She’s based in the US, but her parents are Haitian and Japanese. Naomi Osaka is at the forefront of the changing of the guard in women’s tennis, with an unflappable nature that served her well in last year’s US Open final. Caroline Taylor charts her dramatic rise to fame. Published in the first issue (July 2019) of the relaunched Parkite Sports Magazine From the moment … Continue reading A quiet racket | Parkite Sports
Growing up in Guyana, Letitia Wright never imagined a Hollywood career. But after a string of stage and TV roles and early recognition of her talent, her casting in the blockbuster movie Black Panther was the break every actor hopes for, says Caroline Taylor. Published as the cover story in the May/June issue of Caribbean Beat Despite a cast brimming with award-winning Hollywood legends, there … Continue reading Wright on | Caribbean Beat
For anyone who likes easy answers to questions of identity, Naomi Osaka is a conundrum: half-Haitian, half-Japanese, raised for part of her childhood in New York City, visibly hybrid. As Caroline Taylor learns, Osaka hasn’t always been comfortable with the role of mixed-race role model — but she’s learning to embrace it, on her own terms. Published as the cover story of the July/August issue … Continue reading “It was never my goal to blend in” | Caribbean Beat
Jeanine De Bique, Trinidad-born classical singer, on the influence of her upbringing, and why Trinis “could do anything” — as told to Caroline Taylor in the November/December 2018 issue of Caribbean Beat I went St Gabriel’s RC School in San Fernando, and was in choir participating in the Music Festival and SanFest. I had a love for music, and was very good at it. I believe it … Continue reading Jeanine De Bique: “It doesn’t matter where you come from” | Caribbean Beat
Originally written for and published on the Discover Trinidad & Tobago website in 2016. Parts are excerpted from my Caribbean Beat article (2015), featuring 40+ Hollywood actors of Caribbean heritage. There are several actors working in Hollywood with roots in Trinidad and Tobago. Some were born here and migrated as children or young adults. Some are children of Trinbagonian parents. Here are just a few that you may recognise (listed in … Continue reading Nine Hollywood actors of Trinidad & Tobago heritage | Discover T&T
Originally written for and published in Caribbean Beat Magazine (May/June 2015) It was sixty-five years ago that Cyrano de Bergerac was released, a film that would make Puerto Rican actor José Ferrer the first Caribbean person to win an Oscar (for best actor in a leading role, 1951). He also won a Golden Globe, and a Tony award for the Broadway production, and ultimately donated his Oscar trophy to the University … Continue reading Caribbean Hollywood | Caribbean Beat
Originally written for and published on OUTLISH.com in 2012 “A breath of fresh air.” That was the phrase that numerous people used over and over, when I spoke to them after K2K’s launch of their 2013 Carnival presentation, “The Human Race” last Thursday. Twin designers Karen and Kathy Norman have introduced something to the Carnival landscape that one patron said Trinidad and Tobago is “desperate” … Continue reading K2K: Fashion, Mas and Philanthropy | OUTLISH
Originally written for and published in Caribbean Beat magazine in 2012. The full interview transcript is published here, and at Discover Trinidad & Tobago. In 2000, news spread about a Trinidad-born actress making waves on Broadway. Her command of her emotions made you sure that her onstage tears must come from some fresh real-world trauma. The truth was very different. “I would be in the moment, thinking of the … Continue reading Heather Headley: a star with her feet on the ground | Caribbean Beat
