Daily Archives: July 7, 2021

Carnival Cruise Line will allow its fully-vaccinated crew members to go out in ports and homeports, as long as the authorities permit shore leave access. This was reported by Crew Center who cite their crew sources within Carnival.

There will also be no need for crew to stay in reserved areas or attend organized shore excursions, according to Crew Center. In terms of exiting in ports the ships are visiting, crew members will reportedly have the same rights as guests.

According to Crew Centers information, the crew will be allowed shore leave in U.S. ports after the first month of the return of the ship in service, which for Carnival team members means from the beginning of August.

We are expecting to receive our i95s to get out in Miami by the end of July, one Carnival crew member told Crew Center.

If achieved, Carnival team members will be the first crew to disembark the ships in U.S. ports for a short shore leave since March 2020 after the CDC issued No Sail Order on all cruise ships sailing out of the United States. The crew will have a chance to visit some of their favorite places again and contribute to the U.S. economy by spending money onshore.

Four Carnival ships are scheduled for a restart from the U.S. in July, with the Carnival Vista already setting sail on July 3 from Galveston. The Carnival Breeze will resume operations from the same port on July 15, and the Carnival Horizon from Miami. The Carnival Miracle will start sailing to Alaska from Seattle.

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Carnival To Allow Crew Shore Leave in U.S. and Caribbean Ports - Cruise Industry News

Free Charity Concert featuring Kevin Lyttle, Mikaben and the Tennors to benefitSt. Vincent & the Grenadines Volcano Relief

MIRAMAR, FL (Monday, June 14, 2021)- The City of Miramar today announced details of an Island-Hopping Experience that will take place at Shirley Branca Park located at 6900 Miramar Parkway, Miramar, FL 33023 on Saturday, June 19, 2021, from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. The event is part of the Citys month-long celebration of Caribbean American Heritage Month which kicked off June 1, 2021. Guests will be able to make their way around the park, which will feature a Caribbean showcase from various islands, while enjoying art, culture, and entertainment from their favorite island.

Miramar Commissioner Maxwell Chambers will host the event and is partnering with Smiley Girl Entertainment and the SAEDINTRA Foundation to facilitate a free concert benefitting the victims of the La Soufrire Volcano eruption in St. Vincent and the Grenadines which took place earlier this year. The eruption forced upwards of 16,000 people to evacuate while leaving the entire population without clean drinking water. A donation drive will be held at the event to collect non-perishable and essential items such as water, canned food, and toiletries.

St. Vincents Kevin Lyttle will headline the concert event, which will also feature performances by Haitis Mikaben and the Tennors from Jamaica.

Commissioner Chambers stated, This is going to be an unforgettable experience and a great opportunity to bring out the entire family to have some fun while supporting a great cause. Guests will also be able to conveniently get the COVID-19 vaccine on-site at the park while they safely enjoy the sights and sounds of the Caribbean. Dont forget to bring your flags and represent your country!

The Island-Hopping Experience is free to the public with registration available at http://www.IslandHoppingExperience.Eventbrite.com. Food, drinks, and Caribbean products will be available for sale.

For more information on events taking place in the City of Miramar to celebrate Caribbean American Heritage Month, visit http://www.MiramarFL.gov/CAHM.

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Island-hopping experience in the heart of Miramar to celebrate Caribbean American Heritage month - Miami's Community Newspapers

Saba, the Dutch Caribbean island known as the "unspoiled queen," southwest of St. Maarten, got some good news last month following its border reopening on May 1 and the lifting of quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated travelers.

The U.S. State Department designated Saba a Level 1 destination, with the recommendation that travelers "exercise normal precautions." The levels go from one to four; the highest level advises against all travel to a specific country.

More than 85% of Saba's adult population is vaccinated. With increased airlift on SXM Airways from St. Maarten and Winair's new schedule of two flights a day via St. Maarten, the tiny, five-square-mile island is ready for visitors to explore new hiking trails and dive sites.

The island meanwhile appointed Malinda Hassell the director of tourism. Her role will officially begin in August, when the current director, Glenn Holm, retires following a 46-year tenure with the government.

Hassell, born and raised in the islands, takes up her post after serving as marketing manager at Tourism Corp. Bonaire, communications manager at the Aruba Hotel & Tourism Association and destination marketing manager at the Discover Dominica Authority.

"I look forward to contributing towards the success of Saba's sustainable tourism development, particularly during this post-Covid economic and industry recovery period," Hassell said

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Good news for tourism on the Caribbean island of Saba - Travel Weekly

Since the COVID-19 pandemic first began nearly two years ago, it exposed sharp disparities related to poverty, access to healthcare, and overall quality of life that one time left Black Americans more than three times more likely to die from the virus.

"We carry a higher burden of chronic disease that predisposes us to the more serious complications of coronavirus," Uch Blackstock, a physician who works in Brooklyn told the Washington post. "We don't have access to care and if we do it's likely that care is of worst quality because they are often termed minority-serving."

While part of the larger contingent of Black Americans, for many Caribbean American communities in the US, their unique impact But for many, the unique

A New York City Health Department map showing the virus' early spread confirmed neighborhoods with a high concentration of Caribbean-Americans in the city's Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx boroughs were among the areas most affected by COVID-19.

Now, as states reopen and communities are tasked with rebuilding, Caribbean diasporas across the country told Insider their unity behind their shared cultural identity is key to their sociopolitical, health, economic recovery.

Data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that Black people hold many of the jobs in the taxi service industry, the foodservice industry, as well as the hotel industry. Many immigrants, including Caribbean immigrants, also work in the healthcare industry the very frontline workers that have been caring for the nation during the pandemic.

A report from the Migration Policy Institute also shows that more than 2.6 million immigrants were employed as healthcare workers as of 2018. They account for 18% of healthcare workers in the US.

That meant when the public was asked to stay at home to flatten the curve, it was immigrant communities and Black and brown Americans who largely kept the country running.

But advocates note that in polling and surveys, Caribbean Americans are often lumped together with African Americans and that can make it difficult to campaign for their unique needs as a community culturally, politically, and economically.

In 2020, the US Census Bureau released a new questionnaire that included the option for people to note their country of origin, which will help differentiate Caribbean Americans from African Americans.

"Twenty percent of New York, New Yorkers are of Caribbean descent so it's very important that we're seen," Shelley Worrell the founder and chief curator of caribBeing, told NY1.

The cultural advocacy group cautioned that impact came at a cost to the community as the coronavirus spread.

As evictions skyrocketed and joblessness grew, Worrell jumped into gear serving hot meals to frontline workers at two hospitals, including facilities that primarily serve the city's Caribbean population in Brooklyn.

Many Black-owned businesses, already severely impacted by disparities in access to federal aid, were forced to close altogether or struggled to stay afloat. Among those, Worrell focused efforts on the Caribbean business community federal and state aid can overlook.

caribBeing's directory of Caribbean businesses then served as a one-stop-shop to support local businesses right as a public campaign to support Black-owned businesses gained steam following the killing of George Floyd in June.

"We were able to really try to amplify the Caribbean businesses in our neighborhoods to drive traffic and media attention to the community," Worrell said.

In South Florida, where the Caribbean diaspora is 21%, drawing attention to community resources was just as much a public health and cultural necessity as an economic one.

Black Americans, including Caribbean Americans, are familiar with the country's history of medical exploitation which leaves room for misinformation to propagate.

With misinformation about the coronavirus and the vaccine has been spreading in the community, Miami-based attorney Marlon Hill focused primarily on ensuring the people are efficiently educated about what's happening throughout the pandemic, as well as facilitating mental health and wellness of the community.

"With the assistance of the Caribbean medical professional community, we have conducted a number of webinars to dispel myths about COVID-19 vaccines and the ongoing pandemic," he told Insider in an email.

But Hill told Insider keeping the community culturally connect is as vital as medically informed. South Florida's annual Caribbean carnival was cancelled last October, putting the final nail in the coffin of a festival tourism season that begins with Trinidad and Tobago's pre-Lenten celebration in February.

Last year's masquerade of colorful costumes in the twin-island Republic is one of few the region, and its diaspora in the US and elsewhere, have seen ever since - devastating a thriving tourism and cultural entertainment scene.

"Their intention was to relieve the minds of the people," she said. "Just using the music to entertain people. We know they're human, but we also [got to] see that side of them."

Similar to D-Nice's Club Quarantine sessions during the pandemic, DJs including Brooklyn-based Kevin Crown and Tony Matterhorn of Jamaica played live music sets designed to virtually recreate the high-energy fetes that can draw thousands of patrons.

Over time, his shows garnered as many as 5000 viewers per show. Crown told Insider that those music sessions started to help fans, as well as himself.

"I even lost my uncle to COVID so it was just a lot of anxiety every day and as much as [my music] helped people, it helped me cope and gave me a purpose," he said, at the time receiving messages from fans that his performance kept them from the brink."

Advocates say the tireless work to keep the diaspora together during a time of global suffering will only ramp up as states re-open.

Following a pandemic, and racial unrest that saw communities of color targeted, Hill cautioned for political leaders to mitigate some of the socioeconomic and healthcare issues in the community by meeting the community where they are.

"Be more proactive in sharing these messages in a vernacular that the community can understand and also see," he said. "Be more proactive in speaking in our language and in our culture."

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The pandemic hit Caribbean American communities hard. How the diaspora is rallying around covid recovery - Business Insider

By Alberto Brunori

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Weds. July 7, 2021: People in the Caribbean face some of the highest levels of violence in the world. Of the 22 Latin American and Caribbean countries surveyed in 2020 by the independent think-tank Insight crime, three Caribbean countries ranked in the top-six with most violence. Jamaica tops the list with the highest numbers of murders (46.5) per 100 000 inhabitants, with Trinidad & Tobago (28.2) and Belize (24.3) ranking respectively as the fourth and sixth.

The Caribbean region is in fact particularly exposed to the presence of organized crime groups, which contributes in part to high violence levels. While Caribbean countries are not the only ones facing this threat, the characteristics of Small Island Development States (SIDS) pose specific challenges in implementing effective responses. High crime rates impact the lives of everyone. However, women, ethnic minorities, migrants, young men, and people living in poverty are amongst those most at risk of falling victims to human rights violations stemming from insecurity.

Unfortunately, a strictly security-focused approach to the problem continues to be the norm. This includes at times an emphasis on so-called Anti-Gang legislation, the extended use of state of emergencies or harsher punishments, including the death penalty, which remains on the books in several countries. As regularly pointed out by UN Human Rights treaty bodies, these measures increase the risk of human rights violations, such as extra-judicial or arbitrary killings, unnecessary or excessive use of force by security forces or unlawful or arbitrary arrests and detention.

A security-focused approach has proved to be ineffective in preventing crime, costly for governments and increases mistrust between communities and government institutions, including in security forces. Instead of combating the symptoms, a human rights-based shift is urgently needed to tackle the underlying root causes.

In line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) it is essential to prioritize resources to social protection, health and education systems and employment to curb discrimination, social exclusion, and inequality, which all remain key drivers for crime and social conflicts

Reforms towards strengthening an independent, impartial and efficient judiciary improve access to justice for all and are fundamental to counter impunity and reoccurrence. This includes strengthening capacities of the judiciary and ensuring effective investigations, prosecution and victim-centred punishment of perpetrators in compliance with judicial guarantees of defendants.

Supporting access to justice for victims is key, such as by countering discrimination, promoting legal aid programmes and awareness raising campaigns. As Caribbean countries continue to present some of the highest levels of sexual and gender-based violence in the Americas, there is a particular need to step up efforts to promote access to justice for victims, especially women and girls, strengthen protection mechanisms, protocols and capacities within the police and judiciary to ensure a gender-sensitive approach.

Investment in human rights compliant policy-, training- and accountability frameworks of security forces. Security forces play an important role in countering crime, but they require detailed internal guidance that is compliant with international human rights standards. One good example in the region is the Caribbean Human Rights and Use of Force Model Policy, which, if adopted by governments and security forces, would significantly strengthen internal guidelines in relation to use of force and human rights.

International experience shows that governments must support security forces with sufficient resources to ensure training and internal oversight, but also avoid political interference in day-to-day-activities. Security forces need to be held accountable for any unlawful or arbitrary actions. This would translate into operational independence, establishing trust with communities and, most importantly, countering crime. Finally, it is important to strengthen rights of members of security force who often put their lives on the line to protect rights of others.

Strengthening rehabilitation and community reintegration of offenders. Harsher prison sentences, overcrowding and dire prison conditions do not deter crime. On the contrary, such measures contribute to re-occurrence and therewith feed into the cycle of violence. Humane custodial measures accompanied by the better use of alternatives of imprisonment and a focus on rehabilitation will reduce crime. As part of community-based interventions religious leaders and the private sector can be important actors of change in preventing stigmatization and supporting reintegration, especially of juvenile offenders.

Ensuring that human rights are protected today contributes to the prevention of violations and possible violence tomorrow. Making the shift to a human rights-based approach to crime prevention doesnt require reinvention of the wheel. As the leading UN entity on human rights, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has been supporting countries across the world, including in the Caribbean, to tackle many of these issues.

This includes building judiciary capacity in incorporating international human rights standards into domestic legal frameworks, reforming and implementing new legislation relating to domestic and sexual violence and human rights training of civil servants, law enforcement and other security forces.

While challenges persist, many countries in the region have shown commitment to make the shift. OHCHR stands ready to support governments and all partners involved in this endeavour.

EDITORS NOTE: Alberto Brunori is the Regional Representative for Central America and the English-speaking Caribbean of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Contact him at [emailprotected] or on Twitter at @Albrunori or @OACNUDH.

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Why Caribbean Governments Should Make The Shift To A Human Rights-Based Approach To Crime Prevention Now - Caribbean and Latin America Daily News -...

Its no secret that Caribbean and Southern cuisine are heavily influenced by each other.

Recipes such as okra soup, stewed ham hocks with beans, and seafood stew all have notes of African and Southern heritage. These recipes are also often made in the Caribbean and the Southern states of America.

Reina Gascn-Lpez, known as the Southern Boricua, is the founder of The Sofrito Project, a food blog she created in 2017. Her mission is to show the similarities of Puerto Rican and Southern cuisine by making her own one-of-a-kind recipes.

I wanted to share my food with everybody so when it first started, I decided to go to culinary school and I wanted to document everything that I was learning and post pictures, Gascn-Lpez said in a recent interview with AL DA News.

Gascn-Lpez was born in Ceiba, Puerto Rico, but moved to Charleston, South Carolina, when her father was stationed there in the Navy. There, the Puerto Rican community was small, and her family didnt have access to typical Puerto Rican food staples, such as yuca and plantains.

We just try to make it work whenever we didn't have an ingredient, she said.

Right before Gascn-Lpez started her blog, she began to research the similarities between Southern and Puerto Rican cuisine. She believed typical Southern dishes were very similar to the food she ate growing up in Puerto Rico.

The more research I started doing about southern cuisine the more similarities there are with Puerto Rican food, we are all connected with food, said Gascn-Lopez.

The research inspired her to apply at the Culinary Institute of Charleston. At that time, she also created her blog, the Sofrito Project.

She started her blog posting recipes to show off her cooking skills to family and friends. It soon became a success, and showcased authentic Puerto Rican recipes, such as sofrito, carne frita y cebollas, and bacalaitos.

However, she also wanted to highlight the similarities between Southern and Puerto Rican food.

For example, one traditional staple in Puerto Rico called, quimbombo guisado, is okra stew in South Carolina. The Southern version is a food staple of the Gullah Geechee community, an African-American population who live in the Lowcountry and the Sea Islands of South Carolina.

I would go to friends' houses and they would ask me if I wanted stewed okra, it tasted really good but it wasn't really how we make it. But its cool to see the similarities, she said.

Representing Puerto Rican cuisine correctly

Gascn-Lpez also spoke to AL DA about her disapproval of the lack of Latinx and women chefs in the media and its effects.

Just recently, a video of British chef Gordon Ramsay making pegao, which is a traditional crunchy rice dish, caused major backlash.

It is frustrating because there are many talented chefs and cooks that are out there that can do the pegao correctly, she said.

Gascn-Lpez believes that Ramsay should have collaborated or invited another chef of Puerto Rican descent to make pegao the right way.

We see it so often in the culinary world where white chefs will go on the show and not use their access or privilege to highlight anybody else, said Gascn-Lpez.

Nonetheless, she is still creating her own brand and has many projects in the works.

I want to get into video, she said. I started a Patreon page and I want to share exclusive recipes and content.

Gascn-Lpez is also planning to publish her own cookbook in the near future.

That is definitely a plan of mine, said Gascn-Lpez. I want to just ride it out and see what happens.

Check out her website for more information.

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Reina Gascn-Lpez shares her love of Afro-Caribbean cuisine with the Sofrito Project - AL DIA News