In Focus

My friend was Jamaican, black-skinned and extremely proud of his skin colour. “Brother Mark, let us stop the rubbish. In Jamaica, brown skin and white Jamaicans will always be ahead of the rest of us, because they control the insiders.” To his way...

There have been significant and innovative scientific breakthroughs in HIV prevention and treatment that make the ambitious goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat more possible. However, for many countries in the Caribbean, the systemic...

Security officials in Jamaica are celebrating an almost 20 per cent reduction in the number of murders committed in 2024 compared to 2023. This glorification of statistical reduction in murders is frightening. It signals acceptance of the disregard...

The award of the Ballon d’Or for the best European-based footballer to Spain’s 28-year old Manchester City midfielder Rodri instead of the red-hot favourite, Real Madrid’s 24-year old Afro-Brazilian winger, Vinícius “Vini” Jr., is the most...

In the four decades as a mentor, guide, and ‘ginnygog’ encourager/leader of A-QuEST, I have had the awesome privilege of nurturing some of the brightest young minds in Jamaica, CARICOM, and occasionally even Brazil, Haiti, Sri Lanka, and the United...

I returned from Brazil in November after participating in the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) annual general assembly and scientific symposium. The symposium aimed to re-examine the Venice Charter in the light of contemporary...

In part one of this article, I argued that the failure to recognise Jamaican Creole as a language in its own right violates the rights of Jamaican Creole speakers, results in a denial of access to essential services, including quality education,...

Reflecting on 2024, Jamaica has seen a significant decline in murders, marking a shift from the previous years of escalating violence under the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) administration. The number of murders in 2024 has, for the first time in nine...

The impending return of Donald Trump to the White House – with an almost lily-white team of Cabinet appointees – follows an overwhelming victory in which his Republican Party also won the Senate and the House and represents one of the greatest...

The Constitution (Amendment)(Republic) Bill, 2024 was tabled in Parliament on December 10. This is the first legal step in the process of reforming the Constitution to establish a Jamaican republic. The process requires Jamaicans to vote in a...

Monuments are sacred. They remind persons in a cultural space of the actions of significant people. Monuments also provide intergenerational inspiration for young and old alike to follow. Shining examples of success stories provided by the...

Growing up in Bound Brook, greater Port Antonio, my life was steeped in energy — quite literally. Whether it was marveling at the roaring Bedford truck engines with my Maylor-grandfather or touching and getting greasy with the 40-hertz generator...