For anyone familiar with Canada’s Caribbean radio programming, they may know Antoine from her two shows, Caribbean Exposure and Caribbean Rhythms.

Caribbean Exposure is a two-hour long, show that begins at 5 am and is aired on Chin Ottawa, a multicultural and multilingual radio station.

“I wake up the city with news and a gospel segment from 5 to 5.30 am. I play old time calypsoes after that, broadcast news at 6 am and thereafter, I am back on and the tempo increases. I give them enough to start the day,” said Antoine, when she visited WomanWise during a stay in T&T.

While Exposure is more laid back in tone, Caribbean Rhythms, aired on Ottawa’s community station CKCU Radio 93.1, is more upbeat. Antoine, who has been doing this show for 27 years, described the format as looser.

The show is aired on Thursday afternoons and Antoine uses it as a vehicle to educate Canadians about the positives of Caribbean life.

“I interview people from all walks of life; from ministers to the lay people. I don’t give people the under-belly of life in the Caribbean. We are so easily negated; they (foreigners) don’t understand how things flow. If you want to know about the bad things, go on the Internet,” said Antoine who explained that some people’s attitudes were such that if golfer Stephen Ames did well in golf, he is immediately hailed as a Canadian, but if performs badly, he was referred to as being from T&T.

“That kind of thing throws me,” she said. Another of her peeves is the difficulty of getting Caribbean artistes to submit material for her to promote.

Antoine’s foray into broadcasting began when she worked at the Department of Multiculturalism for the Federal government.

“Someone interviewed me and they found my responses were different and refreshing and I was asked if I wanted to look in the direction of media,” she said.

Antoine attended a film school and tried her hand at producing films, and while it was enjoyable, it didn’t pay the bills. She did television shows such as Multicultural Magazine, On the Line, an interview-type show, and Centre 454, which focused on issues such as suicide and homelessness.

Realising there was a void in Caribbean programming, Antoine pitched an idea to radio stations to have a Caribbean show named Caribbean Rhythms by herself and former Guardian editor-in-chief Lennox Grant, who was living in Canada at the time.

Antoine cut back on her television work to attend to the needs of her daughter Sharisse who was born with cerebral palsy, but maintained her radio programme.

“I couldn’t keep up because she had special needs,” she said of her now 18-year-old daughter, whom she described as a fantastic human being.

Sharisse is one of Antoine’s three “eyeballs.” The others are her sons Sekou and Ifoma Smart.

In addition to Caribbean shows, Antoine covers community events every Thursday for A-Channel Morning. But while she uses radio to promote things Caribbean, Antoine gives Ottawa a first-hand taste of Caribbean culture through Caribe-Expo, an Ottawa version of Caribana. She is the executive director of the Caribe-Expo committee and her husband, Wally Rayne, is its president.

“It started about ten years ago cause people, in typical fashion, thought it was a money grab. The city eventually threw them off the street and they went to a racetrack. They had no sense of what Carnival ought to be. I subsequently renamed it Caribe-Expo and we’ve been on for three years now,” she said. “I wanted to have all the components of Carnival but on a mini level. It’s been a resounding success as far as the city is concerned,” she said of the event, which will be held from August 11 to 20.

Antoine said the event attracts mas makers from Toronto as well as pan sides and artistes from T&T. Last year, inspired by a jazz and blues festival, she added a pan-on-the-grass segment to Caribe-Expo. This year, it will be held at the National Libraries and Archives, she said, because the event was washed out by rain last year.

Even though they have applied to the city for funding, Antoine said they do not have a lot of money and everything is paid for as they go along. Nevertheless, she said, promoting the culture is worth it.

“Every country has an association in Canada so there are different events. My goal is not just to reach Caribbean people, but to educate others. The culture keeps our sanity; it’s important. It’s too fantastical to let go. It’s too much of us,” she said.

As busy as she is promoting Caribbean culture, Antoine also has a full-time job which she took on to support her family.

A qualified travel consultant, she works for Algonquin Travel Agency, flying all over world inspecting destinations and accommodations for the agency to promote.

“It’s a learning experience. You are out a lot, but not on holiday,” said Antoine, adding that she once had to inspect 35 hotels on a trip to the Dominican Republic.

And when she’s out travelling to exotic locales, Antoine’s husband sits in for her on the air.

For more information visit: www.caribe-expo.com

Source: The Trinidad Guardian - www.guardian.co.tt