Region: latst incident in B'dos shows integration is still a ways off

In the wake of recent allegations by a Jamaican of mistreatment at the hands of immigration officers while detained at Barbados’ Grantley Adams Airport, a pregnant Guyanese has said she suffered similar handling Tuesday.

Pregnant Annecia Alfred at home yesterday, showing her feet that became swollen from sitting in one position for hours.

Five months pregnant Annecia Ariel Alfred said she was denied entry into the island because officers believed that she was going to work without a permit, but was made to sit on a bench for some 12 hours while awaiting a return flight to Guyana.
Alfred who had visited Barbados earlier this year, and spent time with a relative who is resident on the island, had traveled from Guyana with the relative’s two Barbadian children, whom she was returning to Barbados after their holiday.

She explained to Kaieteur News that the intention was to spend Christmas with her relative in Barbados before flying back home, then to join her husband in the USA.
But immigration officers doubted Alfred’s story and accused her of seeking to enter Barbados for a job.
“I explained that I never worked a day in my life, and asked why would I leave Guyana to come and work here with a big belly,” Alfred said she told the Immigration officers.

She said, nonetheless, “They gave me a letter saying I was denied entry was because of a work permit”.
The Barbadian children were allowed to go with their mother
Alfred, who had arrived on an 8:10 flight, said she was then resigned to her fate and was looking towards the midday flight back to Guyana, as the immigration officers had assured her
But then her horror story began.

She did not leave at noon, but boarded a flight for departure at 8:20 pm Tuesday night
“I was sitting one place in a cold place for hours,” she said, and explained, “with the iron handle chairs you can’t lie down or put up your feet, and you can’t leave the room”.
“I went into the bathroom and cried. I feel like I gon lose this child”.

She said that with the exception of a vending machine with snacks, there was nothing for her to eat.
She eventually got a tuna sandwich because of the care of one immigration officer.
“I was offered one sandwich from a kindhearted immigration woman. She was passing me there all day and when she realised I was there all day she decided to ask me if I had anything to eat and she asked me if I would like a sandwich.”

Alfred’s recollection of her treatment at the Barbadian airport bore a strong resemblance to that of a Jamaican woman, Sonya King, who along with her 14-month-old child was refused entry.
King had arrived on August 27 from Trinidad, where she was living with her husband. She was made to sit and wait for hours following her denial of entry into the island.
According to King, when she complained of being hungry, officers pointed her to the vending machine, because the food court was closed.

Her baby also had to endure hours in wet pampers.
But on September 01, the Office of the Prime Minister, that is responsible for defence and Security, issued a statement clearing immigration officers of any wrongdoing.
“An investigation was carried out by the Division of Defence and Security, Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry responsible for Immigration, and no evidence could be found to substantiate the charges of mistreatment as alleged,” the statement read in part.

Arts: Caribbean soul, with verse

Anthony Joseph – Caribbean Roots, review: ‘Provokes and questions through words and music’ by lisaparavisini A review by Simon Broughton for The Evening Standard. British- Trinidadian Anthony Joseph has created a sort of Caribbean Allstars orchestra to accompany his spoken poetry on Caribbean Roots. It’s the saxes of Shabaka Hutchings and Jason Yarde and steel pans of Andy Narell that really ring out as the music absorbs influences from Trinidad, Jamaica, Haiti and the French Antilles. Slinger is a tribute to the great Calypsonian Mighty Sparrow, while Our History is about being tied to the land and revolution. The title track says “set yourself in the soil, put your head in the sky of these Caribbean Roots”. Joseph’s poetry is thoughtful and avoids slogans. He just provokes and questions through words and music.

Poetry: Kamau Braithwaite for "The Frost"

The Poetry Society of America is honored to announce that Kamau Brathwaite (right) is the 2015 recipient of the organization's highest award, the Frost Medal, presented annually for distinguished lifetime achievement in poetry. Previous winners of this award include Wallace Stevens, Marianne Moore, Gwendolyn Brooks, Allen Ginsberg, Lucille Clifton, Charles Simic, Marilyn Nelson, and Gerald Stern, the 2014 recipient.

 Brathwaite was born in Bridgetown, Barbados, in 1930. He studied at Harrison College in Barbados, graduated with honors from Pembroke College, Cambridge, England, and received his Ph.D. from the University of Sussex. He is the author of numerous books of poetry include Elegguas (Wesleyan University Press, 2010), Born to Slow Horses (2005), Ancestors (New Directions, 2001), Words Need Love Too (2000), Black + Blues(1995), Roots 1993), and Trenchtown Rock (1993), among others. He has taught at Harvard University, and New York University, the University of the West Indies, as well as serving in Ghana's Ministry of Education.

The 2015 Annual Awards ceremony, which will honor Kamau Brathwaite and celebrate the winners of the Poetry Society of America's 10 other annual awards, will take place on Thursday, April 16th at 7:00 pm at the National Arts Club.

The Poetry Society of America, that nation's oldest poetry organization, was founded in 1910 for the purpose of creating a public forum for the advancement, enjoyment, and understanding of poetry. Through a diverse array of programs, initiatives, contests, and awards, the PSA works to build a larger audience for poetry, to encourage a deeper appreciation of the art, and to place poetry at the crossroads of American life. The PSA's signature program is Poetry in Motion, featuring poems on transit systems across the country.