Wha allyuh vex with St Stephen’s College for? I give them right, full marks for their stance. Was it backward and discriminatory? Yeah. Was it disrespectful and, frankly, based on old racist ideas of beauty, comportment and respectability? Of course, duh. They no doubt would justify it on the grounds …
Read More »Gilkes: Deconstructing religion; Zionism, US/European exceptionalism and the rest of us
Back in the mid-80s, when I was in Form 3 or 4 at St Benedict’s College, a film was shown about the Rapture—an event in which the ‘righteous’ would suddenly be swept up into the clouds to be with Jesus and away from the horrific tribulations that would befall everyone …
Read More »Gilkes: From Truman to Trump; how religion oppresses the post-colonial world
Shooting wars begin as culture wars and culture wars are initiated by ideas. So let’s for a minute set aside Uncle Sam’s amoral adventures in Venezuela; or not—because this issue is partly about what led to it in the first place. A few years ago Professor Merle Hodge wrote an …
Read More »Gilkes: Our colonial-style sex education; how the West weaponised and criminalised passion
“Dem doh need no sex eduction. Dem lil gyul hot already, yuh just making them take more man…” What you just read is not even the worst of it. The fact that the person who made this statement—which I overheard at an academic conference—is involved in social work in East …
Read More »Of what bloody use is (African) history anyway? Gilkes responds to trivialisation of non-Western narratives
What the hell is History good for anyway? I mean really? Well I suppose the answer depends on what you use History for. Napoleon Bonaparte called it a set of lies mutually agreed upon, which is a very important point to consider when studying how the West has used ‘history’ …
Read More »Dear Editor: More analysis needed on US/Russia war-games in neighbouring Venezuela
As curious as I am about what’s happening in Venezuela, I’m even more curious about how said developments are analysed by my local media so as to raise the public’s level of awareness about this country’s position in global affairs. Venezuela president Nicolás Maduro never really impressed me, he’s no …
Read More »Gilkes: Why it is the LGBTQI community that’s pushing back; not the Church
“Those very people who have been nourished by godly doctrine, who instruct others in what they ought and ought not to do, who have heard the Scriptures brought down from heaven; these do not consort with prostitutes as fearlessly as they do with young men. “The fathers of the young …
Read More »Gilkes: St Akilah Speaking Sacerdotal Stupidness on Sex (again); why Christians get sex ed wrong
“One of my parishioners spent several years in Venezuela. He came back from there with a little boy whose mother he had left, but to whom he was not married. He had had the good luck at my arrival in the parish to marry a communicant. “The mother of this …
Read More »Gilkes: Republic reflections; pondering difference between ‘de-colonial’ and ‘post-colonial’
“Politics is a game of fear. Those that do not have the ability to frighten power elites do not succeed. “[…] The platitudes about justice, equality and democracy are just that. Only when ruling elites become worried about survival do they react. Appealing to the better nature of the powerful …
Read More »Gilkes: Happy In-Dependence: reviewing 56 years of cynicism and self-hate
Happy birthday Iere; yuh tun 56… which means yuh mature, and with maturity comes reasoning and a clearer understanding of who you are and what you still need to do to reach where you want to go. But that’s when yuh mature, not when yuh eh sure of yuhself, confused as to …
Read More »Uhmm, Kes… Hello?! Gilkes explains why he takes exception to soca star’s new video
I’ve been a big Kes fan for ages. I love “Wotless” and I’m not sure if I can get enough of the song “Hello”. Its recently released video, however, is a whole different bag of worms. Don’t get me wrong, I’m always happy when our ‘kaiso’—no matter the genre—is given …
Read More »Gilkes: Message to the Barbergreen; the continuing struggle for emancipation
Despite my shameless semi-appropriation of Malcolm X’s “Message to the Grassroots,” this in no way suggests that I place myself close to the same league of this giant ancestor. This is just my paltry message to those in my country, particularly those who live where there isn’t much grass, far …
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