Author: Carma Henry

This week, OneBlood, an Orlando-based blood center, experienced a cyberattack that has brought some of their systems offline. During this time, the Florida Department of Health in Broward County (DOH-Broward) encourages Floridians to consider donating blood to alternative blood centers to help boost Florida’s blood supply. Donating blood saves lives!  

Just Give Us A Chance

  As a Jamaican-born American citizen who spent 40 years in the US, (writing for the Westside Gazette Newspaper since 1985,) I’m sitting at home in Jamaica celebrating our 62nd independence, our triumphs at the Olympic Games, and the imminent announcement of potentially the next Vice President of the United States by potentially the next President, the American daughter of our Jamaican brother.

Clotilde Acosta – 90 – Not Pictured Willie Pearl Harvey Brinson -75  Funeral service was held August 3rd  at James C. Boyd’s Memorial Chapel with…

Alacia R. Gray  – 47 Funeral service was held August 3rd  at McWhite’s Funeral Home Chapel. Robert George Hillis – Funeral service was held August…

Epkins Johnson Funeral Service was held August 3rd at Jesus People Proclaim International Church.

       The Supplier Accelerator Program is an extension of an enterprise-wide initiative initially launched at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. The program is designed to expand the impact of local businesses owned by traditionally underrepresented entrepreneurs by helping them become competitive in the markets they operate.

   The Miami-Dade County Public Housing and Community Development (PHCD) has announced that applications are now open for the Dream Homes Lottery. This initiative offers a chance for individuals to purchase one of two available homes in Miami. The application period runs from July 24 to August 7, 2024.

       Carnival is an iconic celebration in South Florida and the upcoming Miami Carnival October 5th through 13th is sure not to disappoint. Visions of parades featuring representatives from a cross-section of Caribbean countries, dancing in the streets to rhythmic sounds, tasty Island specialties, special events and magnificent costumes may come immediately to mind. This spectacular tradition is highly anticipated every fall as it fills the Miami streets with electrifying excitement. This is an event to be experienced for sure.

       Aunt Jemima was the perfect “Nod and a Wink” to snare the hungry fans of the prewar, antebellum lifestyle. The overweight, dim witted and just happy to feed her master’s family, she had become a rote character of minstrel shows. Britttanica notes, “The name came from a minstrel song dating to 1875 called ‘Old Aunt Jemima,’…” In 1889 one of the founders of the pancake mix heard it. He made a winning gamble on the myth of a loyal servant making flapjacks for her owner’s family. Britannica wrote, “The image was that of what has been called the ‘Mammy’ a popular trope of an enslaved older Black woman who cooked and cleaned for her White owners, apparently quite content with her lot in life. The image did not materially change following Black emancipation: it was represented by a dark-skinned heavyset woman of indeterminate middle age who wore an apron and a bandana as a headscarf. With a broad smile and exaggerated teeth and lips, the ‘Mammy’ figure was a staple of blackface vaudeville, a simpleminded character whose domain was the kitchen.”