“[…] This apathy is societal, in which the positive impacts of involved fathers are ignored. And we do not seem to care to make any necessary changes to this for the benefit of our society. “Jamaica recently introduced a clear paternity leave policy. In T&T… nothing—3 or 4 days in …
Read More »Vaneisa: Parenting and punishment—“discipline is often equated with physical violence”
He was telling me about a group discussion about childhood. In an unfamiliar environment, he’d told those strangers that he had experienced what he’d considered a typical West Indian approach to discipline. Licks. When they pressed for details, they concluded that it had been abuse. “I learned about a thing …
Read More »Noble: How the Journey began; understanding the lingering impact of slavery
“The history that is accountable to the enslaved cannot fulfil our yearning for romance, our desire to hear the subaltern speak, our search for the subaltern as a heroic actor whose agency triumphs over the forces of oppression…what comes into view instead are the inner workings of power and violence.” …
Read More »Noble: Ordinary women in extraordinary circumstances; lingering lesson of Mahdia tragedy
In 2014, Brij V Lal, an Indo-Fijian historian, at a Fiji Day of Remembrance said: “One of my life’s ambitions has been to remember what others have forgotten or chosen to forget—to give our people a voice and a modicum of humanity, to give them a place at the table …
Read More »Vaneisa: Flooding, drought, earthquakes, war… no wonder we struggle with mental health
A friend messaged me a couple of days ago to say that her doctor had put her on anti-anxiety meds and it makes her feel so exhausted. It reminded me that after I got Covid, I had experienced a quickness to exhaustion myself—a general fogginess and a funk. I deduced …
Read More »Dear Editor: Here’s why communities protest police killings more than murders
“[…] Police officers represent the state and are entrusted with the responsibility to protect and serve the community. When a citizen is killed by the police, it can be perceived as an abuse of power, eroding trust between the authorities and the public. “Protests can serve as a way for …
Read More »Vaneisa: Getting to the roots of “superfood” marketing
Every other week, it seems, something is being designated as a superfood. Bestowed with this crown, marketers go to town—extolling the benefits and advising toute moun to include these wondrous products into their daily intake. So what exactly makes something a superfood? Forget the fancy definitions, it is simply a …
Read More »Vaneisa: How to celebrate mom without bending to capitalist manipulation
I was searching for words to describe how I might come across in this column—killjoy, grinch, scrooge—because I know they might easily seem to apply. Maybe it is the cynic in me; maybe I am just perverse, but I have always been unmoved by the hype surrounding certain celebrations. I …
Read More »Dear Editor: T&T’s crime rate is down to attitude of lawlessness, not social injustice
“[…] We may want to pin it on social injustice or income inequality, but the truth of the matter is that the people of Trinidad and Tobago have a protracted and sustained attitude of lawlessness. “It is why I believe that ‘Discipline’ was inscribed as part of our national watchwords—because …
Read More »Dear Editor: Why hangman, Gods, and arming citizens won’t address T&T’s “escalating crime rates”
“[…] Trinbagonians have consistently failed to address the root causes of their [crime] problems, remaining trapped in unproductive cycles. It may be startling for them to learn that they themselves contribute to their own situation. “But a divided nation is a nation to be ruled by the monumentally corrupt. That …
Read More »Noble: The misunderstood Jesus—God is neither ATM nor weapon against marginalised people
Misunderstanding is an old human problem. All of us have experienced being misunderstood at some point in our lives. Sometimes it is funny, as in sitcoms; they love to create misunderstandings or have characters lie for a laugh. But we know what it is to share something with someone, expecting …
Read More »Vaneisa: Dear President Kangaloo, here’s one way to advocate for change in our youth
President Christine Kangaloo played a hopeful string of chords for me with her inaugural address. She spoke of modernising the protocols that govern how citizens and her office interact, and “having its facilities put to even greater use in hosting cultural, educational and artistic ventures, particularly among the youth”. My …
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