I am a writer and media producer based in Trinidad and Tobago. Follow me on Twitter @JanineMFranco.
Latest posts by Janine Mendes-Franco from December, 2008
Trinidad & Tobago: Carnival Culture
“Minister of Culture Marlene Mc Donald has no doubts that Carnival 2009 will be a success even in the face of the global economic crisis”: Trinidad Carnival Diary is not...
Cuba: Remembering José Silvestre White
AfriClassical profles José Silvestre White, an Afro-Cuban violinist who became a composer and professor after graduating from the Paris Conservatory.
Trinidad & Tobago:
“It is an interesting note on which to end this year. Going back in order to go forward, knowing what went to know what comes next”: Trinidadian blogger Attillah Springer...
Bermuda, Grenada: Freedom of Information
Bermudian blogger Vexed Bermoothes reports that Grenada is in the process of introducing a Freedom of Information Act and public sector integrity legislation, with additional plans to “establish a common...
Jamaica: Communing
“We won’t be condemning the Palestinians or the Israelis…we won’t be contributing to the chaos on frontlines…[we] have decided that our approach will be to help bridge communities”: Jamaica's Abeng...
Cuba: Letter to Castro
Cuban diaspora blogger Uncommon Sense links to an open letter [ES] to Fidel Castro, written by a political prisoner.
Trinidad & Tobago: The Goings-On in Gaza
Notes from Port of Spain examines the situation in Gaza: “In terms of resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it is a total waste of time and of life. It is a...
Cuba: Subsidies
As “Raúl Castro reaffirmed the idea of ending subsidies”, Generation Y observes: “Between the symbolic price of a pound of rationed rice, and the enormous ‘slice’ of our salaries taken...
Cuba: Wishing for Freedom
Cuban blogger Retazos [ES] shares some of her wishes for 2009.
Cuba: Waiting for Cable
The submarine cable linking Cuba and Venezuela has “a vague completion date” of 2011, but Generation Y is clear about “what this projected umbilical cord should bring us.”
Bahamas: Students & Drugs
“In the Bahamas, the average age for male and female students who peddle and smoke weed/drugs is age 13 and 14, respectively”: Adrian Gibson at Weblog Bahamas says that “the...
Haiti: Restavek
“In the truest definition of the word it means ‘one who stays with'”: Tara at The Livesay Haiti Weblog says that the Restavek system “might be one of the most...
Trinidad & Tobago, Cuba: City of Contradictions
Trinidadian blogger Tattoo spends Christmas in Havana and comes away with the impression that “the revolution has not achieved a new equilibrium. Instead, it has re-appropriated the inequalities inherent in...
Cuba, U.S.A.: Lifting Limits?
Uncommon Sense links to an article which suggests that US President-Elect Barack Obama seems prepared to lift limits “on how often Cuban Americans can visit family members on the island...
Jamaica: Blogging in Times of War
The Israeli strikes on Gaza cause Jamaican Annie Paul to remember Nobel Prize-winning German author Günter Grass’ “heartfelt rumination on war and the role of writers in times of war”,...
Guyana: Best Books
Litblogger Signifyin’ Guyana lists her picks for best Caribbean books of 2008.
Trinidad & Tobago, U.S.A.: Sock & Awe
Trinidadian blogger Attillah Springer is playing Sock and Awe, “the simply brilliant online game” in which more than 46 million people have pelted shoes at President Bush – but more...
Trinidad & Tobago: Booming
Caribbean Free Radio posts an interesting podcast with Trinidad rapso artistes 3 Canal.
Cuba: Be Part of the Solution
Generation Y‘s Yoani Sanchez has the solution to Cuba's problems: “Let everyone speak, no matter whether in complaint or in support of a proposal designed to address the problems…only freedom...
