twilight awards. Miss Barbados UK is an annual pageant created to educate young ladies of Barbadian citizenship or descent on their history & culture.

New York, NY - May 28, 2015 - Sharissa Ryan, Fox Lane High School alumni and more recently, division I tennis Fairfield University graduate of 2014, could not have imagined where this year would have led her. Currently ambassador and festival queen for the island Montserrat, she will represent her country in this year’s Caribbean Week. Last December Sharissa decided to compete in the Miss Montserrat Festival Queen Pageant on her island and won. Since winning the title and crown, she has done community service in her country, hosting a weekend of tennis for youth and establishing a reading program working with the Montserrat Public Library. Since her return to New York in May, she has made appearances at events such as the Montserrat Progressive Society’s Mother’s Day event and the Aids Walk NYC that have helped expose, and spark conversations about her island. On Wednesday June 3rd, Sharissa will speak and perform at the C aribbean Tourism Organization ( CTO) Student Colloquium event themed “ Students Taking Centre Stage: A forum for Rising Stars in Caribbean Tourism”. She will address a body of student teams from the College of the Bahamas, Monroe College in New York, Jamaica’s University of Technology and the Turks and Caios Islands Community College as they challenge each other on sustainable tourism issues. The students will also hear from featured speaker, Denis Walcott the former New York City education chancellor who served from 2011 to 2013. Born in Montserrat, Sharissa moved to Bedford Hills, NY at the tender age of 4 with her family after the Soufriere Hills Volcano erupted on the island in 1995. This year marks 20 years since this devastation to the southern half of the island. During that time, her parents encouraged her to start tennis lessons and shortly after she decided to learn how to play the violin. Some of her proud accomplishments include the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) title in 2012, Inter-collegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Scholar athlete in 2014, and MAAC player of the week 4 times throughout her college career. In 2006, at 12 years old, she decided to share her skills with her home country by leading a volunteer tennis clinic for the children on the island to learn the game. When asked about the upcoming event she said; “I am excited to share my experiences among my peers, encouraging them to also re-connect with their own Caribbean heritage”. The journey is always the best part of any adventure, and this is just the beginning. Later this summer Sharissa goes on to compete in three pageants: Jaycees Queen Show in Antigua, Caribbean Culture Queen in Nevis and The Commonwealth Caribbean in St. Lucia.

Queen of hip-hop Nicki Minaj last week released her new music video for "The Night is Still Young" exclusively on Tidal and recently on Vevo. “The Night Is Still Young” celebrates the joy of summertime. In the video, the Minaj appears alongside a group of very Harajuku Barbie-inspired dancers as they sport bright colors and even wackier outfits. The track was co-written by Minaj, Lukasz Gottwalk, Henry Walker, Donnie Lewis, Ester Dean, Ziggy Mcstalin and Theron Thomas.

Reggae singer Chronixx will bring his unique energy when he perfoms tonight at Alrosa Villa in Columbus Ohio . Chronixx, has been touring throughout Europe since his first EP, Hooked on Chronixx. He is now doing his Capture Land U.S. Tour. His newest album, The Dread & Terrible Project, topped both the Billboard and iTunes reggae charts with the tracks, “Rastaman Wheel Out” and “Here Comes Trouble.” See the list of tour dates for Chronixx and the Zincfence Redemption: Captureland US Tour

Instead of trapping yourself at a north coast resort, where the only Jamaicans are bar staff or security guards and the best music on offer is karaoke, head to Kingston to experience Jamaica at its most authentic. The teeming capital is home to nearly half the island's inhabitants, and has always been the focal point for Jamaica's creative industries. In addition to giving birth to reggae (and its computerised cousin, dancehall), Kingston is home to the island's most noteworthy artists, scholars and dramatists, and the culinary arts scene is based here too. For reggae fans, it is certainly Mecca, the music forming a nonstop soundtrack that defines the city's character, and now experiencing a resurgence that draws in many facets of Jamaican culture. Kingston, however, has never really been on the tourist map, since most visitors land at the other end of the island in Montego Bay. Personal safety is another factor – although you are unlikely to be in real danger if you keep your wits about you, treat people with respect, and avoid contraband – and with most hotels aimed at business travellers, Kingston has until recently been prohibitively expensive, too. Thankfully, Airbnb and Couchsurfing are opening up the city to the independent traveller in unprecedented ways. Rather than paying top dollar for a sub-standard hotel in the New Kingston business district, where crackheads and prostitutes roam the streets at night, visitors can now stay in homely dwellings with welcoming hosts, some of whom are active in the arts. Kingston can be daunting for the uninitiated and having a local host can make all the difference. From the moment of arrival, the varied facets of Kingston's character become apparent. Driving into town from the airport, you are confronted by a mammoth cement plant belching out frightful emissions, and just beyond it, the incongruous Rockfort mineral baths, reputedly with healing properties. A short distance further, you reach Rennock Lodge, where jazz jams at Count Ossie's Rastafari encampment helped create ska in the 1960s. The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari continue to hold "groundations" there each Sunday, playing spiritual music praising the "Most High". Then a gigantic electrical generating plant appears, towering over a former fishing village on the edge of Kingston's terribly polluted harbour. Nothing looks particularly enticing until you reach the more genteel uptown territory of Hope Botanical Gardens. And yet there is surprising beauty in the city, with a stunning mountain backdrop to the east and lush greenery to north and west. Goats grazing at bus stops and cattle wandering on football fields remind you that the countryside is all around, even if the city is a scorching cauldron of clogged traffic, speculative building work and urban idlers. The divide between rich and poor is striking: the palatial mansions of Beverley Hills and the gated communities of Norbrook and Havendale are but a stone's throw from the disenfranchised communities of Arnette Gardens and Trench Town, where Bob Marley and the Wailers first sang harmony more than 50 years ago. But the appeal of Kingston lies in its reggae and when it comes to nightlife, the city is second-to-none. There are now weekly sessions held every night in different locations, often with free entry. Some of the most popular are associated with the "Reggae Revival", a recent movement that aims to bring Jamaican music back to its traditional core values, with live instrumentation, a Rastafari focus, and an active agenda of social change. Painters, filmmakers and social activists are also associated with the movement, whose vanguard can often be found at the Kingston Dub Club's Sunday night sessions, held in the yard of a private home in the exclusive Jack's Hill district. The club's remote location and the absence of public transport means that an uptown crowd predominates; in contrast, Inner City Mondays, staged by Afrocentric bookseller I-Nation, is held in Tivoli Gardens, the infamous community that was stormed by security forces in May 2010, resulting in 73 deaths, after the US requested the extradition of neighbourhood kingpin Christopher "Dudus" Coke. Inner City Mondays aims to revitalise the community and to remove its stigma of social exclusion, as well as giving a platform to new local talent. On a Wednesday night, I checked out a session called Dubwise Jamaica, held at the shabby-chic Tiki Hut, a short walk down Hope Road from the Bob Marley Museum. It's a likeable space with a thatched roof and a wooden interior, its open side areas allowing cool breezes to waft onto the spacious dancefloor. A mostly local crowd was in attendance, with a good gender mix and a few old heads on the periphery, while the JA$300 entrance fee (about €3) kept out the riff-raff. A bearded young wonder called Yaadcore presided over this weekly session, and he displayed much style and panache on the record decks, dropping hot tracks by rising stars such as Protoje, Micah Shemaiah and Chronixx, some of which have yet to be released. As the night progressed and the dancefloor filled up, a grand entrance was made by guest selector Danny Dread. A veteran of the legendary sound system Volcano Hi-Power, Dread lined up his dub plates and shifted the music backwards in time. Soon, the stylistically superior rapper Lone Ranger began chatting cool rhymes in time to the rhythms, and the crowd showered the pair with rapturous whoops. Somehow, Dread and Ranger didn't seem to have aged one iota from their late-1970s heyday; each track sounded better than the last, and much of what was featured is completely exclusive. When the night drew to a close and everyone spilled out onto Hope Road, we all had grins plastered across our faces. Other noteworthy sessions include Vinyl Thursdays, an all-day marathon in Half Way Tree (staged beside Veggie Meals On Wheels, one of the best ital – vegan Rasta – restaurants in town), the Tuesday Sankofa live sessions held at alternative art space Nanook, and the live music sessions staged each Friday by guitarist Earl "Chinna" Smith at his home in St Andrew Park, where rising hopefuls rub shoulders with seasoned veterans. Dancehall fans can hit three different weekly sessions put on by leading sound system Stone Love. A foreign travel writer once described Kingston as "a city in decline", and although residents still grapple with a range of social problems, the city is clearly in the grip of an artistic renaissance. Reggae music requires contextual understanding, which is why so many outsiders are baffled by it; spending time in the island's capital is the best way to get to grips with it, and as the Reggae Revival breathes new life into Kingston's incredibly rich and varied music scene, there's never been a better time to be here. You could aim to visit in February, which has been designated Reggae Month, when all kinds of events take place on a daily basis, most of them free. July is another prime time, since the Jamaica Film Festival is held in Kingston then, inevitably featuring work shot in the city. But if reggae is your main bag, then you can travel to Kingston at any time and be guaranteed an amazing experience, since music booms out of every corner of the capital every hour of every day. Source:Newsweek

Kingston, Jamaica: Popular monthly series Girlfriendz – Cocktailz and Conversationz returns to Triple Century on May 31, 2015. Host and promoter, Shelly-Ann Dr Sexy-Ann Weeks , Sex Educator and Media Personality says that this staging is significant because it gets the men involved. “We have invited a panel of men to join the conversation about love sex and relationships – a segment we are calling Ask Him. We want to hear directly from the men about stereotypical expectations and opinions about them,” she says. “There are many misunderstandings between the sexes and this is a great opportunity to get the discussion started.” The panel will include artists, media personalities and businessmen. In addition to Ask Him, this staging will feature Seduction, Self Defense and Strip Tease Classes, games, giveaways and so much more. Of course Dr Sexy-Ann will be engaging the conversation about Sex Love and Relationships in addition to the fun and games. Admission for entry is $1000 (Buy 3 tickets get 1 free – Presold only) $1500 at the door and cocktails are at 6:30pm. Tickets are available at www.yardticket.com and Triple Century or call 798-0820 for more information. Girlfriendz – Cocktails and Conversations is sponsored by LIME, Smirnoff Vodka, and Baileys Irish Cream. “It’s important that the ladies not just have fun at Girlfriendz, but actually leave with something that she can use to make her life happier,” says Dr Sexy. Girlfriendz targets women but men are definitely invited to attend.

Taste of the Caribbean returns to Miami for its fourth consecutive year and will take place at the Hyatt Regency , Miami, June 12 – 14, 2015, where foodies and fans can enjoy the culinary and cocktail creations created by the talented teams during Taste of the Islands, the popular culinary and cultural showcase. There will be 10 teams for the various islands participating this year, there will be samples of at least 20 different recipes and ten different cocktails at A Taste of the Islands. During a series of competitions, chefs and bartenders from each country will present a variety of Caribbean entrees and cocktails as they battle for top honors including: Caribbean Culinary Team of the Year, Caribbean Chef of the Year, Caribbean Pastry Chef of the Year, Caribbean Bartender of the Year and Caribbean Junior Chef of the Year There are currently 10 culinary teams that will be in attendance for the event from Anguilla, Bahamas, Barbados, Bonaire, British Virgin Islands, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, St. Lucia, Suriname and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Live music, cooking demos, as well as booths with destination information for Caribbean islands fill the grand ballroom creating a night of fun, food and festivities. Taste of the Caribbean is staged by CHTA in conjunction with sponsors Anco, Aloutte, Esser Wines, International Dairy Farms and Interval International. Tickets are $40 per person and can be purchased online with Evenbrite .

Jamaican singer OMI has been making waves with his mega hit song 'Cheerleader ', and is slated to perform at Capital FM Summertime Ball with Vodafone in London. OMI ‘'Cheerleader' has topped charts in over 18 countries with since the release of the song. He will join the likes of One Direction, Ariana Grande and Avicii . Also set to appear on the line up for this summer's extravaganza in front of 80,000 people include Ne-Yo, Kelly Clarkson, Flo Rida, Olly Murs, Jason Derulo, Carly Rae Jepsen, Jess Glynne, Meghan Trainor, Martin Garrix, Pitbull, Rita Ora, LunchMoney Lewis, Fifth Harmony, Nick Jonas, Rixton, Little Mix and Nathan Sykes. The Summertime Ball will be held at London’s Wembley Stadium on Saturday June 6. OMI tweeted that it's "a dream come true."