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Black History Month Tributes
Zoe Saldana, Caribbean Latina sizzles whether brown, green or blue skinned
She was known as the blue lady from the highest grossing movie of all time from the release of Avatar in 2009. Until
But as you might be surprised to see the face that lies underneath that blue or green paint you might also be surprised to know that the actress is actually Dominican-American. While Saldana is officially American having been born in New Jersey her father was Dominican and her mother Puerto Rican.
After the death of her father at age 9, her mother moved her back to the Dominican Republic which is where Zoe grew up.
Zoe Saldana has previously described herself as 3/4 Dominican and ¼ Puerto Rican.
Saldana has dominated in some of the most well-known franchises of all time including Star Trek, the Marvel Cinematic Universe and of course Avatar, a stellar example of the Black Caribbean woman in Hollywood.
Harry Belefonte, Daylight Come!
In 19 the world was treated to something it had surely never heard before. The sound of DAY O! now fondly called
the Banana Boat song, belted out by Jamaican-American superstar Harry Belafonte.
Born to Jamaican parents, Belafonte was one of the most successful celebrities of his time, a motion picture leading man and his album ‘Calypso’ a mashup of Caribbean genres was the first million selling LP by a single artist.
His successful musical career did not stop him from advocating for black empowerment.
Belafonte was a staunch activist and dear friend of Sir Sydney Poitier and Martin Luther King Jr. and has been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 1987.
Belafonte who will turn 95 on March 1st is a decorated artist in his own right, with three Grammy Awards, an Emmy and a Tony Award.
In 1989, he received the Kennedy Center Honors. He was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1994. In 2014, he received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the Academy’s 6th Annual Governors Awards.
Lenny Kravitz: “I Belong to You”
Millennials know him as a rock superstar and Lisa-Bonets’s electric ex-husband, Gen Z knows him for his portrayal
The singer turned actor has a star studded upbringing being the godson of Cicely Tyson, rubbing ears with Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Ella Fitzgerald who were his father’s friends and attending school with Nicholas Cage and Slash. His mother, Bahamian Roxy Roker, who was gone way too soon, was a ceiling shattering actress. Roker, portrayed an elegant black woman, married to a well-off white man in the popular sitcom, The Jefferson’s; inter-racially matched on the small screen and in her personal life.
Roker was from the islands and there are accounts of her son clambering into mango trees on his summers with his cousins in the sun soaked Bahamas. Kravitz proudly claims the islands as home and says it is the place he can hear and feel himself best.
The country has inspired a few hits from the rocker including his single ‘Fly Away”. Kravitz won the Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for the island inspired single and proceeded to win it again three times in a row after that from 1999 to 2002, breaking the record for most wins in that category and setting the record for most consecutive wins in one category by a male.
Kravitz has been serving as The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism’s brand ambassador since 2019, generating even more interest in the destination with high profile video campaigns like Fly Away.
Kravitz has also lent his eclectic style to décor; you will find his designs in The Bahamas’ newest luxury resort, Baha Mar.
Voila! Nouveau Soeurs on the Writing Block
Dear Haiti, Love Alaine, One of the Good ones, the titles may not mean much to you but these two young adult books are two of the most celebrated in the last two years.
Penned by Haitian sister Writing duo Maika and Maritza Moulite both books tackle issues of racism, immigration and a deep love for the country that birthed them, Haiti.
Born to Haitian parents in America, the girls grew up with an intimate knowledge of what it meant to be black and different in the US.
Now they are bestselling authors with another book on the way.
Maika is a Howard University PhD student whose research focuses on representation in media and its impact on marginalized groups.
Maritza is now a PhD student at the University of Pennsylvania exploring ways to improve literacy through children’s media.
Both sisters are social activists, invested in the treatment of Black people specifically across the world.
In an interview with diverse books, Maika says “A person’s life shouldn’t matter more because they “speak well,” have lots of money, or anything along those lines. Being a human being should be more than enough to be able to live your life with dignity.”
Maika and Maritza Moulite