Haiti represents an unfortunate conundrum for the Caribbean as it has long been plagued by instability. To date, no clear solution has emerged on how to address the nation’s challenges. Since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, increased...
For the small island developing states of the Caribbean, the issues of food security and malnutrition are closely tied to agri-food trade, owing to the region’s dependence on food imports and the food-lifestyle choices of the population. Given...
According to the World Health Organization, overweight (body mass index over 25) doubled among adults in Jamaica between 1975 and 2016 while it increased by a factor of five among children between five and 19 years old. The evolution of diabetes...
Many of us in the Caribbean are deeply saddened by the recent developments in Haiti and in Cuba. We are also saddened and concerned by the lame, inconsequential response by CARICOM on the assassination of Haiti’s President Moïse, which was ignored...
Has the political party formerly known as the People’s National Party (PNP) changed its name to Better Rise United Clique Up Party (BRUCUP)? Although I haven’t seen an official announcement, this must be so because in any other party, the immediate...
I sighted up or became aware of Rastafari in my early twenties, which provided a self-identity model to counteract the negative stereotypes of African people present in the Jamaican popular culture. Embracing Rastafari resulted in a change of my...
On June 22, the Government made a decision, which it knew was a big gamble on its part and on the part of the country. The big players in the tourism sector were reaping early rewards for their jump-start on opening. Those in the entertainment...
The year 2020 will be remembered as one where a bad situation for many of our fellow Jamaicans got even worse than they had ever imagined and challenging for them even to think of how to address their needs for food, clothes, shelter, medicine, etc...
The athletic world was in shock when it was announced recently that American sprint sensation Sha’Carri Richardson had received a 30 day suspension for an “adverse analytical finding”. Evidence of a cannabinoid was discovered in the 21-year-old’s...
So, despite arrogant, bigoted chants of “Football is coming home” from British boors, “home” turned out to be Rome. Then nerdish liberals (and BoJo) suddenly sounded astonished (nothing was said when spectators booed teams who kneeled before an...
Research on the effects of toxic stress and trauma on the brain suggests that cruelty and neglect of children could be the cause of much of the violence in Jamaica. A little stress is necessary for survival; it teaches us how to be resilient....
In this edition of Reparation Conversations, a collaboration between The Gleaner and Centre for Reparation Research, The University of the West Indies, Garifuna Afro-Latino author Jóse Francisco Ávila (JFA) talks to Gabrielle Hemmings (GH) about...
In a July 8 press release from the Office of the Prime Minister, which announced his appointment as a member of the Privy Council, an important part of it states, “Prime Minister Holness is to attend a meeting of the Privy Council in order to take...
In an article published in The Observer on July 6, the Minister of Education, Youth, and Information, Fayval Williams, is quoted as saying, “We will close homes if we get reports of abuse in those homes, and we will investigate later.” This was...
“China was the spiritual pillar Which help[ed] me survive The days in [the South African] Robben Island prison off Cape Town!” – Nelson Mandela President Joe Biden’s idea for a Western capitalist alternative to China’s Belt...
At the start of the George Wright fiasco, the Opposition struggled mightily to sound concerned about “gender-based violence”, which has suddenly become a priority sub-set of a pandemic of violence infecting Jamaica for decades. From its house of...
‘Gunmen still on top’ was the front-page blast from the April to May publication of The News, a self described a community newspaper. With a graphical attachment, the article began with, ‘Gunmen continued to hold the upper hand over the security...
Haiti was in a constitutional and political crisis before the assassination of its President Jovenel Moïse in the early hours of the morning of July 7. That crisis has worsened. It is now explosive unless representatives of the main political...
July 4 is CARICOM Day and the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas. The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is a regional integration process of 14 independent Member States and Montserrat, which is still a British...
By now everybody knows I’m a big fan of the 2011 Charter of Fundamental Rights inserted into our otherwise flawed Constitution. My only critique of it is that it doesn’t go far enough. I’m aghast that it expressly “saves” and legitimises pre-...
There is a coalition of advocates at the local, national, and international levels that is calling for cost-effective front-of-package (FOP) warning labels (‘high in’) on food items. Given the crises of lifestyle diseases (non-communicable diseases...
To enter Sandra’s shop, one has to push open an ugly iron gate. At one side of a paved area leading to a hodgepodge of households is Sandra’s little board shop. Don’t be fooled. Sandra makes good money. But her expenses are high. During the height...
In this edition of Reparation Conversations, a collaboration between The Gleaner and Centre for Reparation Research, University of the West Indies, Chair of the Antigua and Barbuda National Reparations Committee, Dorbrene O’Marde (DO), talks to...
Using a very well-funded campaign, certain stakeholders – Healthy Caribbean Coalition (HCC), The Heart Foundation of Jamaica (HFJ), The Ministry of Health and Wellness, among others – have engaged in a campaign that has portrayed manufacturers as...
There are not many people socially and economically brave like well-known Montego Bay businesswoman Janet Silvera, who has expressed the view that she would be in favour of government funding being used to establish a designated area for...
