Stories about Jamaica from January, 2011
Jamaica: Leah & Dog Paw
“Will she herald a new kind of representational politics since she has personally breached not only the uptown/downtown divide but also the legit/illegit one by literally commingling with a Don?”: Active Voice thinks that Leah Tavares-Finson “is a fascinating character.”
Jamaica, Cuba: Bye Bye, BBC
Cambios en Cuba [ES] and Jamaica Salt both note with sadness the BBC's decision to cut parts of its Caribbean service in a bid to save money: “The expertise and the daily news that will be lost will have consequences far beyond the loss of jobs and programmes.”
Jamaica: “Dog-Paw”
“The cliche that truth is stranger than fiction is true”: Active Voice interviews the author of Dog-Heart about parallels with the story of Christopher ‘Dog Paw’ Linton, who was recently arrested by Jamaican police.
Jamaica: Wikileaks & “Dudus”
Jamaica Salt says that Wikileaks only confirmed what people already knew about the Christopher “Dudus” Coke extradition, which “pretty much makes this whole Jamaican govt enquiry completely redundant (at a cost of JA 40 million), but they carry on regardless and the Jamaican people have to eat it.”
Jamaica: following Junot Diaz in Jaipur
Jamaica-based blogger Annie Paul, following the Jaipur Literature Festival online, reports on an appearance there by the Dominican-American writer Junot Díaz.
Jamaica: “Dudus” Enquiry Starts
Caribbean Camera reports on the opening of the Commission of Enquiry into events surrounding the Christopher “Dudus” Coke extradition.
Jamaica, Haiti: The “Baby Doc” Blues
Jamiacan diaspora litblogger Geoffrey Philp pens a poem for Haiti's reportedly “homesick dictator”.
Jamaica: No More Calabash
Regional bloggers continue to say their farewells to Jamaica's beloved annual Calabash International Literary Festival, which has come to an end after ten years.
Jamaica: So Long, Calabash
“Well, the news of the moment is that Jamaica’s beloved Calabash International Literary Festival is no more”: Active Voice and The Caribbean Review of Books bid a fond farewell.
Jamaica, T&T, U.S.A.: Buju's Mobile Concert
mediascape says that “this weekend promises to be an exciting one for reggae lovers”, as reggae icon Buju Banton, who is due to head back to court soon to face drug trafficking charges, will have his Miami concert broadcast via mobile phone, so that “thousands of subscribers will be able...
Jamaica, Guadeloupe, T&T, U.S.A.: MLK Day
“Dr. King's importance lies in his challenge to expand our moral imagination”: Geoffrey Philp and other regional bloggers pay tribute to the late American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
Jamaica: Skin Bleaching
“All of a sudden the problem of skin bleaching is in the spotlight and we have top DJ Vybz Kartel to thank for it”: Active Voice explains.
Jamaica, U.S.A.: Constitutional Rights & Wrongs
“The constitutional right to bear arms has had another of those unsurprising consequences…”: Grasshopper Eyes The Potomac thinks that the U.S. needs to “again look into its popular mirror.”
Jamaica, Barbados: Caribbean Tales in Bim
Geoffrey Philp reports that Barbados will host this year's CaribbeanTales Film Festival.
Jamaica, U.S.A.: The Tucson Attack
Grasshopper Eyes The Potomac is “dumbstruck and saddened…[by] the weekend’s shootings of Congressional representative, Gabrielle Giffords, and the killing of six other people in that attack in Tucson.”
Jamaica: New Court Date for Banton
YardFlex.com notes that a February court date has been set for reggae icon Buju Banton.
Jamaica, U.S.A.: Effects of Fireworks
“Nature is under assault from humans on all sides”: Diaspora blogger Labrish posts a requiem for the 5,000 blackbirds that literally fell out of the sky in Arkansas on New Year's Eve.
Jamaica: ‘Dudus’ Commission
As the Commission of Enquiry into the extradition of Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke, moves forward, YardFlex.com says that time is running out for anyone wanting to give evidence.
Jamaica: New Date for Banton?
Jamaican bloggers are waiting to see what happens with reggae icon Buju Banton's new trial date.
Jamaica: On Wikileaks
Active Voice maintains that “the single most important thing to have happened globally last year was Wikileaks.”
Jamaica: broken dreams
At the start of the new year, Jamaican blogger Ruthibelle contemplates “a people who must live not as they want, but as they are compelled to by ‘circumstances beyond their control'”.
