Stories about Caribbean from October, 2016
Caribbean Bloggers Week 2016 Seeks to Amplify the Region's Online Voices
Caribbean bloggers are out there, and they do have voices that deserve recognition.
Upscale Chocolate Could Help Turn the Tide on Haiti’s Devastating Deforestation
When a tiny Quebec chocolate maker won a gold at this year’s premier International Chocolate Awards for a bar made with Haitian cocoa beans, it rocked the specialty chocolate world.
Carnival Designer Apologises for Insensitivity to Trinidad's Colonial Trauma, But Was It Enough?
"Our history is complicated and troubling and painful and horrendous.... Asking that those complications be acknowledged is not censorship. It is a cry against continued erasure."
A Trinidad & Tobago Carnival Band Is Accused of Trivialising the Trauma of Slavery
"He's glamorizing a part of our colonial history where racism and socioeconomic disparity were rampant. And carnival now, with its overpriced parties and parades, continues that tradition."
In Trinidad & Tobago, Video of Shooting Aftermath Doesn’t Boost Public Trust in the Police
"This has nothing to do with what happened before [...] or what led to his shooting. This has to do with what passes for police procedure in this place."
Who Has the Right to Tell a Country’s Story?
"It is not possible to tell the truth about Cuba from only one viewpoint, or from unanimous viewpoints that are the equivalent of one."
A Social Media About-Face in Trinidad & Tobago Highlights the Complexity of Domestic Violence
"The fact that she’s decided to return to that relationship […] means she can be seduced by affection and scared of retribution, like all human beings."
Why Caribbean History Matters
Because "the legacies of slavery, imperialism, and historical responses to it are...evident in all the “weightier” concepts we associate with modernity: notions of citizenship, individual freedom, collective liberation, and nation."
Devastation of Hurricane Matthew Renews Talk of French Reparations to Haiti
As bloggers urge people to "help Haitians, not the disaster capitalists" post-Hurricane Matthew, discussions about the need for France to pay reparations are -- once again -- front and centre.
Trinidad & Tobago Opposition Member Slammed for Using Photos of Minors With Guns to Score Political Points
Were laws broken? Was the whole thing a red herring? Have politics sunk to a new low? After photos of children brandishing guns were shown in parliament, netizens have questions...
From London to Kingston, British-Jamaican Artist Mike Stanley Speaks the Language of Paint
"The environment affects you. [...] This annual trip, from Jamaica to the UK, made me recognize the huge difference in the light. The way you see color changes."
The U.S.'s Deportation of Haitians Shows That Asylum Applicants Are Far From Equal Under the Law
"Events like the 2010 earthquake should be basis for humanitarian asylum. Does sending people back to a country without a working infrastructure and facing famine and disease constitute justice?"
Uber Lands in Trinidad, Its Smallest Country to Date
"How will Uber fare in tiny Trinidad and Tobago? Will it “change life”, as the headline of one article has suggested?"
Social Media Keep Up Pressure on Trinidad and Tobago's President
Rhoda Bharath's Facebook Live videos continue to garner an eager audience as the Trinidad and Tobago political commentator takes the country's president to task.
Jamaica Escaped the Wrath of Matthew — But Hurricane Preparedness Is a Tricky Business
Caribbean nations still grapple with how best to prepare for the potential disaster they face each hurricane season -- Jamaican netizens observed a few hiccups in preparing for Hurricane Matthew.
Trinidad & Tobago's Prime Minister Tells Citizens ‘You Better Begin to Be Weaned Off the Government’
Trinidad and Tobago citizens took grave offense at being told to wean themselves off government support—but could the prime minister's statements about "doing things differently" have been misinterpreted?
Jamaicans Get Fired Up About the U.S. Presidential Contest and a Popular Singer's Shock Endorsement
"After all that brouhaha, all the rage — it is time now to forgive the woman. For all the good she has done and sung, we owe her that…"
About our Caribbean coverage
Janine Mendes Franco is the Caribbean editor. Email her story ideas or volunteer to write.
