‘The case should be remitted to the Court of Appeal in Jamaica to decide whether to order a retrial of the Vybz Kartel for the murder of Clive ‘Lizard’ Williams’ or versions of the eagerly awaited Privy Council ruling last Thursday meant many...
Africa’s dynamic youthful population and civil society will challenge autocratic misrule and strive to fulfil the continent’s huge potential in 2024. Its ‘soft power’ will shape global culture through lyrical writers, Afrobeats, Nollywood, and...
The complex and global nature of transnational organised crime poses a significant threat not just to Jamaica, but to the entire Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region. Over the past couple of years, there has been a marked upsurge in...
Imagine a being that nurtures and provides, that is her purpose, that is her stance, naturally … what would life be without her giving? From the moment of conception, believe it or not, her body also prepares itself to provide nourishment for the...
The debate about the failings of the Jamaican economy has largely focused on productivity. The argument has been that our productivity is low and the task is to increase productivity. But, is low productivity the core issue? The answer is ‘no’! The...
William Shakespeare wrote, “… All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts …”. The February 26 local government elections delivered an equally...
In August of last year after a block of eight houses on Walkers Avenue in the troubled community of Gregory Park was set afire by armed criminals, even as the ashes were still warm, the prime minister visited, and the opposition leader did so too....
We celebrated International Women’s Day on March 8 and March is HERstory month, I am reminded of experiences in classrooms at various schools learning the history of our country. The subject was taught with a blind eye to gender - either little...
And God said “I will do nothing for you that you will not do for yourself.” Hang on. Stop the mad scramble to find this quote in the Bible. It ain’t there! It’s my perspective learned from several life lessons. It has also been confirmed by God...
There are at least two things which are crystal clear from the results of the February 26 local government elections. First, it was close, and second, the active abstentions are now at a level which must be concerning to the Jamaican democracy...
In 2015, the United Nations (UN) declared a Decade for People of African Descent, (2015-2024) on the triple platforms of Recognition, Justice, and Development. At the time of the declaration, Ban Ki-Moon, then secretary general of the UN, asserted...
Recent Local Government Elections (LGEs) again featured Jamaica’s political immaturity and neediness. At time of writing, “Chatty Chatty” Dayton is still on radio trumpeting a 7-7 result which he says is a PNP “win” based on “popular vote” and...
With two polls indicating that the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) would have pipped the People’s National Party (PNP) and yet both indicate that it would happen within the safe space of the sample margin of error favouring the party which limped in, in...
This World Obesity Day, observed annually on March 4, the Heart Foundation of Jamaica is imploring Jamaicans to join in the conversation and let’s talk about obesity and the need for healthy school food environments. It is incumbent that we...
The world is currently experiencing not greater multipolarity, but greater bipolarity. America and China are waging a new Cold War that is less about ideology and more about markets and technology. The West’s share of global output has fallen to...
The Ministry of National Security’s (MNS) refusal to grant asylum to 37 Haitian asylum seekers is heartbreaking. Decision letters were delivered to the Haitians at around 9 p.m. on February 27, under the cover of darkness, like much of the process...
As is new normal Panderson and Blue Dolt (relax; I joke) Polls were conducted during this Local Government Election (LGE) season. At time of writing, Panderson numbers aren’t fully public but media analysts and political walkie-talkies have been...
“Yu nuh si how the JLP (Jamaica Labour Party) just set like modder hen. It dey pon di egg dem now. Dem a go hatch pon February 26,” she said. It was last Tuesday. She had given me a cardboard box of green plantains, bananas, dasheen, cho cho,...
Recently, Prof Verene Shepherd (VS) caught up with Scottish historian David Alston (DA), author of Slaves and Highlanders: Silenced Histories of Scotland and the Caribbean, which won the Scottish Book of the Year in 2022, to talk about where he was...
Russia’s war against Ukraine creates a dangerous precedent for the rest of the world, and it must be stopped. Failing to address this situation would legitimise illegal aggression towards and invasion of one state by another. Consequently, no...
American politics has finally become certifiably insane! I’ve repeatedly told readers there’s little difference between political parties everywhere. Nowhere is this more glaring than during a time in American politics that can safely be called The...
If you have been following Andrew Holness from he was a political neophyte in 2011 to the super-confident approach he allows to define himself in 2024, you are likely to fit into one of the following slots. You may love him, fiercely dislike him,...
On February 14, the musical biopic Bob Marley: One Love, was released in the United States. The film, which premièred last month at Carib 5 Cinemas in Kingston, is billed as a tribute to Marley’s legacy and “the journey behind his music”. I grew up...
Forget about chaos, traffic, stocky iron-willed hombres, ever-bulging señoritas and smog, I love la locura mexicana, the language, culture, science, and mathematics Mexicans helped teach me. Once when I lived there, my wife and I decided to visit...
At a recent clean-up of Refuge Cay in Kingston Harbour, the depth of Jamaica’s plastic problem was painfully evident. Thick layers of plastic were entangled amidst the mangrove roots and floated in the nearby coastal waters. Despite many efforts...
