sisstarloop

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MelimeL Joins Moun Lakay Experience Podcast on Sound Chat Radio as On-Air Personality and Correspondent

[New York, August 2025] – The Moun Lakay Experience podcast is thrilled to announce that MelimeL, acclaimed creative artist and mompreneur, has joined the Moun Lakay Experience as an on-air personality and correspondent. In her new role, MelimeL will bring her passion for empowerment through community to Sound Chat Radio’s dynamic platform.

MelimeL is no stranger to using her voice to amplify diversity and celebrate cultural richness. As the founder of The sisSTAR Loop, a platform empowering women-owned businesses, and a dedicated advocate for the Nou Akoma Nou Sinèrji (We Heart We Synergy) Haitian Dominican Transnational Film Festival (NOU), she brings a wealth of experience in promoting inclusivity and creativity.

“We are excited to welcome MelimeL to the Moun Lakay Experience podcast,” said DJ Phantastik, Producer of The Moun Lakay Experience. “Her dedication to uplifting community voices and her creative vision will undoubtedly enrich our programming and resonate with our listeners.”

In addition to her role on the Moun Lakay Experience podcast, MelimeL will serve as a correspondent for the NOU Haitian Dominican Film Festival, showcasing emerging and established filmmakers and artists from the Haitian and Dominican Diaspora. Her involvement underscores her commitment to fostering cultural exchange and celebrating the transformative power of film.

“I am honored to join Sound Chat Radio and contribute to meaningful conversations on the Moun Lakay Experience podcast,” said MelimeL. “I look forward to connecting with our audience, sharing empowering stories, and highlighting the incredible talent showcased at the NOU Film Festival.”

MelimeL’s presence on Moun Lakay Experience marks a significant milestone in her career as an advocate for cultural dialogue and community empowerment. Her contributions will undoubtedly enrich the cultural landscape and engage audiences across the diverse Caribbean communities.

For more information and to stay updated on MelimeL’s journey, follow her @sisstarloop.

About Sound Chat Radio:

Sound Chat Radio under Irish and Chin, is a leading Caribbean Media & Entertainment entity, entertaining the Jamaican & Caribbean Diasporas while keeping them abreast of culture, politics, and other social issues. With a focus on empowering communities through cultural dialogue, music, and community engagement, Sound Chat Radio offers dynamic programming that resonates locally and globally. https://soundchatradio.com/

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RSVP —> https://dominicanslovehaitians.com/nou-vision/

Upcoming Event:

A discussion between Michel DeGraff, Vivien Sansour, Steven Baboun, and Ayanna Legros, moderated by Damaris Calderon

Join the Dominicans Love Haitians Movement for a virtual conversation between artists, scholars, and activists sharing their insights on current events in Haiti and Palestine. Esteemed speakers will discuss the resistance, self-determination, struggles in the Middle East & Caribbean, and why our allyship together must be a call to action. Join us August 11 for a 45-minute conversation with a 15-minute Q&A for our community members. 

Meet Our Speakers:

Michel DeGraff – Haitian linguist and language justice advocate

Vivien Sansour – Palestinian artist and seed activist

Steven Baboun – Haitian visual artist and filmmaker

Ayanna Legros – Artist, historian, educator, and member of Harlem for Palestine

Moderated by Damaris Calderon – poet, cultural worker, and educator

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RSVP —> https://dominicanslovehaitians.com/nou-vision/

Upcoming Event:

A discussion between Michel DeGraff, Vivien Sansour, Steven Baboun, and Ayanna Legros, moderated by Damaris Calderon

Join the Dominicans Love Haitians Movement for a virtual conversation between artists, scholars, and activists sharing their insights on current events in Haiti and Palestine. Esteemed speakers will discuss the resistance, self-determination, struggles in the Middle East & Caribbean, and why our allyship together must be a call to action. Join us August 11 for a 45-minute conversation with a 15-minute Q&A for our community members. 

Meet Our Speakers:

Michel DeGraff – Haitian linguist and language justice advocate

Vivien Sansour – Palestinian artist and seed activist

Steven Baboun – Haitian visual artist and filmmaker

Ayanna Legros – Artist, historian, educator, and member of Harlem for Palestine

Moderated by Damaris Calderon – poet, cultural worker, and educator

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Featuring 27 intrepid women who dared to follow their entrepreneurial dreams in the United States of America, this collection of stories is meant to entertain, educate, and inspire both new and native-born Americans, by highlighting the struggles and success of women who came to this country to improve themselves, their community, and their new nation.

SALOUA IBALINE understands firsthand the difficulties of starting and growing a business as an immigrant and felt compelled to share with the world of stories behind successful immigrant women entrepreneurs, like herself, in the United States, Saloua Ibaline was born in Morocco and emigrated to Belgium with her mother as a toddler, At 20 years old, she emigrated again to the United States, this time on her own. Alone in New York City, with neither money nor connections, she worked her way up from nothing, eventually creating her own successful business.

Today Saloua is an established entrepreneurship coach, an author, and runs multiple small businesses.

She is a certified Business Coach and a Marketing Expert who focuses primarily on digital marketing for driven, creative businesses and solopreneurs. She has helped hundreds of aspiring entrepreneurs, launch and grow their businesses through her signature business coaching program.

Saloua has been a digital nomad for the last 3 years and has lived in 25 + countries.

For more information about Saloua and her work visit: www.salouaibaline.com and https://www.immigrantwomenentrepreneurs.com/

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UPCOMING EVENT: Dix Hills, Long Island, NY

Long Island! Join @verdel_jones on Friday, June 6 (starting at 6:30p) for the Write, Rhyme, Recite Collective in Dix Hills featuring talented student poets, panel, and a wonderful evening of art, networking, and more! Your attendance supports the Poetry Slam Scholarship Competition and this incredible event highlighting authors. RSVP to attend!

RSVP: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/write-rhyme-recite-collective?fbclid=PAQ0xDSwKttHBleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABp9hiMFLwuiPWuiWY3Ix3uU5tENS8x7WdZXFdlgw0j-oTPvhP5MJhe2G74pKH_aem__c15ma104_pxGRwcUQX_mw

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ACCEPTING FILM SUBMISSIONS! Year 3! Regular submissions deadline for the 3rd Annual Haitian Dominican Film Festival is May 18, 2025. Accepting documentary, short film, narrative, experimental, music video/performance, etc. Please share with filmmakers and creatives you know!

SUBMIT here –> https://filmfreeway.com/nou_festival

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Dominicans Love Haitians Movement is proud to present its third annual Nou Akoma Nou Sinèrji (We Heart We Synergy) Haitian Dominican Transnational Film Festival and Symposium with the theme: “Unarmed Truth and Unconditional Love.”

"I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality." — Martin Luther King, Jr., Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech, 1964

We invite artists, thinkers, and cultural workers to envision and create the world Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. dreamed of—a world of justice, dignity, and radical love. A world where diverse voices flourish, where we protect the vulnerable, and where truth dismantles oppression. A world where we hold systems accountable—not to destroy them, but to transform them into instruments of liberation and democracy. 

Unarmed Truth & Unconditional Love: A Call to Action

At the heart of Dr. King’s philosophy was a profound belief in the transformative power of truth and love—not as passive ideals, but as radical forces for justice.

Unarmed Truth represents the courage to speak and uphold truth, even in the face of oppression. It is an urgent call to confront historical and systemic injustices without distortion or fear. In a time when truth is manipulated, rewritten, and suppressed, how do we reclaim narratives that honor justice?

Unconditional Love is not passive—it is an act of resistance. It is the radical commitment to seeing each other's full humanity and working toward collective liberation, even when systems seek to divide us. When fear, division, and oppression threaten communities, how do we use love as a force that not only heals but transforms?

Through this open call, we ask: How can artists embody and amplify these principles in a time of crisis?

For consideration, please submit proposals by Monday, June 30th, 2025, 11:59 PM EST

Submit to the 2025 Open Call —> https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfxcCNRtelC-987zj8nUH13lm_v_4Z7ZUhUIh7Ll-9shOrLvw/viewform

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Dominicans Love Haitians Movement hosts its second annual Nou Akoma Nou Sinèrji (We Heart We Synergy) Haitian Dominican Transnational Film Festival in downtown Brooklyn, October 9 through 12, on the campus of St. Francis College.

Partnering for the second year with St. Francis College and its Haitian Studies Association, the festival continues to center Dominicans Love Haitians Movement’s enduring mission of promoting solidarity and awareness between the Haitian and Dominican communities, both at home and within the diaspora.

By continuing to confront ongoing persecution and violence faced by members of both communities as a result of genocide, exclusionary legislation, and anti-Blackness, Dominicans Love Haitians Movement fortifies and furthers its mission through its various initiatives and the Nou Akoma Nou Sinèrji festival in particular.

For schedule and tickets: https://dominicanslovehaitians.com/tickets-2024/

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Support Roots, Rock, Reggae, Souls - The Documentary

Souls is Jamaica's catch-all word for ballads and adult contemporary music. It is not one genre, but rather an amalgamation of multiple genres: country, R&B, soft rock, soul and the list goes on. Go to any street dance in Kingston and you're almost guaranteed to hear a Kenny Rogers or Celine Dion record before the night ends.

We're going to trace Jamaica's musical history from mento to ska, from roots to rocksteady, from reggae to dancehall. And we'll examine just how much "souls" has influenced all of these genres. 

We’ll tell our story using a blend of vintage archival footage and photos. We’ll interview reggae artists who have transformed pop ballads into reggae records, dancehall artists who often draw inspiration from country music’s outlaw themes, and Jamaican singers who have been profoundly influenced by early reggae pioneers and divas like Celine Dion. 

We’ll also speak with DJs about the unique aspects of deejaying in Jamaica compared to other places, the crucial role of souls in playing the perfect DJ set in Jamaica, and those whose souls mixes changed Jamaica’s music culture forever. We’ll explain the significance of dubplates and their pivotal role in Jamaica’s party scene, illustrating how a dubplate from a pop diva like Whitney Houston or country legend like Kenny Rogers meant a sound system's instant victory in a sound clash.

This film is an opportunity to showcase another side of Jamaica’s musical scene beyond the expected reggae and dancehall. 

As one journalist pointed out in a phone call recently, Jamaica’s musical literacy is often underestimated and underrated and its history is so rich and layered, this film will shine a spotlight on that.

Amidst a world fraught with division, the goal of this film is to illustrate how music draws inspiration from anywhere and how our cherished songs and artists unite us across genres, nations, and seas - proving that we are more alike and connected than we tend to believe. 

To learn more about this project and support the making of this film, visit --> https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/reggaesoulsfilm/roots-rock-reggae-souls/description

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MOM FILM FEST RETURNS FOR SPECIAL FIFTH EDITION

AWARD-WINNING FILMMAKERS & NOMINEES VIE FOR $2K AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARD

New York City, July 2024 – MOM Film Fest returns for a special Fifth Anniversary edition of its annual online film festival. To mark this tremendous occasion, MOM Film Fest: Through the Years will celebrate a select number of its award-winning and nominated films and series that all feature a mom in a leadership position on the project.

This year’s film screenings will again take place online August 23rd-25th. A special in-person panel discussion will take place on Saturday, August 24th at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Amphitheater at Lincoln Center. “Moms In Crisis: Are We On Our Own?” will explore the media’s perceptions of motherhood and its impact on government policy. A networking mixer will follow the panel discussion.

Filmmakers will also be invited to attend The Business of Film Strategy, an exclusive workshop facilitated by Academy Award® nominated producer and business affairs executive, Sara McFarlane, founder of E/S Collab. The workshop will provide a detailed breakdown of each stage of the filmmaking business, from development to distribution.

In recognition of the festival’s fifth edition, MOM Film Fest is thrilled to announce a cash prize of $2,000 will be awarded to the winner of this year's Audience Choice Award. The winner will be announced the week following the festival.

For festival ticket information and complete festival details, visit the MOM Film Fest website, MOMFilmFest.org.

"As we celebrate our fifth festival edition, I am incredibly proud to be part of a vibrant community of moms who are filmmakers,” said Tonya Mollineau, Executive Director of MOM Film Fest. "Our advocacy efforts continue to make a tangible impact, create change across the film industry, and empower mothers to share their remarkable stories.”

About MOM Film Fest MOM Film Fest, Inc. is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization that serves as a career development and advocacy resource for mothers working in film and television. Their mission is to amplify content made by moms and to create opportunities that will get #momsbackonset and back to work in the film and television industry. MFF supports a variety of year-round initiatives, including filmmaker workshops, child care grants, screening series, and an annual film festival.

MOMFilmFest.org

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Early bird passes available! Come NOU with us! The Nou Akoma Nou Sinèrji Haitian Dominican Transnational Film Festival experience includes FILMS, ART, PANELS, and COMMUNITY! The festival fosters a community where we empower each other through films, discussions and healing. DATES & LOCATION: Join us for the 2nd Annual Film Festival at @sfcny St. Francis College, Brooklyn, NY on Wednesday, October 9 through Saturday, October 12, 2024. ABOUT: Nou Akoma Nou Sinèrji Haitian Dominican Transnational Film Festival will promote cultural diversity through film (e.g., drama, documentary, experimental, short films), audio/podcast, visual art, and panel discussions with filmmakers, scholars, and community members. LEARN MORE: https://dominicanslovehaitians.com/nou-akoma-nou-sinerji/ or link in bio Are you a creative/filmmaker? Submissions are still open! Late submission Deadline August 30, 2024 SUBMIT films: https://filmfreeway.com/nou_festival Email: noufest.dominicanslovehaitians@gmail.com DM us for links and more information! We look forward to another amazing film festival in October!

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NEXT WEEK‼️ Join us for our NYC sisSTAR Summer Night Out on Wed, August 7! 🗓️ Start with happy hour at The Ready Rooftop Bar from 4-6p (112 E 11th St), then dance the night away from 7-9p at Hudson Yards with salsa/bachata music outdoors, presented by Somos Latin Dance! 💃🏾✨

MEETING LOCATIONS:

The Ready Rooftop Bar, Union Square area, 4-6p

Hudson Yards, Bella Abzug Park, take the 7 train, 7-9p

Share & invite your friends – we can’t wait to enjoy a fun summer night with you and our amazing network of women entrepreneurs and professionals! 😎🎉