Latest posts by Janine Mendes-Franco from July, 2011
Barbados: Escargot, Anyone?
Barbados Free Press suggests that when it comes to the invasive Giant African Snail, if you can't beat ‘em, eat ‘em.
Haiti: The Price of Work
Haiti Grassroots Watch, along with students from the Journalism Laboratory at the State University of Haiti’s Faculty of Human Sciences, investigates a “Cash for Work” program in the Ravine Pintade slum run by a US “non-profit” organization, and uncovers corruption, sexual abuse and social conflict.
Cuba: Defending “Las Damas”
Cuban bloggers continue to update their posts about the most recent attack on Las Damas de Blanco, in which members of the group were reportedly “attacked and brutally beaten…by agents of Castro State Security upon exiting a church sanctuary.”
Haiti: Student Murdered in DR
BELTIFI INC. republishes a news release about the murder of a Haitian student in the Dominican Republic, saying: “Our deepest condolences and prayers go out to the Lindor family.”
Caribbean: Carnival in Toronto
The Caribbean Camera posts a photo album of the 2011 Kiddies Carnival Toronto Parade, here.
Trinidad & Tobago: Photography in Media
Mark Lyndersay considers the future of photography in local mainstream media: “Why would a young photographer have shown up in a newsroom looking for work two decades ago? You either wanted to learn the craft or get published. In 2011, neither of these reasons is enough…”
Barbados: REDJet in T&T
On learning that REDJet has finally been approved to provide service out of Trinidad and Tobago, B.C. Pires says: “[It is] going to be good for everyone who thought something was wrong, somewhere, if it cost about the same to fly from Trinidad to Barbados as from Trinidad to New...
Cuba: Stowaway Dies
“There is no thermometer that measures human despair and each person has his own threshold of resistance”: Yoani Sanchez and Babalu blog about the sad fate of some who try to escape Cuba.
Cuba: Female Activists Reportedly Beaten/Detained
Reports of harassment of the Ladies in White and other female activists, here and here.
Trinidad & Tobago: LGBT Community
“Some people automatically assume that the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) community is full of immorality, promiscuity, sin, parties, drug users, AIDS and STD carriers, and criminals”: Outlish investigates what the local LGBT community is really like.
Trinidad & Tobago: The Colman Comission
Tattoo is following the Sir Anthony Colman Commission of Inquiry into the Clico/HCU collapse and notices that in many ways, history is repeating itself, adding: “As the wheels of time turn, the vulnerable, no doubt, will continue to pay.”
Jamaica: Rivers & Mountains
“One of my favourite Caribbean proverbs comes from Haiti…‘Deye mon genmon’. Translated: behind the mountains there are mountains. It is such a fantastic description of the landscapes of both Jamaica and Haiti…Our hills roll on forever. Our mountains never end”: Under the Saltire Flag reflects on music, landscapes and the...
Trinidad & Tobago: Impressionistic Art
Woman of Color blogs about a new artist who paints impressionistic landscapes.
Bermuda: Out of Sync Development
Of the controversial Bazarian development, Vexed Bermoothes says: “We have some screwy priorities in this country. We refused to plan for housing that our international executives could buy…and then we give concessions in order to develop the same thing under the guise of tourism.”
Bahamas: Road Works
Weblog Bahamas‘ Jerome Pinder wonders if the New Providence Road Improvement Project is a “road to nowhere…”
Cuba: Interview with Palacios
the voice of el morro interviews Hector Palacios, a name associated with “the internal opposition in Cuba.”
Bermuda: The Good Governance Act
“The Web has been around for 20 years now. It’s a pity the Bermuda Government has yet to use it to distribute the bills that have been tabled for debate in the House of Assembly…”: Still, Vexed Bermoothes manages to get a copy of the Good Governance Act and shares...
Cuba: Race and Sex
“Racism in Cuba has several faces. And variations. But when it comes time to “play the tune”…skin color disappears as if by magic”: Iván García is concerned that “the race issue in Cuba is a real time bomb.”
St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Sex Education
The public reaction to Abeni‘s T-shirt, emblazoned with the words “Sex nice, but de AIDS ting…”, leads her to conclude “that HIV education has to overcome so many prejudices. The reluctance to talk about sex in a holistic way forces the young and not so young to accept myths as...
Trinidad & Tobago: FIFA Report
Globewriter posts what he believes to be FIFA's preliminary report on the Jack Warner and Bin Hamman controversy, which led to Warner's resignation as vice-president.
Cuba: On Queue
“The queue in Cuba…is our music, our magic, our politics. It is the place where we philosophise…the campfire around which we perform our daily routines: conversing, falling for and out with people and, quipping”: A Cuban in London says you haven't seen a real line until you line up in...
