Stories from Quick Reads and St. Vincent & the Grenadines
Caribbean: Kids & Technology
Caribbean diaspora blogger Tobias Buckell says that the biggest surprise about living with five year olds is “their uptake of [tech] devices.”
Trinidad & Tobago: Hollick Arvon Prize Finalists
The Bocas Lit Fest Blog has announced that emerging writers from Jamaica, Grenada, St. Vincent and Trinidad and Tobago are the finalists for the much-coveted 2014 Hollick Arvon Caribbean Writers Prize, now in its second year.
Race as a Political Weapon in the Caribbean
Of all the offensive – and unintelligent – statements made in the politics of the post-independence Caribbean, an assertion, that Dr Keith Rowley, the leader of the Opposition in Trinidad and Tobago, is ‘too black’ to be Prime Minister, has to rate as the worst. Bajan Reporter explains why such...
Caribbean: Tropical Storm Chantal
Tropical Storm Chantal has caused the temporary closure of some regional airports and the cancellation of flights. The Bajan Reporter has the latest.
St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Environmental Entrepreneur
In an era where youth…are seen as being dissolute it is truly heart warming to recognise the drive and talent of this young man. Abeni salutes Kamara Jerome, a 20-year-old Vincentian entrepreneur, who won the Best Environmental Award in the Caribbean Innovation Challenge.
St. Vincent, Haiti: Easter Traditions & Changes
I find Easter has taken on a ‘carnivalish’ vibe. From St. Vincent, Abeni muses about “the changing face of Easter”, while Theater of Life looks at the Haitian tradition of kite-flying at Easter time.
St. Vincent, Grenada: Silly Electoral System?
The stupidity is the electoral system we operate under that leaves thousands without a political voice in the Parliamentary Halls. A landslide victory for the opposition in Grenada's national elections prompts Abeni to wonder whether the region needs constitutional and electoral reform.
Belize, St. Vincent: Garifuna Culture
…the Garifuna language, which integrates Arawak and Carib, and which was declared a ‘masterpiece of the oral intangible heritage of humanity’ by UNESCO in 2001, is severely threatened. It possesses forms and structures used exclusively by males, and is the only survivor of the island languages descended from Arawakan. In...
St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Senegal Scam
When the top cop gets duped by an internet scam you don't know if to laugh or cry. Abeni thinks the Police Commissioner “should have done the honourable thing and resigned.”
St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Archaeological Finds
St Vincent and the Grenadines is fast becoming an archaeological treasure. And Still I Rise explains.
St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Paralympic Inspiration
They are all winners because they chose not to feel sorry for themselves but to embrace life despite their limitations. Abeni salutes the Paralympians.
St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Stunned by Suicides
And Still I Rise is saddened by “news of three suicides by hanging have stunned the nation.”
St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Political Letters
Vinci Kallaloo wants to know if former New Democratic Party Senator Anesia Baptiste had written a letter to Opposition Leader Arnhim Eustace in search of an appointment to Parliament much in the same way she wrote one contesting her recent dismissal.
St. Vincent & the Grenadines: R.I.P. “Rasum”
Abeni pays tribute to the late Gerard “Rasum” Shallow, “a colossus on the Vincentian cultural landscape.”
St. Vincent & the Grenadines: White Collar Criminals
“Recently, stories of theft at government agencies have been making the news”: Abeni says that “[people get sent] off to jail…for the petty crimes while the big league thieves strut about the place as happy as could be. Something has got to be wrong with that picture!”
St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Women's Congress
“There is great buzz about St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ first ever Women’s Congress to take place in March”: CODE RED says that “ff the Women’s Congress can move towards the creating women as a political constituency they will have achieved tremendous success.”
Jamaica, St. Vincent: Happy Earth Day, Mr. Marley
Geoffrey Philp and Abeni both pay tribute to the late reggae icon Bob Marley on his birthday.
St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Caring Diaspora
“Sometimes I have scant respect for Vincentians in the diaspora. They appear to be extremely critical of everything Vincentian, know what's best for us but provide little beyond chatter”: Abeni has found a notable exception to the rule.
St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Favourite Proverbs
“I consider them to be expressive and beautiful in a way that is so Caribbean”: Abeni blogs about West Indian proverbs.
St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Don't Blame the Women
“Every now and again politicians make comments that are mind numbingly stupid”: Abeni calls out St. Vincent's deputy Prime Minister for her plea to “Vincentian females not to dress in a manner that tempts men.”
St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Time for a Slutwalk?
CODE RED calls the comments of the deputy Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines “particularly dangerous in the context of such high levels of violence against women and murders of women…for the millionth time, clothing does not invite nor excuse violence against women.”
