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In the beginning, God created Educators, males and females created He them. He wired them to be global influencers, kingdom ambassadors and nation builders. On the anvil, with tender hands, He moulded them to be our children’s daily cheerleaders and destiny carriers. Educators can be likened to caterpillars who gently nurture the children entrusted in their care, transforming them into colourful butterflies. These servant leaders are destined to ENGAGE and EMPOWER others, they do it all! How do I know? Having spent over 24 years in Jamaica’s most intense dream factory, I know too well the ebbs and flow of being a Creative Educator.

I was born on a Sunday afternoon around 4pm on February the 17th, 1985. And it wasn’t long after that, that my first steps would be symbolic of many first steps that would lead to my career as an artist. I was encouraged to walk by reaching for a pencil that my aunt was holding. At one year old, I believe I was motivated to walk from the desire of wanting to draw. So, as one might assume, I started drawing as a child, as most children do. Art class at the primary level was always one of my stronger subjects, as, I loved experimenting with different colours. As an artist today, however my main focus is portraiture. As a creative today, I am an artist and a writer and have an appreciation for all things creative.

I had the pleasure of interviewing brother paw, photographer and author of ‘lemonade.’ Please take note that I use pronouns he/him/they/them to refer to the artist in this piece and when citing or making mention of the artist, please adhere with said pronouns. I met brother paw only a couple of months after I saw their Haute couture-like photos on social media. Their online presence effused high arts and fashion bravura with virtual profiles that exuded worldly travel. During their second-year university experience, they travelled to countries in Europe such as Italy, Spain and Turkey where their creative expression luxuriated. They’ve also been highly influenced by the creative works of Maya Angelou whom they discovered as a child while watching the Tyler Perry film ‘Madea’s Family Reunion’ where Maya Angelou herself guest starred and quoted her poetry.

The most that I’ve done during my short time in the creative circle has primarily been my involvement in the areas of music and drama. I’ve had passing interests in photography, painting, animation, and even dancing. But fashion? I rarely ever considered it. I don’t even consider myself to be a fashionable type – I pretty much just go out in whatever I throw on. Even when I perform, I’ve realized that if a dress code isn’t provided, I’ll just turn up in whatever caught my eye as “comfortable” (given that the women in the house didn’t tell me to take it off first). So for the Kingston Creative Online Open Commission, and for my first time since honing the craft of blogging in the arts-therapy niche (musicandpain.com), I decided to look at what exactly a fashion designer does. Do they eat? Sleep? I had to know.

Correspondence from the Continent; Jah9 on finding fulfillment amid the fiasco Music is never disembodied from Jamaican culture and lifestyle. Since the onset of what we know as Jamaican life, it has been used for things like education, passing coded messages, commentary, and sometimes informal reporting. After the country’s independence in 1962, when political structures were being erected, Jamaican music began to breathe it’s first breath. While political structures were naturally aligned to policies...

History is a subject I never studied in high school, but I always appreciated. ‘Black History’ or African history were my favourite topics as a teenager. As my love for music grew and I started making it, its development over time, naturally, became an interest. Being a Jamaican, I was familiar with Mento, Ska, Rocksteady, Reggae, Dub and Dancehall, but I wanted to know the details of who did what, when, where, how and why.

A Day in the Life of a Jamaican Independent Filmmaker - Part 1 (The Journey to becoming a Filmmaker) “I want a doctor’s kit for my birthday this year,” I told my grandmother, “I want to be a doctor.” It was a few months before my 6th birthday and that was the 1st time I remember planning a future for myself. I did not become a doctor and as I reminisce on my journey towards the actuality of my chosen career path, a few defining moments stand out.

I took the shuttle from Spanish Court Hotel down to Orange Street, Downtown Kingston, otherwise known as “Beat Street” which runs north from the corner of Parade, last Sunday, February 23rd for one of Kingston Creative’s activities in partnership with Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment & Sports, the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation to commemorate Reggae Month.

Home of reggae icons like Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and, the Wailers, the community of Trench Town, in association with Kingston Creative, hosted “Trench Town Live!” a community day of arts and craft, walking tours and a concert. Trench Town Live! Artwalk The day starts with a cultural walking tour around the Trench Town community, famously dubbed the “birthplace of reggae” due to the many Reggae icons the community produced. The aim of the walking tour, in association with Kingston Creative, is to promote community tourism and empowerment. The Trench Town Live! walking tour was led by local volunteers and youth from Trench Town.

The theme for Kingston Creative’s Artwalk for the month of February was music. Kingston Creative conducts monthly themed activities, where art including live mural painting and several discussions involving the arts community are held in different sections surrounding Water Lane and the restaurant F&B Downtown on Harbour Street. This month, they organized a mural tour by bus, taking patrons to visit the thirty (30) murals done by artists under the initiative of Kingston Creative. As a Love Not Likes member, I was asked to cover the Artwalk for the month of February.