There is a discomfiting contrast between developed and developing countries with regard to vaccines. The former is far advanced in administering vaccines to their population, and the latter are, for the most part, struggling to source them. Up to...
In her recent article “Control the Developers”, Honor Ford-Smith asked, Why is nobody listening? What is the role of the prime minister in this? Is he listening to the voices that are speaking out? Where is NEPA in this and the NWA? Where is the...
This is my memoir about COVID-19 and my experiences. The memoir talks about what happened before COVID-19, and then in the middle of the memoir, I compare the differences. This memoir also gives different experiences of people around me and the...
“Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed or hidden that will not be known.” Less than a week ago, I saw a picture of Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Member of Parliament for Westmoreland Central George Wright standing outside the door of a...
After a few months of effusively contemplating her next move, rumbling, glowing thoughts of magnanimous proportions, the La Soufrière volcano in my home country of St Vincent and the Grenadines erupted – explosively. On April 9, the new normal...
The continued membership in the House of Representatives by Member of Parliament (MP) George Wright reminds us that there is one job in Jamaica where the employer and paymaster have no power whatsoever to fire the employee in under five years, even...
The evolution of the MSME sector in Jamaica along with the thrust towards its survival in light of the challenges currently being faced by the COVID-19 pandemic, have opened renewed conversations on the topic of microfinance. It is pertinent that...
In today’s Reparation Conversations, the Centre for Reparation Research (CRR) provides a round-up of key reparation news on the international stage. These represent successes of the movement, an indication that activism for redress for historic...
“Mr Wignall, you haffi talk to di Government an mek dem stop dese price increases. Poor people have less money, an now price raise up.” Clarice has a shop and bar. Her man operates a small gaming operation. I was forced to tell her that both of the...
What do those of us who were born and raised under the clock want for our cities, our neighbourhoods, our communities in this region that is our home, the home of our children’s future? Kingston is the place where Garveyism, Rastafari, and reggae...
The Motion for Suspension of George Wright MP, notice of which was given in the House of Representatives last Tuesday, was erroneously blocked by the Speaker, and as a result, a dark cloud of suspicion remains today over the Parliament. The...
Like most instances of madness in this world of digital distress, many of us saw the blurred video of something appearing to be a man and a woman doing something. Maybe to each other. But it wasn’t quite clear. After that, the floodgates on all...
Professor Edwin Samuel Jones, Ed, as he was affectionately called by faculty and by associates alike, was my very dear friend and deeply admired colleague for over 50 years. Ed’s earliest engagement with the university world over a half century...
Access to investment and finance has defined how island states are able to progress towards achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and plan their post-pandemic economic recovery. With the pressure of the last twelve...
In this edition of Reparation Conversations, the Ethio-Africa Union Millennium Council outlines the case for reparatory justice through compensation and repatriation as a way of preserving the cultural heritage of Africans as well as reports on...
Cherry always had a smile on her face but that day it was absent. As I stopped by her roadside stall to greet her I noticed that her head was down and she was deliberately avoiding my eyes. “Hey girl,” I said while urging her to look up. “Why are...
On February 28, in my Sunday Gleaner column ‘Actions speak louder than words’, I wrote, “The proposed amendment to the Disaster Risk Management Act (DRMA) to allow for stiffer penalties … must be urgently implemented.” Like so many other Jamaicans...
In 2008, Jamaican-British historian, Colin Grant, published the most comprehensive contemporary biography of Jamaica’s most famous pan-African prophet, Marcus Garvey: the magisterial, meticulously researched Negro in A Hat. Last year, Grant’s new...
Many technocrats have questioned and even challenged the role of the College of Agriculture, Science and Education (CASE) in the realm of agriculture policy in Jamaica. These technocrats have contributed to the important conversations of CASE’s...
Last month (March), 29-year old singer Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu – better known as Burna Boy – became the first Nigerian to win an individual Grammy for best album in the World Music category. He triumphed for his 2020 Twice as Tall album. As he noted...
In October 1992, Vic Higgs, a white expatriate who had been working with the tourism ministry to produce a yearly classic golf tournament, lost his way on the Runaway Bay to Kingston trip. He slowed the car to seek directions. Then the men offered...
It is almost impossible to avoid the raging debate on the Report of The Chancellor’s Commission on the Governance of The University of the West Indies. The issue has dominated newspapers and social media across the Caribbean and diaspora....
It has been one year since coronavirus hit Jamaica on March 10, 2021. By its anniversary, it had taken at least 475 lives; infected over 28,968 persons across every parish, in all age groups, and social and economic classes; overwhelmed the health...
At the heart of any thriving economy are the commercial activities undertaken by companies. Companies are the engines of an economy, creating livelihoods for a nation’s people, tax revenue for governments, and the provision of demanded goods and...
The United Nations (UN) bureaucracy has its sights set on the Caribbean, and that is not a good thing. Allow me to elaborate. As an international human rights lawyer with a decade experience working at the UN, I have had a front row seat to observe...
