CaribWorldNews, NEW YORK, NY, Mon. Jan 4, 2010: CaribWorldNews presents its top picks of the best Caribbean and Caribbean nationals of 2009:

1: Jamaican-born, World’s fastest man, Usain Bolt for breaking his own records at the Track And Field Championships in Berlin in June and for giving back through his December charity concert in Jamaica.

2: Haitian singer and humanitarian, Wyclef Jean for his continued dedication to uplifting Haitians in his homeland.

3: Rihanna – for overcoming the odds of domestic violence and speaking out to help other victims stand strong.

4: Caribbean Congresswoman Yvette Clarke who answered the call of pioneering organization, CaribID in April, to introduce the Caribbean Count bill, which calls for a Caribbean origins category on future census forms.

5: Rapper Shyne – for taking a negative following his imprisonment and deportation to Belize in October and turning it into a positive by sharing his message with other Belizean youth and prisoners.

6: Caribbean American Jumanee Williams who in September managed to oust St. Vincent and the Grenadines-born City Councilman, Dr. Kendall Stewart, in the New York City Council.

7: West Indies Cricket Skipper Chris Gayle for leading his team, despite the odds and severe criticism, to a respectable response in the final two test matches of 2009.

8: Prime Minister of Grenada, Tillman Thomas – for letting the court and not politics determine the release of the final group of Grenada 17 in September.

9: Asafa Powell – for bouncing back from injuries to perform excellently in Berlin in June and throughout the rest of the year and for founding a non-profit organization that is giving back and recognizing up coming Jamaican athletes.

10: Dwayne Bravo, top West Indies all-rounder, for his excellent performance during the just-concluded Nov/Dec. test matches against Australia.

11: Reggae singer Shaggy for staying true to his homeland by his annual giveback concert to aid the Bustamante Children’s hospital.

12: Singer Richie Stephens – for lending his voice to the movement to get Caribbean Americans counted.

13: Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie – for keeping the Bahamas on the world’s sprint map.

14: Prime Minister Patrick Manning, for hosting incident free Organization of American States and Commonwealth Heads of Government conferences in 2009 and for standing strong in his government’s decision to bail out the collapsed CLICO.

15: Barbadian Ryan Brathwaite for winning a gold for his country in the 110 meter hurdles in the World Track And Field Championships.

16: Antigua’s Daniel Bailey for placing fourth in the 100-m final at the World championship in Berlin in June.

17: Cuban blogger, Yoani Sanchez, for speaking out against injustice despite the odds.

18. Shelly-Ann Fraser – the only female sprinter to hold both World and Olympic 100m titles simultaneously.

19. Veronica Campbell-Brown – for taking the title of a UNICEF ambassador in 2009 and her continued high performance on the track.

20. Sanya Richards – the Jamaican-born American runner who was named the top IAAF female athlete of the year.

21.Brigitte Foster –Hylton- who won the gold in the 100-m hurdles in Berlin even though she was tempted to hang up her gloves In 2009.

22: Myron Rolle, the Bahamaian American outstanding defensive back for the Florida State Seminoles who in 2009 decided to forego the NFL draft, and accepted a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University in England instead. Rolle will study for his master’s in medical anthropology at Oxford for one year, then enter the NFL draft in 2010. H