“Ras Tafari came to drum beats.
The Negus
God-like on a golden lion
rode shafts of sunlight
and burnt away the rain…”
(Raymond Mair, 1966, published in ‘these days i celebrate’)
Our visiting exhibition commemorating the visit to Jamaica and other Caribbean islands by Ethopian Emperor Haile Selassie I in 1966, 50 years ago, has drawn wide-ranging interest.
Emancipate Educate Donate – is the theme of the UWI‘s Global Giving Week, which launched on April 8, 2016 at the UWI Regional Headquarters and on April 29, 2016 at the St. Augustine Campus. It aims to bring staff, alumni, friends, donor agencies, the private and the public sectors together to create a culture of sustained philanthropy across the region and the wider world.
The week will run annually from Aug 1- 7, however gifts to Faculties, Halls of Residence, Sports, Research, UWI Foundations and UWI Endowment Funds are welcomed throughout the year.
The University Council met at the St. Augustine Campus on April 29, 2016. The Alumnus Representative, Cecile Clayton (2015-2017) noted that the UWIAA seeks to work more closely with the Administration, Faculties and Marketing and Communications Departments of all the campuses, to offer their services as volunteers, ambassadors, guest speakers, mentors, advocates and marketers for the good of the institution.
UWI Cave Hill graduate, Douglas Blackburn collected king helmet shells over the years and decided to see if he could create some of the beautiful things that he saw shell artists do… and succeeded.
Douglas volunteered at the Barbados Museum and saw antiques of sailor’s valentines which are boxes used to hold jewellery and other trinkets that rose to popularity in the 1800s. They were often decorated with shells and given as gifts to the loved ones of the seamen after long voyages.
The American Foundation for the University of the West Indies (AFUWI) benefitted from the Simply Myrna concert, with part proceeds going to the sscholarship programne, which awards tuition fees to deserving students in need to attend UWI at their various campuses throughout the Caribbean.
The visit to Jamaica by Emperor Haile Selassie in 1966 is still clearly remembered by many people over 50, and has been heard of by many others. The visiting exhibition on at the UWI Museum in April/May 2016, curated by Rootz Foundation, marks the 50th anniversary of the state visit to the Caribbean, with stops in Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, Jamaica and Haiti. The initial catalyst for the visit was an invitation tendered by Trinidad & Tobago Prime Minister Eric Williams.