The National School Nutrition Policy, which is currently awaiting Cabinet approval, signifies a national commitment to improve and prioritise the health of children in Jamaica. The policy provides a national framework that encourages and...
Since the announcement of the establishment of the Constitutional Reform Committee (CRC) on March 22, there has been much discussion about the involvement of the Jamaican people in reforming our Constitution. The discussion has intensified since...
This month marks the 75th anniversary of the birth of United Nations (UN) peacekeeping. The first mission in 1948 deployed military observers to monitor the ceasefire along Israel’s border, following conflict with its neighbours at its birth....
As Marc Antony did for Caesar, we must come to bury Jamaica’s English Constitution and, with it, 500 years of mental slavery NOT to praise either. The current Constitutional Reform process is a watershed moment in Jamaica’s history. We the People...
It is not often these days that feminists and economists agree about educational practices and transformational politics. However, having attended the “Decolonising Education” conference in the first week of April at the University of Texas at San...
Over the last few months, the conversation around commercial deep-sea mining (DSM) has intensified, with more scientists, organisations, groups and countries calling for a moratorium. As of March 2023, twelve countries have called for a moratorium...
May 1 is widely known as Labour Day, a day when we celebrate the contribution of workers worldwide. It is a moment for pride, celebration, and hope. After three years of the COVID-19 crisis, followed by inflation, conflict, and food and fuel supply...
Last week (April 29) marked the 30th anniversary of the Abuja Proclamation agreed during the First Pan-African Conference on Reparations in Abuja in April 1993. The meeting was organised by the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) under its Nigerian...
Unity is strength. Strength allows persons to form or infiltrate alliances and bring them under their control. If the sequence follows its natural path, the next step is the possession of power. The criminals among us know these simple things. And...
It’s an unanswerable proposition that every woman who elects to abort or not to abort a pregnancy makes a choice. So I’m intolerant of an abortion debate that’s labelled as pro-life against pro-choice since all are for different choices and none is...
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...
