In Focus

This past week, Donald Trump became the 47th President of the United States (POTUS). His swearing-in ceremony, on a cold January 20, overshadowed Martin Luther King’s birthday, a national holiday. In the short time since his inauguration, Trump...

Meta’s announcement that it is overhauling its policies on content moderation and fact-checking should alarm everyone who is concerned about freedom of expression. While these moves purport to protect free speech, they strike against it for many...

There is no more critical topic in the health sector than addressing the health workforce crisis globally. While discussions between sending and receiving countries have been taking place bilaterally among various countries, the need for a larger...

The transatlantic slave trade and contemporary black migrations share a common root: systemic racism. The structural alienation currently experienced by black migrants globally is a perpetuation of the injustice and the otherness that provided...

Food trade is not a luxury — it is a must. Over 30 countries would face starvation if the international food trade were to come to a halt. While the risk of food insecurity is severe for less-developed countries that rely upon trade, dependence on...

My friend was Jamaican, black-skinned and extremely proud of his skin colour. “Brother Mark, let us stop the rubbish. In Jamaica, brown skin and white Jamaicans will always be ahead of the rest of us, because they control the insiders.” To his way...

There have been significant and innovative scientific breakthroughs in HIV prevention and treatment that make the ambitious goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat more possible. However, for many countries in the Caribbean, the systemic...

Security officials in Jamaica are celebrating an almost 20 per cent reduction in the number of murders committed in 2024 compared to 2023. This glorification of statistical reduction in murders is frightening. It signals acceptance of the disregard...

The award of the Ballon d’Or for the best European-based footballer to Spain’s 28-year old Manchester City midfielder Rodri instead of the red-hot favourite, Real Madrid’s 24-year old Afro-Brazilian winger, Vinícius “Vini” Jr., is the most...

In the four decades as a mentor, guide, and ‘ginnygog’ encourager/leader of A-QuEST, I have had the awesome privilege of nurturing some of the brightest young minds in Jamaica, CARICOM, and occasionally even Brazil, Haiti, Sri Lanka, and the United...

I returned from Brazil in November after participating in the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) annual general assembly and scientific symposium. The symposium aimed to re-examine the Venice Charter in the light of contemporary...

In part one of this article, I argued that the failure to recognise Jamaican Creole as a language in its own right violates the rights of Jamaican Creole speakers, results in a denial of access to essential services, including quality education,...