Global Voices Online

“Nothing seemed to say ‘made in Jamaica' as much as Bata”: Long Bench discovers the roots of the shoe brand that saw her through her school years and realises “there’s a little bit of us in what we consume.”

Jamaican litblogger Geoffrey Philp features Guyanese poet Cyril Dabydeen in his own words.

Vexed Bermoothes weighs in on the call by Trinidad and Tobago's Prime Minister for regional territories to move towards economic and political integration: “My advice to Bermuda: stay out of it. As a community, we treasure our cultural and family links to the Caribbean. But there’s little benefit to us economically to get involved in Caribbean federation.”

YardFlex.com reports on the damage that Hurricane Gustav has wreaked in Haiti, even as the storm heads for the North Coast of Jamaica.

“Jamaica's garrison politics found its way onto the Olympics stage in two performances – once in a scintillating display of athletic grace and vigor, and once in a celebratory performance of the “gully creepa”: Abeng News Magazine explains.

As Jamaican Annie Paul waits for Hurricane Gustav “to huff and puff and blow our house down”, she blogs about everything from Usain Bolt-inspired dance moves to Michelle Obama: “(She) was impressive, wasn't she? Neither pale, nor male–i can identify with that…”

“The buzz issue in the Caribbean media in recent weeks is whether the CARIFORUM members will sign-on to the CARIFORUM/EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA)”: Barbados Underground examines a few of the issues.

“The pictures of the Jamaican track teams facilities haunt me. But what they prove, perhaps is that all the high tech this, that and the other can’t take the place of the sheer power of the human spirit”: Trinidadian blogger Attillah Springer wonders “if we have what it takes to produce a Usain Bolt and a Richard Thompson, how come so many of our people are being left behind in the dust?”