It was an early afternoon on a sunny day in 1965 as we turned the corner at North Street and headed up South Camp Road. About four of us Kingston College (KC) boys. The plan was to ‘bum a lift’, or in American terms, hitch-hike to the stadium. At...
I am writing in response to Professor Don Robotham’s article, “Jamaica as a developmental state,” published in the Friday, April 14, edition of The Gleaner. Prof Robotham’s continued contribution to national discourse is welcome and needed in...
In this edition of Reparation Conversations, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the past few months. We are about to enter the second quarter of 2023, and with that, what feels like a new era for the reparation movement. Since September 2022...
The role of consumption of ultra-processed products (UPPs) and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) in the development of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is well documented. Health education campaigns by various entities, including the Heart...
In Greek mythology, Hydra was a gigantic, nine-headed, water-serpent monster with one of these heads being immortal. Herakles [Hercules], the most legendary hero, was sent to destroy Hydra. When he decapitated one head, two more sprang up. Hence,...
April provides a timeline of terror in Tennessee in the United States of America (USA). This tragedy-filled month of memorials includes the Fort Pillow Massacre, enacted 40 miles North of Memphis on April 12, 1864. Some 300 Union soldiers, mostly...
I suppose I should be happy Constitutional Reform is finally becoming a hot button topic. For me it’s been a hot button topic for 30 years (publicly). Privately, it’s been at the forefront of my thoughts ever since I watched my sainted Grandmother...
Recently, TikTok’s CEO, Shou Chew, appeared before the United States Congress to address criticisms relating to TikTok’s collection and handling of user data in light of the proposition for TikTok to be banned in the US. It was interesting enough...
In a parliamentary democracy like Jamaica, Prime Minister Andrew Holness draws on him being a vote-gathering avatar. But this must be adequately paired with, or driven by, successful government policy, promises of better ones to come, while dealing...
The intention to plant thousands of trees to escort Lady Musgrave Road when her waistline expands has not consoled some irate citizens whose fundamental concern is the likely radical change to the character of the bordering neighbourhood when the...
A recent visit to Addis Ababa – the centre of African diplomacy and home of the African Union (AU) – triggered musings on the outlook for the continent in 2023. The concerns among ‘Afrocrats’ in the Chinese-constructed AU Commission glass building...
I voted for the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) in 2016 and in 2020. At this very moment as I write this column (Thursday, April 6), there is no strong feeling pushing me to vote next time. Not JLP and not People’s National Party (PNP), as I last did in...
The findings of the Casey Report on the internal culture at the Metropolitan Police in London are as stark as they are brutal. Most of us who have been campaigning for change won’t be surprised. After all, the report was commissioned following the...
In January 2023, Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali visited India, meeting India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The two leaders discussed a broad range of economic opportunities, but the major topic was oil. Guyana, which has emerged as the newest...
We urgently need to have a conversation about leisure and recreation. There is a lot of talk about the accessibility of our beaches, but the discussion must be much more than sand, sea, and sun. It should be the norm that communities and town...
At Easter 2021, while on an extended hiatus, I posted some musings on life, death and resurrection. Events since then make a revamped version of those musings appropriate. Every year many die from violence. Some shrug it off with uninformed excuses...
The ongoing appeal against an injunction blocking bauxite mining in an area covered by a 25-year Special Mining lease is being watched carefully by stakeholders in the industry, including the Government, employees, retirees, and community...
There was a time when The Gleaner referred to the top political parties in Jamaica, the People’s National Party (PNP) and the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), as the gangs of Gordon House for good reason. The constantly fractious exchange in the House...
In 1976, one of the hottest, upmarket nightclubs on Knutsford Boulevard was the Jonkanoo Lounge in what used to be the multistorey Sheraton Hotel. One Wednesday night, I was travelling solo as I walked into the club. A very famous dance troupe was...
In October 2007, then Prime Minister of Jamaica, the Hon Bruce Golding, appointed a committee of nine persons, including myself and the late Rex Nettleford, to review the system of National Honours and Awards. Among the Terms of Reference was one...
So the owner of The Guardian issued a sincere apology for the newspaper’s founders’ role in transatlantic slavery. This wasn’t caprice. It came after extensive research into links between founder John Edward Taylor and slavery. According to The...
Human life is sacred, and every individual deserves an equal chance in life. We have a common desire: we all want to lead a free, fulfilling existence, with dignity, where our basic needs are met, with opportunities to advance and equal treatment...
Mexico welcomes the support of Caribbean countries in its lawsuit against gun manufacturers and distributors for damages caused by their facilitation of the illegal flow of guns into Mexico and the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region. On March...
“... A city should not merely draw men together in many varied activities, but should permit each person to find, near at hand, moments of seclusion and peace ... .” writes Lewis Mumford in The Culture of Cities. Seclusion and peace should become...
If I am in conversation with a group of youngsters that are trying to wind their early life through the world of paid employment and I say this, ‘The best boss to have in Jamaica is a person of Jamaican/Chinese extraction’, many may say that I have...
