On June 24, PLGDC's Happy Hour features a celebration of Caribbean American Heritage of partnership and collaborations in the performing and culinary arts, journalism, artwork, and large scale community events like the Caribbean Carnival, Reggae and Jerk festival, just to name a few.
Our panelists are a cross section of some of the artists that have partnered and collaborated on community events. The panel includes moderator, award-winning multi-platform Journalist John Yearwood Global News Editor at POLITICO, Philanthropist Yvette Belle and Gillian Smart representing the Trinidad & Tobago Independence Ball Committee. Composer and Founding Artistic Director of the Ballet and Dance Orchestra Ezra Haugabrooks, Painter Michael Elliott, Principal Dancer with Garth Fagan Dance Vitolio Jeune, Host of Caribbean American News and Entertainment internet radio station Cleve Osborne, and Choreographer/Dancer/Educator Terrence Pride.
PANELISTS
John Yearwood
An award-winning multi-platform journalist, John Yearwood is POLITICO’s Global News Editor. He also sits on several boards, including the Vienna, Austria-based International Press Institute, where he is the immediate past executive board chair. Mr. Yearwood is a former World Editor of the Miami Herald. Under his leadership, the World Desk won numerous awards, including two McClatchy Company President's Awards and the Arthur Ross Award for best coverage of Latin America. Mr. Yearwood is also a Pulitzer Prize finalist for his coordination of the Herald’s Haiti earthquake coverage. Mr. Yearwood is a regular guest on national and international radio and television news programs. A highly gifted public speaker, Mr. Yearwood has been sought out by many organizations to analyze global trends or moderate major discussions. In 2019, Mr. Yearwood served as honorary chair of the National Association of Black Journalists annual convention, which convened a record 4,100 journalists in Miami.
Yvette Belle
The fifth of seven siblings, Yvette Annette Belle was born in Rio Claro, Trinidad, West Indies. She received her elementary education at the Rio Claro Presbyterian School and her high school education at St. Stephen’s College in Princes Town, Trinidad. On completing High School, Yvette was accepted to and completed the Pharmacy Certificate Program at the University of the West Indies also in Trinidad.
Yvette has been involved in the Healthcare industry since 1968. It was, therefore, no surprise that on migrating to the United States of America in 1976 she continued her Pharmacy education by attending the Arnold and Marie Schwartz School of Pharmacy, Long Island University in Brooklyn, New York. There she completed a B. Sc. In Pharmacy. In May of 1984, she relocated to South Florida and has been a resident of Lauderhill since 1993. She has served the South Florida community in both retail and hospital pharmacy. Her employers included Gray’s Drug; Cedars Medical Center, Jackson Memorial Hospital, North Broward Medical Center’ Caremark Prescription Services; and Memorial Regional Hospital from where she retired four years ago. As a clinical oncology pharmacist, Yvette’s expertise allowed her to serve on the following professional committees: Nursing Cancer Care; Multidisciplinary Interview Committee for the Joint Commission on Accreditation for Hospital Oganizations; and the Investigational Drug Review Board at some of the institutions where she was employed.
An insightful and philanthropic individual who is very proud of her Trinidad and Tobago heritage, Yvette founded the Trinidad & Tobago Independence Ball Committee, Inc. – a charitable organization (dba Trinidad & Tobago IBC., Inc.) in 2003 and served as President from its inception until 2017. Through this medium, she seized opportunity to be a catalyst in the South Florida Caribbean community and in South Florida as a whole. During her tenure as President, the organization produced its Annual Independence Ball on the 3rd Saturday in August. Beneficiaries of this annual event included the Caribbean Student Fund at Florida Memorial University, and the Cyril Ross Nursery in Tunapuna, Trinidad – a home for children with HIV/AIDS. Of important note, the Cyril Ross Nursery was also the proud recipient of financial gifts she received for her 50th birthday, and she continued to make personal contributions to this institution. Under the umbrella of Trinidad and Tobago IBC., Inc., her other charitable involvement included Hurricane Relief for Dominica and other islands affected by Hurricane Maria; in conjunction with the Wall of Fire Church in Miami supplied Thanksgiving meals for the homeless; and assisted victims affected by floods in Trinidad and Tobago, to name a few. She continues to serve on the Board of Trinidad & Tobago IBC., Inc. as well as charitably support various organizations through her personal contributions.
Yvette has a passion for sewing; loves dancing and is very creative.
Gillian Smart
Born in San Fernando, Trinidad W.I. Gillian is President of TheSmartGroup Corp. and Founder of Caribbean American News & Entertainment Television – CANEtv online at www.CANEtv.net. The company was founded in 2014 as a spin off from TeleIbo, a Haitian content broadcasting television network which aired on HDTV Local 24 on Comcast.
In addition to television, Gillian co-host on with Caribbean Riddims radio show 37yrs running “Three @ 3 with Eddy, Cleve & Gillian,” which airs on recently the launched www.caneradio.com.
She has a featured segment on the show entitled “Mind Yuh Business” which focuses on promoting personal development, business development & leisure while highlighting the individuals & companies that are trendsetters in these areas. She also hosts a show with her son James Underwood “Drivetime with Gillian & James” & “Community Drivetime” on SupaJamz Radio 103.7fm, 99.5 HD2 covering all of Palm Beach & St. Lucie.
Gillian is a veteran educator 23 years with Palm Beach County Schools, and has dedicated much of her extra curricular activities to working with community-based organizations, who’s mission is to promote the upliftment of children and the Caribbean culture. She holds Masters Degree In Education Leadership from Lynn University, a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from York College CUNY, and is National Board Certified in Business Career & Technical Education.
Prior to moving to Florida she was an entrepreneur in the NYC area as an Owner/Manager of Taste of The Tropics ice cream parlor franchise and Caribbean Sodas an independent beverage distribution company.
For the past 15 years Gillian has worked with Miami-Broward Carnival Junior and Adults as an MC for the Mas competition in various other capacities. Miami-Broward Carnival is a Caribbean festival, which has been in existence for the past 33 years and attracts attendees in the thousands from around the world.
Today, Gillian’s main focus is to build CANEtv/ CANE Media Group, which produces and broadcast original content appealing to the Caribbean & American markets. She is also committed to developing a media presence in the South Florida market working toward becoming a premier content production outlet with a voice for the Caribbean & American Communities.
In her spare time she volunteers with CARE (Caribbean Educators Association) a philanthropic organization dedicated to raising scholarship funds for graduating high school seniors of Caribbean descent. Also, Trinidad & Tobago Independence Ball Committee who focus is to highlight and connect Trinbagonians in the diaspora.
According to Gillian, her greatest achievement are her 3 children, Maya (Miss North Palm Beach 2020), James her Co-Host on Drivetime, and Kayla her part time AV engineer and Social Media Manager.
The Mantras by which she lives:
THINGS in life are not important. What’s important are the spiritual relationships we foster as we travel through time and space…..
Success is determined by how well you handle difficult situations….
I can do all things through Christ Jesus Who strengthens me…. Gillian Smart
Ezra Haugabrooks
Ezra Haugabrooks is an American-born conductor and composer of African-American and Jamaican descent. He began playing piano at the age of three and performing piano accompaniment with his father, Charles Haugabrooks, at the age of seven.
At age 10, after begging his mother for an instrument, Haugabrooks began to take violin lessons and playing in the school orchestra. He graduated with a Bachelor of Music in viola performance from Andrews University in 2008. He has studied with Igor Fedotov and Nokuthula Ngwenyama, among other notable instructors and is continuing graduate studies at Georgia State University with Tania Maxwell-Clements. Haugabrooks has performed with members of the St Paul Chamber Orchestra, Rachel Barton Pine, and others in private chamber series in Minnesota as well as in numerous private chamber recitals. His participation at these delightful events has been in a variety of roles as a violist, counter-tenor, tenor, conductor, and pianist.
Education should have a significant function in a child’s formative years, and the Haugabrooks family consistently provided this support for him. This resulted in connecting a profound personal responsibility to education and robust performances. A passionate pedagogue, Haugabrooks has taught as a viola instructor, general music, substitute teacher in a general classroom, orchestra at all levels, middle school band, elementary and middle school chorus.
In 2017, Haugabrooks founded the Ballet and Dance Orchestra. With the intent to perform music for companies, his vision was to offer an alternative for organizations to be able to use live performances of both original and well-beloved orchestral selections, respecting and recognizing the musicianship of local professional artists while still making it accessible to the public. The Ballet and Dance Orchestra, Inc. seeks to be the first of its kind to pursue this vision and perform for major shows. Peter London Dance Company and the Ballet and Dance Orchestra collaborated this past December in an exciting new work called “Black Men Crossing”. Haugabrooks composed and conducted the score with ten company dancers at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami. In addition to performing and directing the Atlanta University Center Orchestra, Haugabrooks has been re-engaged for three more performances with Peter London in 2020. He is also a board member of the American Viola Society.
Outside of the world of music, Haugabrooks is a single father to his beautiful son, Noah Haugabrooks. He enjoys spending free time discovering springs and exploring nature with his son.
Michael Elliott
Michael Elliott was born in Manchester, Jamaica in 1979. He established an early interest in art making while growing up which led him to his art school tenure at The Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts in Kingston, Jamaica.
While at art school from 1998 to 2002, Michael developed his love for painting while re enforcing his interest in photography and realized that the two can go hand in hand as he pursued photorealism as a painting style.
Social commentary became the base of Michael’s pieces throughout the years ranging from the political climate in Jamaica, social justice, domestic issues, race, migration and even the covid-19 pandemic. His most popular series to date and the largest body of work is that of the Windrush series which documents the plight of West Indian’s who emigrated to London in 1948 to rebuild the British empire after the second World War. Michael has expanded this into works that speak to slavery and the post emancipation struggles of people of colour.
This body of work was coined during a residency in Miami, Florida in 2018 hosted by DVCAI (diaspora Vibe Cultural Art Incubator), an organization which proudly showcases and collaborates with Michael’s range of talents even today. He is also featured in the group show called Inter|Sectionality: Diaspora Art from The Creole City, which had the inaugural opening at the Corcoran Museum in Washington DC and is currently in Miami, Florida at the Moore Building in the Design District featuring 28 artists mainly from the Caribbean Diaspora, based in The USA. (visit www.dvcai.org)
Use of video media in the virtual space is a new feature in Michael’s ever expanding creative library. An example of this is his Virtual Windrush Exhibition called ‘The Wind at the Docks’ which was designed and narrated by Michael himself and presented originally on the Kingston Creative platform (go to www.studiomichaelelliott.com to view).
Michael has broadly exhibited his work not only in Jamaica but Internationally, mainly in Europe and the USA. His preferred medium in painting is acrylic on canvas and the photography follows suit in its themed interpretations. He has also collaborated with the likes of The Peter London Dance Company in Florida to create artistic backdrops for dance items. He continues to explore other methods and synergies both virtual and physical.
Michael lives and works in Jamaica.
For more information on his work and career, visit www.studiomichaelelliott.com
Vitolio Jeune
Vitolio began his dance training in his native country Haiti. He studied a variety of dance techniques prior to moving to Miami Florida to further his dance education at New World School of the Arts, where he graduated with an Associate in Arts and Bachelor of Fine Arts; in partnership with University of Florida and Miami Dade College. Soon after graduation Vitolio was selected as one of the top 20 dancers for the popular televised show, So You Think You Can Dance (Season 5). He finished the show as one of the top 14 dancers.
Vitolio joined Garth Fagan Dance in 2009 as a soloist and quickly became one of the stars of Garth Fagan Dance. Vitolio has been with Garth Fagan Dance for 13 years. He is a master of the Fagan technique, and teaches company classes and master classes.
As a master teacher, Vitolio has taught at The Ailey School, University of Rochester, Miami Dade College, New World School of the Arts, Rochester Childfirst Network, School of the Arts and S.C. Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities.
Cleve Osborne
Cleve Osborne was born in Fyzabad, Trinidad and Tobago. He migrated to Philadelphia, United States where he studied and graduated from St. Joseph College with a BA degree in Sociology. Cleve worked as a business manager and was eventually transferred to Miami, Florida where he continued to be an operations manager. He started his entertainment career during his stay in Philadelphia as a Disc Jockey. He was one of the only two Trinidad and Tobago born DJ's to play the Philadelphia circuit.
Cleve expressed his love for entertainment and for his cultural heritage by playing the steel drums in the South Florida area. As a career move however, he used these experiences to enter the field of radio, television and film production. To this end, Cleve pursued a degree in radio, television and film production. After studying he became a teacher with the Miami-Dade County Public Schools where he taught television production, broadcasting, journalism, video and film production for twenty-four years.
Cleve has over 30 years experience hosting radio programs. He hosted his program for 25 years on WAVS 1170 AM and a short stint on WACK Radio, Trinidad. He is no stranger to the South Florida, Caribbean community, having hosted programs on several radio stations. Currently Cleve has joined with a few of his peers to develop the CANE (Caribbean American News and Entertainment) internet radio station.
To listen to CANE Radio visit: www.caneradio.com
Contact: 954-243-7748
Email Address: cleveos345@comcas.net
Terrence Pride
Terrence “TM” Pride is a native of north Florida and a graduate of Florida A&M University in Theatre Performance and Dance. He has choreographed over 60 pieces of work including musicals and dance recitals as well as direct and perform in plays such as Black Nativity, The Wiz, and Blues for an Alabama Sky. From 2017-2019 Mr. Pride served as the director of the dance and theatre magnet at Apalachee Tapestry Magnet School of the Arts where he directed two Disney productions, Beauty and the Beast Jr. and Aladdin Jr. He also began incorporating arts integration lessons to deepen and influence practical learning in K-3rd grade classes. As a teaching artist Mr. Pride has developed curriculum for the classroom teacher for arts integration focusing on S.T.E.M subjects that he teaches through the country at various conferences. Terrencempride.com