The following is part one of a three-part series featuring excerpts from the book ‘Conflict of Identity: From the Slave Trade to Present Day – One Man’s Healing in Benin, Africa’. The fractured self in the context of racial identity is the...
Sometimes I wonder when governments prepare budgets if they do not believe that the consequences of misjudgments, misplaced priorities, and overly ambitions forecasts will not come back to haunt them and the society. Prime Minister Andrew Holness...
Recently, the news cycle has been dominated by episodes of angry outbursts, leading to physical violence in some instances. This is almost always due to low emotional intelligence. We all know someone who “nuh fraid fi talk wah come a dem mout” or...
I am originally an industrial engineer by vocation and so have had a lifetime fascination with how to improve productivity. In Jamaica, we are very good at analysing problems but not as good at implementing solutions. I would like to take a...
One famous Jamaican, the late Professor Rex Nettleford, bemoaned the fact that Jamaica is a nation of “sprinters” and not “long-distance runners”. This adage is applicable to sports, but, unfortunately, for many businesses that blazed their names...
The recent altercation between a mother and a medical doctor at the Bustamante Hospital for Children that led to a shutdown of the accident and emergency unit for two hours became the major topic of discussion in the past week. Psychological...
I happen to like Kari Douglas, PNP councillor for the Trafalgar division in South East St Andrew. First of all, she is a woman, so that gets her an automatic 10 bonus points. Second, she is intelligent and is proud of her Jamaican self. I also...
Excerpts from speech at the recent Jamaica Basic School Foundation Annual Fundraising Gala in the United Kingdom. That the Jamaica Basic School Foundation (JBSF) will, in 2020, celebrate 20 years of service to Jamaica is testament to the...
President Donald Trump and his family own 38 registered trademarks in China. Some of these were approved after Trump became president. And yet ‘Donald the Great’ Trump has the audacity to rail about former Vice President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter...
The Government recently brought to Parliament proposed changes to the boundaries for the Municipality of Portmore. The opposition objected on the grounds that the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ) had not been consulted ahead of the proposed...
In 2012, the New York Times wrote a column, part of which read: “China’s economic might has rolled up to America’s doorstep in the Caribbean with a flurry of loans from state banks, investments by companies, and outright gifts from the government...
Two recent high-profile USA visa revocations (and hints of more) brought into sharp focus Jamaicans’ irrational lust for and all-encompassing reliance on the American visa. Joe Blow’s and Jane Payne’s visas are revoked all the time. The USA, as a...
Since mankind decided to end the hunter-gatherer lifestyle and engage in farming 12,000 years ago, we adopted new ways of living. We put aside the concept that only the mightiest will survive – the law of the jungle. After all, the best farmer is...
The Malcolms of Poltalloch are typified by historians as feudal inferiors in Argyll, Scotland, who transformed themselves into a wealthy dynasty not only as landlords in their own country, but with enterprises in Jamaica, and, eventually, other...
Excerpts from an address at the recent Camperdown Alumni Gala and Awards Ceremony. The theme ‘Together We Must’ is a clarion call to work to achieve excellence at Camperdown High. It also underscores your mission, which is to be the learning...
Though scientists had for many years been developing theories based on evidence obtained through research, acceptance of the term ‘evidence-based decision-making’ became commonplace in the scientific community in the 1990s. The political community...
A recent Gleaner story has informed us that we have already spent about J$230 million in police expenditure on states of emergency (SOEs) and I suspect that those doing the cost/benefit analysis would like to know if the well which provided that...
The heated paternity leave conversation brings to mind one of Yogi Berra’s notorious faux pas “Feels like Déjà vu all over again”. As usual, the subject has been analysed to death. This is a modern proclivity, especially whenever it involves man/...
We were right, but Dudus was expelled just as if we were wrong. The report from The Gleaner Editors’ Forum on electronic surveillance is headed ‘ Gov’t pulled plug on Phillips’ US, UK MOUs’ , clearly referring to secret memoranda signed by Dr...
While the International Monetary Fund (IMF) celebrates Jamaica as the poster child for economic reform, the local planning agency, the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), is revealing a more sober story. The PIOJ revealed that Jamaica’s economic...
In last Thursday’s column, I suggested that initial announcements of charges against high officials usually form the bigger basis of public judgment against these officials. In other words, if an official is accused of an embarrassing charge of...
Recently, interest has been revived in the call for appointing Louise Bennett-Coverley (‘Miss Lou’) as a National Hero(ine). That Jamaica’s cultural legend would’ve been 100 years old on September 7 encouraged activism for her to be added to the...
As the world progresses from one generation to another, we are witnessing an embarrassing decline in the standard of how our girls are representing themselves, their families, and their upbringing. There seems to be a difference of opinion between...
In 1944, Louise Bennett was still in her twenties when the Jamaican masses gained universal adult suffrage, an achievement directly related to the 1938 labour riots. This was to be the first time that the descendants of slaves were to be the final...
Let me commend The Gleaner Company for 185 years of outstanding service to the Jamaican people. The reputation and validity of The Gleaner remains high and well favoured in the hearts of the people and plays a very important role in the sphere of...
