From the monthly archives:

December 2004

On Being Caribbean

30 December 2004

Peter Minshall is in town.
For those of us who don’t know who Peter Minshall is, or who may imagine that his contributions may have very little to do with our lives, being so plugged into the energy of our northern neighbours, it’s time to think again.
Think, for instance, Trinidad. Think Carnival. Think big [...]

2 comments Read the full article →

On Sovereignty and Second Homes

23 December 2004

There is a village in Jamaica called Martha Brae. It is located today in the heart of the tourist playground of the island’s north coast, and if you look its name up on the internet, most of the links that come up will be tourist-related. Most of them will speak of Martha Brae [...]

Read the full article →

On the Invention of Santa

16 December 2004

Santa, they tell me, used to dress in green. He also used to walk around on foot, wear a long robe, and visit children on December 6th. He didn’t originally come from the North Pole (wherever that is), or have reindeer, or carry toys; he was Turkish, believe it or not, and while [...]

2 comments Read the full article →

On Colonialism

2 December 2004

There’s a song out there that those of us who were around on July 10, 1973 could once be heard singing. My favourite part of it goes like this:
We been standing up to a different flag, Union Jack in the sky
But we ga have our own flag come the 10th of July
The chorus is [...]

1 comment Read the full article →