In “A Question of Diversity: Black Consciousness from the Perspective of Dutch Antillean Youth” [Het diverse zwarte bewustzijn van Antilliaanse Jongeren] published on April 6, 2013, Francio Guadeloupe, a lecturer and researcher at the University of Amsterdam, discusses various perspectives of black consciousness, comparing the viewpoints of scholars and activists to those of Caribbean youth— including Rastafarians, Vodoun practitioners, Christians, Afrocentric, and faranduleros. Here are excerpts of the full translation (by Lisa Post).

On the 30^th of May in 1969, the black population (read dark brown skinned population with Afro-textured hair) of Curacao were so angry and fed up with the oppressive behavior of white Dutch (read pink skinned European Dutch which are hailed as natives) that they sought to burn Willemstad, their own capital, to the ground. Until today however, still no resolution has been found. Clearly this Dutch Kingdom on paper is dysfunctional, but the…

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Dominica: 8th Caribbean Endemic Birds Festival

April 21, 2013 | jèsikasmith

Repeating Islands

Bertrand Jno. Baptiste and Stephen Durand from the Forestry, Wildlife and Parks Division encourage Dominicans and visitors alike to “Go Wild! Go Birding!” The government of Dominica is hosting for the eighth time, the Caribbean Endemic Birds Festival (CEBF), which extends from April 22 (Earth Day) through May 22, 2013. Baptiste and Durand highlight some of the beautiful specimens that one can see in Dominica.

This “bird festival” was initiated by the Society for the Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds (SCSCB) a decade ago. The CEBF programme continues to showcase all Caribbean birds, but more specifically the endemic birds of the region, through various means of education and public awareness. This year’s CEBF theme; “Go Wild, Go Birding!” is seen as fitting with Dominica’s Healthy Lifestyles Programmes, the Tourism Sector, and all other groups and agencies who seek to encourage the public to get outdoors and engage in wholesome…

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Historic Cezanne Painting Seized In Bermuda Resurfaces

April 21, 2013 | jèsikasmith

Repeating Islands

Seized in Bermuda during World War Two [1939-1945] as part of a priceless collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art being shipped to the US to raise money for Nazi espionage activities in North America, a long-lost watercolour by Paul Cézanne has re-surfaced in Canada’s National Gallery in Ottawa, as Bernews.com reports.

The painting “Groupe d’arbres” [“Group of Trees”] has been located in a vault in the gallery’s curatorial wing, the last remnant of a vast collection of art including works by Renoir, Gauguin, Degas, Picasso and others which, after being confiscated by the British Secret Intelligence Service in Bermuda, was later sent to Canada to escape the island’s withering humidity

“In October, 1940, the famous Vollard collection of impressionist paintings worth hundreds of thousands of dollars was consigned by the Vichy authorities [in German-occupied France — a Nazi puppet state which maintained diplomatic relations with the US] to a French…

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