I am a writer and media producer based in Trinidad and Tobago. Follow me on Twitter @JanineMFranco.
Latest posts by Janine Mendes-Franco from August, 2014
In Defense of the National Gallery of Jamaica's Director
Over the last month, the National Gallery of Jamaica's executive director's leadership was the target of criticism, first via an anonymous letter written to the Jamaica Gleaner newspaper, and then in a blog post written by blogger Annie Paul, which she prefaced by saying: I’ve been closely involved with the...
Trinidad & Tobago: Back-to-School Apps
ICT Pulse shares 5 useful apps for staying organised once school starts.
Ferguson Evocative of Civil Rights Movement, Says Trinidadian Diaspora Blogger
What’s happened – and what is HAPPENING in Ferguson makes my heart hurt. The ache won’t go away. The anger won’t go away. We’re witnessing history in the making, and history repeating itself. What will be the lessons we learn this time? What scars will we bear? Trinidadian diaspora blogger...
Bahamian Women Battling for Equal Rights
You would think that a nation which spent so much of the 20th century doggedly pursing equality would be united today over equal rights for women to pass on citizenship to their children and spouses. You would think that a constitutional provision to prevent discrimination against more than half the...
Cubans Join Authorised Users of Google Chrome
Google Chrome finally becomes “legal” in Cuba and blogger Yoani Sanchez says that she gleans great satisfaction from “knowing that the opinions of citizens interested in the free flow of information and technology influenced the elimination of this prohibition.”
Lessons from Marcus Garvey, Jamaica's First National Hero
Marcus Garvey, who was born 127 years ago, was a fervent supporter of Pan-Africanism. On the anniversary of his birthday, two bloggers commemorated the leader.
Demanding Gender Equality in the Bahamas
Lynn Sweeting, blogging at Womanish Words, wants equality for women in the Bahamas and pens a poem in that regard.
Safety Measures Against Ebola in Cuba
Thus far, no-one in Cuba has contracted the deadly Ebola virus and the government wants to keep it that way. Havana Times reports on “increased control measures to prevent the possible introduction of Ebola into Cuba”, adding that The Ministry of Public Health and other supporting agencies are being extra...
Trinidad & Tobago: Is Education Really About Learning?
Why, oh why, did I fail what is clearly a basic english class? The easy answer – I didn’t try hard enough […] The more complicated answer lies in a system so rigid that I am required to take freshman english despite all proof and indications to the contrary. Trinidad...
Jamaica: #Ferguson & #Gaza
Jamaica-based blogger Annie Paul republishes a compilation of tweets that show the similarities between the standoff in #Gaza and in #Ferguson, where yet another unarmed black man was gunned down by the police. The response to the resulting protests by U.S. law enforcement has been so brutal that netizens are...
Jamaican Women Are Speaking Out Online Against the ‘Widespread Sickness’ of Public Sexual Harassment
"Instead of falling into the trap of thinking that unwanted sexual attention is a compliment, women must fight back. We cannot passively see ourselves as victims."
What Gardening Has Taught Me About Civic Responsibility
Our Trinidad-based Caribbean editor has learned a lot of things in her garden. She shares eight seeds that germinated into her civic consciousness here.
Investment Deal with China Leaves Jamaicans With More Questions Than Answers
I AM SO FLABBERGASTED: WHO gives a FOREIGN government the RIGHT to CHOOSE WHICH LAND IT WANTS? As part of an investment exchange, the Jamaican government has agreed to give 1,200 acres of land to the Chinese government – wherever it wants. Cucumber Juice has critical questions that she feels...
Caribbean Court of Justice Mired in Controversy
Barbados Free Press says that few people realise “that the vaunted Caribbean Court of Justice carries no actual power or authority”, partly because compliance with the court's decisions is apparently voluntary. Comparing the institution to a toothless bulldog, the post went on to provide links to reports on several incidents...
More Than a Half Century Later, How Should Jamaica View Its Independence Day?
The learning curve for a people who historically never had a say continues to be a steep one, especially in a climate where corruption was already entrenched.
5 Things One Blogger Thinks You Should Know About People of African Descent in Trinidad & Tobago
We have evidence in our culture, historical facts, which show how the African experience in the Caribbean has helped define our landscape and spirit. In honour of emancipation, Amilcar Sanatan shares five things about Afro-Trinbagonians you never knew: they are not a monolith, they don't all vote along ethnic lines,...
Emancipation Day Sees New Triumph as Haitian-Born Dominican is Declared a National
Emancipation Day, the anniversary of which is marked in several Caribbean territories on August 1, inspired two Jamaican bloggers to consider the occasion more closely. Nadine Tomlinson quoted Marcus Garvey on the importance of emancipating the mind, while her compatriot, Jean Lowrie-Chin, thought it significant that August 1 also marked...
Trinidad & Tobago's Minister of Sport Resigns Under Duress
Trinidad and Tobago's Minister of Sport has been forced to resign following public dissatisfaction surrounding the corrupt LifeSport programme, in which millions of dollars were allegedly funneled out to fund criminal activities and contractors were reportedly paid huge sums of money without actually doing any work. Wired868 republishes the full...
Should the Caribbean ‘Free Up the Herb'? This Attorney Thinks So
As the debate on marijuana's legal status rages in the Caribbean, attorney and activist Richie Maitland argues in favor of decriminalisation.
