The exciting and important Belmachann.com eCommerce site — selling unique, sought-after Haitian artisanal products made by Haitians in the Caribbean nation and the disapora — is coming from the HaitiNexMedia, parent company of The Haitian Times newspaper.
The products are wide-ranging — from clothes to health and wellness items, artworks, jewelry, food products and more. The concept of the site is to bring consumers and producers together, said Garry Pierre-Pierre, The Haitian Times’ founder and CEO of Belmachann.
The Belmachann Twitter page calls the business “an online boutique,” adding, “Your support helps Haiti develop with dignity.”
“The time is propitious for Belmachann,” said Pierre-Pierre, whose The Haitian Times just celebrated its 20th anniversary. “You have talented artisans in Haiti and the United States who are looking for distribution and marketing networks. With Belmachann, they can create and leave the rest to us.”
Pierre-Pierre said Haitian-Americans and others would buy handmade and artisanal crafts and goods, but too often the products are hard to find here at affordable prices.
He explained that Belmachann also works for Haitian entrepreneurs looking for markets and promotional opportunities for their many products. And Belmachann plans to branch out to other markets and sell goods from Africa and other Caribbean nations.
“In today’s media landscape, it’s not enough simply to provide information, you have to interact with the audience in a more granular way,” said Vania Andre, The Haitian Times’ editor and publisher, who also serves as Belmachann’s chief operating officer. “That means finding out what they need and offer it to them.”
Visit Belmachann.com to learn more.
VP’s reggae ‘Journey’
The Jamaican Consulate in New York, Consul General Alsion Wilson and VP Records are celebrating “Reggae Month”with a popup exhibition, “A Reggae Music Journey,” through Feb. 21.
The exhibition is “a historical display documenting the history of the Jamaican musical genre, and will feature artifacts including historic vinyl records from [veteran DJ Carter] Van Pelt’s collection, and a platinum sales award for Sean Paul’s Dutty Rock LP presented to company President Randy Chin.”
“A Reggae Music Journey” documents the legacy of reggae music and the role that the Chin family, through Randy’s Record Mart in Jamaica and later, VP Records, has contributed to the development of the genre.
The display at the consulate takes viewers from VP’s Jamaica beginnings — back to Vincent and Patricia Chin’s Randy’s Record Mart in Kingston in the late 1950s — and travels to the present, with the world-popular reggae and soca label marking its 40th anniversary.
Performers with VP connections — such as Dennis Brown, Lady Saw, Gregory Isaacs, Barrington Levy and Freddie McGregor — are featured. And the works of photographers David Corio, Anders Jones, Wonder Knack, Jonathan Mannion, Martei Korley and others are also included.
After the consulate, the exhibit will go to VP Record’s newly refurbished retail store in Jamaica, Queens.
The Jamaican Consulate is at 767 Third Ave. in Manhattan. Call (212) 935-9000 for information.
Reading on Greenwood tragedy
Telling a largely untold tale of the rise and destruction of the prosperous Midwest town called the Black Wall Street, the play “Greenwood: American Dream Destroyed” will be presented in honor of Black History Month on Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday in Manhattan at the Metropolitan College of New York.
For tickets and information, visit eventbrite.com and search for “Greenwood: American Dream Destroyed.”
The black community in the segregated Greenwood District of Tulsa, Okla., grew into an affluent area with newspapers, banks, hotels, cafes, movie theaters, mansions and a superior education system. This came to an end in 1921, when the area was destroyed by white mobs. An estimated 300 black people were killed and property damage was in the millions of dollars.
This production is an Actors Equity staged reading of the Celeste Bedford Walker play that tells the powerful story of the racist attacks, seen from the perspective of three generations of the Boley family — a representative composite of an African-American family that may have lived at the time.
The reading is presented by Metropolitan College of New York and GodLee Entertainment. The college is at 60 West St. in Manhattan. The shows run from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Jamaica opposition leader speaks
Peter Phillips, Jamaica’s opposition leader and president of the People’s National Party, addressed a gathering last Thursday in Manhattan.
“Jamaica’s Future: Our Mission” is the theme of Phillips’ diaspora sessions, which outline the “opposition’s initiatives and programs as it readies itself to form the next government of Jamaica.”
Adelphi’s Black History Month
Long Island’s Adelphi University is hosting a series of Black History Month events, presented by the school’s Center for African, Black and Caribbean Studies.
The events are free and will be held at Adelphi’s Garden City campus, 1 South Ave., unless otherwise noted.
The center’s annual Black History Month Art Exhibit in the Swirbul Library Art Gallery runs from through Feb. 29
New York-based artist Damien Davis, creator of the “Color Cargo” art collection, is the focus of a gallery talk/reception next Sunday , from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Gallery hours are Monday to Friday, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Adelphi Black History Month events also feature an “African-American Read-In,” part of the national African American Literary Read-In initiative.
“One of the main goals is to promote literacy during Black History Month in order to expand acknowledgment of the depth of black culture,” read a statement from the organizers at Adelphi, adding that participants from schools, churches, libraries, bookstores, and community and professional organizations are urged to attend.
The Read-In will be held at the Angello Alumni House, 154 Cambridge Ave., Garden City, Feb. 20, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. To register to read, send email to fburrell@adelphi.edu.
“Simply Because People Refuse to See Me: The Black Lives Matter Movement in Historical Context” is the topic of the annual John Hope Franklin Distinguished Lecture. This year’s speaker is Yohuru Rashied Williams, University of St. Thomas history professor and dean of the St. Paul, Minn., institute’s College of Arts and Sciences.
The lecture will be held at the Olmsted Theatre, Performing Arts Center on Feb. 26 at 7 p.m., followed by a book signing.
For more details on Black History Month events at Adelphi, contact Fabian Burrell, coordinator for programming and community engagement for the Center for African, Black and Caribbean Studies, at (516) 877-4978 or send email to fburrell@adelphi.edu.
