Latest posts by Janine Mendes-Franco from January, 2012
Haiti: Two Years, Today
Today is the second anniversary of the Haiti earthquake. Regional bloggers post remembrances, here, here and here.
Trinidad & Tobago: Drum Culture
In a guest post at Trinidad and Tobago News Blog, rapso artiste Brother Resistance remembers one of the country's “musical pioneers”, percussionist Ja Jah Oga Onilu, who recently passed away.
Guyana: All Kinds of Cowards
“I’s afflicted with the kinda cringing-minging-tiptoeing timidity that people don’t take seriously”: Guyana-Gyal “decide[s] to embrace [her] Inner Coward.”
Bahamas: The Gay Agenda
A local newspaper carries a story of a pastor warning of “the gay threat from the US and Canada”, prompting Rick Lowe at Weblog Bahamas to ask: “Can't we understand that if consenting adults are homosexual what business is it of yours, mine or the good pastor?”
Cuba: Rediscovering “Trova”
Generation Y blogs about the musical genre of Trova, noting that for many Cubans, “those ideological tunes — alluding to the New Man or the society he will inhabit — have been thrown into the well of forgetfulness.”
Bahamas: Majority Rule
Blogworld is celebrating Majority Rule Day, “a day that made it possible for [her] father, mother…uncles and aunts to hold the positions they held in the late twentieth century, and for which basic freedoms our forefathers fought.”
Cuba: Political Arrests in 2011
Uncommon Sense and babalu refer to a report from the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, which states that there were “4,123 politically-motivated arrests — including almost 800 in December alone — of human rights activists and other dissidents” last year.
Guyana: Considering Corruption
“To invest, you got to pay your dues. Self-righteous people does call it ‘bribe'”: Guyana-Gyal is “balk[ing] ‘n’ squawk[ing] against paying the staff in the birth certificate office.”
Trinidad & Tobago: Raymond Questions Media Integrity
Afra Raymond finally confirms this story on his blog: ” My commentary column on the former Minister of Finance, Karen Nunez-Tesheira, was sent to her for comment by the Guardian’s Acting Editor-in-Chief, Anthony Wilson. That is a completely improper action, which is a breach of basic media ethics. When I...
Cuba: The Blogger Behind “Sin Evasion”
At Havana Times, Yusimi Rodriguez posts an interview with blogger Miriam Celaya, “to learn about her life, her ideas and how much of a mercenary, cyber-terrorist and pro-imperialist she really is.”
Dominican Republic: Farewell to El Goyo & Sención
Repeating Islands acknowledges the deaths of “outstanding Cuban dancer, singer and percussionist Gregorio Hernández” and Dominican writer Viriato Sención, whose “work was marked by its commitment to historical truth and cultural engagement.”
Cuba: Farinas Arrested Again
Uncommon Sense reports that Guillermo Farinas, ” a psychologist…independent journalist [and] of Cuba's best-known human rights activists” has once again been arrested, along with “11 other anti-Castro activists”.
Barbados: Preventing Another CLICO Scandal
“Three years after the collapse of CLICO and there is still doubt that any serious regional regulatory framework has been established to prevent a recurrence”: Barbados Underground is concerned.
Cuba: Reports of Repression
babalu reports on “another wave of repression against the island's peaceful human rights activists” here and here.
Puerto Rico: A Shift in the Dialogue
Gil the Jenius is heartbroken by the fact that his inner voice is changing: “When Our inner voice changes, everything else changes as well. Mine is going from ‘adventure’ to ‘caution,’ while that of many of My Brethren is going from ‘I don't care’ to ‘I'm getting out of here.’...
St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Getting Tourism Right
“There is a St Vincent we love…and to our delight CNN, New York Times Travel and Travel and leisure have placed our island paradise on their top spots to visit in 2012″: But, says Abeni, “The ball is firmly in our court to create a favorable impression since we'd only...
Trinidad & Tobago: The Silk Situation
Plain Talk gives his take on “the public brouhaha that erupted over the controversial awarding of ‘Silk’ to the Chief Justice and fellow Justice Wendell Kangaloo among others…”
Cuba: Communist Party Conference
As the next Communist Party Conference approaches, Generation Y says: “The time ‘purchased’ last April during the Party Congress is about to end. The political reforms are urgent and even the system’s most faithful have begun to despair.”
Jamaica: Playing Dead
Active Voice takes notice of a story in which a man, after being shot by police, “declined to allow himself to be pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital”, saying: “I sincerely hope the media will monitor the progress of this case. Otherwise no prize for guessing what happens next....
Bahamas: Storytelling
A Global Voices post gets Womanish Words “thinking about stories, how powerful they are, how the act of telling them is also incredibly powerful.”
Cuba: The Justice System
Laritza Diversent reports on the trial of the former policemen who killed a black teen for stealing fruit from a tree.
