Contributing Writers: Azad Ali, George Alleyne, Tangerine
Clarke, Nelson King, Vinette K. Pryce, Bert Wilkinson
GENERAL INFORMATION (718) 260-2500
Caribbean L 10 ife, Aug. 16-23, 2019 BQ
By Albert Baldeo
“The man of genius
inspires us with a boundless
confidence in our own
powers.” — Ralph Waldo
Emerson.
“No more technically
correct batsman ever came
out of the West Indies than
Rohan Kanhai.” — Michael
Manley.
“His life was gentle; and
the elements so mixed in
him, that Nature might
stand up, and say to all the
world, THIS WAS A MAN!”
— William Shakespeare.
“To see Kanhai flat on
his back — with the ball
among the crowd beyond
the square-leg boundary
— after making one of
his outrageous sweeps to a
good length ball, is to watch
a man capable of playing
shots fit to lay before an
audience of emperors” —
James Scott, May 1966, on
the occasion of Guyana’s
Independence
“Kanhai discovered, created
a new dimension in
batting…He had found his
way into regions Bradman
never knew.” — CLR James
“Some batsmen play
brilliantly sometimes and
at ordinary times they go
ahead as usual. That one…
is different from all of them.
On certain days, before he
goes into the wicket, he
makes up his mind to let
them have it. And once he is
that way nothing on earth
can stop him. Some of his
colleagues in the pavilion
who have played with him
for years have seen strokes
that they have never seen
before: from him or anybody
else” — Sir Learie Constantine
to CLR James, on Kanhai.
“I remember my first sight
of Rohan Kanhai batting at
Bourda in 1956. I wrote that
night to my father in Trinidad
that I had just been witness
to a wonder, the best
batsman in the world. This
was a big claim — after
all I had seen, among others,
the great Frank Worrell
at his elegant best. But
I was sure then and I was
sure thereafter as I followed
Kanhai’s career…of all the
sportsmen in all the many
sports I have watched in my
life I judge Kanhai to have
possessed the most compelling
genius of them all…It
was, quite simply, a special
gift from the gods.” — Ian
McDonald.
“Rohan Kanhai was a
great player…and he was
rated one of the tops…a
good cricket brain…earned
the respect of his players.”
— Sir Garfield Sobers.
“His niche in West Indies
cricket…is assured, as is his
place in the hearts of all who
treasure human excellence
in any form.” — Michael
Gibbes.
“It is hard to believe that
there could be better players
than Rohan Kanhai. I
have seen him score tons
for Warwickshire on all
sorts of pitches — against
Derek Underwood on turning
tracks and against Alan
Ward and Harold Rhodes on
a corrugated flyer against
Derbyshire. Rohan got hundreds
on both occasions.
Nobody can be a fine cricketer
than Garfield Sobers or
Ian Botham but somehow
Kanhai hardly gets a mention.
I stood at the other
end many times completely
in awe of him” — Dennis
Amiss on his former Warwickshire
teammate, Rohan
Kanhai.
To understand what
cricket supremacy means in
a global context to the average
Caribbean man is best
summarized by the former
Prime Minister of Jamaica,
Michael Manley: “The
West Indies are Third World
countries, but we belong
and are in the First World of
Cricket.” Cricket is not only
a religion in the Caribbean,
but it best defines the region
in any context. Regional
political integration has followed
cricket as a unifying
and defining force.
Rohan Kanhai, one of
my boyhood heroes, was
undoubtedly the most
extraordinary batsman the
West Indies has ever produced,
blessed with such
natural abilities that he
could eviscerate any bowling
attack in the world when
he controlled the impetuosities
that raged within him.
There was beauty in his
craft, so much different in
his method of annihilation,
especially on the treacherous
uncovered wickets in his
days. Whereas other bats-
By Speaker Corey Johnson
As human beings, food is
what we need to survive and
thrive. But we all know that
food is more than just a necessity.
It’s a connection to our
families, our culture and to the
Earth.
Unfortunately, in our city
– one of the richest in the
world – many people don’t have
access to adequate, nutritious
food.
More than one million New
Yorkers are food insecure, and
there is inequitable access to
fresh and healthy food in many
neighborhoods throughout the
city, predominantly in lowincome
communities and communities
of color.
That’s why I recently released
“Growing Food Equity in New
York City,” a detailed report
that outlines the City Council’s
agenda to tackle the challenges
we face in regard to food
policy.
This report stems from
our core belief that access to
adequate, nutritious food is a
human right.
That means that we have
a moral obligation to build a
society where everyone has the
fundamental right to be free
from hunger and have access
to healthy food.
Food policy needs to be
addressed holistically if we’re
going to achieve that goal,
which is why the Council will
introduce legislation to empower
the Mayor’s Office of Food
Policy. That office is currently
too understaffed and underresourced
to appropriately
coordinate all of this City’s vast
food policy.
We also need to expand some
of our most successful food
programs that not only feed
New Yorkers, but also make
sure the food they get is fresh
and healthy.
One example is our Health
Bucks initiative, which provides
coupons to low-income New
Yorkers to purchase fruits and
vegetables at farmers’ markets.
The program benefits more
than just its participants.
Health Bucks encourages
participants to shop at farmers’
markets, which are an important
part of our local food
economy.
Stimulating that economy
– which also includes Community
Supported Agriculture
(CSA) programs and fresh food
boxes – is at the heart of what
we need to do to achieve our
ambitious food policy goals.
I’m also calling for the city
to fund a Community Food
Hub Incubator to develop and
support even more local food
businesses and farm-to-city
projects. The Council will also
consider legislation to create
an Office of Urban Agriculture
that will help prioritize the ecological,
economic and health
benefits of urban agriculture in
our city, including community
gardens and urban farms.
OP-EDS
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Rohan Kanhai – An
appreciation
Putting the power of
food in the hands of
communities
Former West Indies and
Guyanese cricketer, Rohan
Kanhai.
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