4 The Hampton Roads Messenger Editorial Panama: The Epitome of Paradise Panama City Waterfront Hampton University FROM PAGE 4


of fiction and non-fiction by African- American


authors such as Michael Casco Viejo BY ANGELA JONES I recently wrote about traveling to


Trinidad and mentioned that it may be my second favorite place in the world. The most alluring place I have been to thus far is Panama. When I arrived in Panama City, I was surprised to see how metropolitan it is. Panama CIty is peppered with numerous modern


including one which until


skyscrapers recently


bore the name of the 45th president of the United States. Last year, JW Marriott took over management of the property. The luxurious building which includes shops, apartments and 1,000 hotel rooms has a sail-shape and is an unmistakable addition to the gorgeous Panama City skyline. Beautiful buildings are not the


only claim to fame Panama has. The reason for the city and country’s economic boom is the Panama Canal. It is an engineering marvel. Visiting the Panama Canal is a great experience for people of all ages and backgrounds. You do not have to be a geek to appreciate the monumental achievement of being able to join the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans together and save ships precious travel time in doing so. Visitors to the Panama Canal Museum can actually watch ships guided through the canal. The museum also includes a movie about how the canal was built and interactive stations where one can see what it is like to be in the command-and-control center. The viewing deck of the museum is a great place to take selfies, as well. In addition to the beautiful canal and the beautiful buildings, Panama


has an old part of the city called Casco Viejo which means ‘old quarter’ in Spanish. This UNESCO protected district includes old slave dungeons along the waterfront. There are many types of vendors and shops leading up to this area selling everything from handmade jewelry to locally grown coffee.


encountered were very


The Panamanian people I helpful and


friendly. I offered one local money for telling some of the best attractions to visit while I was there. He refused. He even offered to lead me to some of the nearby sites like Casco Viejo. When we had to part ways after about 45 minutes because I needed to get a taxi to the canal, I again offered him some money for his assistance since he appeared to be a retired elderly man. This time his reply when he saw the amount I was offering was, “That’s a good start.” I believe I doubled the amount and he seemed to be content. After all, you cannot put a price on having a local show you around. With its metropolitan


vibe,


beautiful beaches, moderate climate and industrious residents, I believe I could live in Panama. Many Americans are retiring there. When I returned to the US, my Uber driver told me he and his wife planned to retire in Panama but he returned to the US when his parents became ill.


I did some research online


and discovered that one could live comfortably there for less than $2,000 per month. For all of its benefits, retiring in Panama is a bargain. If that isn’t Paradise, I do not know what is.


Panama Canal Museum


Eric Dyson “The Black Presidency, Barack Obama and the Politics of Race”, Ernest Gaines’ “A Gathering of Old Men,” Ishmael Reed’s “Flight to Canada,” Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple,” Toni Morrison’s “A Mercy,” Tayari Jones’ “Leaving Atlanta” and Dr. William R. Harvey’s “The Principles of Leadership: The Harvey Leadership Model.”


The 2019 selection, “One


Turn Around The Sun,” the Read-In’s first selection of poetry, asks several questions, the most central being how can a person stay sane when so often socio-political circumstances mock all efforts to create a livable world?


Born in Philadelphia in 1955, Tim


Seibles is the author of six collections of poetry, including his most recent, “One Turn Around the Sun” (Etruscan Press, 2017) and “Fast Animal” (2012), which won the Theodore Roethke Memorial Poetry Prize, received the PEN Oakland Josephine


Miles Award, and was


nominated for a 2012 National Book Award. Other titles include “Buffalo Head Solos” (2004), “Hammerlock“ (1999), “Hurdy-Gurdy“ (1992), and “Body Moves” (1988).


Reflecting on writing, Seibles says,


“I think poetry, if it’s going to be really engaging and engaged, has to be able to


Huntington Ingalls FROM PAGE 1


San Antonio-class ships to the Navy and has two more under construction. Fort Lauderdale (LPD 28) will launch in 2020 and deliver in 2021; the keel for Richard M. McCool Jr. (LPD 29) will be laid later this year. Start of fabrication on LPD 30 is scheduled for 2020.


major part of the Navy’s 21st century amphibious


The San Antonio class is a assault


force. The


684-foot-long, 105-foot-wide ships are used to embark and land Marines, their equipment and supplies ashore via air


cushion or conventional landing craft and


amphibious assault vehicles,


augmented by helicopters or vertical takeoff and landing aircraft such as the MV-22 Osprey. The ships support a Marine Air Ground Task Force across the spectrum of operations, conducting


amphibious and


expeditionary missions of sea control and power projection to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions throughout the first half of the 21st century.


You are cordially invited to attend... City Council meetings...


Established 2006 A. J. Jones, Publisher Chris Parks, Editor


Sarah Parks, Graphic Designer Ida Davis, Contributing Writer Sales and Information: info@hamptonroadsmessenger.com Copyright pertaining to contents of this edition. All rights reserved.


Norfolk - regular meetings are held on the first and fourth Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. and the second and third Tuesday at 2:30 p.m.


Chesapeake - regular meetings are held on the second, third and fourth Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m.


Newport News - regular business meetings are held on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month at 7:00 p.m.


Suffolk - regular meetings are held on the first and third Wednesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. Hampton - typically take place on the second and fourth Wednesday of every month at 7:30 p.m.


Virginia Beach - meets on the first four Tuesdays of each month. In July the meetings are scheduled on the first two Tuesdays only. Formal session begins at 6 p.m. Portsmouth - meeting dates are the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m.


come at the issues of our lives from all kinds of angles and all kinds of ways: loudly and quietly, angrily and soothingly, with comedy and with dead seriousness. Our lives are worth every risk, every manner of approach.”


in the Indiana Review, Black Renaissance


including


His poems have been published Noire,


Cortland


Review, Ploughshares Massachusetts Review, Beloit Poetry Journal, and numerous other literary and anthologies,


journals “Best


American Poetry.” Seibles has received fellowships from both the Provincetown Fine Arts Center and The National Endowment for the Arts. He also won the Open Voice Award from the 63rd Street Y in New York City. On July 15, 2016, Seibles was named Poet Laureate of Virginia by Governor Terry McAuliffe.


Seibles lives in Norfolk,


Virginia, where he is a member of the English Department and MFA in writing faculty of Old Dominion University. He is a teaching board member


of Workshop. For more information, please


contact Daryl Lynn Dance, Read-In Coordinator, at 757-728-6121.


the Muse Writers Panama City Skyline


Volume 13 Number 7


April 2019


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16