· March, 2008

Stories about Jamaica from March, 2008

Jamaica: Hope & HIV

  31 March 2008

“Behind the images of hedonism in Jamaica, the specter of AIDS has overshadowed the glitter and garish of the Tourist Board commercials,” writes Geoffrey Philp, as he blogs about Hope: Living and Loving with HIV – a multi-media reporting project which he says “is not just an extended essay with...

Jamaica, Cuba: Poetry in Motion

  28 March 2008

Jamaican Geoffrey Philp blogs about MiPOesias Magazine's newly released issue, which he says “showcases the work of poets of Cuban descent who live in the U.S…no matter the subject, these poems blend the romance and sorrows of the past with a crisp view of daily life.”

Jamaica: Air Strike

  26 March 2008

Abeng News Magazine reports that “Air Jamaica's flight attendants returned to work late Tuesday after a sickout that caused the airline to cancel several flights”, while Jamaican Lifestyle looks at the issue from the underdog's perspective.

Jamaica: Beauty and Race

  24 March 2008

“What beauty contests say about women is still an open and now tired debate, but what it says about race, particularly in a country like Jamaica is still up for grabs”: Marlon James explains.

Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, USA: Obama's Vision

  24 March 2008

Jamaican Geoffrey Philp thinks that Barack Obama “has a deep understanding of America and that he offers a transcendent vision of America that we haven't had in a long time”, while Notes from Port of Spain quotes Obama's “race speech”: “‘I am the son of a black man from Kenya...

Jamaica: Teenaged Crime

  20 March 2008

“Apparently the crime rate in the region is the highest in the world for teens ages 15-17″: Jamaican Francis Wade links to an article that gives the details.

Jamaica: Corrosive Column

  17 March 2008

Francis Wade is left without words after reading a recent article in the Jamaica Gleaner that deals with US politics, “Jamericans” and race.

Jamaica: Dancehall

  17 March 2008

The recent Global Reggae Conference, held at the University of the West Indies, has Agostinho Pinnock blogging about whether or not dancehall music is Jamaica's “solution to civil society”.

Jamaica, Haiti: Felix Morisseau-Leroy

  13 March 2008

“Although the controversy still rages in Jamaica about English vs patwa or ‘nation language'…from as early as 1958, Felix Morisseau-Leroy was writing plays and poems in Kreyol”: Jamaican Geoffrey Philp pays tribute to the Haitian writer.

Haiti, Jamaica: Haitian Reggae

  9 March 2008

“Bigga Haitian hails from a ‘fiery land,’ often characterized with turmoil. The general decline of political ‘correctness’ in Haiti sometimes seems to be so tragic, that all good news associated with the country is refreshing”: YardFlex.com blogs about the latest Haitian musical sensation.

Jamaica: Homophobia

  8 March 2008

“What’s at the crux of such bigotry? Our homophobia can be so extreme that a man who has only one woman is suspect. And there in lies the subtext, that our Homophobia is not really homophobia at all but a crisis in manliness”: Marlon James dissects the issue of homophobia...

Jamaica: Ackee

  6 March 2008

Montego By Day By Day blogs about the national fruit of Jamaica.

Barbados: Cannabis Abuse?

  6 March 2008

Gallimaufry was “taken aback” to discover that the US State Department's 2008 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report ranks Barbados as the second highest abuser of marijuana in the region.

Jamaica: New Era of Business

  6 March 2008

“Here in the Caribbean, there has always been this tendency to want to meet someone before doing business with them”, but Jamaican Francis Wade believes “in this new era, business-people MUST become comfortable doing business with people they have never met, will never meet and who may not even speak...

Barbados, Jamaica: Legalise it?

  5 March 2008

Barbadian blogger Gallimaufry reports that “Jamaican policy-makers are considering legalising marijuana” and comments on the possible fallout.