The Doctor Beenie Man did not get the title of Jamaica's best dancehall entertainer just by luck. Yesterday 876radio.com was at the national stadium to witness the 7-0 trashing of the Bahamian team by our countrymen and in the eyes of many patrons nothing else could have topped that moment or so we thought. During the match to the astonishment of everyone who came out on the cycling track was none other than the King of the Dancehall himself. At this point many were anticipating a performance but instead the Grammy winning entertainer was armed with a large bag filled with Banana Chips and a broken arm going around the cycling track issuing out the goodies to random spectators throughout the large gathering. This comical gesture was greeted with much laughter and fanfare from the patrons and once again showed why the artiste is such a beloved individual on the island, as one patrons said, "when it comes to Beenie Man you never know what to expect". |
Beenie Man is in an all-time good and optimistic mood and anxiously looking forward to this year's staging of Reggae Sumfest 2008.With the stakes very high and the promoters putting together an event with a strong line-up of the best of the best veterans and dancehall's hottest and latest newcomers to the business, the entertainer who has remained consistent for over three decades is taking no chances with the covetous title he now boasts - 'king of the dancehall'.
Not just a recording artiste, but also full-fledged stage performer, Beenie Man is quite busy choreographing new dance moves, making new lyrics and getting his designer to come up with the most eye-catching and hottest outfits that will give him a shot at the 'best dress artiste' title.
Beenie Man enjoys taking up challenges such as these big events where he can get the chance to put his exceptional talent on display. He is very good at what he does, but at the same time he is not going to ignore the fact that there are several other artistes out there who are going to do their best to stop him in his musical tracks. Several have tried and failed. When you think that he is down and out, he just rises like the Phoenix.
Beenie Man had two of the hottest dancehall and chart topping singles locally and internationally in 2007 - 'Back It Up' and 'Give It Up' featuring Barbie. This year he has added another number one to his collection with 'Wine Gal'. Two other singles, 'Gimme Lickle' and 'Yuh Know How Fi Wine', are also destined for the number one slot on the major charts and in the dancehalls.
Slated to perform on this year's Reggae Sumfest Dancehall Night on July 17 are: Spice, Beenie Man, Bounty Killer, Elephant Man, Mavado, Busy Signal, Vybz Kartel, Anthony B,I-Octane, Erup, Ninja Man, Macka Diamond, Wayne Marshall, Voicemail, Demarco, Little Hero, Harry Toddler, Sirani, Shane-O and Di, among others.
Reggae Sumfest 2008 dancehall festivities will be staged from July 13-19 in Montego Bay, St. James.
Despite not having a show last year, the annual Manchester show, dubbed Manchester Fiesta, will
definitely be on this year, and is set for July 26 at the Kirkvine Sports Club in Williamsfield, says
promoter Cardiff 'General Degree' Butt.
According to Degree, "Last year was a kinda hectic time for me. I had a busy working schedule in Europe, so I didn't have the time to make preparations for the show, but we will definitely have one this year."
Degree says this year's event is expected to be bigger and better than previous years.
"The first year was well attened; second year was even bigger, with performances from Sizzla, Chuck Fenda and others. But for this year, we will have performances from artistes like Bounty Killer, Mavado, Busy Signal, Assassin, Demarco, Macka Diamond, Etana, Sanchez, Leroy Gibbon, Gregory Isaacs, Hawkeye, Nesbeth, Mr Peppa, Bryhan Art Copper and Biggaton," he said.
The show, which is dubbed the Manchester Fiesta All Food Festival and Fun Day, will cater for the entire family.
"It is a family-oriented event, from about 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. In the afternoon is the all food festival. During this time, there is a lot of activities, like a six-a-side masters football match and domino competitions. There is also a show in the day that will feature performances from Voicemail, Christopher Martin, RDX and magnum winners Baby Tash and Singer Jah, so patrons should look forward to having a good time," he said.
Degree, who also hails from the parish of Manchester, says one of his main aims for putting on this year's show is to help in bringing something back to his parish.
"This year's show is for a worthy cause, the proceeds from the show will be donated to the Greenvale Basic School to help in the development of the school and other things, so patrons should come out and help support the event, " he said.
A 36-year-old man charged with selling petroleum without a licence, pleaded not guilty to the charge when the matter was mentioned in the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court on Thursday.
Kevin Folkes of Maroon Town in St. James, had his bail extended until July 31, as the court awaits confirmation that the substance that he is accused of selling is in fact petroleum.
He was arrested and charged earlier this month after a bus operator pointed him out to the police as the person who had sold him diesel oil in an area that was not a gas station.
suspicion
Folkes is being represented by attorney-at-law Adrian Dayes.
Allegations are that on June 5, the police were on patrol in the Bogue Industrial Estate in Montego Bay. On reaching an open lot, they observed two men filling the tank of a minibus with jugs of diesel fuel. This aroused the suspicion of the policemen and they spoke to the owner of the bus.
The man told the police that he went to the location to buy petrol for his vehicle and pointed out the accused, who was present, as the person who sold the fuel to him. When the police spoke to the accused to ascertain if he had a licence to sell, he asked the police if they had seen him selling gas.
However, Folkes was taken into custody based on the statement of the bus owner.Ah we say one suss a day, but mi did busy yesterday but no worry mi fans dem, mi ah go mek it up back to you. But wah do some people, dem a live inna mi style and ah try write suss everyday, wah do BAIT76radio, the whole world know say ah me oonu ah copy. Today, we have crazy things fi talk about and mi haffi meet mi girlfriends dem a Suzies fi lunch, so mi nuh inna the long intro this morning, lets get straight to it.
DID THE KILLA GET BOXED?
Who was spreading rumours in the ZIP chat room that the Killa got boxed from the Colonel? Mi check it out and nobody else nah talk about it so ah just some malicious rumours. As the song go: dem just a try stop Killa, but dem cannot flop Killa. Big up the Alliance and the whole entourage. We know say if that did gwaan, the whole ah the Corporate Area woulda tear down and it de pon the 7 o'clock news.
WHO IS LEAKING INFORMATION AROUND LIQUID?
Bwoy, mi no feel say is a lost phone situation wid this Milk ting yu nuh. The way mi a pree it is like mi feel say is somebody inna Liquid inner circle get the video and Bluetooth it to dem phone and it start spread. If yu did show her the respect on the street, people woulden feel say yu woulda do that, yu wanted to be the #1 gigolo, two babies one time, babymama drama galore and all these things. If Liquid did a rate up Milk outta road, the streets woulden have it fi say ah him release the video, but ah just so the ting set. Liquid, yu ah still we thug, yu need fi find out which girl inna yu circle so devious? Sort out yu ting and gwaan live yu life, everything soon blow over.
DOG RAPIST OUTTA EAST KINGSTON
Mi shock when mi wake up this morning and see THE STAR have a lead story about a dog rapist who is on the loose outta East Kingston. Detective Constable Phillip Lawrence confirmed the story and him say the rapist use condoms on some of the dogs, but mi no too sure if some of the dogs were male, or if is just bitches the man do it. Plus, mi not even too sure is not a copycat ting because some of the dogs get rape wid condom and some of them get the daggering without. What is really going on in our little island?
SPARKLES NAMES DOG BARBEE
What is going on between Sparkles and Barbee? Mi see Sparkles on HYPE TV the other day ah show off her little poodle and ah talk say it name Barbee. Mi feel say a belly Sparkles ah carry fi Barbee since Barbee did go pon HYPE TV a few months ago and talk say fi her dog name Sparkles. Oonu better watch the hype, and better yet, watch out fi the dog rapist outta east.
DANIELLE LEAVES FOR FLORIDA TODAY
Danielle has now completely recovered from her fainting and dehydration spell. She lose 25 pounds inna dieting and exercise alone and she never haffi go the lipo way, so me haffi big har up straight. SUMMER BODY!
I have a show in Miami this weekend for a promoter so I am leaving this evening to deal with it," she told one of our reporters this morning.
Do yu ting D.I. Yu have the 'Ready Body' now, wah dem feel like?
BIG UP FLAVA ON THE EARTHSTRONG
Today is the earthstrong for Kemar 'Flava' McGregor, and him ah go hold a meds a him studio and drink up some Henny and ting and mek some more hits. Big up on the Drop It, it mad, especially the Beres and the Chuck Fender.
International football made its belated return to western Jamaica on Wednesday when the Trelawny Multi-Purpose Stadium hosted the second leg World Cup qualifier between Jamaica and The Bahamas. It was the venue's first taste of football at any level.
Like most football fans in the west, getting the game was simply fabulous as the region had not staged an international game in many moons. In fact, our last international game was back in the early 1990s when the now defunct Wembley Stadium hosted several Caribbean Shell Cup games.
The fact that the Wembley Stadium, which once served as home to Wadadah FC, has been a thriving coconut farm for most of the past decade, means that prior to Wednesday's game, many of the younger fans in the stadium were experiencing international football in the west for the very first time.
Personally, I believe Captain Horace Burrell, the president of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), should be commended for taking the decision to play the game in Trelawny because in so doing, he has kept a promise he made to bring back international football to the west if he was re-elected to lead the JFF.
In praising the JFF for bringing the game to the west, I nonetheless feel compelled to point out a few shortcomings I noticed on Wednesday in terms of the organisation of the game. In fact, I believe that had a little more thought gone into the planning, it would have been a near perfect scenario.
The most pronounced problem in my estimation was the seating arrangement and ticket cost, which led to a situation where, with most of the $500 seats going early via the 'pre-sold' route, scores of fans, who had hoped to get into the bleachers area, ended up missing the game because they could not afford the $2,500 grandstand cost.
fill the seats!
What was particularly disconcerting about that situation was that while these '$500 fans' were not able to access the stadium, many of the $2,500 seats remained empty for the entire duration of the game because there were no takers for them. I believe the JFF needs to find creative ways to ensure that no fans are turned away when there are empty seats inside the stadium.
I believe that it is important that the JFF takes note of the fact that, unlike the National Stadium, where the bleachers area is several times the size of the lone grandstand, the situation is the reverse in Trelawny with its two big grandstands and one small bleachers. In Kingston, the bleachers can probably seat 15,000 fans, while in Trelawny, only about 6,000 fans can be accommodated.
I believe that for future games in Trelawny, the JFF should increase the bleacher cost to $1000 and reduce the cost to the smaller of the two grandstands to $1,500. In so doing, a fan who did not get a bleachers ticket would only need another $500 to access the small grandstand. In that case more fans will be able to afford the cost to attend games.
Another problem I noticed was the absence of signs to assist patrons who were not familiar with the lay-out of the stadium. Many motorists wasted precious time seeking out parking areas and trying to find the correct entry points. The absence of ushers to assist patrons also created much confusion.
Nonetheless, as I said before, I believe the JFF should be commended for playing the game in the west. I am pretty positive that once the kinks seen on Wednesday are ironed out, the Trelawny facility could become a favourite venue for both the JFF and the fans from all across the island.
A POLISH woman who was DRUNK during labour has given birth to a baby girl who was almost 15 TIMES over the adult drink-driving limit.
The baby was born on Monday with a *lo** alcohol level of 0.29 per cent.
The drink driving limit in Poland is 0.02 per cent.
Docs at the hospital in Otwock, near Warsaw, called the cops after the drunken mother-to-be checked in to give birth.
The 38-year-olds *lo** alcohol level was 0.12 per cent the equivalent of drinking a bottle of wine.
She could face up to five years behind bars on charges of endangering the life and health of her child.
The tot is not in immediate danger, but docs say her development may be impaired by the alcohol.
Last night on a popular television program the Warlord Bounty Killer even though in one of his rare jovial moods issued a stern warning to members of the Monster Empire formerly known as Monster Shack crew and 876radio.com was on hand to witness it all. The Warlord said "Anyweh mi see dem mi ago dun dem as a matter of fact 'Champions In Action' mi not even ah wait pon 'Sting'. Listen big head bwoy roundhead mi want back mi rims dem, cause yuh a sing song and a go roun' ah tell people seh yuh have new rims and the ole' one dem weh mi give yuh ..ah cook yuh ah cook and roast breadfruit pon dem." "Di rims dem weh mi see oonu a cook pon a some ole' taxi man rims, dat anuh di Italian design name brand rims dem weh mi give oonu, wah day mi see the piece a ole' van weh yuh drive, if a new rims how come it have one 17 inch, 16, 15 and one 14" some a dem a chrome and some polish and mi see it a gully creep a come dung di road like suh (while demonstrating the Gully Creepa dance move)" - He added. These comments were met with loud burst of laughter from fellow Alliance members, Bling Dawg and Wayne Marshall who were also in attendance. Even though the Warlord declared earlier in another media interview that he had matured and has grown past certain frivolous situation, this seem to have struck a nerve. Since the release of Bounty's counteraction 'Kill Dem All', members of the Monster Empire have wasted no time hitting back with another track titled 'Mr. Tek It Back' produced by General B. Now with all that has ensued and a new battle waging on the forefront is there a possible end in sight, well only time will tell. This has been another first brought to you by the good folks at 876radio.com |
A 48-year-old man who admitted having 11 previous convictions for sexually molesting young boys has been jailed for four years for indecent assault on a young boy.
Norman Hoffman, security guard, of Maxfield Avenue, Kingston 11, pleaded guilty to the charge when he appeared in the Home Circuit Court last month. Sentencing was put off until yesterday
Hoffman admitted 11 previous convictions for offences of buggery and gross indecency committed on young boys. He is the father of five children 19 to 29 years.
Summer campThe court was told that Hoffman went to a church in the Corporate Area and said he was a Christian. He was subsequently appointed youth director. He took some boys to a summer camp last year and reports were made to the police that he sexually assaulted one of the boys.
Attorney-at-law Melrose Reid made an impassioned plea for leniency for Hoffman. She said Hoffman was very sorry for what had happened and was willing to get counselling.
Miss Justice Kay Beckford put off sentencing until yesterday to allow Hoffman to get counselling while in custody.
The judge in sentencing Hoffman said she had to send him to prison because he was a habitual sex offender.The police are urging east Kingston residents to be on the lookout for a dog rapist who is on the loose.
Detective Constable Phillip Lawrence of the Area Four police told THE WEEKEND STAR that residents have made at least six reports in the last three weeks, claiming that in addition to items being stolen form their yards, their dogs have also been molested.
The constable, who said veterinarians have confirmed that the animals were assaulted, pointed out that the first report came from a resident of Duncaster Avenue. The resident is said to have reported that she left her home for a weekend and upon returning, discovered that several items were missing from her yard.
She also noticed a used condom in her yard, after which she realised that her pet, a German Shepherd, had been molested.
The police said they received another report of a similar nature a few days later.
"About two or three days after the first report, we received another. The situation was pretty much the same, items were said to be missing, a condom found in the yard and the dog found to be raped," he explained.
The second incident reportedly occurred on Dunoon Road, a stone's throw away from where the first incident occurred.
The last reported incident occurred last week on lower Mountain View Avenue.
The report was similar except that no condom was found in the yard in that case.
When contacted by THE STAR, two of the complainants confirmed the reports.
"It bad enough dem come a mi yard come tek wah dem fi tek, but dem rape all mi dog? A wah kind a worl' wi a live inna?" questioned one woman.
In the meantime, the police believe they are making progress in capturing the culprit as in one of the cases residents were lucky to have seen the man.
"...In one case, residents of Lexington Road chased and almost caught up with a man whom they saw coming from a yard with a number of items in a bag...The dog in that yard was also said to be raped."
Under Jamaican law, any case of buggery with mankind or any form of animal warrants a sentence not exceeding 10 years.
Cops in Nain, St Elizabeth, are looking at the possibility that a woman who is charged with the murder of a 12-year-old boy, may have done so in order to return to prison to reunite with her alleged lesbian lover.
The cops believe that Rayon Arnold, a student of Ginger Hill All Age School, St. Elizabeth, was murdered. They have charged Angella Reid, 37, from Clearmont district, also in the parish, for the crime. The accused appeared in the Black River Resident Magistrate's Court on Wednesday where a psychiatric evaluation was ordered. She was remanded in custody and should return to court on April 4.
Allegations are that on December 23 last year, at about 4 p.m., the child was sent on an errand by his mother. At about 5 p.m., the accused called the Nain Police Station, about 38 miles away, instead of the New Market Police, which is about 12 miles from Clearmont district, to confess to the crime.
Reports are that a piece of rope was used to tie up the child who was then dragged about one and a half miles to bushes where a piece of stick was used to beat him to death.
Before Arnold's murder, Reid had been locked up at the Nain Police Station for three weeks on a charge of malicious destruction of property, a charge for which she got bail. However, a police officer who wished to remain anonymous told them that after her release, on more than one occasion, Reid called the Nain Police Station, telling them that she is going to do something crazy in order return to jail where she had met her alleged lover, another woman, who is also on a murder charge.
Another police officer said that when they were investigating Reid's so-called lover for her murder charge, they had found letters from other women at her home that pointed to a lesbian affaire.A BOY of seven was kept chained in a cellar by his cannibal family as they ATE parts of him.
Sobbing Ondrej Mauerova was rescued alive when a neighbours TV picked up footage from a camera filming his agony.
He had been partially skinned after monstrous mum Klara, 31, caged him for months while relatives who were also in a sick cult feasted on his raw flesh, an appalled judge heard yesterday.
The mum wept in a Czech court as her evil was exposed in a case echoing the Fritzl dungeon horror in Austria.
Ondrej and his helpless brother Jakub, nine, were kept in cages or handcuffed to tables as they were ritually TORTURED, BURNT and WHIPPED with belts.
Their life of hell only ended when a neighbour in the city of Brno bought a CCTV baby monitor.
Horror ... Ondrej, far right, brother Jakub, their 'sister' - and mum
CEN
Instead of pictures of his newborn he was confronted by live images of Ondrej naked in the cellar beaten and chained.
Cops swooped on the house next door and also freed a girl posing as an adopted sister aged 13 and cl**tching a teddy.
She later turned out to be 34 and one of the torturers. The boys mum accused the woman fellow cult member Barbora Skrlova of brainwashing her. She wailed: "Terrible things have happened. I realise it and cant understand how I could have allowed it.
The court in her home city heard the abuse of her children was co-ordinated via text messages sent by a leader of the Grail Movement cult who was known only as the "Doctor".
Her sister Katerina was also involved.
The abuse trial of the boys mum, another relative and their bogus sister Skrlova who fled and was later found posing as a boy in Norway continues.
Three others also face charges
STUNNED police gave chase to a UFO after it attacked their helicopter near a military base.
The mystery aircraft zoomed straight at the chopper as the three-man cop crew prepared to land.
The pilot banked sharply to avoid being hit, then launched into a high-speed pursuit. But he was forced to give up the chase as the helicopters fuel ran low and the UFO escaped.
'Unusual' ... where incident took place
All three crew described the object as flying saucer-shaped and circled by flashing lights. They reported it to senior officers, who passed on the report to Britains UFO investigators.
The incident happened as the helicopter was returning to the MoDs St Athan base near Cardiff, where it is stationed.
The chopper was at 500ft and waiting to land when the crew saw the UFO speeding towards them from below.
A source said: It closed in at great speed, aiming straight at the helicopter.
The chopper had to swerve sharply to avoid being hit. The guys said if theyd stayed where they were, theyd be dead it wouldve been a direct hit.
They are convinced it was a UFO. It sounds far-fetched, but they know what they saw.
These guys are hardened professionals and know people will take the mickey, but they are certain they saw a UFO.
The source added: After the near-collision they decided to follow it to find out what the hell it was. They belted across the Bristol Channel in pursuit, but it was too quick. They got to the North Devon coast and had to turn back because they were running low on fuel.
The chopper is crammed with hi-tech cameras and surveillance gear, but the UFO somehow avoided being caught on film.
Strangely, the crew could not see the craft with night-vision goggles but all said it was clearly visible to the naked eye on the night of June 7.
South Wales Police said last night: We can confirm the Air Support Unit sighted an unusual aircraft. This was reported to the relevant authorities for their investigation.
The MoD, which usually investigates UFO sightings, said: Weve heard nothing about this. But it is certainly not advisable for police helicopters to go chasing what they think are UFOs
lmfao
No longer is it fine for a man and woman to merely rub-a-dub in the dancehall. The pages seem to have turned and some people now prefer 'daggarin'.
This type of 'rough' dancing between men and women has become almost commonplace at parties. Instead of the regular 'wining', some people have become rather acrobatic in their movements. The men sometimes spin, jam and twist the women and they respond by just making faces, which is also part of the routine. Oftentimes, trees, stairs, ceilings, vehicles and roofs are places on which their stunts take place.
Dancehall duo RDX, known for their popular dance songs like Everybody Dance and Dancers Boom, have translated this behaviour into songs with their newest single Daggarin, produced on their own label called Apt 19.
Here are some of the lyrics, "Hold har and pull har little closer, Daggarin/ Dat a weh di gal waan di most a, Daggarin/ Gal arch up yuh back an' bend ova, Daggarin/ Den mek up yuh face like a ogre (Shrek)."
Delomar of RDX says the song was done because of a slang, 'dagga morning', that was being used in the streets.
"It's a song to get up close and personal in the dance. Is a song fi woman and man dance to. People been saying the man dem a tek over the video light. Now everybody get to bruk out and gwaan wild," he said while 'bigging up' Bermuda Kid whom he refers to as the 'Dagga Master'.
"A nuh rough sex wi a encourage, wi jus' a party and enjoy wiself. When di music hit, yuh mind tell yuh fi do some crazy things. I guess a just that reach the dancers dem," Delomar said.
For some people this sort of dancing seems entirely new. However, Dr Donna Hope, lecturer at the University of the West Indies, says this is merely repetition. She noted that this might only be a reversal as some people used to dance like that in the 80s. In addition, she says, some persons might only be competing.
"There is more competition in the dancehall with the different dance troupes and groups. People are trying to outdo each other. It's getting more prominent, so there are less and less people just dancing for fun," she said.
Fast-pacedRDX seem to have done their songs for mere fun and to get both sexes to dance together, but there are some songs like Tony Matterhorn's fast-paced Running Cow, which has some graphic lyrics.
Tony Matterhorn - file
In his song Matterhorn says, "I'm gonna squeeze her...and assign her pity and a running cow/ Girl all when yuh a scream .... I'll be hurting you."
In later lines he says, "Sympathy yuh looking for there is none round here/ I am Freddy vs Jason I am yuh worse nightmare."
In what at first listen seems like a nice little love song, Serani also gets 'rough' in She Loves Me. He says, " ... I bet you know what's gonna come next/ no fore play, no kiss, no caress."
He continues with, "Touch you mek you scream...nuh bodda wid di drama /Don' tell me to rip it cause I'm gonna /Give you a few style from sutra karma /Serani is the name will you scream it..."
RDX, Tony Matterhorn and Serani are not the only artistes who sing about behaving rough, as the list of artistes is long and varied. But, as for the 'rough' lyrics, Hope says use of such lyrics is not novel, as artistes simply build on existing concepts and lyrics.
Ciara go while you got a chance,
Let a real n*gga put a band on your hand
Windrush Welcome from BBC Poet in Residence John Agard (1' 59")Most onboard only intended to stay in the 'Mother' country five years. The then foreign secretary reassured that country they 'would not last one winter'.
Half a century on and many of them are still here.
These were the first West Indian immigrants to Britain. Afro-Caribbeans still only make up an estimated 1% of the population, but they have become integral to British society. And have transformed the meaning of Britishness in the process.
The rough ride
But 50 years of integration have seen much hostility.
At first, the immigrants received a generally cordial if cautious welcome. But this was post-war, b****ed-out London.
Evangelism: West Indian church worship brought to Britain (copyright: Savana Picture Library)Accommodation was short. And it was not long before nationals began to resent the immigrants in the struggle to find a home. Many immigrants were turned away from lodgings. Six in one room was not rare.
Tensions came to a head in the race riots of 1958 in London's Notting Hill. Bands of agression-hungry Teddy Boys picked up on the undercurrent of public irritation. They waged a war of pseudo-patriotism on the West Indian community for almost two years. It only ended with the widespread shock at the death of a young Jamaican.
Citizenship by BBC Poet in Residence John Agard (2' 22")Race relations were a political hot potato for ten years, culminating in Conservtive front-bencherr Enoch Powell's famous "Rivers of *lo**" speech. His words pictured black immigrants as alien invaders and re-ignited angry nationalistic feelings, bringing to the forefront a strong anti-racism movement.
It was not until the mid-1970s that things really started to improve. Aided by the Race Relations Act and equal opportunities bodies, Caribbeans began to participate in the institutions to which they had access - trade unions, councils and professional and staff associations - and to establish themselves as part of the British population.
The living legacy
Someone who has lived this history is 85 year-old Oswald 'Columbus' Dennison. As one of the Windrush passengers, he has survived and thrived in Britain on a mentality of live and let live.
Oswald "Columbus" Dennison: "I want people to like me for who I am, not my colour."But it was not like that for all the passengers. Oswald says: "Many were disappointed to find prejudice here. Being snubbed - it affects some people badly."
And the biggest blow to the people of the Windrush was that Britain, the 'Mother' country, did not want its Caribbean children. Oswald describes what it meant to Jamaicans to be British through his experiences in Panama.
"When we heard "Dong dong, this is London Calling" on BBC Radio, I felt superior to every Panamanian because I was British - that was the kind of feeling we grew up with. Imagine then what it felt like to be shunned."
There was plenty of work in Britain's growing industrialised economy. Many skilled immigrants, however, were disenchanted at their low status in Britain and returned to Jamaica.
But many others stayed and forged a life for themselves.
"Airbrushing history"
Given this background, one might ask why Windrush is being celebrated up and down the country.
Trevor Phillips: "The rise of multi-racial Britain is irresistible."Broadcaster and journalist Trevor Phillips has been central to the celebration of the Windrush anniversary.
He says: "I wanted it to be an object of pride for the black community but what I have maintained all the way through is that this is a British history."
Howdoyoudoo: British quirkiness from BBC Poet in Residence Jon Agard (1'46")"There are certain strands of British history that have been airbrushed out. This is one of those strands. And it is important not just for the people who lived it but for everybody else."
Voyage into the future
Britain's integrated future (copyright: Savanna Picture Library)For the children of the Windrush generation, the experience of living in Britain has in many ways been more difficult.
Like their parents they feel they have had to deal with being treated like foreigners.
The difference is that they were born in Britain. They have known no other home.
What Trevor hopes this anniversary will do is let these young people understand that there is more to the world than the experience they have had.Money can't buy you good taste but it can definitely buy you the most expensive burger in the world. Named simply, The Burger, it is selling at 95 pounds ($185) at a Burger King in the exclusive district of South Kensington on Wednesday.
The limited edition of the burger, which can be bought for two days only and has so far sold 50, is challenging the current Guinness Record for the most expensive burger, currently held by the American Double Truffle Burger which cost just 65 pounds ($127) in 1994.
Mark Dowding, a chef with Burger King (nyse: BKC - news - people ) for the last 12 years and the creator of the burger, told Forbes.com the location had been chosen because "there are different pockets for different tastes. And we are sure this is an area of a lot of burger aficionados."
And the secret to its strong taste? "Its massaged Japanese Wagyu beef," Dowding said.
The burger, the size and looks of a regular whopper, is made out of ingredients from seven countries, from Japan to France.
Some restaurateurs dismissed the burger, spiced with organic white wine and pink Himalayan rock salt, as a "marketing stunt" comparing it with similar products launched by department stores like Selfridges and its 85 pound sandwich and Peter Jones's 50 pound cup of coffee pre-digested by a Civet cat.
But David Kisilevsky, vice president of marketing at the fast food restaurant, said "the burger is aimed at aficionados looking for the ultimate burger taste experience."
All proceeds from the sale of the burger will be donated to Help a London Child charity, which helps children experiencing abuse and poverty.
Deejay Vybz Kartels single Nah Go Nuh Weh on the Big Ship label is handily position at number two on the Jamaica Music Countdown, surging towards the number one position.
In the meantime, the deejays previous number one single, Money Fi Spend is still in the top ten, hovering at the #7 spot. It spent two weeks at number one during the month of May. He has two songs in the top ten.
Contacted this morning for a comment, the deejay thanked his fans for their support and promised to keep spitting the hits.
I am focusing on Summer promotion of my new singles, I have been working with a number of new producers, so Vybz Kartel fans can look forward to more hit singles, he told one876entertainment. The deejay is one of the headline acts on this years Reggae Sumfest show in Montego Bay.
He also chose to ignore the recent derogatory comments made by Bounty Killer in other publications.
I have nothing to say about Bounty Killer.
The deejay has been in talks with various organizations such as the church and support agencies about co-ordinating aspects of his violence prevention campaign to gel in with other similar efforts.
"I will be meeting a number of persons soon, I won't disclose the names just yet," he said.
Nowadays this rap sh*t aint adding up,
How nigg*s get caught with 10 machine guns, only get 12 months?
Oo-weee, dont talk to me
If you talking to him, you talking to them
I got the best lawyers that money can buy
They say at best they woulda got me 10 or maybe 9.
I said, how do you explain how the homie breezed?
They said, you keep your mouth shut or you eat the cheese.
Ray Allen played the last two games of the NBA finals knowing his son has diabetes. The Celtics shooting star even had to take an overnight flight from Los Angeles after spending time with him at a hospital.
On Tuesday night, Walker Allen became the son of a champion.
His father scored 26 points and Boston beat the Los Angeles Lakers 131-92 to win Game Six and claim their 17th NBA title and first in 22 years.
"It's such a wonderful feeling to be able to do this on this night with all the stuff that has taken place over the weekend," said Allen, who first thought his son had a virus, "and to be able to share this with the fans in Boston has been great."
Rushed to hospitalAllen rushed to the hospital after Sunday night's 103-98 Game 5 loss in Los Angeles.
"Found out he was diagnosed with diabetes and just had to play the game that Sunday, and then wonder whether he was OK," Allen said. "He wasn't doing well that day, so I got to his hospital bed after the game on Sunday and he started coming alive and everything was great.
"I just knew that that's where I needed to be."
Then they boarded a red-eye flight for the cross-country journey.
"We got in this (Tuesday) morning and we took him to the hospital, and he was lively, so I was relieved to see that he was moving around," Allen said. "Just sitting in the hospital this morning, I hadn't slept really, and just now thinking how I'm going to sleep, get rest and how my body is going to respond to getting out here tonight."
Bounced backIt responded quite well. He even came back from a poke in the eye that forced him to miss much of the first half.
With Boston leading
43-31, coach Doc Rivers went to Allen when he returned to the bench, rubbed him on the head and said something that made him smile. Allen sat on the bench and appeared to be blinking before going back in the game but tied a NBA finals record with seven three-pointers in the game.
Allen's averages of 20.3 points and 5.0 rebounds were second on the team behind Paul Pierce's 21.8 points.
Rivers said he talked briefly before the game with Allen, who skipped Tuesday morning's shoot-around.
"I said, "How you doing?' I didn't even ask him about basketball, honestly," Rivers said. "I just asked him how he was doing. He said he's fine. That's all I needed to know.
"Ray is doing good. I mean, he's going to be fine," Rivers said. "Obviously, he's not had a lot of sleep over the last three days, probably ... We were thinking about it before this morning, just how much he's probably had. It can't be much. But he's ready. You can see it, he's ready to playI wanted to tell you that [Young Buck] is not taking [50's release of the taped conversation] well. A lot of his boys are worried that he might do something to hurt himself over all this.
I know that you are only here to gossip. But could you try and go easy on [Buck], he's going trough a lot personally and professionally now. I'd hate for him to do something rash.
Ernest Mabuza
Johannesburg
THE Pretoria High Court ruled yesterday that South Africans of Chinese descent should be defined as black for the purposes of the employment equity and broad-based black economic empowerment legislation.
The ruling means Chinese South Africans will now benefit under the country's black economic empowerment schemes, will have access to staff empowerment allocations by companies, and will be regarded as black for employment purposes.
There are about 10000 Chinese South Africans.
The ruling follows an eight-year battle by the Chinese Association of SA (Casa) to get Chinese South Africans included in the definition of "black people" in legislation designed to benefit previously disadvantaged groups.
Before 1994, Chinese South Africans were classified as coloured.
In the democratic era, the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act and the Employment Equity Act did not specify whether Chinese citizens qualified for consideration as disadvantaged people.
Employment equity and empowerment laws stated that "black people" was a generic term that meant Africans, coloureds and Indians.
Judge Cynthia Pretorius made the order drafted by the association an order of the court after Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana, Trade and Industry Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa and Justice Minister Brigitte Mabandla did not oppose the application.
The court order also ordered the ministers to pay the costs of the association, including the cost of two counsel.
George Bizos SC, for the association, told the court the issue was about the status of members of the Chinese community who were excluded from benefiting from the two acts.
"We contended that the provision was unconstitutional because members of the community of Chinese were in fact part of the discriminated people in the past. They were regarded as coloureds or Asians in the past," Bizos said.
He said it would be drastic if the association asked for the two acts to be declared unconstitutional on the grounds of inequality and suggested that amending them to include Chinese South Africans as black would solve the problem.
Bizos said although the ministers had originally filed a notice to oppose Casa's application, they eventually conceded the merits of the case in April and no longer opposed the application.
Casa chairman Patrick Chong said although the acts did not specifically exclude Chinese South Africans, the fact that Chinese were not mentioned created confusion.
Chong said that one bank classified Chinese South Africans as "black" for the purposes of the act while others declined to do so.
He said the association had been in discussions with the government to seek clarity on the status of Chinese South Africans. In 2006, a law firm representing Casa wrote a letter to Mdladlana, Mpahlwa and Mabandla demanding clarity on the status of Chinese citizens . When its endeavours failed, the association launched a high court application last year.
While the Freedom Front Plus welcomed the ruling, its youth leader, Cornelius Jansen van Rensburg, said that the ruling created an absurdity.
"A rich person immigrating from China will enjoy more privileges than a poor Afrikaner whose forefathers have lived here for over 300 years," he said.
The Reggae Boyz yesterday formalised their advancement to the semi-final round of the CONCACAF 2010 World Cup qualifiers as they strolled to a 6-0 whipping of the overmatched Bahamas in the first ever World Cup qualifying match to be played at the new multi-purpose stadium in Trelawny.
As it was in the opening encounter, Sheffield United striker Luton Shelton was the primary scorer as he followed up Sunday's brace with a triple, yesterday. He struck in the 35th, 37th, 42nd minutes. Deon Burton, who partnered him in place of Marlon King, had a double in the 30th and 56th minutes while Tyrone Marshall recorded the other in the 40th.
Jamaica will now take on tougher opposition, Mexico, Honduras and Canada whom they open the next stage against on August 20 away. Only the top two teams will advance to the final group of six from which three teams will secure automatic qualifying places for the showpiece event in South Africa.
The scoreline was hardly a true reflection of the game as it appeared to be less intense than a training session. Jamaica, were allowed to dictate the play unbothered while the visitors appeared deflated from the first leg's 7-0 hammering and could have just been going through the motions.
Fooled aroundWith little or no challenge coming from the Bahamians the locals fooled around and took close to half an hour to look structured and purposeful even with their opponents looking clueless and out of their depth, but for goalkeeper Dwayne Whylly.
Jamaica finally got their act together around the 25-minute mark with Burton converting clinically, after missing a few minutes earlier. He benefited from the good work of his teammates Evan Taylor, Shelton, Marshall and Andy Williams who made the final pass.
That goal appeared to have whetted their appetites as soon after Shelton found his groove and registered a quick hat-trick, his second in national colours.
For his first he collected a nice pass from Austin rounded the 'keeper and slotted home before converting a penalty which resulted from the defence chopping down Gardener in the 18-yard box.
Marshall turned in one before Shelton completed his hat-trick with a fine strike to send the Reggae Boyz into the half-time break with a 5-0 lead and the spectators hoping for the floodgates to remain open in the second half.
That was not to be as only Burton added another in the second half, when he turned substitute O'Brian Woodbine's low cross into the goal. The other two substitutes, Omar Daley and Richard Langley, failed to lift the level of Jamaica's play as they, in general, seemed to roam freely and Ian Goodison, in particular, abandoned his defensive role and went in search of a goal that would not come.
With the breakdown of the team discipline, The Bahamas improved marginally as they went forward more often with greater success and even managed to threaten goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts' goal as the otherwise solid Jermaine Taylor made a poor defensive header which had Ricketts scrambling to preserve a clean sheet. Taylor was forced into action a few more times, but those were only false alarms.
DENVER (AP) -- A New York woman has been accused of punching a JetBlue Airways flight attendant who tried to stop her from smoking a cigarette onboard.
Thirty-five-year-old Queens resident Christina Elizabeth Szele was advised Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Colorado of charges of assault and interference with flight attendants. She didn't enter a plea.
An FBI affidavit says Szele yelled obscenities and racial epithets at an attendant who tried to stop her from smoking on Flight 643 from New York to San Francisco on Tuesday.
Szele is accused of breaking through flex cuffs that flight attendants used to restrain her and punching an attendant in the jaw. The captain diverted the flight to Denver.
Authorities say Szele claimed she had been drinking and doesn't remember the incident.
A detention hearing is scheduled for Monday.
Dahlia Spence, the mother of a two-month old baby who disappeared last month, and Natanya Chickory, her friend, are to return to the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court today.
Both women are facing charges of conspiracy to human trafficking, human trafficking, child abandonment and creating public mischief.
Six months pregnantSpence told the court that her babyfather died when she was six months pregnant and she wanted someone to help her with the child. However, she agreed to have Chickory take her baby away to give her boyfriend.
Chickory told RM Glen Brown that Spence did agree to give away the baby because the child's father had died and when the time came for her to give up the baby, she changed her mind.
Residing overseasAllegations are that two weeks after the baby was born, Spence gave the baby to Chickory who would, in turn, give the baby to her fiancé who was residing overseas. It is reported that when the man came to take the baby, Spence refused to meet him.
On May 28, Chickory took the baby to her fiancé who it is alleged took the baby to Montego Bay, St. James. Since then, neither Chickory nor Spence has been able to locate the whereabouts of the baby.
RM Brown ordered that the registration slip be brought to court and both women are to return to court on June 18.Jamie Lynn Spears gave birth to a baby girl Thursday morning at a south Mississippi hospital.
A person close to the Spears family confirmed the baby's birth to The Associated Press. The person asked not to be identified because the family had not yet announced the baby's birth.
Spears and her fiancé Casey Aldridge named the baby Maddie Briann, People magazine reported.
"Just the family was there," a source told People. "Everyone is healthy and happy."
According to the magazine, Spears had the baby around around 9:30 a.m. on Thursday at a Mississippi hospital near her Louisiana hometown.
Spears' sister Britney, brother Bryan and dad Jamie flew in on Wednesday to be by her side, People reported. Jamie Lynn's mom Lynne had already been there helping her prepare for the baby.
Spears, 17, who got engaged in March, has kept a lower profile since announcing her pregnancy in December.
Spears' co-star on the TV show "Zoey 101," Erin Sanders, told the magazine earlier this year that she believes Jamie Lynn will be a good mom.
"She is just a very good-hearted and warm person," she told People. "We would always hang out on the set and she is a lot of fun, so I think she's going to be an easygoing, fun mom."