Celebrating Our SKN Heritage!
Hello Members, friends & supporters!
Welcome to our July newsletter, it is with immense pleasure, that we officially launch our St Kitts & Nevis Heritage Day, to be held on Sunday 20th of August 2023, at The Hub, Holford Drive in Perry Barr. We have a spectacular day of activities, workshops, market stalls and displays planned for all the family; and we want everybody to come along and have an amazing time!
Within the newsletter, you will find features on some of the facilitators and the workshops that will be present on the day. There will be various food options available, along with St Kitts & Nevis merchandise; small vendors offering bespoke products; beauty products, and an inflatable park for the children. Limited, on-site car parking will be available, on the day, for a small fee.
In the evening we hope to continue showcasing our ‘Heritage Day’ with musical performances by our ASKaND young people and other invited guests. We are also
In this issue
hoping to have a ‘surprise’ or two, in the shape of an international artist also appearing on the bill. More information on that will follow nearer the time!
As we fervently pray for pleasant weather, the Heritage Day Team is working hard to produce what promises to be a fantastic day - regardless of whether it rains or shines! So please do come along to share the day with us. Let’s socialise, learn, eat, laugh and
drink together as we raise our flag for St. Kitts and Nevis to fly high!
Finally, we are putting out a call for more volunteers. It will be an extremely busy day, with lots going on. Therefore, the more of our members we have collaborating with us on the project, the more likely it will be a successful and enjoyable day for all. Please make it known to the Executive Team that you would like to be involved. Look out for notifications of volunteer meetings on our WhatsApp group chat.
The St Kitts Nevis Heritage Day promises to be not only be a special event for our St Kitts & Nevis community, but for our wider Birmingham/West Midlands (and beyond!) community as well. We have distinguished invited V.I.P guests, including Birmingham dignitaries who will be in attendance, to share and celebrate the day. Thank you for your support thus far; and we look forward to seeing you there on the day. Don’t forget your flag!
SKN HERITAGE B&B “JUMBIE CORNER”
SKN Heritage Day Workshop Profiles
To whet your appetite for what is to come at our St Kitts & Nevis Heritage Day, several of our facilitators would like to introduce themselves to you and tell you a little about what to expect on the day from their sessions.
‘Tone with Mone’ Workshop
Hi! My name is Simone, and I am also known as ‘Mone’. I have a Zumba class and it is called: ‘Tone with Mone’.
My class got its name because, I believe my Zumba class is so much more than just dancing to music. It is a full body workout and I do all my choreograph with this in mind. So, not only are you getting a great cardio workout; you are also learning the art of Latin American dance moves, fused together with an exhilarating aerobic workout!
At the St Kitts & Nevis Heritage Day; I will be doing a taster dance/Zumba class. It will be suitable for all ages to join in and have a dance with me. I’ll be bringing the soca/calypso vibes, coupled with a salsa and Latin fuse. All of it music from the heart of the Caribbean. For as I believe and as my slogan stipulates…: “It’s your duty, to shake your booty!”
The Vybz Show
My Radio Name is Crucial Miss P. (The One and Only) and I co-host and present an internet radio programme with ‘President Kennedy’. Between us both we have over 50 years in the music industry playing a variety of music, playing out in clubs, reasoning with community discussing issues of concerns, or giving out useful information. We’ve also worked with artists involved in music, written and spoken word and the arts.
President Kennedy and I are both descendants of St Kitts & Nevis and we have always jelled well together, from the start, due to our shared heritage.
Our Radio Show call ‘The Vybz Show’ is on Saturdays from 2pm to 5pm (UK time); on www.tellstream.org.
Our listening public love our vybz! They call us the ‘Radio Couple’; with running jokes and a great ‘energy’ that we use to feed off from each other.
We agreed to present a live radio programme broadcast, at the St Kitts & Nevis Heritage Day, because as fellow descendants of St Kitts & Nevis, we want to support ASKaND and their ambition to work with our young people. Educating our youth on their heritage is an important part of their very existence. We believe that bringing the St Kitts & Nevis community together to learn about what their parents and grandparents left behind, in coming to the UK, is essential We also love the work the Association is trying to do across the board. We are very proud of them and we want to encourage and support them.
The Jumbie Corner Workshops
Hi! I’m Natty Mark and I will delivering the Jumbie Corner workshops at the St Kitts & Nevis Heritage Day, where we will be celebrating the folklore of St. Kitts and Nevis and the wider Caribbean. We will be paying homage to the ‘Moonlit Classroom’, my term for those intergenerational gatherings, when children first learnt the lessons of life, around the evening fire. As with the traditional setting, the workshops will consist of tales, chants and riddles, alongside other participatory aids, such as brain teasers and interactive cartography.
Part of the content will be ‘Rootical’ Folklore. My on-going celebration of African and Caribbean Folklore through the flora. For example, a tale about respect to the elders, features the Kola Nut; pumpkin is central to a tale about generosity; ackee, in one about greed; and spinach in a story of revenge. If we can learn from Anansi, we can learn from the coconut also. Celebrating the heritage of the Moonlit Classroom, while learning and laughing, with our favourite fruits, vegetables, spices and herbs.
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SKN Heritage - Brightest & Best
Talented duo, Leila and Kieran, are two of our brightest and best young emerging talents of St Kitts & Nevis heritage in the West Midlands.
Leila, aged 11, recently took part in the City of Coventry Graham Sykes 2023 Swim Meet where she won 4 medals! Beating off stiff competition and placing her in the top 10 swimmers, in the county, for her age range!
Leila’s haul of medals were: Silver medals in the 50m Butterfly & 100m Freestyle and Bronze in the 400m Individual Medley & 200m Butterfly.
However, not to be outdone, younger brother Kieran, aged 9, is also excelling in his sport of choice
Gymnastics! Both Kieran and Leila attend sessions at Revolution Gymnastics in Selly Oak, where in recent competition saw Kieran win 3 gold medals; and Leila winning 2 gold, and 2 silver medals, in their individual classes.
Their parents Kevin & Sylvia Atherley, and their grandparents are all, understandable, very proud of their achievements. However, we as a St Kitts & Nevis heritage community, are also EXTREMELY proud of you both too! So, we are right behind you and we will always be cheering you on!
Leila and Kieran Brightest & Best!
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“Jumbie Corner”
Chapeltown Roselle
Liquid of our lives, Sweetness of sustenance, I shall dance Carnival for you. Warmed me on cold days, Refreshed me on hot ones, I shall dance Carnival for you.
As we leave Potternewton Park, singing of Chapeltown, we'll go down Cinnamon Close, through Ginger Gardens, into Cloves Crescent, then Pimento Place, along Sugar Stream, arriving in Sorrel Street. Then the return to Potternewton Park, singing of Harehills also.
Everyday elixir, Christmas colophon, I shall dance Carnival for you. Depicting hibiscus, Costume of homage, I shall dance Carnival for you
This
As we're in carnival season, the August Jumbie Corner will also celebrate these annual festivities. I'm hoping to deliver a workshop –Sisalana Dance – in Ghana, early December, at the International Conference of Carnival and Masquerade Arts.
©Natty Mark Samuels, 2023. African School. Rootical Folklore
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piece, part of Rootical Folklore, is dedicated to Arthur France, founding figure of Leeds Carnival.
Out & About with ASKaND’s Chair
ASKaND Chair, Jacqui Daniels, took a well-earned break, with a trip to the 2023 St Kitts-Nevis Music Festival. While she was out there enjoying the festivities, she had the good fortune to meet up with the one and only Byron Messia; who flew into St Kitts for the 25th Music Festival.
Byron was born in Jamaica, but moved to St. Kitts when he was a mere two months old. Now he is creating quite a buzz with his breakout hit “Talibans,” which went to no. 1 in 13 countries on Apple Music. it also entered Spotify’s Daily Viral 50 Global chart at no. 10, and has generated more than 32m YouTube views and is the 9th most viewed video since it was released in February 2023.
When Byron arrived in St. Kitts for Music Festival, he was given a hero’s welcome; by being given the keys to the city by Hon. Samuel Duggins.
Standing at the Robert L Bradshaw International Airport, was a billboard with his picture and the details of his journey to fame.
Jacqui continues…
“I also bumped into Romain Virgo, Dexta Daps & Prince Swanny. The SKN Music Festival was a blast! I attended the Saturday event and sat in the V.I.P lounge, courtesy of Express Events. Live on stage that evening was: Gramps Morgan, Air Supply, Romain Virgo, Burna Boy, Valiant, Erica Edwards & Teejay
“The festival ran from Thursday 23rd, Friday 24th and Saturday the 25th of June, ticket prices went from $135 - $600.
“It was a splendid showcase of international music superstars on a world’s stage. It was also well attended by a large contingent of nationals and descendants from the UK.”
A Fair Exchange Is No Robbery!
SKN Historian, Leonard Stapleton, proudly exchanged copies of his book, “Places of Memory” for a full set of nine ASKaND’s newsletters. The content in Mr Stapleton’s books have recently been added to the primary school curriculum in St. Kitts & Nevis. Mr Stapleton was recently featured in Issue 9 (June edition) the ASKaND Sentinel.
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GET ON OUR SOCIALS!
Our Socials are up and running now, so please look for us on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/askandbrum
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/askandbrum/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/askandbrum
Also on our Linktree link, you will notice a few ’extras’! Find us at: https://linktr.ee/askandbrum
In addition, our ASKaND JustGiving page is up and running, so please share; and don’t forget, you can now scan our QR Code too!
Brum To SKN Challenge — JustGiving
Please don’t forget to encourage your contacts to support our walkers by sponsoring us at our JustGiving page. All generated funds will be used to deliver localised projects in our community in 2024. (if typing this address into your browser, remember no spaces!)
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ askandbrum2skn
Upcoming Members Meetings
ASKaND Members meetings will be held at the BCA, Jenkins Street, Birmingham, B10 0PQ at 1900hrs.
Friday 4th August 2023
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Great Places to Eat with the Kids!
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Brum to SKN Update
After eight full weeks of our Brum to SKN sponsored walk, our ‘Steppers’ have worked hard to build up their daily step count.
I am sure that many of walkers have pleasantly surprised themselves with their continuity and commitment to the cause. With everyone regularly posting their steps, we can see that the team is posting up to 70,000 steps in addition to the average number needed to reach our goal.
Therefore, we would like to ask everyone to sponsor our Steppers. Not only as a sign of appreciation of their commitment to the cause; but because each and everyone has a real passion for the activities we are always trying to develop and roll out to our community. Any amount given would be much appreciated and we can promise you; it will all be put to good use!
CONGRATULATIONS!
It is with great pleasure that ASKaND would like to congratulate St Kitts-Nevis descendant, Councillor Sharon Thompson, on her recent appointment to Deputy Leader of Birmingham City Council.
We are all very proud of your achievement!
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