Calabar Magazine

by Atim Annette Oton, February 15, 2009 Every so often the work of contemporary black artists is selected and curated in a series of exhibitions that gives one just a slice or taste of the range of the work that is being created; but their work as a collective is rarely seen in one setting with a [...]

by Atim Annette Oton, Feb 6, 2010 Even as the media continues to proclaim that things are getting better and the statistics are showing some improvements, the truth is for small businesses in local communities, it’s not getting better. Just talk to any small business today and you will hear the “pain” as well as comments [...]

Description: Two generations have come of age since the 1968 assassination of civil rights visionary Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Join WNYC’s Brian Lehrer and Celeste Headlee, co-host of The Takeaway, for a lively multi-generational discussion about the impact of Dr. King’s life and legacy. Moderators: Brian Lehrer, host of WNYC’s The Brian Lehrer Show Celeste Headlee, co-host of [...]

by Atim Annette Oton, May 2006 For those thinking of opening a store…check out how we create our brand, Calabar-Imports-Prototype So, you finally have come up with a great idea for a business? Congratulations and welcome to the “biz mind” field called business ownership. My first step is to ask you this questionFirst, ask yourself this question:: [...]

by Peter Kondrat, May 2006 After Port-au-Prince, Brooklyn has more Haitians than any city in the world. Language, poverty and cultural misconceptions often conspire to keep this creative, vibrant and fascinating community on the outskirts of our awareness. Wyclef and Edwidge have become virtual household names, but other talented Americans of Haitian descent like Madafi and [...]

by Bonnie Sandy Sterling, May 2006 In an industry where a shooting star could take years to rise, Brooklyn’s independent designers stand out for the uniqueness of their designs. Many foreign design students who come to attend New York’s design schools opt to settle closer to relatives, which often means living in Brooklyn. For designers who are [...]

by Atim Annette Oton, May 2006 A quiet revolution is shaking the design world, and its base camp is in Brooklyn. The borough’s renowned melting-pot neighborhoods are producing a mix of styles and flavors that merges Asian and African design. Just enter several homes in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Prospect Heights or Crown Heights, and you’ll see the startling yet [...]

by Patricia Spears Jones At the performance in February at Le Dakar, Senegalese Chef Pierre Thiam’s Clinton Hill eatery, Kim Lyons, a poet opined, unlike in Manhattan, directions in Brooklyn are vague, things are not “between,” but near or far. There’s no real single grid in Brooklyn, but rather many grids, so being “off the [...]

Dear Reader: Welcome to CALABAR, a new publication about home décor, fashion, culture and the arts in the hottest borough of the greatest city in the world. Why Brooklyn? Look around – Brooklyn is booming … not just with new construction everywhere, but with creative energy and entrepreneurial verve that we haven’t seen in ages. I am [...]

by Janice D. Williams-Myers What strikes me about the “Obama Phenomenon – this Movement,” is what I remarked to a young skinny white kid back in Iowa during the Kerry presidential campaign in 2004 when we both worked to get him elected.  Back then as now with the Obama campaign, my work was through my union, [...]