Hazel Scott was a child musical prodigy born in Trinidad who won a scholarship to study at Juilliard when she was 8. She rose to prominence as a jazz singer in the 1930s and 1940s. And was one of the first Black women to garner respectable roles in major Hollywood pictures alongside [...]
Do you know the Banana Boat Song? It’s the one that goes “Day-O! Me day Day-O! Daylight come and me wan’ go home”. For me that song is synonymous with Harry Belafonte. It’s one of his signature songs and it’s iconic like he is. Seriously he’s 93 and still going. Living legend! [...]
It’s really difficult to trace the origin of the very first steelpan or steel drum. Many historians believe it dates back to the days of slavery. But what we do know is that the tenor pan or ping pong steelpan is the invention and brainchild of Winston “Spree” Simon. And yes [...]
Hattie McDaniel is the first Black person to win an Oscar. She won for Best Supporting Actress in 1939 for her role as “Mammy” in Gone with the Wind. In addition to acting, Hattie McDaniel recorded 16 blues sides between 1926 and 1929 and was a radio performer and television personality - She was [...]
I just want to say that I had already planned to feature Claudia Jones today before I logged into Google and saw that she was featured on today’s Google Doodle. What can I say? Great minds think alike and I’ve always felt I had a mind as broad and deep as Google. I’m [...]
Over the weekend I posted about Keshorn Walcott being the first *person* to win an Olympic gold medal for javelin. And many of you lovely people flooded my DMs to let me know that I was in fact incorrect. While Keshorn Walcott is the first Black man to win, he wasn’t the first [...]
It was 2012, that’s right - just 8 years ago that Keshorn Walcott became the first Black person to win an Olympic gold medal 🥇 in a throwing event in the ENTIRE HISTORY OF THE OLYMPICS!!! Bonus: He’s Trinidadian 😀 But the most amazing part of the story is not that even [...]
Warning: This blog includes content of a potentially upsetting nature. Chadwick Boseman was born in 1976 in South Carolina and went on to attend Howard University in Washington, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in directing. He then attended the British American Drama Academy in Oxford, England. He was known for his portrayals [...]
Who is Janelle “Penny” Commissiong? The first Black woman to ever be crowned Miss Universe. And wait for the best part … she competed for the title as Miss Trinidad & Tobago. That’s right! She’s Trinidadian! And I know you’re probably thinking that winning a beauty pageant is not a big [...]
Who is Dr Mae Jemison? Only the first ever Black woman to travel into space. In 1987, Dr Mae Jemison became the first African American woman to be admitted into NASA’s astronaut training program. And then finally, on 12th September 1992, she finally flew into space with six other astronauts aboard the [...]
