Stories about Caribbean from July, 2009
Trinidad & Tobago: Anti-People?
“The Prime Minister is on record for saying that despite what the people think he will proceed with the [aluminium smelter]. Despite what people think. And the environmentalists, those crazy people who want to sustain the environment longer so that we can sustain ourselves…are ‘anti-people'?” Trinidadian blogger Taran Rampersad takes...
Barbados, Guyana: Immigration Debate
As reactions to the government's clampdown on illegal immigrants goes “off the boil”, Barbados Underground “condemns…the holier than thou attitude which President Jagdeo of Guyana and his cronies have directed at Barbados.”
Jamaica, U.S.A.: Tributes to Michael
“This year’s Reggae Sumfest was all about Tributes to Michael”: From Jamaica, The Phoenix in a Gas House reports.
Jamaica: Mento Master Missed
Repeating Islands remembers the life and career of Jamaica's Mento master, Theodore “T” Miller: “Mento is a style of Jamaican folk music that draws heavily on musical traditions brought to the island by African slaves…his loss, as the Gleaner recently reported, ‘represents a great loss to Jamaica’s cultural heritage’.”
Jamaica, U.S.A.: Fatherly Advice
Jamaican litblogger Geoffrey Philp considers the circumstances surrounding the arrest of Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. from a father's perspective: “I want my son to be a man who has enough self confidence to think that he can overcome any obstacle and that he will not permit any kind...
Bermuda: The Race Card
Bermudian Catch a fire says that neither political party “has an exclusive monopoly on the race card”, claiming that both factions resort to using it.
Trinidad and Tobago: Online Art Networks
Younger contemporary artists in Trinidad increasingly use online media like blogs and social networks like Facebook to exhibit and document their work and engage each other in critical conversation.
Trinidad & Tobago: Building Authenticity
Build an authentic community and “the worship thing will come”: Trinidad and Tobago's gspottt attends a talk “about faith and sexuality, pain and healing, abuse and inclusion by the Christian church.”
Bermuda: Crime & Punishment
Bermuda's 21 Square takes a look at the country's crime statistics and concludes: “We should be focusing more on improving the justice system rather than worrying about the effectiveness of policing.”
Trinidad & Tobago: Top Sites
KnowProSE.com takes a look at Trinidad and Tobago's most viewed websites, saying: “It's really interesting to see how the Internet use has changed…and will continue to change as internet penetration continues.”
Puerto Rico, B.V.I.: Earthquake
Repeating Islands reports on an earthquake that was felt yesterday in Puerto Rico and the British Virgin Islands.
Guyana, Jamaica, Bahamas, U.S.A.: Racial Profiling?
Signifyin’ Guyana, Jamaican Geoffrey Philp and Bahamian Nicolette Bethel all comment on the arrest of (and subsequent dropping of charges against) Harvard professor and black American scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Cuba, Jamaica: Film & Music
AfriClassical notes that famed Afro-Cuban composer Leo Brouwer has received his country's 2009 National Film Award, while Repeating Islands discovers that the musical based on Jamaican Perry Henzell’s 1972 film The Harder They Come will soon open in Canada.
Trinidad & Tobago: Journalistic Integrity
Trinidad and Tobago blogger KnowProSE.com says that “no preconditions leads to better interviews…and that's where journalism sells out – and social media is beginning to.”
Barbados: Where's the Culture?
Barbados Underground suggests that when it comes to Crop Over, “culture issues have taken a backseat in recent years at the expense of running the festival as a business”.
Democracy Video Challenge Winner Showcase
What is Democracy? That is the question more than 900 participants set out to answer through their videos, in response to the Democracy Video Challenge set up by the US Department of State and many other partners, open for participants from all over the world. Today we show you the winning videos which explain in their own way the phrase Democracy is...
Global: The push to boycott Shark Week
A group of scientists, scuba divers and self-described shark lovers are using the blogosphere to publicize their criticism of the Discovery Channel’s “horror-show” portrayal of sharks during its annual Shark Week. This loose coalition argues the Discovery Channel programming sensationalizes shark attacks and embellishes the dangers sharks pose to humans.
Jamaica: The Last Don
As “word on the street has it that the Jamaican Security Forces have created a ‘Don Squad'”, Annie Paul interviews the man behind the film The Last Don, “about the process of making this comic documentary and his own history as a film-maker and photographer.”
Trinidad & Tobago: Media Responsibility
Attillah Springer considers the role of the local media in light of a comment by the Prime Minister: “It’s a time-honoured tradition in Trinidad now for Prime Ministers to have suspicion and contempt for the media. Papa Patos is right this time though. The media aren’t playing their role properly....
Trinidad & Tobago: In Pictures
A few “random shots” of Trinidad and Tobago, courtesy This Beach Called Life.
Barbados: Reduce, Re-use, Recycle
“Our culture and attitudes must change from that of ‘guvment take care of it’ to ‘This street is mine and I must take care of my property’.”: Barbados Free Press says that there's no excuse for not recycling.
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