Stories about Caribbean from November, 2012
A Historic Road Takes an Online Detour in “La Calle Loíza”
A walk down one of the grittiest streets in the Puerto Rican capital of San Juan has a new pit stop, and it’s online. Calle Loíza, in the historic downtown sector of Santurce, is a lively mix of down home Caribbean earthiness and the trendy.
Cuba: Time for Constitutional Reform?
Iván García suggests that Cuba needs a constitution that serves the interests of the entire population.
Trinidad & Tobago: Useless Labels
In a society where name-calling and labelling is the easy way out, we must be mindful of the words we use. West Indian Mother suggests that it's time to throw out the labels.
The Bahamas: U.S. Election Result Sign of a Global Shift?
The recently-concluded U.S. election captured the interest of the entire world. Post-election, a couple of bloggers from the Caribbean territory that is geographically closest to the United States - the Bahamas - shared their thoughts about the outcome.
Jamaica: The Gay Man is Somebody's Son
Referring to the recent gay bashing at a Jamaican university, Active Voice republishes a poem by Tanya Shirley as “a timely intervention into the barbarism threatening to drown us.”
Guyana: Women are not Objects
[It is] a racist, sexist colonial throwback which draws on a long history of the sexualisation, commodification and thingification of the brown woman’s body. Code Red is trying to raise awareness of the dangers of sexist advertising.
Yet Another Political Status Referendum in Puerto Rico
In the fourth political status referendum in its history, Puerto Rico is prepared to choose whether to be annexed to the United States, independent, or a sovereign US commonwealth. Given that the vote, regardless of the results, does not bind Congress to act in any way, —and the failure of three previous referendums—, there is little hope that any change in political relations will be achieved between Puerto Rico and the United States.
Puerto Rico Votes Today
The website of the State Elections Commission of Puerto Rico (Comisión Estatal de Elecciones-CEE) will be constantly offering updates on today's elections in the Island.
Jamaicans Debate Gay-Bashing Incident
The beating of a gay student at the University of Technology in Jamaica has continued to be a subject of discussion online. While the exact details of the incident are still not completely known, much of the discussion has centered around homophobia and the culture of violence in Jamaica.
Haiti: Hurricanes Hardest on the Poor
Haiti Chery laments the fact that the poor always seem to suffer the most when it comes to natural disasters.
Protest in Trinidad & Tobago over Section 34 Scandal
On Friday, various sectors of the Trinidad and Tobago public participated in a protest march calling for the resignations of Attorney General Anand Ramlogan and Minister of National Security Jack Warner - part of the continuing fallout over the Section 34 debacle.
Jamaica: Talking about the Gay Issue
Take a look at another perspective on the beating of a gay university student in Jamaica.
Bahamas: Banking or Learning?
If a school in no way challenges its students to synthesize, analyze, interrogate, I fail to see how that school can produce critical thinkers, educated citizens or nation builders. Blogworld sees the value of displacing the banking concept in education.
Curacao: Feeling the Tension
The recent parliamentary elections in Curacao have brought a lot of racial and cultural tension to the surface. Karen Attiah thinks it is a real problem.
Cuba: “Hurricane” Damage
Notes from the Cuban Exile Quarter calls Fidel Castro “Cuba's longest and most damaging hurricane”, while Through the Eye of the Needle refers to Hurricane Sandy as “‘The Matador,’ — The Killer — who has come to give the final mortal blow to a bull already greatly injured by stabs...
Student Beating Raises Issue of Homophobia in Jamaica
A gay student at Jamaica's University of Technology (UTech) was allegedly caught in a "compromising position" and suffered a beating at the hands of campus security guards. The incident was captured on video and immediately went viral, raising the question of homophobia and gay rights in Jamaica.
India: Playwright Girish Karnad Slams Award for V.S. Naipaul
The audience was surprised at the Tata Literature Live! festival in Mumbai on November 2, when playwright Girish Karnad spoke angrily about the presentation of an award to Nobel laureate V.S. Naipaul, who Karnad accused of being anti-Muslim.
Saint Lucia: 25 Proposals to Help Move Forward
Amatus Edwards has a comprehensive list of 25 proposals to help move Saint Lucia forward.
Jamaica: Creole and Jamaican Identity
Our educators don’t seem to understand that as long as we tell children that they ‘chat bad’ when they use their mother tongue, we are planting the seeds of low self-esteem. And we will reap badness. Or, perhaps, we do understand and that’s why we refuse to acknowledge Jamaican as...
Grenada: Government In Crisis
With more MPs opposed to the regime, than supporting it; with the ruling party divided down the middle; with the economy in free fall; with salaries late again – Prime Minister Thomas has lost the moral authority to govern. Hamlet Mark feels that Grenada's Prime Minister Tillman Thomas should either...
Trinidad & Tobago: Taking Steps To Combat White Collar Crime
This crisis is an important opportunity to decide if we want to do differently. Do we? If not, crapaud smoke we pipe. If we really want to do differently, we have to start thinking differently and stop the point-scoring games. Afra Raymond thinks that decisive action needs to be taken to combat...
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