· November, 2011

Stories about History from November, 2011

Trinidad & Tobago: Impressed with Miss Miles

  30 November 2011

Dingolay reviews the new play about Gene Miles (a whistleblower for a political corruption scandal in the 1960s, who subsequently became a social outcast), admitting she was “a bit chilled by the fact that what happened to Gene Miles could happen again today, woman PM or no.”

Jamaica: Sabina Park & Lawrence Rowe

  29 November 2011

Active Voice gives a Twitter follower a tour of Jamaica's famous Sabina Park, and makes a plea for the powers-that-be to bring back the Lawrence Rowe Players Pavilion.

Guyana: Election Day

  28 November 2011

Guyana: Freedom Under The Law asks his compatriots to “VOTE intelligently on issues and right reason NOT RACE” in today's elections, while Guyana-Gyal explains why, despite the “thin thread o’ fear been tightening ‘round town since election date announce”, she isn't scared.

Greece: 1973 Uprising Newspaper Headlines

  28 November 2011

‘Third Day for Polytechnic School Occupation by Protesters’, ‘Athens Surrounded’, ‘Tanks Emerge’, ‘Dozens of Injuries From Both Sides’, ‘Tanks Descend to Town’, ‘Thousands Remain Inside Polytechnic School’, ‘1,500 Inside Polytechnic School’. On the 17 November, 2011 – the anniversary of the 1973 Polytechnic school uprising in Greece – youth portal neolaia.gr [gr] uploaded...

Vietnam: Deadly Legacy of Agent Orange

  27 November 2011

De Tran writes about the deadly legacy of agent orange in Vietnam. During the Vietnam War, more than 20 million gallons of herbicide were sprayed over the rural communities and jungles of the country.

Pakistan: The Death of Nusrat Bhutto

  25 November 2011

The recent demise of Nusrat Bhutto, former first lady and wife of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, was mourned across Pakistan. A public holiday was declared as a part of the mourning, which triggered a wave of reactions from Twitter users questioning the logic behind such a move.

India: Lessons from Gandhi

  18 November 2011

Priyanka Matanhelia lists some lessons from Mohandas K. Gandhi, the legendary political and ideological leader of India, which are still relevant today.

Cuba: Filmic Propaganda

  17 November 2011

babalu notes that “ScreenJunkies.com has chosen the Castro propaganda classic ‘I am Cuba’ as one of the top five blatantly lying propaganda films of all time.”

New Caledonia: Controversy around the 1988 Ouvéa Hostage Taking Movie

  17 November 2011

French filmmaker Mathieu Kassovitz's movie “L'ordre et la  morale” (“Order and morality”), that recounts the tragic 1988 hostage taking at the Ouvéa cave, is not welcome in New Caledonia. The blog Ecran Noir (‘Black Screen’) describes the local controversy around the film's release, here and here [fr]. After New Caledonia's one and...

Cuba: Honouring the Island's Patron Saint

  16 November 2011

Havana Times reports on the celebration of an outdoor mass this past weekend “in honor of the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre, considered by Catholics to be the ‘Patron Saint of Cuba'”, explaining: “Next year will mark the 400th year since the discovery of the image; it seems that...

Russia: FC Anzhi Makhachkala and the Yeltsin Era Money

RuNet Echo  16 November 2011

The January 2011 acquisition of a Russian Premier League soccer team, FC Anzhi Makhachkala, by Suleyman Kerimov, a billionaire politician native to the volatile region of Dagestan, is the most recent display of how the wealth accumulated in the Yeltsin era is being used. Donna Welles reports.

Sahel Region: Slavery still very much a Reality for Some

  15 November 2011

In an interview carried out by François Mauger with Mme Sophia Lakhdar [fr], Director of the Comité Contre l’Esclavage Moderne (Comittee Against Modern Slavery) published on the mondomix.com blog, she states: “Today human trafficking has taken over as the notion of modern slavery, which is a bit contrived.  However it helps...

Cuba: Papal Visit Challenges

  14 November 2011

Crossing the Barbed Wire suggests that the proposed Papal visit to Cuba next year “presents challenges for three essential actors of the current Cuba”; El Cafe Cubano, meanwhile, says: “I don't believe the Pope's visit will do anything to ‘CHANGE’ things in Cuba.”

Bermuda, St. Lucia: Slavery Footprint & Slave Trade Memorial

  14 November 2011

Breezeblog links to “a website that tracks the forced and unpaid labour that goes into producing the things we take for granted” and makes the point that “being aware of the impression left by your slavery footprint may be the most important of all”, while Caribbean Book Blog notes that...

Jamaica: Loving the Language

  14 November 2011

“The governor general of St Lucia, Dame Pearlette Louisy, gives part of her throne speech in Patois each year”: Jamaica Woman Tongue longs for the day that will happen in Jamaica, saying: “Patwa, Patois, dialect, Jamaican Creole or just plain Jamaican, whatever you call our local language, it has low...