Caribbean Beat — 25th Anniversary Edition — March/April 2017 (#144)

122 • Detail of Mokisi I, by
Surinamese artist Marcel Pinas
July/August 2013
Photo by William Tsang, courtesy
of Readytex Art Gallery
123 • Lifeguard station on
Miami Beach
September/October 2013
Photo by Fotomak/Shutterstock.com
124 • Haitian-American
football player Pierre Garçon
November/December 2013
Portrait by Jim Darling
A sportsman in a football
uniform — American
football, not soccer —
must have surprised
readers who don’t
associate the game with
the Caribbean. But there’s
more than a handful of
players with Caribbean
connections in the United
States’ National Football
League, as writer Debbie
Jacob explained in
the cover story of our
November/December 2013 issue. She updates us on
three of the players she profiled then:
125 • Nathaniel Charleau
portrays a Dame Lorraine
January/February 2014
Photo by Maria Nunes
127 • Cave diving in Andros,
the Bahamas
May/June 2014
Photo by Brian Kakuk
128 • Jamaican surfer Icah Wilmot
July/August 2014
Photo by Marlon James
126 • Jamaican singer
Tessanne Chin
March/April 2014
Photo by Adrian Creary
What’s the exemplary
colour of the Caribbean?
Many would say blue, in
all its hues: the colour of
the sea that surrounds our
islands. There’s something
about that tropical marine
blue that lifts the spirits: no
wonder blue waters have
appeared on no fewer than
seventeen of our covers
over the years.
129 • View of Petit Piton, St Lucia
September/October 2014
Photo by Danielle Devaux
The old adage “you can’t judge a book by its cover”
doesn’t apply to magazines. When “From island to end
zone”, profiling NFL football players with Caribbean
roots, hit the Internet, Caribbean Beat’s website got
thousands of hits in the first hour — enough to crash the
site temporarily. The Washington Redskins and its star
wide receiver Pierre Garçon had tweeted the story, and
it was read by legions of fans. Garçon spoke about his
Haitian roots and his continuous ties with the Caribbean
island — and his friendly smile lit up the cover photo.
Garçon hasn’t skipped a beat since his Caribbean Beat
profile. He finished his five-year, US$45-million contract
with the Redskins and became a free agent. At thirtyone,
he showed no signs of slowing down. He’s been a
consistent play-maker for the Redskins throughout all
the team’s travails with its numerous quarterbacks. Then
when Hurricane Matthew hit Haiti last year, Garçon’s
team sent him to Haiti as an extension of his prolific
community service work, and the NFL chose him to
represent his team for the Walter Payton Man of the Year
award, which pays homage to NFL players who engage in
community service.
Meanwhile, Jamaica-born Patrick Chung, also
featured in the story, left the Philadelphia Eagles
and returned to the New England Patriots to play for
Bill Belichick, considered one of the most difficult
and challenging coaches in the NFL. Chung soared,
figuratively and literally, with high-flying tackles at the
free safety position, which stunned opponents’ offenses.
Belichick deemed Chung a crucial, versatile player who
excelled at any defensive position where he was slotted.
And Jamaica-born Trevardo Williams, a fourth-round
draft pick and rookie for the Texas Texans, suffered
an injury that prevented him from playing most of the
season with the Texans. He made the rounds of the NFL,
and landed eventually in the Canadian Football League
(CFL), playing for the Toronto Argonauts.
60 WWW.CARIBBEAN-BEAT.COM