Stories about Caribbean from April, 2011
Bahamas: Grasping at Straws?
Jerome Pinder at Weblog Bahamas explains why the new Straw Market “will be a test for The Bahamas Government.”
Barbados: Barrow's Beach
Mullins Bay Blog wonders how one of the country's national heroes “would…have graded his heirs and successors, …who sat idly by and did nothing as the sand disappeared and coconut trees were unearthed and toppled at Kings Beach.”
Guyana: Unsolved Murder
Last week marked five years since Government Minister Satyadeow Sawh was was murdered in Guyana; The Caribbean Camera interviews his family, who are still searching for answers.
Bahamas: Shark Tales
Bahama Pundit‘s Larry Smith shares some good and bad news about sharks.
Jamaica: Honesty in Poetry
Diaspora litblogger Geoffrey Philp notices “a brutal honesty” in his featured poem by Kei Miller.
Suriname: Video Art
Srananart's Blog is excited about the launch of “a new art form for Suriname” – video art!
Haiti: Amnesty or Justice?
Toussaint on Haiti shares his thoughts about the possible granting of amnesty to Jean-Claude Duvalier and Jean-Bertrand Aristide by the new President-elect.
Trinidad & Tobago: Carib Queen Dies
Review of the Indigenous Caribbean and The Voice of the Taino People Online acknowledge the passing of Valentina Medina, the Carib Queen of the Santa Rosa Carib Community.
Trinidad & Tobago: Destroying Food
B.C. Pires blogs about “the Housing Development Corporation’s bulldozing of several acres of crops ready for harvest in Trinidad.”
Guyana, St. Lucia, T&T: Literary Achievements
Lots of literature in the regional blogosphere today – Signifyin’ Guyana asks, “You going Trinidad for Bocas?”, while Caribbean Book Blog notes that Trinidadian author Earl Lovelace “has been awarded the first Grand Prize for Caribbean Literature by the Regional Council of Guadeloupe for his new book, Is Just a...
Bermuda: MPs’ Salaries
Bloggers are unimpressed by “the continuing refusal of MPs [Ministers of Parliament] to take a pay cut, even a symbolic one.”
Jamaica: Walcott's Work
Litblogger Geoffrey Philp features a poem by Derek Walcott, saying: “I swear, [he] makes writing verse look so easy…a poet whose oeuvre shows a deep love for the Caribbean–its language, landscape and light.”
Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago: REDjet Delay
“People don’t take kindly when you make newspaper announcements that you’re coming for dinner, but you didn’t bother to inform the host”: Barbados Free Press blogs about new regional carrier REDjet's apparent failure to comply with licensing processes in Trinidad and Tobago.
Bermuda: Shrinking Population = Shrinking Economy?
In the face of declining local retail sales, Vexed Bermoothes believes that “the real reason for the anaemic economy is that Bermuda’s population has shrunk … and that the local economy has shrunk correspondingly.”
Caribbean: The Cricket Captaincy
“It’s very interesting to read old minutes from WICB meetings and seeing how directors scheme and hatch their plans”: WICB Expose suggests that plans for the Darren Sammy captaincy may have been “hatched since 2009″.
Bahamas, U.S.A.: Economic Empowerment
“The best way to address poverty and fairness in our society is through a radical overhaul of our failing education system”: Bahama Pundit sees some parallels with the U.S. regarding debt and income inequality.
Bermuda: Doing Less With More
“One of the many impacts of the PLP’s spend-a-thon over the past 10 years is that Government now cannot afford to continue many of its basic services”: Vexed Bermoothes explains how public transportation is taking a hit.
Trinidad & Tobago: Autism Awareness
“It wasn't until 1994 that Asperger's syndrome was officially recognized by the American Psychological Association. Fifty years. T&T's already behind the curve”: Blogging at Outlish, Nicole Greene “hope[s] it doesn't take us another 50 years before we're finally ready to properly support the autistic community among us.”
Haiti: The Democratic Process
Toussaint on Haiti suggests that the recent election “is a sign we still believe in democracy and that these elections might have breathed new life into to Haiti’s nascent and fragile democracy.”
Trinidad & Tobago: Problem or Solution?
When it comes to the country's social ills, aka_lol says: “An uncaring person is uncaring 24-7 and no amount of phony foreign accents, flowing local dialect, paper degrees, high or low society standing and police friends can make them anything but some of the scum that is helping to run...
St. Lucia: Cricket – Symbol of Wider Malaise?
The poor state of West Indies cricket gets Sun Rain Or… wondering “where is it that we are supposed to find enough motivation day after day for us to achieve the greatness that lies stifled within?”
About our Caribbean coverage
Janine Mendes Franco is the Caribbean editor. Email her story ideas or volunteer to write.
