It’s time to tell some home truths to men who believe in the illusion known as the Patriarchy. I’ve been moved to speak these truths by an “opinion” column appearing in The Gleaner on Monday, October 18, headlined (not the author’s fault) What Men...
“Many people do simply awful things out of sincere religious belief, not using religion as a cover the way that Saddam Hussein may have done, but really because they believe that this is what God wants them to do; going all the way back to Abraham...
Jamaican American four-star General Colin Powell, who died of complications relating to COVID-19 on October 18 at the age of 84, was one of America’s most well-known public figures, with four decades of service in which he broke down racial...
It is nothing short of shocking to learn that, despite the fact that the world is teetering dangerously on the precipice of a climate catastrophe with fatal consequences for small island states, some rich nations are lobbying against paying to help...
During the 1760 revolt of Tacky, the obeahman was an integral part of the fight for liberation. The spiritual leaders of the rebels would anoint them and use spells to protect them from death. Proclamations, such as an obeahman and his anointed...
In this edition of Reparation Conversations, a collaborative initiative between The Gleaner and The University of the West Indies’ (UWI) Centre for Reparation Research (CRR), we highlight the reparation agenda laid out by the widow of Walter...
How thin is the line between diabolical wickedness and insanity? When I heard the news that the leader of a cult in St James was arrested after two members of his assembly were killed as human sacrifices, I was reminded that this is one of the many...
This is the first in the series of eight articles looking at the ways that the world will change between now and 2050 and analysing the implications for Jamaica’s future. The period to 2050 will be a time of exceptional turbulence. The world is...
Breast cancer is a significant public health concern in Jamaica. It is the most common cancer affecting women. It represents a substantial threat to healthcare resources and, most important, patients’ quality of life and, ultimately, survival....
For businesses, delivering quality customer service is a sine qua non for success. As long as the price is affordable and the quality of customer care as well as the goods and services are consistently pleasing to the consumer, they will continue...
Jamaica, in recent Organization of American States (OAS) and Inter-American Committee on Tourism (CITUR) meetings, has informed of the Government’s strategies and efforts to mitigate the negative impact of the pandemic on the tourism sector. This...
Every week, some hot political topic pushes back my preferred subject, namely amateur philosophy. For the two readers who’d take the trouble to wade through those ethereal journeys with me, rest assured we’ll soon return to the important questions...
Moral suasion with vaccines has suffered a most unfortunate accident and has crashed headlong into its own limitations. It is now lingering outside the gates of a mental hospital pleading to gain entrance. A more robust approach from the PM cannot...
“You need to control the testosterone levels in this meeting!” admonished my client’s project manager during a site meeting. This still resonates across the years as my most memorable architect’s moment in handling onsite construction where I was...
Referendums are pretty cool. Rather than waste everyone’s time debating the most controversial issues over and over and over again in hopes of one day reaching a consensus that sometimes doesn’t even exist, we can actually just ask the people what...
One of the best lines in Mario Puzo’s The Godfather comes from a meeting of the key leaders of the Mafia who were told by their unquestioned leader, the Capo Di Tutti Capi, “We are all honourable men here; we do not give each other assurances as...
It seems the combined Houses of Montague and Capulet are discombobulated, leading Juliet to leap to Romeo’s defence, blaming bureaucrats for eloping. Really? Seriously? Bureaucrats went against government policy? Sure. And I have a flat piece of...
On September 19, 2021, I explained to my 15-year-old daughter Amira-Jioni that that date was the Centennial of Paulo Freire (1921-1997). She had not heard about Freire before, so I explained that he was a master educator from Brazil who was born 33...
There is absolutely no evidence that the death penalty has an effect on crime. Rule of law and certainty of persecution are the true deterrents, not the severity or finality of its punishment. This was reiterated by the UN High Commissioner for...
Hunger in Latin America and the Caribbean increased by 14 million people in 2020. With this, the region lost all what it had achieved in 20 years of fighting this scourge. At the same time, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the overweight and...
There are many different explanations for what causes two people to become “strange bedfellows”. Some blame religion and even resurrection. A few point to misery as the major cause. Then there are many, like William Shakespeare, who are convinced...
That 2,300 phones being smuggled into Jamaican prisons were seized over the past year was the revelation given by the Ministry of National Security last month. It’s good to hear that the penal system was able to confiscate 2,300 phones. However, a...
It was just last Tuesday when she glimpsed outside her bedroom window and saw the car. And the three men. She lived way up in semi-rural St Andrew. It was not yet 8 a.m. The car was ‘parked’ near her gate and the bonnet was up and, strangely, none...
The PJ Patterson Centre for African-Caribbean Advocacy seized the opportunity on September 24 to remind the world of unfinished business as it relates to racial equity and justice, by hosting a webinar to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the...
“Believe it or not, the next 3-5 years will remind us that COVID-19 was the lightning before the thunder” – Parag Khanna and Karan Khemka For more than a decade now I have been hearing about the new world order. What is the new world order?...
