Israeli soldiers open fire in 'buffer zone'

One Palestinian killed and 10 teenagers wounded as Israeli soldiers open fire at border. More at Al Jazeera 

Israel agrees to Gaza ceasefire

Egyptian foreign minister says truce will begin at 19:00 GMT on Wednesday, after eight days of attacks. The Egyptian foreign minister has announced that a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip will come into effect at 19:00 GMT on Wednesday. More at Al Jazeera. 

Gaza Crisis: Women and Children Dying as the International Community Plays Watch and See

More than 100 people have died in the Gaza Strip in six days of violence as Israel continues its bombardment of area. Among the dead are  children and women. Keep updated at Al Jazeera 

Palestinians gather around a destroyed house after an Israeli air strike in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip November 19, 2012 REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

An Israeli shoots a video at the scene after a rocket fired by Palestinians 
in Gaza landed in the southern Israeli city of Ashdod, November 18, 2012. Rueters/Nir Bias

Palestinians gather around a destroyed house after an Israeli  air strike in 
Gaza City, November 18, 2012, REUTERS/ Shuiab Salem

A Palestinian man kisses the body of one of his children during their funeral in the northern Gaza Strip  November 18, 2012,. Two children, Jumana Abu Sefan, 18 month old and her brother Tamer, three and half year old were killed  in a Israeli air strike on Sunday. REUTERS/ Mohammed Salem

A wounded Palestinian lies on a hospital bed after an Israeli air strike in northern Gaza Strip, November 17, 2012. REUTERS/Ali Hassan 

IOJ Research Symposium 2012

Reading List September 2012

In my last post I mentioned that I wanted to write more and in so doing I needed to read for. In a bid to actual DO what I say I want to and to accomplish my objectives I have made a reading list for September.  I want to read 4 books in the upcoming month.  

1. Rex Nettleford's Mirror Mirror: Identity, Race and Protest in Jamaica (1998 edition originally published in 1970)
2. George L. Beckford's Persistent Poverty: Underdevelopment of Plantation Societies in the Third World (1999 edition orginally published in 1972)
3. David M. Fetterman's Ethnography Step by Step (2010 edition) 
4. Octavia Butler's Kindred  (2009 edition) 

Reflections on the SALISES 50-50 Conference

Friday August 24  marked the end of the SALISES 50-50 Conference: Critical Reflections in a Time of Uncertainty. The conference was the climax of work that began in 2009 by the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies. The conference sought to address the local, regional and internal challenges facing the Caribbean, reviewing and making suggestions to social policies as well as to critically assess post independence models for economic development.  


The  Honourable Dr. Peter Philips, Minister of Finance, Planning and the Public Service offered the keynote address on "Caribbean Independence: Past, Present and the Future - A Reckoning"   at the opening ceremony on Monday August 20. 

Other guest speakers included Chancellor of the University of the West Indies and former Director of the Pan American Health Organization Sir George Alleyne, the United Kingdom Member of Parliament of Jamaican descent  Diane Abbott, Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank Sir K. Dwight Venner, distinguished Professors Emerti of the University of the West Indies Norman Girvan and Selwyn Ryan and University Director of the Institute of Gender and Development Studies and social historian Professor Verene Shepherd.  

The five day conference saw over nine panels each day offering insight in areas ranging from: women and entrepreneurship; crime and violence prevention and reduction;  cultural and social currencies; socio-economic dependencies and the path towards development; regionalism and the Caribbean; education and language; youth policy and education;  information technology communication and development; climate change and the environment and 

On Friday August 24 the Honourable Portia Simpson Miller, Prime Minister of Jamaica offered her remarks and congratulations to the conference organizer and  the closing address was delivered by the Honourable Ralph Gonsalves Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Prime Minister Gonsalves spoke on "The Independence Experience 
of the OECS and Prospects for the Future." 

The sessions that I attended were inspiring, thought provoking and enlightening. However the most profound message that I take from the conference came from Prime Minister Gonsalves at the end of the conference where he reminded attendees that as a region the Caribbean must use its sovereignty and independence as its key assets for the benefit of its people. The masses who must be educated and enlightened so the voting populous are aware of the policies being undertaken and they must have a voice in matters relating to our own development. PM Gonsalves also spoke on the importance of regional integration and cooperation that extended beyond CARICOM and the OECS and it was important to negotiate and seek partnerships with nations that will benefit the people of the region.

 It is this regard that I believe we have set to fully recognize our true potential as 50 years have passed since Commonwealth independence in the Caribbean we still seek to have the same partners of development.  We are no being bold and innovative enough to seek new alliances as we move forward.  We have yet as a region to deal with key issues of development and true sustainability and cooperation. 

On Writing, Measurements of productivity, Success, Growth and Sustainable Development

This post may be considered to be not well organized but really its a summary of all I need to say right now right before I move on into a new phase of my life fueled by a renewed energy & passion.  

Writing: 

The Lunatic by Anthny C Winkler (1987) 

Two days ago I was at the SALISES 50-50 at the Jamaica Pegasus and I was having a really interesting conversation with another young aspiring writer  and she told of a story she heard of Anthony C.  Winkler. She said Winkler when explaining his writing process shared that he woke up early each  day and devoted time to writing. He simply documented his ideas it did not matter if the material would be used or not but it deemed important to actually write. This is something aim to adopt. So for here on I will attempt to write a blog spot every other day. I always have ideas and things to share but I have been simply lazy. So I will take up an hour earlier and simply write. I have two short story fiction prose that are incomplete and I want to complete those stories. I have a deadline of October 24 for my deadline to produce those 2 stories. I also want to set time out to read more. I have a list of books that offers analysis of the internal and external  factors that influence  Caribbean socio-economic, cultural and political narratives. In order to clear through the chaos of mind and order my work I must read more. I must write more. I want to write true authentic honest and open stories about the Jamaican consciousness to infuse the histories I know and share the vibrant energies that I experience each and every day.    

Measurements of Productivity 

I need to set clear timelines and schedules and to mark my accomplishments. Thus far I feel that I have not given my energy to producing meaningful work that is tangible and so I am now drafting schedules to organize my work and set clear realistic goals. 

Success 

I do not believe there are formulas for success or that there are standard instruments to measure success for me my success will be determined when I truly happy when I am content with my health and fitness; saving;  investment and security; the creation of wealth

and building strong relationships with my family and friends. These are areas that I need to work on.  

Growth and Development 

As the excitement of the Jamaica 50 party and the 2012 London Olympics I think it is time for serious reflection and deliberations on the strategies necessary to move forward and attain sustainable development. 

Personally, I have been reflecting on my own growth and development, one where I am and where I am going. In 2008 I received a Bachelor of Arts in History and Philosophy from the University of the West Indies, Mona. This broad generalist study has enabled me to work within several areas from media to ethnographic research. However I need to know more. I applied and was accepted to the Centre for Development Environment and Policy (CeDEP) International Programmes to do a MSc. in Sustainable Development with focus on poverty reduction and rural development.  I seek to acquire knowledge in sustainable development best practices and most importantly the correct application application of these principles to build Caribbean rural communities. 

FREEING OUR MINDS EMANCIPATION DAY 2012

Ivan Van Sertima and Africa's Contribution to Global Civilization

Ivan Gladstone Van Sertima (26 January 1935 – 25 May 2009) was an associate professor of Africana Studies at Rutgers University in the United States.

He is best known for his Olmec alternative origin speculations, a brand of pre-Columbian contact theory, which he proposed in his book They Came Before Columbus (1976). While his Olmec theory has "spread widely in the African American community, both lay and scholarly", it was mostly ignored in Mesoamericanist scholarship, or else dismissed as Afrocentric pseudohistory to the effect of "robbing native American cultures".

Van Sertima was born in Karina Village, Guyana, when Guyana was still a British colony; he retained his British citizenship throughout his life. He completed primary and secondary school in Guyana, and started writing poetry.He attended the School of Oriental and African Studies(SOAS) at the University of London from 1959. In addition to his creative writing, Van Sertima completed his undergraduate studies in African languages and literature at SOAS in 1969, where he graduated with honors.  During his studies, he learned Swahili and Hungarian. From 1957 to 1959, worked a Press and Broadcasting Officer in the Guyana Information Services During the 1960s, he worked for several years in Great Britain as a journalist, doing weekly broadcasts to the Caribbean and Africa. Van Sertima married Maria Nagy in 1964; they adopted two sons.

In doing field work in Africa, he compiled a dictionary of Swahili legal terms in 1967.

In 1970 Van Sertima immigrated to the United States, where he entered Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, for graduate work.

He published his They Came Before Columbus 1976, as a Rutgers graduate student. The book deals mostly with his claims of African origin of Mesoamerican culture in the Western Hemisphere, but among other things also writing that the kings of the 25th Dynasty of Egypt were Nubians. The book, published by Random House rather than an academic press, was a bestseller and achieved widespread attention within the African American community for his claims of prehistoric African contact and diffusion of culture in Central and South America. It was generally "ignored or dismissed" by academic experts at the time and strongly criticized in detail in an academic journal in 1997.

Sertima completed his master's degree at Rutgers in 1977. He became Associate Professor of African Studies at Rutgers in the Department of Africana Studies. In 1979, Van Sertima founded the Journal of African Civilizations, which he exclusively edited and published for decades.

He published several annual compilations, volumes of the journal dealing with various topics of African history. His article, "The Lost Sciences of Africa: An Overview" (1983), makes claims for early African advances in metallurgy, astronomy, mathematics, architecture, engineering, agriculture, navigation, medicine and writing. He claimed that higher learning, in Africa as elsewhere, was the preserve of elites in the centres of civilizations, rendering them vulnerable in the event (as happened in Africa) of the destruction of those centers and the disappearance of the knowledge. Van Sertima discussed such "African scientific contributions" in an essay for the volume African Renaissance, published in 1999 (he had first published the essay in 1983). This was a record of the conference held in Johannesburg, South Africa, in September 1998 on the theme of the so-called African Renaissance.

After divorcing his first wife, Sertima remarried in 1984, to Jacqueline L. Patten, who had two daughters.

On July 7, 1987, Van Sertima testified before a United States Congressional committee to oppose recognition of the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's "discovery" of the Americas. He said, "You cannot really conceive of how insulting it is to Native Americans . . . to be told they were discovered".

Van Sertima retired in 2006. He died on 25 May 2009 aged 74.He was survived by his wife and four adult children. His widow, Jacqueline Van Sertima, said she would continue to publish theJournal of African Civilizations. She also planned to publish a book of his poetry.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_van_Sertima

Afrikan-Jamaican dub--poet and monodramatist d'bi young in word! sound! powah! Sunday June 24.

Cockpit Country is Our Home Premier May 22, 2012

Cultural Cross Currents Thursday May 17, 2012

NGJ Special Sunday: April 22, 2012

Jamaica As It is Right Now

Toni Morrison and I

On Wednesday January 18, Clutch Magazine posted the article "4 Books You Should Reread"  by Danielle Pointdujour. The list included Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye and it struck me as odd that I had never read this novel. 


At the time of reading Pointdujour's article, I was reading Morrison's Songs of Solomon, and I was in awe of Morrison's skill, her use of the language.  There was a music to the narrative and this was infused with African mythology and rhythmic movement as the tale charted the journey of the main character "Milkman" from his dislike and fear of his father and his disconnection from his ancestral roots to self-discovery and courage.   


After reading Songs and I made the decision to read The Bluest Eye.  The Bluest Eye is Morrison's first novel and it is the story of a young black girl, Pecola Breedlove who is described as ugly and who in internalizing the belief that she is indeed ugly; dreams, prays and wishes for blue eyes to the point of madness.  


The novel is essentially from the point of view of Claudia MacTeer, and is presented by Claudia as a child who is Pecola's contemporary and school mate, and Claudia as an adult reflecting on life in Lorain, Ohio (United States of America) during the years following the Great Depression.  However, there are  distinct moments where the narrator is the omnipresent third-person narrator.  


The Bluest Eye broke my heart and I cried for all the Black girls past, present and future who have, who are and who will be made to feel ugly because of the rich ebony of of their skin. 


I had borrowed Songs and The Bluest Eye and then Kingston Bookshop had its annual Yard Sale and I am blessed to have purchased a copy of  The Bluest Eye. 


Presently I am re-visiting Beloved. I read Beloved as part of the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) Literatures In English, Prose Level 1. I loved the story and knew the lives of Sethe, Denver, Baby Suggs, the Garner men inside-out. In re-reading this tale I am now in far better position to appreciate the physical, psychological, emotional, sexual and metaphysical effects of slavery from which the story rests upon and seeks to confront. 

Toni Morrison

                                                             

                                  

After reading these three novels by Morrison I am truly inspired to write. I need to tell the stories I know, while creating the book I would want to read and infusing the histories I have have learnt.  


In this Black History Month 2012, I want to thank Toni Morrison for writing, teaching, inspiring  and creating. 

Dennis Brown and Good Vibrations in Downtown Kingston

Dennis Brown the Crowned Prince of Reggae earthstrong was Wednesday February 1. This post was supposed to be published on February 1, 2012 but again I am behind. 


 Sunday evening through to early Monday January 29 to 30) morning I was in  Downtown Kingston. Orange Street, to be more precise was blessed by the good vibrations of music. Hundreds of people, from just out of hand toddlers to grey headed Elders of the community were in Orange Street to share in the celebration of the life and musical legacy of the Crowned Prince of Reggae. The Dennis Brown Tribute Concert was a produced by the Jamaica Reggae Industry Association (JaRIA)  The concert was the first of many activities slated for Reggae Month (February) 2012.  

Orange Street Big Yard 

Dennis Emmanuel Brown , the Crowned Prince of Reggae 

Orange Street

The free concert was had a star-studded lineup. Headliners included Marcia Griffith, Maxi Priest, Freddie McGregor, Tony Rebel, Duane Stephenson,  Ibra Mahr, Junior Reid, Shaggy, Half Pint, Big Yute, Ken Boothe, George Nooks, Bryan Hart, John Holt, Jimmy Riley 

The concert offered a platform for up-coming artistes. Among the new acts the band Raging Fyah offered a stella performance singing their intense ode Rastafari "Judgement Day".

Myself and many other patrons were truly excited to see the sons of the King of Reggae Bob Marley perform. They did not disappoint, Damian "Junior Gong" Marley, Stephen Marley and Julian Marley. Stephen Marley open the performance with his chart topping hit "Traffic Jam",  the trio performed mega- hits like "It is Written", "Welcome to Jamrock" and quite befitting to the tribute concert the Gongs performed "Promised Land" ft Dennis Brown off Damian Marley-Nas 2010 collaborative album Distance Relatives.  

The star of the night was Taurus Riley. Taurus Riley "Singy-Singy" wowed the crowd with a powerful performance of his Pan-African Anthem "Shaka Zulu Pickney " He kept the momentum going performing Dennis Brown songs and thrilling the patrons with his hits like "Good Girl Gone Bad" and She's Royal" 




Downtown Kingston has a bad reputation and I work Downtown and I try to tell people that they are wrong the area is not really violent.  The people are aggressive because of the environment poor education, high levels of illiteracy, high levels of unemployment and poverty. But looking beyond that and seeing the people of Downtown Kingston they are good people. So I went to the concert in Downtown with all these people who are considered the worst in Jamaica and I was truly happy being there among them sharing in the music and the good vibrations it was an awesome experience. The concert didn't end until 2:30 in the morning my feet hurt and were swollen way into the next day but that did not matter the experience was just amazing. 

 HAPPY 67^th EARTHSTRONG BOB MARLEY 

2012 Figuring It All Out

I was supposed to write this blog post on January 1 and life started rolling on and so here we are and it is January 31. I have decided to set some clear measurable goals this year. Last year I spent an awful lot of time saying I wanted to do this or to acquire that. At the end of 2011 the many "do-to" and "go-get" lists simply never materialized.

Looking back at 2011 I am certainly happy and grateful for the strides I made in figuring what my goals are and thinking of strategies to achieve them. I am also happy with the relationships that I am building.


I have decided to follow a more organized approach to fulfilling my dreams. I have adopted Lisa Nichols' 4 quadrants of life and will focus on how to improve my life in all these areas.


1. Health and Wellness
2. Love and Relationships
3. Work and Finance
4. Spirit and Affirmation 


 More on these next time. 

Dennis Brown Symposium Sunday January 29,2012

Haiti: Promise and Betrayal Lecture Sunday January 22, 2012

Haiti Marks Two years After Catastrophic Quake.