NCAHM News
in the DMV

Guirlene Pierre Louis — founder of Guigui’s Kreyol Flavors in Clarksville, MD — is competing in the 2026 Favorite Chef competition, where the winner earns $25,000, a Taste of Home feature and a cooking experience with host Chef Carla Hall. A Haitian-born culinary professional whose signature dish is Sautéed Cabbage, she is currently ranked #6 in her group, with free daily voting open through Thursday, June 25 at 7pm PDT.

CoCoFête Events is a boutique event planning firm in Columbia, MD, founded by Nicole Campbell — American by birth, Jamaican by heritage — specializing in weddings, lavish parties and corporate gatherings with a distinctive Caribbean flair. In 2026, Campbell was nominated for Best Event Planner under Entertainment in the Best of Black Baltimore Awards by The Baltimore Times.

Major General (Ret’d) Antony Bertram Anderson has concluded his tenure as Jamaica’s 14th Ambassador to the United States, departing after approximately one year in post. During his Washington posting, Ambassador Anderson led diaspora engagement efforts, championed Jamaica’s travel advisory upgrade from Level 3 to Level 2, and — when Hurricane Melissa struck Jamaica on October 28, 2025 — mobilized the DMV Jamaican diaspora to coordinate the shipment of several tons of relief supplies to affected communities. He assumed his new role as CEO of Jamaica’s National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA) on June 1, 2026. A farewell ceremony was held at the Embassy of Jamaica in Washington, DC on June 10, 2026.

“We thank the Ambassador for his work with the Jamaican community in the DMV — including his leadership during Hurricane Melissa — and wish Ambassador Anderson all the best on the next part of his life journey.” — CACCE-GWAN

Six artists of Caribbean heritage were nominated, won, or performed at the 79th Annual Tony Awards on June 7, 2026 at Radio City Music Hall, hosted by P!nk. Two won: Haitian-born Qween Jean (Best Costume Design, Musical) and Jamaican-heritage Joshua Henry (Best Actor, Musical). Three were nominated: Bermuda-born Nicholas Christopher, Jamaican-heritage Layton Williams, and Puerto Rican-heritage Ruben Santiago-Hudson. Mexican-born Melissa Barrera performed in the Tony-nominated Titaníque.

Joshua Henry, born in Canada to Jamaican parents, won the 2026 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical — his fourth nomination and first win — for Coalhouse Walker Jr. in Lincoln Center Theater’s revival of Ragtime, which also won Best Revival of a Musical.

Qween Jean, born in Haiti and raised in Miami, became the first openly transgender person to win a Tony Award — Best Costume Design of a Musical for Cats: The Jellicle Ball, a Ballroom-inspired reimagining of the Andrew Lloyd Webber classic for which she designed approximately 500 costumes. She was simultaneously nominated for Best Costume Design of a Play for Liberation.

Nicholas Christopher — born in Hamilton, Bermuda to a Bermudian father and American mother — earned a 2026 Tony nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for Anatoly Sergievsky in the first Broadway revival of Chess. Christopher openly discusses his Caribbean roots, noting that Bermuda “is everything — it’s who I am.”

Two Caribbean-heritage artists appeared in Titaníque, which received four 2026 Tony nominations including Best Musical. Layton Williams — born in England to a Jamaican-descent father, with Jamaican paternal grandparents — was nominated for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. Melissa Barrera, born in Monterrey, México, made her Broadway debut as Rose DeWitt Bukater.

Ruben Santiago-Hudson — whose father, Ruben Santiago, was a Puerto Rican immigrant — earned a 2026 Tony nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play for Bynum Walker in Debbie Allen’s revival of August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, starring Taraji P. Henson. A prior Tony winner, he took the award for Wilson’s Seven Guitars in 1996.

Twin earthquakes struck Venezuela’s northern coast in late June 2026, killing more than 1,400 people and injuring over 3,000 — and the DMV responded immediately. Virginia Task Force 1, the elite urban search-and-rescue unit based in Fairfax County, deployed to active collapse sites and has already made contact with survivors beneath the rubble.

Arepa Zone owner Gabriela Febres launched a community donation drive within one day of the Venezuela earthquakes, converting her Fairfax storage facility into a supply hub and partnering with a Miami-based organization to ship truckloads of essentials to those in need. After an overwhelming response filled the facility, collections are temporarily paused — but additional drives are already being planned.