Guild Week hosts cultural event to eliminate rift between local and non-national students at UWI, Cave Hill

SAT, SEPTEMBER 24, 2011 - 12:00 AM. Barbados Nation Newspaper

THE TALENT was as diverse as the nationalities of the students when the inaugural Carimagination Day took place at the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies recently.

The event, one of the activities of Guild Week, took place in an intimate setting where the stage was set for a number of local artistes to express their creativity through the arts.

Humanities and Education representative Donnya Piggott said the aim of the event was to eliminate the rift between local and non-national students, one of the mandates of the university’s guild.

Piggott, who organised the event, added: “We don’t promote Barbadian talent here and through this event we also wanted to do that.

“The university has been lacking culture and so we decided to cut down on the fetes and increase cultural activities.”

As a result, numerous spoken-word pieces were performed by both local and non-national guest artistes, including Christina Katrina; Daveny Ellis; Sonia, who is a student from Toronto; Sam Pollard, Simply L and social commentator Adrian Greene, who highlighted a variety of issues stemming from political, economic and social concerns.

The delivery of the performances grabbed and kept the attention of the audience, which consisted mainly of regional students.

British Virgin Islands student Jevaughn Rhymer praised organizers for a good show but suggested “it should be more open to performances and not a set programme”.

Anthony Turton, 28, said the event was the first he had ever attended with “this kind of local talent and it was good”.

“The show was well organized and it exposed Barbadian talent and that is good for the young artistes. I believe more of these shows should be held to heighten the awareness of the public to these artistes,” Turton said.

Other guest performances were delivered by Kid Site, who revisited a number of his classics, Cave Hill Music Society, Toni Dyall, Marcus Miles, Matthew Allman, AzMan and Sunrokk, all of whom brought the curtain down on a commendable note. (TD)

We can and must speak up.

By Anthony Morgan

A Jamaican who was born and raised in Toronto, Canada, Anthony Morgan is a Caribbean law student at McGill University, Faculty of Law. He enjoys thinking and writing about Caribbean international relations, relating specifically to diaspora affairs, regional integration, international trade and Haiti-Caricom relations.

My name is Anthony Morgan, I am a 25-year-old Jamaican, born and raised in Toronto, Canada. I am currently in my final year of law school at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. I will begin by sharing with you a bit about who I am, so that I can best explain how my identity as a diaspora citizen has affected my reaction to a very intolerable incident I experienced on a Montreal university campus on September 14, 2011.

First, some background. Before the summer of 2007 I was just another Black Canadian. During that summer, however, I was fundamentally transformed into a Caribbean-Canadian Diaspora Citizen. This came as a result of my participation in Grace Kennedy’s Jamaican Birthright Programme (GKJBP). The GKJBP is a world-class cultural and professional internship for students of Jamaican heritage who were born and living in the US, UK and Canada. For this programme, students from the diaspora are chosen to go live and work in Kingston, Jamaica to boost their professional skills and experience, and also help them more deeply connect with their Jamaican roots and culture.
Before taking part in the GKJBP, I was merely incidentally Jamaican, mostly identifying at a superficial level through our music, food and manners of worship. My amazing birthright experience, however, transformed me into not only a Jamaican nationalist but also a Caribbean regionalist.

As a result of my participation in the GKJBP, I have become committed to a journey of learning ever more about Jamaica and the Caribbean, particularly in relation to our history, as well as our current position in the global arena of geopolitics, trade and development. This journey has also caused me to become increasingly influenced by a Caribbean intellectual heritage emanating from the thoughts, lives and works of individuals such as Marcus Garvey, Walter Rodney, CLR James, Eric Williams, George Beckford, Lloyd Best and contemporaries, such as Kari Levitt, Norman Girvan, Anthony Bogues and Brian Meeks.

Read full article here.

China to support the Caribbean - David Jessop

By David Jessop

News Americas, LONDON, England, Fri. Sept. 23, 2011: Two separate developments in the last week, both involving China, demonstrates the fundamental ways in which international relationships are changing.

The first involved China subtly suggesting that it might provide financial support for Eurozone economies in difficulty. The second was the announcement at the opening of the Third China-Caribbean Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum in Port of Spain that Beijing would make available over US$1billion in loans and other assistance for Caribbean economic development projects.

In Europe many economies are in trouble. Greece, Italy, Spain Portugal, Ireland and United Kingdom have had to take drastic action to address high levels of debt and low growth. However, the markets have not been convinced that some of the Governments concerned will be able to institute the tough austerity measures they have announced. This is particularly so in the case of Greece and Italy where special pleading by powerful interest groups has caused Government to back track on measures already announced, creating uncertainty about whether the nations concerned might default.

As these nations are within the Eurozone, this has had the effect of raising questions about the whole European integration process. In economically strong and fiscally correct nations at the heart of the Eurozone like Germany, domestic political pressure is making nations reluctant to provide further financial support for those EU states that seem incapable of bringing their economies under control. Somewhat over simplified, the effect is that if economically strong nations are unwilling to bail out weak Eurozone economies, the Eurozone, and by extension the European Union, is unlikely to survive in its present form.

Read full article here.

Are the provisions for free movement under the treaty discriminatory?

Free labour movement
Dennis De Peiza

2011-08-31

The advent of the free movement of labour under the Caribbean Single Market and Economy brought great hope for nationals of member states, as they welcomed and embraced the opportunity to traverse the region in search of employment opportunities.

It is clear that there was a good intention on the part of heads of government to give licence to the movement of labour as a means of positioning the region to strengthen and develop its economic potential.

All indicators point to the fact that this could be achieved through the sharing and utilising of skills and talents of the region’s human resources. This apparently holds true, given the fact that the free movement of persons is said to underpin all other key pillars of the CSME, except the free movement of goods.

Article 45 of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas states: “Member states commit themselves to the goal to the free movement of their nationals within the community.” This, to all intents and purposes, seems to be ideal, but it is questionable whether the goal is being achieved.

The movement of people is enshrined in articles 32, 33, 34, 36, 37, 45 and 46 of Chapter Three of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas. As it stands, the unrestricted movement is limited to university graduates, media workers, sports persons, artistes and musicians.

The free movement of skills and labour meant that work permits were eliminated. With this being the case, it can be argued that there would have been a relaxing of the regulatory procedures to facilitate the ease of movement. It is however understandable why there is yet the need to have some regulatory mechanism (s) in place to guard against those who have malicious and illegal intentions.

Read full article here.

Travelling Show Project / Proyecto Zapato Viajero

We have all been historically affected by migration and each in different ways. With this project I invite people to share their
shoes as statements of where they have been and where they are going thus sharing movement and walking in each
other's footsteps...

Hemos sido históricamente afectados por la migración. Con este proyecto invito a la gente a compartir sus zapatos
como declaraciones de donde ellos han sido y donde ellos van así compartiendo el movimiento y andando en los
pasos de cada uno...


http://zapatoviajero-travellingshoe.blogspot.com/2011/09/arriving-at-venezuela.html

A documentary series on an important Caribbean man - Dr. Eric Williams by Mariel Brown

Inward Hunger: The Story of Eric Williams is a pioneering documentary series that reveals Eric Williams in unprecedented breadth and depth, in the context of the history, society, region and world that shaped him; the forces to which he at times succumbed, and those he fought to change.
Dr Eric Eustace Williams is a complex and controversial Caribbean figure best known for leading Trinidad and Tobago to Independence in 1962. This year, the 100th anniversary of his birth, comes a new documentary series that explores the fascinating personal and political history of the country's first Prime Minister. Inward Hunger: The Story of Eric Williams is a production of Savant Ltd, creators of The Solitary Alchemist and The Insatiable Season. This ground-breaking documentary series was directed by Mariel Brown.
A private screening takes place tomorrow at Central Bank Auditorium, Eric Williams Plaza, Port of Spain from 7.30 p.m. and on Republic Day, September 24 at 3 p.m., GISL Channel 4 airs this three-part series on the compelling and contradictory life of an iconic Caribbean leader.
Inward Hunger: The Story of Eric Williams Documentary Film Series Synopsis
Eric Williams was a man of contradictions. From a family that felt disenfranchised because of their class and colour, but who were in many ways privileged compared to the working class in the then British colony of Trinidad and Tobago. He was a man respected for reaching the pinnacle of British education, yet he dedicated his life to ending colonial rule. A lifelong scholar who was often unwilling to admit his mistakes. A politician who used even his disabilities as tools of power.
Calling for ethnic unity in party and country, yet not above using race to win elections. A passionate, loving husband to one wife, a cold and bitter wind to another and party to a third, secret marriage.
A man driven by hard-work and discipline, who allowed corruption and intrigue to flourish around him. He was seen as a man of the people, and at the same time, he saw himself as intellectually superior to others; a visionary who expected his decisions to be followed without opposition.
He sought after mentors, then pushed away even those closest to him. One of the first advocates of West Indian Federation, yet unwilling to drive the union after Jamaica's withdrawal.
Anti-colonial, yet not willing to depart radically from British systems of governance. A Prime Minister who transformed the lives of many in Trinidad and Tobago through education, political mobilisation and economic development, yet did not go far enough, some say, to undo the ongoing hierarchies of a post-colonial society.

Read full story here.

Hope for some Jamaicans facing deportation from US - News - Jamaica Gleaner - Monday | September 19, 2011

Hope for some Jamaicans facing deportation from US - News - Jamaica Gleaner - Monday | September 19, 2011

Forward Home to be screened in Barbados

Forward Home. VIP Cinema, Olympus Theatre,
Monday 26th September, 2011. 6:00 pm.

Please join us for the Caribbean and Barbados Première of “Forward Home”,
a new documentary from the Shridath Ramphal Centre
for International Trade Law, Policy and Services, UWI, Cave Hill.

The screening is hosted by Caribbean Tales Worldwide Distribution which continues the series “By Popular Demand”: Every last Monday of the month, showcasing a Caribbean Film at the VIP Cinema of Olympus Theatres. The screening on Monday September 26, 2011, will feature “Forward Home: The Power of the Caribbean Diaspora”,
starting at 6:00 pm with light refreshments. Screening begins at 6:30 pm.
Price per ticket BDS $16.00.

For further information please call 417-4807
www.shridathramphalcentre.org
Forward Home: A documentary revealing the economic power of Caribbean overseas communities, showcasing the experiences of Diasporic peoples who straddle the dual worlds of Caribbean Homelands and Global Cities as travellers and entrepreneurs, and the organisations that make the relationship work.

The documentary will be distributed by Caribbean Tales World Wide Distribution.
www.caribbeantales-worldwide.com

Marcus Garvey movement owes large debt to Caribbean expats, UCLA historian finds

By Meg Sullivan

This article, by Meg Sullivan, was originally run by the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Newsroom, August 18, 2011. We will be following up with an excerpted essay by historians Nigel Westmaas and Juanita de Barros on the UNIA in British Guiana.

Conventional wisdom has long held that Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), which advocated racial self-help and the unity of the African diaspora, grew out of the heady political and cultural environment of the Harlem Renaissance and benefited African Americans above all other black people. Any Caribbean role, according to this view, was separate and incidental to the primary legacy bequeathed to American race relations by the charismatic Jamaica native.

Now a UCLA historian argues the reverse in the first book of a multi-volume series on the Garvey movement and the Caribbean. From the UNIA’s organizational structure to its most valuable foot soldiers during its first half-decade, Garvey’s Caribbean links were indispensable to the movement’s success, and the region ultimately proved to be its most important theatre, contends Robert A. Hill in “The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers: The Caribbean Diaspora 1910–1920.”

Researching the volume “was an eye-opener in many, many ways,” said Hill, a UCLA history professor and a leading authority on Garvey and the UNIA, which began in Jamaica but attained its greatest influence after Garvey established it in the U.S. in 1917. Caribbean nationals, both in America and abroad, Hill says, were the seed that grew the movement.

“Although the movement developed here and was based in America, it was predominantly a Caribbean movement, at least until federal prosecution of Garvey in the early 1920s drew the attention of African Americans and galvanized their support of him,” he said.

“The Caribbean Diaspora 1910–1920” is scheduled to be published by Duke University Press. With more than 400 documents, many of them newly discovered, it is the opening salvo in the third and final series of a vast collection of primary materials by and about Garvey and the UNIA, considered the largest mass political movement in black history. Highlights from the volume include Garvey’s earliest known published work, a 1911 letter to the editor of a newspaper in Costa Rica, where he was living among fellow Caribbean expatriates employed on banana plantations; a 1912 letter to a Belize newspaper criticizing social conditions under British colonial rule in that country; and a 1920 letter written from New York to the governor of British Guiana in which Garvey says that the majority of his followers are from the English-speaking West Indies.

Read full article here.