Gregory Martin, co-owner of the Caribbean Connection restaurant on Whalley Avenue in New Haven, cooks jerk chicken at his outdoor brazier. Mara Lavitt — New Haven Register By Ed Stannard, New Haven Register Gregory Martin, co-owner of the Caribbean Connection restaurant on Whalley Avenue in New Haven, cooks jerk chicken at his outdoor brazier.Mara Lavitt — New Haven Register   Grill up the jerk chicken. Start rocking to the reggae beat. Jamaicans are now the largest group of immigrants in Connecticut. While that may appear surprising, given the growing presence of Latinos, the count of 2010 data by the Pew Research Center’s Fact Tank counts countries of birth, not ethnicity. And Jamaicans outrank any other country. “Most of us moved here since the ’80s. … Connecticut is more a family place,” said Gregory Martin, 35, who has owned the Caribbean Connection … Read entire article »

Donnie McClurkin— KINGSTON, Jamaica — Grammy winning gospel singer and minister, Donald ‘Donnie’ McClurkin will hand over more than J$60 million in medical supplies to the Ministry of Health on Monday, June 2. The supplies are slated for distribution to the Kingston Public, Cornwall Regional and the St Ann’s Bay hospitals. McClurkin will make the donation at a press conference held by his Perfecting Faith Church in collaboration with the Fellowship Tabernacle, scheduled for the Courtleigh Hotel in Kingston. OBSERVER ONLINE was told that a similar donation of US$6000 was made to the ministry in 2012, which spurred the current donation in recognition of a greater need for medical supplies. … Read entire article »

36 Writers from 18 Countries Celebrating Heritage & the Storyteller in all of us. With tales for all ages to ignite the imagination on authors and storytellers along with publishers, bookstore owners, readers and the literary curious will come together in Brooklyn, NY – the world’s largest Caribbean meeting place – for a celebration of the magic of the written word. WORD! – A Caribbean Book Fest, on Sunday, June 8,brings together three dozen of the most talented and dynamic novelists and poets from almost twenty countries and territories in the Caribbean and its diaspora for an afternoon-long carnival of sound and imagery at the Crown Heights campus of Medgar Evers College, 1650 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY. Now in its second year, WORD! – A Caribbean Book Fest celebrates the oft overlooked rich and … Read entire article »

PINDER… Europeans have been doing an impressive job of cloning reggae JAMAICA-BORN Christopher Pinder works as a chef in Demark’s second largest city of Aarhus. He specialises in Jamaican jerk cuisine, and patties and baked products. He, however, intends to serve up something more exotic with the release of his debut album, Journey From Kingston to Aarhus, in June. The 12-track set is produced on his CJSP Music imprint. “It has been absolutely exciting. Words can’t begin to describe the emotions. I can only sing it, or possibly bake a cake to celebrate,” said Pinder, who uses the stage name Julius Caesar and is in his mid-30s. The reggae album’s lead single, Turn Me On, features a female artiste of Caribbean descent called India. It was released in February to whet the appetite of … Read entire article »