More Rada Drumming

More Rada drumming to help you enjoy your Sunday! Rolling all the way to Belmont in July! Ready for the tent's red dirt!

Click here: Rada 1

Want to Hike to Maracas Beach?

The RSVPs are slowly coming in for Maracas Beach on Sunday, July 29th and it looks like we’ll have a bunch of spicy Antoines at Maracas. One suggestion from Chris Starr is to walk over the hills to Maracas Beach, departing from Mt Zion above Loango Village. The trail starts at about 300 meters, ascends to about 750 meters and from there down to the sea. Apparently, walking back would not be fun but you can drive back. Who’s in?

Belmont Rada Community Website

Check out our new Belmont Rada Community website!

Antoine Family Reunion: July 29 - August 3, 2012, RSVP by June 30

Come back to your roots in Belmont

and have

lots of fun in the sun

with all of the Antoines!

Sunday, July 29, 2012 at 9:00 am – Maracas Beach Pot Luck. Transportation will be arranged and will leave from Antoine Lane. RSVP and for further details contact Hester Millington by June 30th at antoinefamilyreunion@gmail.com.

Monday, July 30, 2012 at 6:00 pm – Belmont Rada Community 157th Anniversary, Crowne Plaza, Wrightson Road. Tribute will be paid by special guests including Minister of The Arts and Multiculturalism, The Honourable Winston Peters and Dr. Hollis Liverpool. Cost: TT$300. Dress: Business formal. RSVP by June 30th atantoinefamilyreunion@gmail.com

Thursday, August 2 and Friday, August 3, 2012 at 6:00 am -10:00 pm – Vodunu at Antoine Lane. Free. All are welcome.

We look forward to seeing you all in four months!

Great Gods Cannot Ride Little Horses

Great gods cannot ride little horses. This Haitian proverb means that a saint/deity/god will only descend to ride or possess the body of someone who is prepared to attain a ‘state of ecstatic union with the divine’. Similar to most spiritual practices such as becoming filled with the Holy Ghost, reaching the Buddhist state of nirvana or attaining the yogi's state of divine bliss, samadhi. The drumming and singing attempt to get the vodunsis (women who are possessed by saints) to reach higher levels of consciousness and invoke a spirit to descend and possess or ride them. But don't worry it seems that the majority of us are little horses.

Authentic African Names

If you're looking for an authentic African name for your soon-to-be-born baby (I know of at least 2 that are on the way) or in the future. Here are some names from earlier generations of Antoines or Rada community members. Male names: Abojevi, Kunu, Dewendo, Alokasu, Padonu, Achovi, Soobo, Zizu, Gangwede, Hoduno, Cocombre, Yewenu, Boko (Amora’s father and June Robinson's grandfather). Female names: Dovi, Ahoorloo, Sedende (Estalize’s aka Nennie G’s mother), Wovonde (2nd generation Baptiste).

My Great Grandmother - Dovi

Today is International Women's Day and I'll like to pay tribute to my great grandmother. Her African name was Dovi, which means one born after a twin. She was a Mahi from Savalu, an important town in north east Dahomey. It’s believed she was captured by slave traders in Savalu and travelled the long distance by foot, chained to other captured salves to the port of Ouidah to board the slave ship. The distance from Savalu to Ouidah is 108 miles or 174 kilometers; roughly about 4 marathons! The Mahi country was frequently raided for captives. Mahi is a disrespectful term and roughly means ‘those who divide the market’ or ‘those who revolt’. During her husband’s trial on Obeah charges she was brought before the court and it was observed by one of the defence lawyers that “her face was marked in the genuine African way!” Her English name was Ellina (the spelling her son used in his notes) Robert Antoine. The photo is of a Mahi woman.