Stories from Quick Reads and Guyana
Amazon: Improving Public’s Perception of the Forest
InfoAmazonia is a platform that brings together organizations and journalists from nine countries of one of the most biodiverse areas in the world to freely provide news and reports of the endangered Amazon region. The website maps deforestation, fires, oil and mining, and calls for public participation through the submission...
Caribbean: Marking Eid
There were just two posts from within the Caribbean region talking about Eid-ul-Fitr, which was celebrated yesterday: this one from Guyana and this, from Trinidad and Tobago, which republishes the President's Eid message.
Guyana: Violence in Linden
Code Red says that “the Caribbean community has been shamefully silent” about police violence in the town of Linden.
Guyana: Olympic Dreams
Guyana-Gyal explains how the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in London “remind[ed] [her] to stay true to [her] dreams, no matter how mad they might sound to them people here.”
Guyana: Linden Protests
Imran Khan explores the roots of the Linden Protests and concludes that the recent electricity rate hike is merely the latest in a long series of “economic and social hardships” meted out to the citizen of that mining community.
Guyana: Editorial Ethics
Ruel Johnson responds to a recent controversial Guyana Chronicle editorial which asserted that black youth in Guyana were socialised to be resentful of Indians : “First of all, editorials are the highest form of journalism and basic journalism calls for the citation of sources of information – generalisations in editorials therefore usually point to...
Guyana: Being Black
Imran Khan addresses the issue of racism in Guyana, saying: “[It] has become a country in which one is privileged to be Indo-Guyanese and cursed to Afro-Guyanese. It is not just not ok to be black in Guyana, it is a condemnation to a life of less.”
Guyana: Race Relations
“In the past decade or so this demonic cancer of contemporary Guyana has been intensifying with systematic, contumelious frequency. We, as a nation, have not failed to take notice but we ignore it”: Imran Khan blogs about racism.
Guyana: Stories in Photos
“These young photo enthusiasts now are capturing not only life and landscape but vibes, passions and feelings…in years to come, they will be reminded, as will generations to follow, of how life used to be when Guyana was yet to define her place in the world”: Imran Khan blogs about...
Guyana: Shared Humanity
“I do not believe that the response to human savagery and the solution to banditry should be vulgar violence and the public glorification of the defilement of a human being”: A powerful post by Imran Khan about humanity, society and intelligent thinking.
Guyana: Creator of “Cuffie” Statue Dies
Demerara Waves acknowledges the passing of “internationally acclaimed artist and sculptor, Philip Moore”, who was perhaps best known for sculpting the 1763 Monument, a tribute to Cuffy, a former slave who is recognised as a national hero in Guyana.
Guyana: Send in the Clowns
“Every morning then, without fail, the clown put on she joie de vivre and tumble out”: Guyana-Gyal tries to keep a smile on her face despite her mother's diagnosis.
Barbados, Guyana: “Fearless” Freddie
Barbados Underground has been “following closely what is happening to the man we have dubbed the ‘Fearless Journalist’ Professor Freddie Kissoon,” adding: “The silence of regional media and governments is unacceptable on this matter.”
Guyana: Protest at University
Bloggers report on protests against the firing of journalist and lecturer Freddie Kissoon from the national university, here and here.
Guyana: Kissoon Firing as “Rodney Redux”
“The government and its sycophantic outliers may argue from now until the cows come home that the days of Burnham are over, but this is essentially Walter Rodney redux…”: The Minority Report adds its voice to the outcry over the firing of Freddie Kissoon from the University of Guyana.
Guyana: “Controversial” Kissoon
Bloggers report on the recent firing of journalist and political science lecturer Freddie Kissoon from the University of Guyana.
Guyana: First Female Colonel
Repeating Islands notes that “in a history making moment, the promotion of Guyana’s first female Colonel was today announced. She is the region’s first serving female colonel.”
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.”
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.”
Guyana: crime and insecurity
“Travel around coastland Guyana and you will see it too,” writes Imran Khan: “burglar bars, grillwork, heavily armed company security forces, reinforced doors, guard huts, watchmen, security lights, CCTV cameras.” He muses on the relationship between crime, underdevelopment, and political leadership.
Guyana: politics and egg-pelting
Guyana-Gyal gives a wry account of a recent political protest in Guyana, involving an egg-pelting incident. “No-bady, noooobady can do politics like Turd Whirl people. We should call it Frolitics.”
