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Boston
Our son went to school near Boston for four years. Strangely – and shockingly for him – his first day of school was Tuesday, September 11, 2001. I remember reading sadly that members of a family from...
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Midweek Special: A Jamaican News Update for April 17, 2013
This is the first of my twice-weekly bulletins. I am attempting to break down my focus on Jamaican happenings into more digestible chunks… Let me know what you think. The Azan mess: On Monday, the...
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Maggie and Me: Some Thoughts on Leadership
The funeral of Baroness Margaret Hilda Thatcher, the United Kingdom’s first and only female Prime Minister, took place in London yesterday. She was one of the longest-serving Prime Ministers (over...
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Word Flow, Word Play
Jamaicans have an energetic relationship with words. They fling them, they shout them, they play with them, they let them sing. And so it was at a light-hearted, but quietly passionate session of open...
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Here’s the second half of the week: April 21, 2013
Well, dear readers, the first part of my weekly review can be found here: http://petchary.wordpress.com/2013/04/18/midweek-special-a-jamaican-news-update-for-april-17-2013/ Here is Part Two… “No new...
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Mid-Week Bulletin: Wednesday, April 24, 2013
We had rain! Yes, you know, that wet stuff that makes you wet. It was glorious in Kingston, splashing around for a bit. The cooler temperature is delightful. Our whole garden has woken up again. The...
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Playing Politics With Jamaica's Future
Reblogged from VERITAS: Editor's Note : The views expressed below are not my own. Javed Jaghai returns to Veritas with his take on Jamaica's current political realities. Read. Reflect. Comment....
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Moringa in Spring
It’s hard to differentiate between the seasons here in the tropics, of course. But now there is a little freshness in the air. After a few showers that eased our crippling drought, the garden seems to...
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Sunday Thoughts: April 28, 2013
Dear and faithful readers: I hope you are finding the two-part review more convenient and timely. I certainly find it much more manageable, from the writing point of view! As you will see, I still add...
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Optimism for the Children
A hot Monday morning in Kingston, during Child Month. Wiping the sweat from my brow, I am standing and chatting with a group from the Sunset Optimist Club of Liguanea in front of the offices of Eve for...
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An IDAHO State of Mind
And I am not talking about the American state! IDAHO is the acronym for International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. This afternoon in Jamaica, J-FLAG will host a discussion in Kingston on the...
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Natural Histories: Everald Brown
Reblogged from National Gallery of Jamaica Blog: The work of self-taught painter and sculptor Everald Brown is best understood in the context of religious Rastafari and African-Jamaican spirituality....
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Sunday Notes and Happy Birthday, Malcolm: May 19, 2013
Today is Malcolm X’s birthday; he would have been 88 years old. Tragically, his young grandson, Malcolm Shabazz, was murdered on May 9 at a Mexico City nightclub. But here’s a little Caribbean...
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Midweek in Jamaica: May 22, 2013
Four years ago today, fire broke out at the Armadale Juvenile Correctional Centre in St. Ann. Seven girls – wards of the state – died as a result of the fire, and eleven were injured. It was a real...
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Ja Blog Day 2013: Police and Security Force Abuses
BACKGROUND NOTE: Ja Blog Day 2013 commemorates the third anniversary of the Tivoli Gardens Massacre, when Jamaican security forces invaded the community in west Kingston in search of an alleged drug...
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51% Coalition welcomes positive news for women’s development
We, the 51% Coalition,wholeheartedly welcome the Ministry of Education’s new policy which permits girls who leave school for reasons of pregnancy to return to class after the birth of their child. The...
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Mangoes, Mosquitoes: It’s May 26, 2013
We have had alternate sun and heavy rain for most of the week, and our garden is glowing. The house is full of a) mangoes and b) mosquitoes – the former far more pleasant than the latter of course, and...
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A Small Spider Spirit
We have noticed that, for the last week or two, a fairly small spider appears every night in a specific corner of the bathroom floor. He/she just sits there, unmoving. With only five legs he/she is...
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Wet Wednesday: May 29, 2013
The rain started with a flurry of wind and grumbling thunder which made our usually brave dogs tremble. Since then it has continued in a determined way, not wanting to stop. The JTA furore: This has...
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Revealing the Silences of the Past
If you drive along the gently winding road, with mangroves and dark lagoons on one side and sandhills spiked with cactus on the other, you will reach the small town of Port Royal. It is perched at the...
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