04232021 WEEKEND

Friday, April 23, 2021

pageants interview art gardening history music puzzles animals

Weekend

Historic bush medicine Page 14

Show the world Expo highlights local artists

pgs 08 +09

02 | The Tribune | Weekend

Friday, April 23, 2021

pageants

Miss Teen Bahamas contestants show their “resilience” in fight against social ills

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his year’s Miss Teen Bahamas International contestants are tackling the tough the issues.

Pageant platforms they have chosen for themselves – areas they are already active in – include taking a stance against social ills such as bullying, body shaming and even child abuse.

Now in its fourth year, the Miss Teen Bahamas International organisation has established itself as a reputable competition for young women between the ages of 13 to 18.

In addition to contestants from New Providence, this year, the organisation can boast of three Family Island contestants, whose families are very supportive and are making sacrifices to ensure their girl is ready to fight for the crown.

Each year, contestants choose a particular platform they are passionate about.

“In the near future, we plan to put our efforts into creating a forum where young women can express themselves, share their stories and make a difference in communities,” said the organisers.

Former titleholder and now franchise owner Tia Thompson this year’s contestants are uniquely gifted.

“They all have personal stories behind their platform which makes this specific programme so much more exciting. It also intensifies the competition because the young ladies are so entwined in their passion,” she said.

National pageant director Monalisa McPhee said she’s thrilled with the increased response from the Family Islands.

“Every year it gets better and better. We have actual contestants from the islands they represent. It is common in pageants to have a field of New Providence participants who choose Family Islands (to represent), but our pageant has attracted actual residents from these beautiful spots, which speaks volumes to the development and reach of our organisation,” she said.

Miss Teen Abaco Jana Bootle is promoting her “Uniquely Skard” initiative, because she believes everyone, no matter their age, gender

ALEXANDRIA CLARKE, Miss Teen Berry Islands

SHERONIKA SIMEON, Miss Teen New Providence

BEYONCE FORBES, Miss Teen Grand Bahama

SYONNE ROLLE, Miss Teen Exuma

CHARISSE BUTTERFIELD, Miss Teen Long Island Miss Teen New Providence Sheronika Simeon wants to take a stand against all forms of abuse – emotional, verbal and physical.

“Because of abuse, many children tend to develop aggressive tendencies and low self-esteem, but all of this can be changed once we as Bahamians are willing to report incidences of child abuse and encourage the mental healthcare and counselling needed to fully help survivors and prevent new victims,” she said.

Of the pageant, she said: “It is very educational, extremely helpful, very engaging and transformational.”

Miss Teen Exuma Syonne Rolle is all about eradicating body shaming, especially amongst teens. Shaming people for how they look is prevalent in the Bahamas, she said, and she wants to promote the importance of self-acceptance and self-love.

She said participating in the pageant has been an experience of personal growth for her.

JANA BOOTLE, Miss Teen Abaco

or race, carries their own emotional scars, and she wants to help them embrace their imperfections.

She said: “This pageant has been such an amazing experience. I have truly enjoyed every step of the way.

I have meet amazing girls and truly created a sisterhood with each one.

This pageant is not only a once-in-alifetime experience but the memories and the lessons that will be taken from it is truly unforgettable.”

Miss Teen Berry Islands Alexandria Clarke said she would like to be at the forefront of educating people on speech impediments, which she said can lead to shame, frustration, anger and even depression in those afflicted.

“I want to be the light for those who are battling with this problem… to show that you are normal, you are special and, most importantly, your speech impediments make you unique,” she said.

Alexandria said the pageant has been “a life-changing experience.”

Basketball and volleyball player Beyoncé Forbes is competing as Miss Teen Grand Bahama. Her platform is “Supporting Our Youth Through Sports”, because she believes sports can help build self-esteem and offer career opportunities.

Meanwhile, as a victim of bullying when she was younger, Miss Teen Long Island Charisse Butterfield has made ‘Stop Bullying’ her platform.

“People have to realise that what you do to people comes back to you,” she said.

Charisse and Beyoncé both agree that the relationships which have been formed over the course of the pageant are forever. The friendships and bonds that are being built will last beyond a crown, they said.

The six contestants competed in preliminaries on Thursday and the final competition will be held this Sunday at the Courtyard Marriott Hotel. The event will adhere strictly to the COVID-19 protocols.

The Tribune | Weekend | 03

Friday, April 23, 2021

Weekend Inside

My Perfect Bahamian Weekend Yolanda Deleveaux

Communications Specialist Living my best life!”

Q: What are you binge-watching? “’New Amsterdam’! I love this show, the diverse cast, the interesting story lines, the chemistry between Max and Helen.”

Interview 4 – 5

Lessons learned during pandemic has writer and editor Tamara McKenzie taking a leap of faith

Q: Rum, wine, cocktail or Kalik?

“Gimme a fruity, frothy sweet cocktail with some crazy, intricate candy adornment.”

Puzzles 6 Art 7 – 10

Community rallies behind artist after mural controversy; Arielle Rahming offers a ‘gateway into her mind’, and ‘Genuine Bahamian’ artists get chance to shine at expo

Q: If you could quarantine with a celebrity, who would it be and why?

“Beyoncé! The rules don’t apply; we’d be jet setting. COVID who?

Me and Beyoncee would rule the world!”

Music 11

Teen singer celebrates rake n’ scrape and honours Ira Storr

Literary Lives 12 – 13

A 1920s/30s writer who ‘told the truth about his time’

Forgotten Facts 14

First encounters with bush medicine

Animals 15

Travel adventures with Chief, plus Pet of the Week

07

Gardening 16

All about bamboo

Cover I “Star Queen” (Acrylic on canvas, 24x36) by Preston Hanna

THIS WEEKEND IN HISTORY

April 24

• In 1915, in what’s considered the start of the Armenian genocide, the Ottoman Empire began rounding up Armenian political and cultural leaders in Constantinople.

April 23

• In 1960, rioting erupted in Biloxi, Mississippi, after Black protesters staging a “wade-in” at a whites-only beach were attacked by a crowd of hostile whites.

• In 1616 (Old Style calendar), English poet and dramatist William Shakespeare died in Stratford-upon-Avon on what has traditionally been regarded as the 52nd anniversary of his birth in 1564.

• 1969, Sirhan Sirhan was sentenced to death for assassinating New York Sen. Robert F Kennedy. (The sentence was later reduced to life imprisonment.)

• In 2005, the recently created videosharing website YouTube uploaded its first clip, “Me at the Zoo,” which showed YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim standing in front of an elephant enclosure at the San Diego Zoo.

Q: Beach or sofa?

“While a comfortable sofa is great for a rainy day, give me the heat of the Bahamian beach.

The salty smell in the air, the cool water between my toes, the sun dancing across the waves.

• In 2009, Mexico shut down schools, museums, libraries and state-run theaters across its overcrowded capital in hopes of containing a deadly swine flu outbreak.

Today’s birthdays: Actor

Lee Majors is 82. Actor Joyce DeWitt is 72. Filmmaker-author Michael Moore is 67. Professional wrestler/ actor John Cena is 44. Actor-writercomedian John Oliver is 44. Actor Kal Penn is 44. Model Gigi Hadid is 26.

Today’s birthdays: Movie

director-producer Richard Donner is 91. Actor-singer-director Barbra Streisand is 79. R&B singer Ann Peebles is 74. Actor-comedian Cedric the Entertainer is 57. Actor Djimon Hounsou is 57. Actor Aidan Gillen is 53. Singer Kelly Clarkson is 39.

Q: If you could have COVID-free weekend, where would you go?

“Right here in Nassau, so I could see family and friends without fear of being exposed and I could hug up on my nieces.”

April 25 • 1507, a world map produced

by German cartographer Martin Waldseemueller contained the first recorded use of the term “America,” in honor of Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci.

• In 1917, legendary jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald was born in Newport News, Virginia.

• In 2002, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes of the Grammy-winning trio TLC died in an SUV crash in Honduras; she was 30.

Today’s birthdays: Actor Al Pacino is 81. Ballroom dance judge Len Goodman is 77. Actor Hank Azaria is 57. Actor Renee Zellweger is 52. Actor Gina Torres is 52.

– The Associated Press

04 | The Tribune | Weekend

interview

Friday, April 23, 2021

Tamara McKenzie Like for many Bahamians, the pandemic has meant total upheaval for this writer and editor. She tells Cara Hunt about the lessons she’s learned and how she finally found the courage to take that ‘leap of faith’ to start her own business.

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ike many hospitality workers, Tamara McKenzie had to get creative when it came to managing her finances during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The communications specialist tapped into her natural talents to create a multimedia agency called Power of the Pen. She recently sat down with Tribune Weekend to share some of the lessons she learned from the events of 2020.

“For many years I’ve worked as a freelance writer, a professional journalist, a public relations professional as well as an educator,” she explained.

“During my off days from my full-time job I would take on various assignments from persons who were looking for professional writing and editing services – from the creation of content for websites and social media pages, to writing political speeches, newsletters, business correspondence as well as offering my services as a professional copywriter and editor. I also took it upon myself to assist a number of small businesses and offer them advice on how best to polish and promote their brand.”

While she had previously flirted with the idea of starting her own full-time business, fear always prevented her from moving forward with the idea.

“How in the world was I going to step out on a limb, quit my full-time job and do my ‘own thing’ when I have a mountain of bills to pay and various financial responsibilities?

“As far as I was concerned, I had a job and was comfortable with making a steady paycheck while carrying on with my side hustle during my spare time. However, it wasn’t until last March 2020 that something kicked me in the butt to get started with my own business, and that something was the COVID-19 pandemic,” she said.

“Out of adversity comes success. Had it not been for this pandemic, the idea of creating a boutique PR agency and writing service probably would have never come to fruition.”

The Tribune | Weekend |05

Friday, April 23, 2021

“Bad seasons will never last forever, and as for the pain, hardship and loss as a result of this pandemic, I take comfort in knowing that this too shall pass.”

Like so many of us, Tamara initially thought the pandemic would pass quickly, but unfortunately, she remained on leave as the coronavirus caused the entire country to remain at a standstill for the majority of the year.

With her bills mounting and no end to the pandemic in sight, she got the ball rolling on launching her own business venture.

“I applied for a business licence, I contracted someone to build me a professional website, constructed social media pages, went ahead to receive the necessary approvals from my job to start a business while on furlough, and the rest, as they say, is history,” she said.

“On February 15, 2021, I officially launched Power of the Pen Public Relations, Writing and Editing Services.”

While starting a business is a challenging undertaking in the best of times, doing so during a global pandemic is especially difficult.

“There is a cost for everything, and I was counting my pennies because here it was, I wanted to start a business with no income coming in to do certain things. I really needed to prioritise what was important and how I could get a business up and running with as little overhead expense as possible,” she said.

“My main challenge was getting my website up and running as this sells the business and this is where all of my bookings are done. I paid a company to construct my initial site and I wasn’t pleased with it at all. That was a total loss as I had to pay another company to revamp the site and make it better, which led me to incur additional costs.

“Also, having started a business during a pandemic, I had to analyse my price points as many

persons were unemployed and they were looking for a discount. For example, many persons looking for jobs were interested in our cover letter and resume writing services, but they were looking for an affordable package because they were unemployed, so I had to tweak my price point in this regard.”

Tamara said she has learned patience since starting her company.

“I’ve realised how important social media and content creation is when it comes to this type of business, staying on top of current trends in public relations, as well as constantly highlighting how our services would be beneficial to businesses and businesspersons. I’m also aware that it takes time for a business to grow, so while putting in the necessary work I remain patient.”

The pandemic, she said, has also reinforced how important it is to be able to generate additional income for yourself.

“I believe that every woman has a skill, talent or purpose that she may not be using or developing to the best of her ability. When our backs are against the wall, so to speak, as women, we will find various ways to make ends meet. I would advise women who are still facing unemployment as a result of this pandemic to just take a leap of faith and do something that they enjoy to make money. Whether that enjoyment comes from cooking, baking, sewing, whatever it is, just do it while continuously thinking of various ways to generate an income.

“Don’t allow fear or negative thoughts of failure to discourage you. Maybe you feel as if not enough planning and preparation was done so you delay, but the longer you delay, the longer you will take to get started. Know that everything will

never be perfect when starting a business, so we must just go out on a limb, trust God to direct our path and go from there. Once the business is up and running, you can work constantly on improving it over time.”

Research is also essential, she added.

“Examine the pros and cons of getting into business. Write out your long- and short-term goals for the business. Ensure that you have a professional business plan drawn up. Most importantly, ensure that the business that you are getting into is something that you are passionate about, something you want to invest your time, money and energy into. I’d say that if you can find a business partner or someone who may be willing to sponsor you financially to get started, someone who is genuinely willing to help, then by all means accept the partnership and the offer,” she said.

The pandemic, Tamara said, has taught her a lot about herself and life in general.

“I’ve learned that I’m a resilient woman who can roll with the punches as they are thrown at me. Lord knows, I’ve had my fair share of ups and downs in life, but it’s always important to get back up, even if you get back up slowly. This pandemic was an eye-opener for me and many women who may not have been managing our finances properly or saving for a rainy day. I’ve learned that while it’s good to plan for the future, we still have no idea what the future holds or what setbacks we may experience in life or on our jobs. The key is to never give up despite how bleak things may seem. Bad seasons will never last forever, and as for the pain, hardship and loss as a result of this pandemic, I take comfort in knowing that this too shall pass.”

19 Some seals are brave, but CRoSSWoRD not initially SMALL (7) 1 Franchise, 22 After last ofAcross: flooding, fire 7 Cravat, Friday, April 9 Catcall, 10 Enid, 12 Cur, 13 The spread misery (5) Best, 14 Phi, 15 Deli, 17 Parasol, 24 Log in barren terrain (5) 19 Outcry, 20 Emphysema.

27 Tasteless fellows not available to start (4) 28 Resist weak design for some knitwear (3,7)

06 | The Tribune | Weekend

● The Target uses words in the main body of Chambers 21st Century Dictionary (1999 edition)

HOW many words of four letters or more can you make from the letters shown here? in making a word, each letter may be used once only. Each must contain the centre letter and there must be at least one nine-letter word. no plurals.

Verb forms ending in s permitted.

TODAY’S TARGET Good 26; very good 39; excellent 52 (or more). Solution on Monday

Yesterday’s call 0907 181 2585 Sudoku Answer for today’s target solution *Calls cost 80p per minute plus your telephone company’s network access charge.

BATTLESHIPS CRYPTIC PUZZLE Across 1 Stock answer to Solomon’s dilemma (5,5) 6 Question the cause of inflation? (4) 10 New rates set for rents (5) 11 Concerning a will he’s shameless (9) 12 Make up watch on the ship (8) 13 Plans to move aside (5) 15 Gets off with a slight dislocation (7) 17 Trying to interview royalty?

(7) 19 One falling behind to pull the girl back (7) 21 Joke about girl being very moral (7) 22 Kind of paper that exposes plots (5) 24 They form some unit of the Canadian police (8) 27 From being in the red I possibly came into money (9) 28 All the points you start are interesting (5) 29 Treat ill (4) 30 Night watchman (10)

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Yesterday’s Easy Solution

Down 1 Place it in the southeast (4) Across: 1 Vistula, 5 Meant, 8 Grand Prix, 9 Goo, 10 Lift, 2 Decoding any signal that’s 12 Needless, 14 Bureau, broadcast (9) 15 Vagary, 17 Riesling, 18 Mess, 3 Stand in the drawing room 21 Dot, 22 Brainwave, 24 Nerve, 25 Pushkin.

(5) Down: 1 Vigil, 2 Spa, 3 Undo, 4 Leaps out of bed perhaps 4 Airmen, 5 Mixed bag, (7) 6 Aggregate, 7 Trotsky, 5 They give judgment on 11 Fire-eater, 13 Fallible, 14 Borodin, 16 Encamp, strikes (7) 19 Stern, 20 Onus, 23 Ask. 7 A practice embodied in various agencies (5) 8 Urge a swell to become a publicity man (5,5) Yesterday’s Cryptic Solution 9 Bully one who works around a colliery (8) Across: 1 Leather, 5 Husky, 14 A miller no doubt likes a 8 Suspender, 9 Ire, 10 Rate, rest from it (5,5) 12 One-sided, 14 Touchy, 15 Pitied, 17 Subtract, 18 Stop, 16 Receives news about the 21 Ava, 22 Terminate, 24 Ellen, plants (8) 25 Dessert.

18 Engaged in current affairs?

Down: 1 Loser, 2 Ass, 3 Hied, 4 Riding, 5 Hardship, 6 Spindrift, (2,3,4) 20 Acts in a degrading way (7) 7 Yielded, 11 Thumbnail, 13 Sheraton, 14 Testate, 21 Sack and what may be put 16 Scored, 19 Pleat, 20 Miss, in it (7) 23 Awe. 23 Remains of burning trees (5) 25 Fitting end for a number with no heart (5) 26 He changes colour sounds disastrous (4) Across Down 1 Very comfortable 1 Luxuriate (4) 6 7 8 existence (3,2,5) 2 Probably (9) 6 Repeat in 9 3 Mushrooms, sympathy (4) toadstools etc. (5) 10 Treat with contempt (5) 4 Govern harshly (7) 11 Supreme (9) 5 Unpredictable (7) 13 12 Loud and harsh (8) 7 Stir violently (5) 13 Artillery practice 8 Functionally area (5) 18 unreliable (2,3,5) 15 Troublesome (7) 17 Metropolis (7) 9 Unseemly (8) 19 Moreover (7) 14 Repellent (10) 21 Sad and 16 Resistance to abandoned (7) persuasion (8) 22 Postpone (5) 25 18 Deceitful (3-6) 24 Word for word (8) 26 27 Harmless (9) 20 Rescuer (7) 28 Chief (5) 21 Anticipate (7) 28 29 Person readily 23 Concluding (5) duped (4) 25 Greatly dismay (5) 30 Permission to proceed (5,5) 26 For fear that (4)

EASY PUZZLE

FIND where the fleet of ships shown is hidden in the grid. The numbers to the right of and below the grid indicate how many of the squares in that row are filled in with ships or parts of ships. The ships do not touch each other, even diagonally. Some squares have been filled in to start you off.

Solution on Monday 1

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THe ALPHAbeA

black squares: 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 29, 31, 36, 37, 38.

Across: Utter, Poverty, Fry, Swift, Insulting, Inspector, E Safari, Fez, Jasmine, Douse.

Down: Shrimp, Throw, Okra Reactive, Lyr cAnTARgeT you crack the Alphabeater? Each gridPiques, Triage, Extr Idle, Taxi, Chews, Cygnet. number represents a letter – or black square.

PAiNTbALL 090 anti bait balti inapt lilt letter lint natal CRoSS DoubT As inalitAlphapuzzle, every of the alphabet (Deduc paint PAINTBALL pant patina pint Across: is used. the gridLIGHT too! each ex pinta But plaintyou plaithave plant to platcomplete pliant Down: PORCH tail taipan tala tall till black squares below use tabla the given letters and f

THE ALPHABEATE

AD E EMG tun

Sudoku is a number-placing puzzle based on a 9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers 1 to 9 in the empty squares so the each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. The difficulty level of the Conceptis Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday

23, 2021

Down: 1 Face up to, 2 Roan, 3 Act, 4 Cranberry, 5 Halved, 6 Salut, 8 Tortilla, 11 Detach, 13 Thrum, 16 Loom, 18 Sue.

TARGET Best described as a number crossword, the task in Kakuro is to fill all of the empty squares, using numbers 1 to 9, so the sum of each horizontal block equals the number to its left, and the sum of each vertical block equals the number on its top. No number may be used in the same block more than once. The difficulty level of the Conceptis Kakuro increases from Monday to Sunday.

J O S K Y D R A I L Y G S I E N I R O L

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1 x Battleship

3 x Destroyer

2 x cruiser

4 x submarine

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the grid to start. the grid is ‘rotationally SuMMiT uP 090 97 and symmetrical’ – in other words, it looks the 97 *Calls co your t same if you turn the page upside down. netw Solution on Monday A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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The Tribune | Weekend | 07

Friday, April 23, 2021

art

Arielle’s paintings offer ‘gateway into her mind’

By ALESHA CADET | Tribune Features Writer | acadet@tribunemedia.net

A

RIELLE RAHMING is using her new exhibit, “Cyclic Thoughts / INFINITE Minutes” to express the extreme and unexpected changes to her mental health in the wake of Hurricane Dorian.

The exhibition, now on display at the Sixty2Sixty Art Gallery, features a lot the circular shapes, which she says represent her restless mind, with thoughts on repeat for what feels like an infinite amount of time.

The texture and layering also play a pivotal part in her work, as they highlight the complexities of the human experience.

Arielle uses acrylic paint, oil pastels, and other mediums such as sand to help build the layers on the canvas to accentuate the differences in people’s individual feelings. It is her intention for viewers to see the humanity in these textures, colours, lines and circles – which all represent their own subconscious thoughts or emotions.

“The exhibition itself is essentially a gateway into my mind. After going through Hurricane Dorian I developed intense anxiety and other symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), with the most debilitating symptom being irregular sleep patterns. Because I am typically up very late, I tend to overthink and this sets of a

chain of swirling thoughts that feel like they go on forever,” she said.

“For my show, I wanted to bring some of those thoughts to the forefront and create a physical manifestation of what I am thinking or experience.”

She told Tribune Weekend it was after setting up her art for sale on the side of Blake Road and posting her work on social media platforms that fellow artist June Collie of the Sixty2Sixty art gallery reached out to her to find out if she would be interested in joining their team.

“As an avid art fan, I began painting around the age of 16. What I painted was actually an abstract mural, but I had no idea what it was called at that time. Roughly three years ago I started painting again after a commission request by a close friend.

As my craft developed, I began utilising elements such as sand and paper to add texture to each piece. I also use oil pastels and employ different methods of blending to create readily recognised depth. The goal is to present paintings that challenge normal human reception to abstract art and allow a closer look at the layering techniques used, the medium used and the colours chosen. Lastly, I make it a point to always include three circles on my pieces - making it a signature of sorts,” said Arielle.

As an artist, she believes painting creates the perfect escape from the chaos of the world. Last year, as she spent a great deal of time at home in her bedroom, which doubles as her art studio, Arielle was able to work on her craft, and this additional time allowed her to explore different mediums.

“Art has the ability to tell a story when words fail, so rather than verbal communication, you are able to employ creative communication that often resonates with the public,” she said.

“It can also be used a teaching tool as enthusiasm and appreciation for art continues to grow.

What is actually most exciting to me is the number of persons now offering ‘sip ‘n’ paint’ functions that allow non-artists and artists themselves to explore their creative side, which I firmly believe we all have. There are so many persons walking around with untapped talent, so art is able to bring that talent to the surface,” she said.

Arielle acknowledges that her work might not be for everyone, but that’s OK. “The feedback has been largely positive, which gives me the drive to continue working on my craft.

I am hyper-aware that there are many persons who prefer still life or realism, which is absolutely fine because I still receive words of encouragement and overwhelming support,” she said.

10 | The Tribune | Weekend

Friday, April 23, 2021

art

Art community rallies behind Benjamin Ferguson after mural controversy

By CARA HUNT | Tribune Features Writer | cbrennen@tribunemedia.net

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ahamian art enthusiasts have rallied behind Benjamin Ferguson Jr after a recent mural he painted in Grand Bahama was removed after being deemed “racist”.

Benjamin’s mural, entitled “Mismanaged Culture”, depicts a young Black girl drinking a juice box with the words “Caucasian – All Better Here” painted across it.

According to the artist, this mural was intended to depict the experience of being made to feel like a second-class citizen, or worse, in shops and spaces that cater to tourists in the Bahamas.

It was part of the onePULSE exhibition curated by Richardo Barnett featuring local muralists.

Last month, the mural was moved from its display at the NABG to be displayed in communities around the country.

The apparent reason for the removal was that the mural had been deemed offensive because of its “racist” tone.

Benjamin told Tribune Weekend he was “hurt” by the decision but didn’t want to say anything further at this time.

“I don’t want to comment on it at this time, as I will probably make a full statement, but as an artist I always welcome discussion on my work,” he said.

And the piece has generated lots of discussion among art enthusiasts who were quick to speak out against the mural’s removal.

BENJAMIN Ferguson Jr

NAGB executive director Amanda Coulson posted the following on Instagram: “This public mural – for which the artist secured permission to exhibit at a public beach (Taino Beach) from the Freeport Port Authority (who decides what can be posted publicly in Freeport, Grand Bahama) —was part of the exhibition “Pulse” organised by @nagb242.

The image is of a young Black girl, whose immediate world is colourful and vibrant. When she steps out of her circle, the world becomes harsher, literally black and white.

She is drinking a well-known soft drink whose brand is removed and replaced with the words ‘Caucasian.

All Better Here’ on a streamer that represents the Bahamian flag.

“The Port Authority deemed this work ‘racist’ and removed it, without consultation with either the artist or the NAGB. The work is somewhat ironically entitled, ‘Mismanaged Culture’ and the artist had hoped it would engender a healthy dialogue around our use of public spaces and an opportunity to listen and hear from the public about their experiences. Our history is painful. Our relationship to tourism is uncomfortable. Simply not talking about it or refusing to consider other viewpoints is not a solution or a way forward.”

Art lover Brent Rolle agreed.

“I think this is a stunning piece.

And like any good conscious piece of art, it provides a great starting point for a national discussion on the whole concept that Bahamians are regarded as second class even in our country; that whole concept of foreigners buying all the best land and building homes and resorts that Bahamians can never afford to purchase or visit. That is what I got from it,” he said.

Kenya Thompson said: “I do not see anything at all ‘racist’ in this piece. Are they referring to the word ‘Caucasian’, how is that a racist word?”

She added that she had a different interruption when she saw the piece for the first time.

“I don’t know what he meant when he painted it, but what I got was we are constantly being fed other cultures and histories not our own and the broader view that ‘white is better’,” she said.

Art collector Mavis Major said: “Good art is supposed to make you think or stir an emotion, and that may be an uncomfortable emotion, but that does not mean that it is bad art. Just because you feel uncomfortable, or sensitive doesn’t mean you get to label it for everyone. This was the whole point of the exhibition, to provoke thought, not to censor a very talented social commentator.”

Candice Smith said that when you begin to censor artists, you censor the very principles of democracy and free speech.

“Silencing people can never be acceptable,” she said.

Friday, April 23, 2021

The Tribune | Weekend | 11

music

Teen singer celebrates rake n’ scrape

By CARA HUNT | Tribune Features Writer | cbrennen@tribunemedia.net

C

’nyq Cardinal Jadore Dames was only three years old when she first heard the Mariah Carey song “We Belong Together.”

“I fell in love with the song and from then to now I have always enjoyed singing.

I would record myself for fun and for others,” she said.

Music, she told Tribune Weekend, has always been an escape for her, and now she has been offered the chance to make a career out of her passion.

“I find it fulfilling to share my gift with others. I used to sing in talents shows, and when the opportunity was presented to me with Reacapp Productions Bahamas Limited through Raquel P Forbes, I jumped at the opportunity. So, with the support of my mom, Floretta Walkes, I was able to pursue my dream,” she said.

The 18-year-old has now made her debut with the song “We Rake’n and Scrap’n’.

“I grew up listening to Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston. As I got older, I started to fall in love with Bahamian music and my favourite artist is Veronica Bishop, and I’ll love to work with her someday,” she said.

The song was written by Raquel P Forbes and serves as a tribute to one of the rake n’ scrape greats, who is also featured on the track.

“It’s really for the rake n’ scrape lovers at heart. We go through so much and it’s a pleasure to dance and sing our way through. And to honour Ira Storr, the rake n’ scrape icon of the Bahamas, is a beautiful feeling,” she said.

C’nyq said her musical influences are Fantasia, Ashanti, Anita Baker, Veronica Bishop, and Whitney Houston.

“If I got the chance to sing with anyone dead or alive, it would be the late Whitney Houston. I picked Whitney because I feel she would have challenged my voice, and Anita Baker would do the same. I don’t really have a music style; I can sing any genre and I have I have an appreciation for all genres. I love music, but my favourite is gospel, R&B and culture,” she said.

C’nyq is looking forward to the future.

“I am told that there are many projects my songwriter and producer Raquel P Forbes is working on for me. It’s really a pleasure to work with the Reacapp Productions Bahamas Limited team and I am loving every minute of it. I am so excited to go on this musical journey with Ms Forbes and one day leave a positive impact on the industry for other talented young people, it is possible once you believe in you,” she said.

C’nyq Cardinal Jadore Dames

12 | The Tribune | Weekend

Friday, April 23, 2021

literary lives – John O’Hara

‘He told the truth about his time’ Sir Christopher Ondaatje reviews the literary career of one of America’s most talented short story writers who also became a bestselling novelist with a questionable legacy.

“Socially, I never belonged to any class, rich or poor. To the rich I was poor, and to the poor I was poor pretending to be rich.”

– John O’Hara John O’Hara was born on January 31, 1905 in the coal-mining town of Pottsville, Pennsylvania, the eldest of eight children to an affluent Irish-American surgeon. O’Hara’s Irish-Catholic background made him an outsider on the inside of WASP society – a theme he constantly referred to in his writing. He went to the secondary school Niagara Prep in Lewiston, New York, and was named Class Poet for Class of 1924. However, his father died at this time, leaving him unable to afford to go to Yale – the college of his dreams.

This sudden fall in social status from a privileged life to overnight insolvency afflicted O’Hara with status anxiety for the rest of his life.

After leaving school, O’Hara worked as a reporter for various newspapers. When he was 19 he moved to New York and, in between working as a bartender and publicity agent, he got a job as a journalist. He also started to write short stories for magazines – including The New Yorker. He was a prolific writer – but he lost jobs through drunkenness. By the time he was 28 he was married and divorced.

book created controversy because of O’Hara’s frank inclusion of sexual content. It got immediate attention and was even compared to Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, and is now considered by both Modern Library and Time Magazine to be among the top 100 novels written since 1923.

O’Hara followed this book with BUtterfield 8 (1935), his roman à clef based on the tragic short life of flapper Starr Faithfull, whose mysterious death in 1931 became a tabloid sensation.

“O’Hara’s heroine, Gloria Wandrous, is based on Starr Faithful whose body was found at Long Island in June 1931. The autopsy revealed that she had been drugged, abused and beaten up before drowning. She was twenty-five years old, drank heavily, and was promiscuous ... O’Hara’s title alludes to the new telephone codes introduced by the New York Telephone Company in December 1930 ... Gloria is, literally, a call-girl.”

– John Sutherland Lives of the Novelists, 2011 O’Hara sold the film rights to BUtterfield 8 for $100,000. The movie, which came out in 1960, won Elizabeth Taylor her first Oscar (it also starred her husband at the time, Eddie Fisher, father of Star Wars actress Carrie Fisher).

“If you want to read a book by a man who knows exactly what he is writing about and has written it marvellously well, read ‘Appointment in Samarra!”

– Ernest Hemingway

Now incredibly popular, O’Hara wrote novels, novellas, screenplays and more than 400 short stories - mostly to The New Yorker – which earned him his highest critical acclaim. His next best-selling novel was Pal Joey (1940). It was made into a Rodgers and Hart Broadway musical, and eventually a film starring Frank Sinatra and Rita Hayworth. “The Lady is a Tramp” became the musical’s popular song, and the movie avoided O’Hara’s characterisation of the protagonist Joey being a gang rapist. O’Hara always concentrated on sexual exploitation and the seamy side of life – a nasty but popular appeal.

The first novel, written in less than four months, concerns the self-destruction of the fictional character Julian English (a thinly disguised portrait of a Pottsville character), a wealthy car dealer who was once a member of the social elite of Gibbsville – O’Hara’s fictionalised version of Pottsville. The

Drinking heavily, O’Hara became an unpleasant brute of a man. He had married again in 1937 and settled in Princeton, New Jersey, joining the country set and dressing accordingly. He was in demand as a journalist and short story writer – mostly to The New Yorker. He continued to set his stories in his hometown of Gibbsville – which

However, he had a gift for writing short stories and, encouraged by his acceptance by The New Yorker, he buckled down in a one-room apartment in New York, got a thousand-dollar advance from Harcourt Brace & Company, and wrote his first novel, Appointment in Samarra. It was published in 1934.

JOHN O’HARA (1905-1970) he named after his friend and editor of The New Yorker Wolcott Gibbs. Other stories were set in New York or Hollywood.

“I had an apparently inexhaustible urge to express an unlimited supply of short story ideas.

No writing has ever come more easily to me.”

– John O’Hara Brendan Gill, who worked with O’Hara at The New Yorker, ranks O’Hara among the greatest short story writers in English and credits him with helping to invent what came to be known as The New Yorker short story – sketchlike lightness and brevity ... in which nothing necessarily happens in the old fashioned sense, but in which some crucial loss or discovery is revealed just by implication. A sense of speed and economy is what made the best of these stories so thrilling.

But his longer novels seemed to be going nowhere, and was warned by his doctor late in the 1940s that he was drinking himself into an early grave.

So with quite a remarkable strength of character, O’Hara gave up drinking and concentrated on his more serious work. The first of these long social melodramas was A Rage to Live published in 1949. However, his so-called friend and colleague Brendan Gill sadly wrote a brutally devastating review of the book, calling it a formula family novel – a catastrophe – written by an author who “plainly intended to write nothing less than a great American novel”.

“I can get very depressed by a review that is unfair, unreasonable, and totally destructive.”

– John O’Hara

The Tribune | Weekend | 13

Friday, April 23, 2021

It was a savage attack on The New Yorker’s most prolific and popular author which caused O’Hara bitter resentment. He did not write for The New Yorker for another 10 years and until its editor had changed. Literary critics called Brendan Gill’s review “a cruel hatchet job”.

But A Rage to Live sold well, and O’Hara settled down and wrote The Farmer’s Hotel (1951), Ten North Frederick (1955) – which won the National Book Award for Fiction – and A Family Party (1956), before producing the monstrously long (a thousand pages) From the Terrace (1958).

Both John Updike and Shelby Foote were admirers of O’Hara’s work and recognised his ability to depict realistic dialogue, and his genius for portraying the way humans communicate in nonverbal ways.

“If you write down speech as it is spoken truly, you produce true characters ... sometimes I almost feel that I ought to apologise for having the ability to write good dialogue, and yet it’s the attribute most lacking in American writers and almost totally lacking in the British.”

– John O’Hara O’Hara’s second wife died in 1954, and he married again soon afterwards. He continued to publish books and they continued to sell well: Ourselves to Know (1960), The Big Laugh (1962), Elizabeth Appleton (1963), The Lockwood Concern (1965), The Instrument (1967), Lovey Childs: A Philadelphia Story (1969), The Ewings (1970), and The Second Ewings (1970).

‘BUTTERFIELD 8’, starring Elizabeth Taylor, based on O’Hara’s novel of the same name, was inspired by the short and tragic life of flapper Starr Faithfull.

convenient, and I could go there when I felt like it without sponging off friends. They also have a nice-looking necktie.”

– John O’Hara

The books were larger and not necessarily better. He believed these books were his best work.

John O’Hara died from cardiovascular disease in Princeton, New Jersey on April 11, 1970. The epitaph on his tombstone, which he wrote himself, reads: “Better than anyone else, he told the truth about his time. He was a professional. He wrote honestly and well.” His old friend Brendan Gill from The New Yorker commented on this epitaph:

When Ernest Hemingway died on July 2, 1961, O’Hara thought that he was the leading candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature. He wrote to his daughter: “I want the Nobel Prize ... so bad I can taste it.”

– John O’Hara He had in fact been nominated twice. When John Steinbeck won the prize in 1962, O’Hara cabled him:“Congratulations. I can think of only one other author I’d rather see get it.”

O’Hara was never awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Nor was he offered an honorary degree from Yale University – even though he had asked for it.

Commencing in the 1950s, O’Hara had written a weekly book column “Sweet and Sour” for the Trenton Times Advertiser, and a bi-weekly column “Appointment with O’Hara” for Collier’s magazine. They were garrulous and outspoken and, as his biographer Sheldon Grebstein says, they were “simultaneously embarrassing and infuriating in his vaingloriousness, vindictiveness, and general bellicosity”. His columns were expanded to Newsday and other syndications published by a continuously decreasing number of newspapers that did not endear him to the liberal New York

(L-R) Ernest-Hemingway, former bootlegger and nightclub owner Sherman Billingsley and John O’hara at the New York Stork Club

literary establishment. In a 1965 column, O’Hara deals with his failure to be given any honorary degrees and quotes three honorary degrees which he was offered but did not accept.

“In a long and (I believe) useful literary career I have received five major honors. Not to be bashful about it, they are: The National Book Award; Membership in the National Institute of Arts and Letters; the Gold Medal of the Academy of Arts and Letters; the Critics Circle Award; and The Donaldson Award ... there is no recognition by the institutions of higher learning.

“If Yale had given me a degree, I could have joined the Yale Club, where the food is pretty good, the library is ample and restful, the location

“From the far side of the grave, he remains selfdefensive and overbearing. Better than anyone else? Not merely better than any other writer of fiction but better than any dramatist, any poet, any biographer, any historian? It is an astonishing claim.”

After his death, O’Hara’s study and its contents were reconstructed in 1974 for display at Pennsylvania State University, where his papers are held.

His childhood home, the John O’Hara house in Pottsville, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

• Sir Christopher Ondaatje is the author of The Last Colonial. He acknowledges that he has quoted liberally from Wikepedia; John O’Hara (1966) by Sheldon Grebstein; Here at The New Yorker (1975) by Brendan Gill; The Life of John O’Hara (1980) by Frank MacShane; The Art of Burning Bridges: A Life of John O’Hara (2003)

by Geoffrey Woolf and Lives of the Novelists (2011) by John Sutherland.

14 | The Tribune | Weekend

Friday, April 23, 2021

history

THE COTTAGE where Amelia Defries stayed in Grand Bahama in the early part of the 20th century AMELIA Defries

An experience with bush medicine

A

melia Defries, a young Englishwoman raised in London, who had never seen the sea, astounded her friends by taking a ship for the Bahamas in 1916 to get to know the people of the islands.

Much of her time was spent in the Out Islands and, in 1929, her second book about the Bahamas, The Fortunate Islands, was published. She and the local bush-medicine practitioner at Eight Mile Rock became friends.

Grand Bahama was a primitive island (Freeport did not exist before 1960) and for a while Defries was the only white woman on the island.

When she developed a fever, since there was no doctor on the island, Aunt Celia, the medicine woman of Grand Bahama, was sent for.

She recognised Aunt Celia at once, “for I had seen her coming from delivering a baby into this

world, and she was dressed then as now, in remarkably grubby rags. On her head, a soiled yellow bandana handkerchief, silhouetted against the orange and sapphire of the sunset, and the attitude of her angular hands, the way she moved, and her general ‘atmosphere’ recalled Stephen Haweis’ paintings of Bahamians.”

It was a new experience for Defries who “recoiled, at first, because the unclean, long nails of the ‘Wise Woman’ looked anything but hygienic. Nevertheless, she ‘worked on’ me (as she put it) and cured me, in an incredibly short time. During the treatments, we had many a talk and I found out how the original doctors effected their cures.

“Aunt Celia had little work, because most of the people on the island, uneducated as they might be, knew how to cure themselves on

the rare occasions when they fell ill.

But in serious cases, Aunt Celia is consulted.

All of her medicines grew ‘in the bush’ and are picked, and fresh boiled, for each patient.

Rubbing with lard or melted tallow candle is one of her chief cures and, to some of her medicines, she adds a ‘large, rusty nail’. A very good poultice is made from earth itself and red peppers and ‘working on’ with melted candle, or with bee’s wax will ‘draw out’ almost every pain.

A starry plant called ‘shepherd’s needle’, when boiled, will heal wounds. ‘Pepper grass’ draws away inflammation; when boiled, it will purify the blood; roots, stewed with a rusty nail, work wonders; every weed that grows has a medical value, known to Aunt Celia, adding that ‘nobody ever dies of my treatment’.”

PAUL C ARANHA

FORGOTTEN FACTS Aunt Celia was only one of Defries’ many Out Island friends who made a lasting impression on the author.

The Tribune | Weekend | 15

Friday, April 23, 2021

animals

Travels with Chiefie

By KIM ARANHA Animal Matters

W

e just went to Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton for two days, but by the time I got back it felt like a month around the world; Chiefie had totally exhausted me.

The fabulous bit of news to this story is that my boy has been declared, once again, cancer free.

The first time was in November 2018 after we went and stayed in Daytona Beach for a five-week period for him to have radiation. At the time, he was nearing 13 and they assured me that the treatment would extend his life by, likely, two years. Because of his grand old age then, I really assumed that the radiation would see him through his life. After all, big dogs rarely make it to 15, do they?

The thing is that assumption does not take into consideration dogs like Chief (or his good friend Buddy).

So, when in December just short of his 15th birthday (and two years after the radiation) he was diagnosed with bone cancer and had to have his front right leg amputated, there was little doubt in my mind that our “grand old boy” would pull through brilliantly once again. This time the recommended treatment was chemotherapy; four doses spread four weeks apart. I have been told that this chemo will give him another two years cancer free.

So as this trip was his last dose of chemo, I decided to take him over for a two-night visit. I conjured up images of him enjoying the experience of hotel life, trotting through the lobby, being petted by one and all….not quite accurate. In fact, not at all.

The flight was great, but US Customs and Immigration’s server was down, so our first two hours were spent in a small Customs hall waiting. The rental car had been delivered to the wrong fixed base operation, and it was the wrong model. I wanted a low four-door

sedan and ended up with a mini SUV that sat high off the ground.

Getting my three-legged, 75lbs boy in and out of that vehicle was an enormous undertaking in itself, however, I persevered and pushed and lifted and panted and grumbled whilst a rather uncooperative Chief

did everything in his power to make it absolutely impossible.

After the last chemo and good news, we stopped at McDonald’s for the nuggets that I had promised him. I think I can say with absolute certainty that those nuggets, plus the ones from Wendy’s the day we left, were the only things Chief actually enjoyed.

When we got to the hotel, Chief had to get into an elevator in order to get to our room. Oh, my goodness, you would have thought I had asked him to jump of the top floor.

Tail between his legs, ears flat back, and up we went. The hotel room was big with two big beds. But we had to sleep in the same bed (of course) to make sure Mum didn’t disappear into thin air…

To cut a long story short, Chief went in and out of the Hotel, the car, restaurants and managed to make every moment appear to be torture… Finally on the last day he went on complete strike, pushed his food away with his nose, and refused to walk…I got to the airport and lugged him out of the car, he lay down on the pavement, it took me a good ten minutes to get him inside and when the flight was ready to board I had to put him on a trolley and the pilot pushed him out to the plane and lifted him aboard. One of

the passengers even pointed out that he did not think “this dog should be traveling today”.

Now, you would assume the same kind of behaviour would be present in Nassau?

Guess again. Upon landing, as the doors opened, he lifted his nose and sniffed.

“Ah, this is home!” We lifted him out the plane, and my boy looked around as if to say, “I’ve got this, I’m home”, and trotted happily into the terminal, and has never looked back!

Chiefie’s note: “I have read this recount of my trip to Florida!

Fake news ! Slanderous talk!

Mum provided a totally inappropriate mode of transportation, with no steps or ramp. Took me into a small box in the gotel that went up and down very quickly with a slippery floor….scary as hell!

Fed me totally unacceptable food, not the food I get at home.

And expected me to sit on the floor in restaurants, when she sat on a chair.

I was not impressed, so I decided on the last day to make my feelings clear in case she wanted to stay any longer… I wanted to go home.

I know she tried, but please note, I needed a better room with garden access.”

pet of the week

An eager pup

By THE BAHAMAS HUMANE SOCIETY Four-month-old Yoro was being picked on by some of the other pups at the Bahamas Humane Society so he had to be moved into inside quarters. He’s hoping this won’t be for too long as he really did like being in the outside play areas.

Yoro is smart, friendly and eager to please. He’d love to find a home either on his own or perhaps with one other equally friendly pup, or maybe a pup-loving cat, someone he can play with and learn with. Do you have just the right space for Yoro? If so, give the BHS a call at 323-5138 to find out more. Yoro looks forward to meeting you!

• The BHS Thrift Shop sells gently used items to raise money for the shelter. If you’re spring cleaning, please consider donating to the

Photo/Linda Gill-Aranha shop! Shop hours are Wednesday, Thursday, Friday from 11am to 3pm, and Saturday from 10am to 2 pm, or donations can be left at the main shelter if the shop is closed.

Thanks!

16 | The Tribune | Weekend

Friday, April 23, 2021

gardening

All about bamboo

G

ood day, gardeners!

I’ve been asked to jot a few notes on bamboo, and I am always happy to oblige.

Bamboo is one of those plants that goes through trends, and there has been an upswing in the trend lately. Bamboo grows in a wide range of varieties and cultivars, and it is a very diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants.

Bamboo is a grass belonging to the subfamily Bambusoideae, in the family Poaceae. As with other grasses the area between the knots or nodes (the internodal region) is hollow. Bamboos include some of the fastest growing plants in the world.

The typical bamboo that many folks think of when using the word are native to Southeast Asia and islands of the Indian and Pacific oceans. There are native varieties in North America, the Caribbean and the West Indies, and also one here in the Bahamas. Our native bamboo is a small growing variety named Lasiacis divaricata, or common names including bamboo grass, wild cane, cane grass, or tibisee.

Bamboo grass grows in dry broadleaf evergreen coppices and shrublands and from what I’ve seen, it is quite widely spread throughout the islands, and through the wider Caribbean basin, and is reported to spread into Central and South America as well. There are no medicinal or known uses for our native bamboo, but they can be trained to make a lovely, full, evergreen specimen plant.

In the tropics and sub-tropics, we have what is referred to as clumping tropiocal bamboo. In more temperate regions there are bamboo varieties that grow not by clumping, but by runners. There are horror movies based on it, well if there aren’t, there could be!

The runner types can be extremely difficult to manage and will easily escape boundaries. When I schooled in North Carolina, they were having issues with some of them, and would go as far as lining planters or beds with galvanised metal sheeting as even concrete could be broken up by the rhizomes. Talk about a high maintenance garden.

The never-ending battle of bamboo control is something I would try to avoid, and so we are fortunate that we do not have these types here.

The clumping, non-invasive bamboo varieties that do well here include, but certainly isn’t limited to some of the following: Bambusa vulgaris vittata (Golden Hawaiian), Bambusa eutuldoides viridivittata (Asian lemon), Bambusa lako (Timor black), Bambusa chungii (Tropical blue), Bambusa

textilis gracilis (Graceful), and many others of interest.

Bamboo takes several years to establish itself in a new planting location, often taking three years or more to settle in properly before they begin to push bunches of new canes each year. They are fond of ample water, but they can be killed by too much water, just like anything else. They will struggle in drought, and they certainly perform a lot better with supplemental watering.

Management of clumping bamboo is not an easy chore, and when contained they are much easier to deal with. When planted in the ground and well established, they can claim quite a large area, we have one that has been in for 40 years or more and the clump must be 15 to 18 feet in diameter if it’s a foot. They do tend to raise up out of the ground

after being established for a good amount of time.

New canes can be removed if it is desired, to keep them within bounds. They can be trimmed at the top to promote increased lateral shoots from the main stems. This doesn’t work with all varieties as varieties range in height from 10 to 80 feet. Obviously, a type that grows 60 to 80 feet tall, is not going to perform well being cut at 15 feet. Other than medium water demands, they have a medium nutrient demand, but usually once established, there are enough nutrients present in our soils to sustain them to a suitable aesthetic value. Thinning out old canes helps to keep a cleaner look.

There is not much that can be done about the mounding habit, save for a mini excavator taking half of it out. Their natural habit is not easily controlled or made to look otherwise.

Bamboo is a very high value plant, due to several factors, but one being that they do take a few years to fill in properly, and time is money. Division is typically the sole means of propagation for many high value varieties, as the seeds are either sterile or will not come true to type. As a screen, specimen, focal point, hedging, or windbreak, there are many uses for the different varieties, and they are beautiful. Bamboo is worth the time and effort, in my opinion. As always, I wish you happy gardening!

• Adam Boorman is the nursery manager at the Fox Hill Nursery. You can contact him with any questions you may have, or topics you would like to see discussed, at gardening242@gmail.com.