Lively Caribbean Literature on Canadian Bookshelves via A Different Book List
By William Doyle-Marshall
Book your imagination and cruise the Caribbean with award winning authors. This was the advice of A Different Book List proprietors marking the start of literary events for the month of December.
Making use of modern technology with some challenge the duo of Ita Sadu and Miguel San Vincente linked readers and persons interested in Caribbean literature with authors in the United Kingdom, Australia and Barbados as well as literary creators based in Ontario.
What an evening it was as the Bathurst Street book store was transformed into a cosy theatre. Patrons were served with glasses of hot apple cider and slices of cake. No doubt enticement for braving the threatening but somewhat mild winter Saturday night (December 3) to be part of the historic experience.
Jamaica’s Olive Senior charmed the gathering with a smooth reading from “Dancing Lessons”, her first novel published by Thomas Allen. She tells a story about Gertrude a woman who lives in a seniors residence. Senior aptly captures her life there as well as that of living apart from her children.
“This book Dancing Lessons” is my first novel but it is my 13th book, Senior informed the gathering. She resisted writing a novel because of her love for the short form. What she finds interesting however, is peoples’ reaction to the book. “Everybody believes everything in this book is autobiographical. It is not. There is nothing autobiographical in this book. Somebody asked me the other night even if I had drug dealers in my family. But what I am really trying to capture in all my fiction is a slice of Jamaican life. So everybody is in it because that is how we live on a daily basis. You are interacting with all kinds of people,” the author explained.
After attempting unsuccessfully to find her daughter who had been living with a white American family and bring her back home Gertrude found herself returning to the taxi driver who had taken her on the unsuccessful trip from the bus station downtown Kingston to somewhere in the boondocks.
Rabindranath Maharaj of Trinidad and Tobago literally tickled the ribs of the fun loving audience with his reading from “The Amazing Absorbing Boy” published by Random House. Certainly his ability to capture moments in the lives of people in the community, especially Aunty Umbrella provided much fodder for humour.
It centered around the migration of a Trinidadian man from Mayaro and his son Samuel who are subsequently joined by the man’s sister in their Regent Park home, downtown Toronto. “If my father was upset about my aunt’s visit to Canada I think the place had the opposite effect on her,” Samuel speculates.
Speaking proudly of a change in attitude the boy reports that Aunty Umbrella had stopped peppering him with questions. Even her voice seemed to soften from its flat, criticizing scratch bottle tone, he explains.
“She brought a broad straw hat and one evening I noticed a brand new red umbrella parked next to the couch. I started to get used to her and to tell the truth I really enjoyed all the cakes and pies and cookies she baked. In Trinidad she would mention bake sales at the church but I always felt that was a Presbyterian thing. Now she bakes every single day, experimenting with the recipes she got from the newspaper - fish, chicken, egg plant, sweet potato, apple, pear, everything landed in the oven,” Samuel illustrates.
Aunty Umbrella’s fascination with television certainly amazed Samuel. “While the food was baking she would sit before the television and switch from channel to channel. I thought she might not have approved all the kissing and cursing and the rude boys and girls on television but while she was watching, she would pull the couch until she was just a few inches from the screen. One night she told me ‘look how friendly this politician mister is.’ I noticed a fat smiling man making chopping gestures with his hand as he spoke. It looked as if he was wringing a baby’s neck. Tantie continued ‘and his cheeks so fat and nice; just like a little child’. The politician was saying something about clamping down on immigrants. Tantie said ‘I feel I could reach over and just pinch up his cheeks good and proper.’
Sadu, a storyteller by profession said “The Amazing Absorbing Boy” book made her giggle because Maharaj’s has a knack for capturing the language of Caribbean people. It is a book that she thinks all young people should read.”We also see the eyes of the city in “The Amazing Absorbing Boy” through the eyes of a young immigrant or a young person from the Caribbean into this place and having a commentary on the newness of the space of the nostalgia from back home but also too having a lot of insight into every day living in Toronto.”
Special Skype appearances were made by Tessa McWatt, Jason Phillips and Karen Lord. McWatt originally from Guyana was seen in her bedroom in the United Kingdom reading from “Vital Signs”. Phillips who was born in Grenada introduced the audience to his crazy aunt in “The Ice Factory” from a room in his Australia home. Lord took us into her home Barbados home as she shared a section of “Redemption in Indigo that has already won awards.
Caribbean literature is alive and well. It is certainly growing beyond the boundaries of the native lands of each individual author who creates magic with their words much to the merriment and information of readers, irrespective of where they may call home at the moment.
December 5, 2011
Monday, December 5, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
UNITY FOR CHRY COMMUNITY RADIO 25th ANNIVERSARY
CHRY COMMUNITY RADIO PREACHES UNITY FOR 25th ANNIVERSARY
By William Doyle-Marshall
At volunteer appreciation night for CHRY Community Radio 105.5 fm, programmers many were recognized for their service to the station over the past 24 years. There were awards presented for five years of service, ten years, fifteen years and 20 years as well.It was quite a night. Danae Peart, station manager set the tone of unity for the future growth and development of CHRY. Present and past associates can make a contribution to the strength of the station, she emphasized. Ms Peart urged programmers and other volunteers to look beyond next year, the station’s 25th anniversary.
Veda Narain, host of the weekly Chutney show “Pushkar” was among recipients of five year recognition awards. Speaking about her inspiration and interest in music in a recent edition of the station’s program guide she noted that her life and lifestyle have been surrounded by music forever.
The young Indo Canadian of Guyanese and Trinidadian heritage grew up around a lot of reggae, Indian music such as mainstream Indian, Bollywood, chutney and classical music. Literally she was exposed to a lot of musical influenced that had Indian influences as the foundation. “I was involved in dance as well. So I was geared towards listening to many varieties of music, not just Indian music, but I had a confident handle on Indian music which is what Pushkar is,” Narain said.
“Everybody who has passed through the walls of CHRY has a contribution to make, whether or not you move on to other things, either it is ideas or it is skills sets so we will be calling upon you for sure,” Ms Peart said.
In a 23rd anniversary thank you note Peart and Matthew Fava, who ended his assignment as programme director recently praised volunteers and staff for their contributions in helping the station grow and making it possible to bring socially and culturally relevant programming to the airwaves.
Next year the station will celebrate 25 years as a full fledged FM station broadcasting 24 hours a day. “We got our license two years prior to that. 1987 we were officially FM and of course four years ago we were able to get protected status with 158 watts” she recounted.
“Some of you didn’t even have shows but you loved the concept of community alternative media and you were supporting us from the start and we want to say thank you for contributing to CHRY for more years than their certificate says.
“In calling you out we also call upon you, the stalwarts of the station to be mentors,” Peart exhorted. Going forward in the changing media landscape presents challenges to do the work now undertaken by the station – whether its financial or according to regulations, celebrants were told.
Again the word is united, the station manager stressed. She appealed for a united group going forward. While Twenty five years is a lovely milestone, she advised “we’d love to celebrate 25 more. We can’t do that if we are fragmented so we are asking, we are pleading and we are hoping that you guys will continue to do the good work that you do and also to mentor so others would do as good as you and even better.”
Randy Reid, Volunteer Coordinator said it was an important night for programmers and staff to reflect and join together in unison as they remember the important role they play in the production of media for the countless number of communities the station represents. “Tonight more than most nights is relevant to remind ourselves that we share this opportunity together; united we speak to a number of groups that save our little spot on the dial would have no outlet to have their voices heard and space to celebrate their culture,” he observed.
As Reid endorsed the need and importance of being united he told the celebrants it has a vital role to play as the station moves forward. “We’ve been doing that for 24 years and we’d like to move forward with that continued,” he said.
“So for some of you who have been long in and getting tired on the journey, it is time to mentor; it is time to pass on. If you want to leave, don’t leave us high and dry. Pass on your talents and you skills. If you’re staying, latch on to someone else that you can mentor and help us to go to the next level.”
CHRY’s programming is geared to a diverse community that includes various musical genres, spoken word and a host of cultural expressions such as Chutney, Calypso, Reggae, Soca and many others.
July 15, 2011
By William Doyle-Marshall
At volunteer appreciation night for CHRY Community Radio 105.5 fm, programmers many were recognized for their service to the station over the past 24 years. There were awards presented for five years of service, ten years, fifteen years and 20 years as well.It was quite a night. Danae Peart, station manager set the tone of unity for the future growth and development of CHRY. Present and past associates can make a contribution to the strength of the station, she emphasized. Ms Peart urged programmers and other volunteers to look beyond next year, the station’s 25th anniversary.
Veda Narain, host of the weekly Chutney show “Pushkar” was among recipients of five year recognition awards. Speaking about her inspiration and interest in music in a recent edition of the station’s program guide she noted that her life and lifestyle have been surrounded by music forever.
The young Indo Canadian of Guyanese and Trinidadian heritage grew up around a lot of reggae, Indian music such as mainstream Indian, Bollywood, chutney and classical music. Literally she was exposed to a lot of musical influenced that had Indian influences as the foundation. “I was involved in dance as well. So I was geared towards listening to many varieties of music, not just Indian music, but I had a confident handle on Indian music which is what Pushkar is,” Narain said.
“Everybody who has passed through the walls of CHRY has a contribution to make, whether or not you move on to other things, either it is ideas or it is skills sets so we will be calling upon you for sure,” Ms Peart said.
In a 23rd anniversary thank you note Peart and Matthew Fava, who ended his assignment as programme director recently praised volunteers and staff for their contributions in helping the station grow and making it possible to bring socially and culturally relevant programming to the airwaves.
Next year the station will celebrate 25 years as a full fledged FM station broadcasting 24 hours a day. “We got our license two years prior to that. 1987 we were officially FM and of course four years ago we were able to get protected status with 158 watts” she recounted.
“Some of you didn’t even have shows but you loved the concept of community alternative media and you were supporting us from the start and we want to say thank you for contributing to CHRY for more years than their certificate says.
“In calling you out we also call upon you, the stalwarts of the station to be mentors,” Peart exhorted. Going forward in the changing media landscape presents challenges to do the work now undertaken by the station – whether its financial or according to regulations, celebrants were told.
Again the word is united, the station manager stressed. She appealed for a united group going forward. While Twenty five years is a lovely milestone, she advised “we’d love to celebrate 25 more. We can’t do that if we are fragmented so we are asking, we are pleading and we are hoping that you guys will continue to do the good work that you do and also to mentor so others would do as good as you and even better.”
Randy Reid, Volunteer Coordinator said it was an important night for programmers and staff to reflect and join together in unison as they remember the important role they play in the production of media for the countless number of communities the station represents. “Tonight more than most nights is relevant to remind ourselves that we share this opportunity together; united we speak to a number of groups that save our little spot on the dial would have no outlet to have their voices heard and space to celebrate their culture,” he observed.
As Reid endorsed the need and importance of being united he told the celebrants it has a vital role to play as the station moves forward. “We’ve been doing that for 24 years and we’d like to move forward with that continued,” he said.
“So for some of you who have been long in and getting tired on the journey, it is time to mentor; it is time to pass on. If you want to leave, don’t leave us high and dry. Pass on your talents and you skills. If you’re staying, latch on to someone else that you can mentor and help us to go to the next level.”
CHRY’s programming is geared to a diverse community that includes various musical genres, spoken word and a host of cultural expressions such as Chutney, Calypso, Reggae, Soca and many others.
July 15, 2011
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Delicious wide assortment dine, for summerlicious number 9
Delicious wide assortment dine, for summerlicious number 9
By William Doyle-Marshall
Until July 24 Torontonians and their friends can feast on a literal international range of culinary offering during the ninth annual Summerlicious Culinary Festival at 150 of the city’s top restaurants.
Michael Thompson, Chair of Economic Development and Culture for the City of Toronto launched the event last Friday hosted by Luma Restaurant and its executive chef Jason Bangerter in the heart of the entertainment district - the home of Bell Lightbox, 330 King Street West.
The variety and diversified dining options include Indian, Italian, European style bistro, French; flavours of Greece and Southern Italy, Middle Eastern Moroccan, Mediterranean, Japanese, Canadian, Continental, Cajun/Creole, Seafood, Brazilian, Contemporary, European Contemporary, Spanish, Chinese, Tapas, Portuguese, Asian and Peruvian.
Bangerter said his colleagues at Luma regard Summerlicious as a great opportunity to reach out and touch many guests at this location. Luma is one of 15 new restaurants to join the 2011 culinary line up. This is an incentive for Bangerter and his staff to be creative in a manner that would entice taste buds of customers. For this reason he has come up with things like the chicken liver pate, a cucumber soup and a summer berry pudding. Enough of the sneak peek. Go and see for yourself.
Leslie Tan, Senior Marketing Manager, Platform Programmes of American Express has promised to check out many of the participating restaurants. Users of American Express are also in for some treats. Just ask your waiter and they will be only too happy to spill the beans.
Councillor Thompson praised Peter Oliver and Michael Bonacini – owners of Oliver and Bonacini Restaurant chain, whom he termed Culinary stars with respect to the great things that they do in the city with their business. They are strong supporters of Summerlicious and Winterlicious and have been there from the start. Councillor Thompson thanked them for being believers and being there from the ground floor of both festivals, which began in 2003.
From July 8, 150 restaurants in the city are at top of mind once again as Summerlicious takes over this world class city. Naturally, Councillor Thompson is thrilled that 150 top restaurants of Toronto are participating in this year’s Summerlicious.
“The licious programme was created to support Toronto’s renowned restaurants, food service industry by boosting sales during the typically slow period. The programmes have become strong economic drivers for our restaurant industry,” the councillor acknowledged. Today Toronto’s broader food industry employs over 84,000 people representing 6.2% of the total employment in the City of Toronto. 35,000 of these people work in 3,000 fully service restaurants across the City of Toronto
“Toronto is Canada’s largest city and sixth largest government, and home to a diverse population of about 2.6 million people. Toronto’s government is dedicated to delivering customer service excellence, creating a transparent and accountable government, reducing the size and cost of government and building a transportation city.
Restaurant details and menus for this popular prix fixe dining promotion can be found at http:www.toronto.ca/summerlicious
By William Doyle-Marshall
Until July 24 Torontonians and their friends can feast on a literal international range of culinary offering during the ninth annual Summerlicious Culinary Festival at 150 of the city’s top restaurants.
Michael Thompson, Chair of Economic Development and Culture for the City of Toronto launched the event last Friday hosted by Luma Restaurant and its executive chef Jason Bangerter in the heart of the entertainment district - the home of Bell Lightbox, 330 King Street West.
The variety and diversified dining options include Indian, Italian, European style bistro, French; flavours of Greece and Southern Italy, Middle Eastern Moroccan, Mediterranean, Japanese, Canadian, Continental, Cajun/Creole, Seafood, Brazilian, Contemporary, European Contemporary, Spanish, Chinese, Tapas, Portuguese, Asian and Peruvian.
Bangerter said his colleagues at Luma regard Summerlicious as a great opportunity to reach out and touch many guests at this location. Luma is one of 15 new restaurants to join the 2011 culinary line up. This is an incentive for Bangerter and his staff to be creative in a manner that would entice taste buds of customers. For this reason he has come up with things like the chicken liver pate, a cucumber soup and a summer berry pudding. Enough of the sneak peek. Go and see for yourself.
Leslie Tan, Senior Marketing Manager, Platform Programmes of American Express has promised to check out many of the participating restaurants. Users of American Express are also in for some treats. Just ask your waiter and they will be only too happy to spill the beans.
Councillor Thompson praised Peter Oliver and Michael Bonacini – owners of Oliver and Bonacini Restaurant chain, whom he termed Culinary stars with respect to the great things that they do in the city with their business. They are strong supporters of Summerlicious and Winterlicious and have been there from the start. Councillor Thompson thanked them for being believers and being there from the ground floor of both festivals, which began in 2003.
From July 8, 150 restaurants in the city are at top of mind once again as Summerlicious takes over this world class city. Naturally, Councillor Thompson is thrilled that 150 top restaurants of Toronto are participating in this year’s Summerlicious.
“The licious programme was created to support Toronto’s renowned restaurants, food service industry by boosting sales during the typically slow period. The programmes have become strong economic drivers for our restaurant industry,” the councillor acknowledged. Today Toronto’s broader food industry employs over 84,000 people representing 6.2% of the total employment in the City of Toronto. 35,000 of these people work in 3,000 fully service restaurants across the City of Toronto
“Toronto is Canada’s largest city and sixth largest government, and home to a diverse population of about 2.6 million people. Toronto’s government is dedicated to delivering customer service excellence, creating a transparent and accountable government, reducing the size and cost of government and building a transportation city.
Restaurant details and menus for this popular prix fixe dining promotion can be found at http:www.toronto.ca/summerlicious
Friday, June 24, 2011
Crappy Calypsoes: Composers Asleep?
Crop of Crappy Calypsoes: Composers Asleep at Piano?
By William Doyle-Marshall
Canadian immigration slipped sweetly in the annals of 2011 season of the Canadian calypso arena. Popular calypsonian Dick Lochan linked the controversial matter with a Trinidadian woman of East Indian descent who has a burning migratory desire to land in this country. Members of her family are poised to capture the first victim to fall in their path.
In typical Lochan style he tells his story in song about meeting Subatee an Indian girl from Caroni, in central Trinidad who was anxious and determined to leave the country. She wanted a husband so that she could secure permanent landed status in Canada. Subatee grabbed his hand and professed her love for him but he sensed something kinda fishy (tricky).
Subatee boasted about her ability to make good roti and invited him home to meet her mother where she could prepare him a meal. But it became clearer to Dick that the woman “jes want(ed) she Landed Card”.
Never the less he went to Caroni where the family greeted him “She father asking questions; he wanted to fix up wedding plan. Dey want to hook me into marriage so she could get her landed card,” Lochan related. Sounds funny but there are those who could testify to having similar experiences there and elsewhere in the region.
Another social issue making waves on the calypso scene is the plight of senior citizens who are on fixed income and are forced to survive on their old age pension. Newton P tells the audience being from Trinbago he is spoilt, as seniors their receive a good old age pension – three thousand dollars a month. “They treat you like people,” he boasts. The disgruntled senior reports the T&T subsistence is enough for seniors to prepare for living and for death. “But here in Canada they killing we quietly And is de ole age money supports the economy,” he laments.
Generally, the weak caliber of calypso compositions emanating from ths year’s Canadian calypso arena is disturbing. Clearly composers are ignoring Calypso’s role as an extension of literary criticism. Yes, it is used for good entertainment but that should not be the end of the cultural line. A casual glance at the range of events that have stepped in our midst between last calypso season and now -- the middle of 2011 -- is truly astounding.
Remember The Gravy Train Express that stopped at Toronto City Hall with Mayor Rob Ford and brother Doug Ford steering it along the line. Calypsonians are almost silent on the matter, except for Panman Pat who has devoted one calypso to the topic. Macomere Fifi has seen fit to tell us that the Ford nation is not good for Toronto. Did the other composers fall asleep at the wheel?
Toronto City Councillor Michael Thompson paid $300 to have his office blessed. Taxpayers’ money – he offered to repay it. Is that good or bad or no one really cares but the journalist who wrote the story. Remember the Toronto Police and G20 fiasco where many were arrested then released. How about the police officer who was not identified by his peers, until much pressure was brought to bear on the agency that investigates police wrongdoings against citizens. Yes the officer is now facing charges. Were any laws broken?
How come the Skyrocketing gas prices and cost of living as a whole are not disturbing them to the point that they are falling over each other. One would expect them to sing about that.
Canada faces two big strikes – Air Canada employees and Postal Workers – government legislating them back to work is that a good or bad thing? Either those writers and their families do not travel by air and no one delivers mail to them. So they don’t really care because they are only here for a short time and have grand plans to go back home.
The paucity of compositions poses a certain quality problem for the July 23 Calypso Monarch contest. Fans may either decide the judges will select the best of the worst so attending the event will not be necessary. Or like die hard supporters, they will go out and have some good fun regardless.
June 24, 2011
By William Doyle-Marshall
Canadian immigration slipped sweetly in the annals of 2011 season of the Canadian calypso arena. Popular calypsonian Dick Lochan linked the controversial matter with a Trinidadian woman of East Indian descent who has a burning migratory desire to land in this country. Members of her family are poised to capture the first victim to fall in their path.
In typical Lochan style he tells his story in song about meeting Subatee an Indian girl from Caroni, in central Trinidad who was anxious and determined to leave the country. She wanted a husband so that she could secure permanent landed status in Canada. Subatee grabbed his hand and professed her love for him but he sensed something kinda fishy (tricky).
Subatee boasted about her ability to make good roti and invited him home to meet her mother where she could prepare him a meal. But it became clearer to Dick that the woman “jes want(ed) she Landed Card”.
Never the less he went to Caroni where the family greeted him “She father asking questions; he wanted to fix up wedding plan. Dey want to hook me into marriage so she could get her landed card,” Lochan related. Sounds funny but there are those who could testify to having similar experiences there and elsewhere in the region.
Another social issue making waves on the calypso scene is the plight of senior citizens who are on fixed income and are forced to survive on their old age pension. Newton P tells the audience being from Trinbago he is spoilt, as seniors their receive a good old age pension – three thousand dollars a month. “They treat you like people,” he boasts. The disgruntled senior reports the T&T subsistence is enough for seniors to prepare for living and for death. “But here in Canada they killing we quietly And is de ole age money supports the economy,” he laments.
Generally, the weak caliber of calypso compositions emanating from ths year’s Canadian calypso arena is disturbing. Clearly composers are ignoring Calypso’s role as an extension of literary criticism. Yes, it is used for good entertainment but that should not be the end of the cultural line. A casual glance at the range of events that have stepped in our midst between last calypso season and now -- the middle of 2011 -- is truly astounding.
Remember The Gravy Train Express that stopped at Toronto City Hall with Mayor Rob Ford and brother Doug Ford steering it along the line. Calypsonians are almost silent on the matter, except for Panman Pat who has devoted one calypso to the topic. Macomere Fifi has seen fit to tell us that the Ford nation is not good for Toronto. Did the other composers fall asleep at the wheel?
Toronto City Councillor Michael Thompson paid $300 to have his office blessed. Taxpayers’ money – he offered to repay it. Is that good or bad or no one really cares but the journalist who wrote the story. Remember the Toronto Police and G20 fiasco where many were arrested then released. How about the police officer who was not identified by his peers, until much pressure was brought to bear on the agency that investigates police wrongdoings against citizens. Yes the officer is now facing charges. Were any laws broken?
How come the Skyrocketing gas prices and cost of living as a whole are not disturbing them to the point that they are falling over each other. One would expect them to sing about that.
Canada faces two big strikes – Air Canada employees and Postal Workers – government legislating them back to work is that a good or bad thing? Either those writers and their families do not travel by air and no one delivers mail to them. So they don’t really care because they are only here for a short time and have grand plans to go back home.
The paucity of compositions poses a certain quality problem for the July 23 Calypso Monarch contest. Fans may either decide the judges will select the best of the worst so attending the event will not be necessary. Or like die hard supporters, they will go out and have some good fun regardless.
June 24, 2011
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Grenada Spices Your Life with Natural Beauty, Delectable Cuisine
By William Doyle-Marshall
“Grenada has it all. Come see for yourself”. This phrase remained with me after leaving a recent event at which Alitours International Inc. of Toronto launched its promotional campaign for Grenada as a destination where Canadians must experience.
It was a small but honestly impressive dinner occasion as media practitioners viewed a dvd presentation highlighting the spices of the island, its carnival and regatta and other attractions. We also listened to representatives like Jenny Gumbs, Consul General, as she casually sold us on the idea of visiting the isle of Spice. It was no high powered in yuh face kind of promotion. You did not have to wait for the glitz and glamour to settle then search for details. It was there in simple, easy to understand language.
After speaking casually about the island’s beautiful fauna and flora, Ms. Gumbs said matter of factly “The lush vegetation, the delectable cuisine, 45 beautiful white sandy beaches, there is just so much that we have that we are so proud of as a people to offer you; so we do invite you to come.”
You walked away convinced it is time to put Grenada on your agenda for a real vacation away from the northern clime. One thing that always entices people to go somewhere is the term “tours suited to every taste”. And not only were we told so but through the presentation and from numerous comments by Grenada specialists you got the distinct impression that if you did not go to the three-island state -- Grenada, Carriacou and Petit Martinique -- something will be missing from your life.
Ian Grant offered a bold piece of advice when said Grenada is not a place to get drunk and behave bad. That truly touched me because I belong to the school of thought and practice that it is not necessary to consume alcoholic beverage and become stupified. A social drink is okay and you must always be in control of yourself.
This summer from June 29 weekly until September 7, Alitours is offering packages to Grenada that include air, transfers and accommodation at any of the hotels. Alitour plans bringing people from Italy via Toronto to catch whatever straight flights can be offered from Toronto straight to Grenada. There are very few carriers that operate the Toronto-Grenada route so Alitours personnel are negotiating with Titan Tours and GG Tours to try and expand the travel programme. Caribbean Airlines has recently increased flights to Grenada and this ought to be an incentive for Alitours and Grenada as a whole to fly Canadians down for them to enjoy the spicy space in the sun.
I can’t forget the reminder from Maureen Wright, the island’s publicist that Grenada is an outstanding place. Yes it is a small. There are no major hotel chains to monopolize the place. Indeed there are no hotels higher than a palm tree so you can get an unobstructed view of the place. All hotels are privately owned. “You don’t get the multi-story hotels that you often get in other islands,” Ms. Wright promised.
“It is a wonderful island destination. It is quite unique amongst the Eastern Caribbean islands,” the publicist disclosed.
Governments has allocated one sixth of its land mass to national parks so that the integrity of the environment as well as the natural and bountiful resources of the island could be preserved.
“I would advise any of you, if you go for a hike in Grand Etang to actually have some water if you get to a certain water fall; it is exactly like Perrier and this is wonderful to be able to drink water to experience some of the water that you get in the Grand Etang and also out of the area that is the volcanic cradle of the Grand E Tang,” Wright advised.
In terms of travel documents, a valid passport and return or onward ticket is required. For Canadian citizens, proof of citizenship bearing a photograph is acceptable. This same courtesy is also extended to our American and British cousins. See for yourself by going on the website -- www.grenadagrenadines.com
June 16, 2011
By William Doyle-Marshall
“Grenada has it all. Come see for yourself”. This phrase remained with me after leaving a recent event at which Alitours International Inc. of Toronto launched its promotional campaign for Grenada as a destination where Canadians must experience.
It was a small but honestly impressive dinner occasion as media practitioners viewed a dvd presentation highlighting the spices of the island, its carnival and regatta and other attractions. We also listened to representatives like Jenny Gumbs, Consul General, as she casually sold us on the idea of visiting the isle of Spice. It was no high powered in yuh face kind of promotion. You did not have to wait for the glitz and glamour to settle then search for details. It was there in simple, easy to understand language.
After speaking casually about the island’s beautiful fauna and flora, Ms. Gumbs said matter of factly “The lush vegetation, the delectable cuisine, 45 beautiful white sandy beaches, there is just so much that we have that we are so proud of as a people to offer you; so we do invite you to come.”
You walked away convinced it is time to put Grenada on your agenda for a real vacation away from the northern clime. One thing that always entices people to go somewhere is the term “tours suited to every taste”. And not only were we told so but through the presentation and from numerous comments by Grenada specialists you got the distinct impression that if you did not go to the three-island state -- Grenada, Carriacou and Petit Martinique -- something will be missing from your life.
Ian Grant offered a bold piece of advice when said Grenada is not a place to get drunk and behave bad. That truly touched me because I belong to the school of thought and practice that it is not necessary to consume alcoholic beverage and become stupified. A social drink is okay and you must always be in control of yourself.
This summer from June 29 weekly until September 7, Alitours is offering packages to Grenada that include air, transfers and accommodation at any of the hotels. Alitour plans bringing people from Italy via Toronto to catch whatever straight flights can be offered from Toronto straight to Grenada. There are very few carriers that operate the Toronto-Grenada route so Alitours personnel are negotiating with Titan Tours and GG Tours to try and expand the travel programme. Caribbean Airlines has recently increased flights to Grenada and this ought to be an incentive for Alitours and Grenada as a whole to fly Canadians down for them to enjoy the spicy space in the sun.
I can’t forget the reminder from Maureen Wright, the island’s publicist that Grenada is an outstanding place. Yes it is a small. There are no major hotel chains to monopolize the place. Indeed there are no hotels higher than a palm tree so you can get an unobstructed view of the place. All hotels are privately owned. “You don’t get the multi-story hotels that you often get in other islands,” Ms. Wright promised.
“It is a wonderful island destination. It is quite unique amongst the Eastern Caribbean islands,” the publicist disclosed.
Governments has allocated one sixth of its land mass to national parks so that the integrity of the environment as well as the natural and bountiful resources of the island could be preserved.
“I would advise any of you, if you go for a hike in Grand Etang to actually have some water if you get to a certain water fall; it is exactly like Perrier and this is wonderful to be able to drink water to experience some of the water that you get in the Grand Etang and also out of the area that is the volcanic cradle of the Grand E Tang,” Wright advised.
In terms of travel documents, a valid passport and return or onward ticket is required. For Canadian citizens, proof of citizenship bearing a photograph is acceptable. This same courtesy is also extended to our American and British cousins. See for yourself by going on the website -- www.grenadagrenadines.com
June 16, 2011
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Masquerade Band Stragglers
Mas band stragglers interfere with masquerader
By William Doyle-Marshall
Sixteen members of the Toronto Mas Bands Association have registered and are preparing for competition in the very popular Toronto Caribana being promoted this year as Caribbean Carnival – Toronto.
Joining the top bands are some newcomers like Kathleen Hughes, daughter of veteran Arnold Hughes who retired a couple years ago; Narissa Ali has teamed up with her buddy Robin Blues to enter the contest for the first time under the title Blues Carnival Fusion; Susan Grogan, popular Toronto calypsonian known as Susan G is producing Spirits of the Caribbean; Corey Howard is pulling together Black Sage Carnival, Clarence Forde is stepping into the leadership with Monsoon Wedding, Before the Storm as his inaugural Bitter Lemon Carnival production and Thea Jackson who stepped in the bandleader’s arena last year is back with her Tru Dynasty to produce the Roaring twenties.
Late payment of money by the Festival Management Committee (FMC) and bands being stormed by spectators along the parade route are two top concerns of the leaders and masqueraders. Up to this past weekend the FMC had not yet made its first instalment to the bands for participating in this year’s festival. As a result many had not yet printed brochures and some were still decorating their mas camps because they were forced to dip into their pockets to begin operations for this year. Members of the Mas Bands Association which represents them met and decided to wait for another week to work out details of disagreements with the FMC. At the end of the meeting they announced that members had agreed not to make any release to the media.
Multi-band of the year winner Louis Saldenah is leading the charge for better and improved parade arrangements. He wants the whole Lakeshore Boulevard locked down with only masqueraders to avoid spectators jumping into the band and disrupting masqueraders. Saldenah believes all the bands would get bigger because people would have some incentive when everybody (masqueraders) is having a good time while playing in their respective bands. He suspects more people would register with bands resulting in more masqueraders taking part in the Caribana parade. “But because of the system we have now where the whole Lakeshore isn’t locked down and people are coming into the bands we have this problem,” he emphasized.
A crescendo of voices is appealing for the situation to change. Mervyn Skeete leader of Connectons admits non masqueraders involvement with his production on the parade route is interfering with the mas playing public -- the masquerader. “And it’s unfair to bandleaders because we do a hell of a lot of work; we spend a lot of money; then to have the masqueraders not coming back the following year it’s just unfair to bandleaders; it’s unfair to the parade because once you get on the Lakeshore and the spectators infiltrate the bands, the spectators who really want to see the bands in formation they don’t get to see the bands in formation because the crowd is mingling among the masqueraders so it’s unfair to everybody,” Skeete observed.
Shareeda Ali of Time After Time suggests there are opportunities in all bands for new participants (masqueraders). Real honest spectators are deprived the privilege of admiring the costume and enjoying the spectacle when all these non-costumed people jump in the band. “A person not playing mas but want to jump in the band, should become a member of a band,” she advises. It is a simple, and possibly inexpensive process. All bandleaders would welcome them into their mas camps, where they can become volunteers and see how the costumes are made and the effort that goes into preparation for the big parade day and its accompanying competitions.
“If you participate and help you can see. It’s going to cost a bit of money to get your costume but you feel a sense of gratification because you help also to make the costume and when you ‘re out there playing in the band then you know the feeling when some people who haven’t paid their money and don’t know how the costumes are made and the time and effort that were put into this come and jump in the band and push the members who paid their money,” Ali noted.
The message from these masquerade band producers is rather simple: get involved in the cultural experience at a nominal cost. This would demonstrate respect and encourage growth in the body of masqueraders who come together for this carnival affair – rated among the top ten on the North American continent.
By William Doyle-Marshall
Sixteen members of the Toronto Mas Bands Association have registered and are preparing for competition in the very popular Toronto Caribana being promoted this year as Caribbean Carnival – Toronto.
Joining the top bands are some newcomers like Kathleen Hughes, daughter of veteran Arnold Hughes who retired a couple years ago; Narissa Ali has teamed up with her buddy Robin Blues to enter the contest for the first time under the title Blues Carnival Fusion; Susan Grogan, popular Toronto calypsonian known as Susan G is producing Spirits of the Caribbean; Corey Howard is pulling together Black Sage Carnival, Clarence Forde is stepping into the leadership with Monsoon Wedding, Before the Storm as his inaugural Bitter Lemon Carnival production and Thea Jackson who stepped in the bandleader’s arena last year is back with her Tru Dynasty to produce the Roaring twenties.
Late payment of money by the Festival Management Committee (FMC) and bands being stormed by spectators along the parade route are two top concerns of the leaders and masqueraders. Up to this past weekend the FMC had not yet made its first instalment to the bands for participating in this year’s festival. As a result many had not yet printed brochures and some were still decorating their mas camps because they were forced to dip into their pockets to begin operations for this year. Members of the Mas Bands Association which represents them met and decided to wait for another week to work out details of disagreements with the FMC. At the end of the meeting they announced that members had agreed not to make any release to the media.
Multi-band of the year winner Louis Saldenah is leading the charge for better and improved parade arrangements. He wants the whole Lakeshore Boulevard locked down with only masqueraders to avoid spectators jumping into the band and disrupting masqueraders. Saldenah believes all the bands would get bigger because people would have some incentive when everybody (masqueraders) is having a good time while playing in their respective bands. He suspects more people would register with bands resulting in more masqueraders taking part in the Caribana parade. “But because of the system we have now where the whole Lakeshore isn’t locked down and people are coming into the bands we have this problem,” he emphasized.
A crescendo of voices is appealing for the situation to change. Mervyn Skeete leader of Connectons admits non masqueraders involvement with his production on the parade route is interfering with the mas playing public -- the masquerader. “And it’s unfair to bandleaders because we do a hell of a lot of work; we spend a lot of money; then to have the masqueraders not coming back the following year it’s just unfair to bandleaders; it’s unfair to the parade because once you get on the Lakeshore and the spectators infiltrate the bands, the spectators who really want to see the bands in formation they don’t get to see the bands in formation because the crowd is mingling among the masqueraders so it’s unfair to everybody,” Skeete observed.
Shareeda Ali of Time After Time suggests there are opportunities in all bands for new participants (masqueraders). Real honest spectators are deprived the privilege of admiring the costume and enjoying the spectacle when all these non-costumed people jump in the band. “A person not playing mas but want to jump in the band, should become a member of a band,” she advises. It is a simple, and possibly inexpensive process. All bandleaders would welcome them into their mas camps, where they can become volunteers and see how the costumes are made and the effort that goes into preparation for the big parade day and its accompanying competitions.
“If you participate and help you can see. It’s going to cost a bit of money to get your costume but you feel a sense of gratification because you help also to make the costume and when you ‘re out there playing in the band then you know the feeling when some people who haven’t paid their money and don’t know how the costumes are made and the time and effort that were put into this come and jump in the band and push the members who paid their money,” Ali noted.
The message from these masquerade band producers is rather simple: get involved in the cultural experience at a nominal cost. This would demonstrate respect and encourage growth in the body of masqueraders who come together for this carnival affair – rated among the top ten on the North American continent.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Contributions to Canada in Indian Diaspora Stage
Contributions to Canada in Indian Diaspora Stage
By William Doyle-Marshall
“When people of Indian origin are treated with great respect in their adopted land so goes the respect for India.” This profound message was echoed to celebrants of South Asian Heritage Month at the Vedic Cultural Centre of Markham in May.
Keynote speaker Dr. Aditya Jha, celebrated Indo-Canadian entrepreneur, philanthropist and social activist in Canadian public affairs, traced the history of India’s economic influence on the world and the impact of persons of Indian heritage in the Diaspora on the Mother land.
The presence of successful and influential Indian Diaspora in so many countries have become a source of direct support for India as the influence, not just the popular attitude but also the government policies to the benefit of the Mother country, India, Dr. Jha reported. He reported that the phenomenal success of global Indian entrepreneurs and innovators India is benefitting tremendously through the luring of large multinational companies for the Indian footprint as well as the entrepreneurial ventures in the country.
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar of the Caribbean Republic of Trinidad and Tobago was among world political leaders identified by Dr. Jha as members of the 30 million large Indian Diaspora who are contributing to nations around the world.
Others of Indian heritage who have taken up important mainstream roles and responsibilities in their adopted countries include The President of Singapore, Chief Justice and Governor General of New Zealand; two Governors of the United States of America; Prime Ministers of Mauritius and; a former Premier of British Columbia and federal minister as well as other world renowned personalities..
As part of the heritage observance the Vedic Cultural Center hosted a special program that included an exhibition with interactive demonstrations, photographic displays and a food bar at its 14th Avenue headquarters. Truly a fun-filled afternoon, organizers engaged politicians like Conservatives Peter Kent and Liberal Michael Chan in an extensive dance session through which they followed directions from the choreographer. Other participants included students from the community; community leaders and police administrators.
Newly appointed Chief of York Regional Police Eric Joliffe congratulated event organizers. He emphasized the town’s profound diversity makeup of which the South Asian community was a vital part. “We have shown despite our differences, we live in peace and harmony,” he added.
Deputy Mayor Jack Heath said he wants to see more South Asian celebrations in Markham as he truly enjoyed the experience, especially the spicy food that are a definite part of South Asian celebrations.
Speaking on the theme “India in Canada” Dr. Jha observed in the public lexicon people are qualifying India as an emerging power but indeed the world is witnessing the country’s re-emergence on the world stage.
“Before 18th century or prior to its political subjugation by the imperialist powers India was a dominant player in the world economy. At their peak India and China together accounted for close to 50% of the world gross domestic product – just 200 years ago,” the entrepreneur said.
Reminding his listeners that ideas from India helped shaped the culture, law, philosophy and signs of the time, Dr. Jha advised that India has thousands and thousands of years of practice of harmonizing difference. “There is an essence to India which tells us that behind the diversity of life there is a spiritual reality called unity. To some it is unity in diversity, an entity in which some eminent common spirit transcends apparent differences. To me India represents diversity in unity, a centrifugal state reined in by the very loosest and most fragile of bonds,” he continued.
Members of the VCC Heritage Committee that planned the celebration included Adityanand Kumar, Devanand Ramoutar, Norman Jainarine, Sharada Bhajan, Vivek Ramcharan, Satyanand Sarju, Dr. Harry Persaud, Ram Jagessar, Keoli Kumar, Ajit Wadhwa, Shailesh Joshi, Veda Mohabir, Das Ramsaroop,Savi Ramsaroop, Neera Chakrovarthy, Indeera Prasad, Sushima Narine, Sandy Heeralall, Amar Persaud, Sheila Jafri, Ahmed Jafri, Sita Raykha, Winston Tamaya, Shanti Sarwan and Arvin Sriram.
South Asian Heritage Month was observed with a host of community events in the month of May throughout the Province of Ontario.
By William Doyle-Marshall
“When people of Indian origin are treated with great respect in their adopted land so goes the respect for India.” This profound message was echoed to celebrants of South Asian Heritage Month at the Vedic Cultural Centre of Markham in May.
Keynote speaker Dr. Aditya Jha, celebrated Indo-Canadian entrepreneur, philanthropist and social activist in Canadian public affairs, traced the history of India’s economic influence on the world and the impact of persons of Indian heritage in the Diaspora on the Mother land.
The presence of successful and influential Indian Diaspora in so many countries have become a source of direct support for India as the influence, not just the popular attitude but also the government policies to the benefit of the Mother country, India, Dr. Jha reported. He reported that the phenomenal success of global Indian entrepreneurs and innovators India is benefitting tremendously through the luring of large multinational companies for the Indian footprint as well as the entrepreneurial ventures in the country.
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar of the Caribbean Republic of Trinidad and Tobago was among world political leaders identified by Dr. Jha as members of the 30 million large Indian Diaspora who are contributing to nations around the world.
Others of Indian heritage who have taken up important mainstream roles and responsibilities in their adopted countries include The President of Singapore, Chief Justice and Governor General of New Zealand; two Governors of the United States of America; Prime Ministers of Mauritius and; a former Premier of British Columbia and federal minister as well as other world renowned personalities..
As part of the heritage observance the Vedic Cultural Center hosted a special program that included an exhibition with interactive demonstrations, photographic displays and a food bar at its 14th Avenue headquarters. Truly a fun-filled afternoon, organizers engaged politicians like Conservatives Peter Kent and Liberal Michael Chan in an extensive dance session through which they followed directions from the choreographer. Other participants included students from the community; community leaders and police administrators.
Newly appointed Chief of York Regional Police Eric Joliffe congratulated event organizers. He emphasized the town’s profound diversity makeup of which the South Asian community was a vital part. “We have shown despite our differences, we live in peace and harmony,” he added.
Deputy Mayor Jack Heath said he wants to see more South Asian celebrations in Markham as he truly enjoyed the experience, especially the spicy food that are a definite part of South Asian celebrations.
Speaking on the theme “India in Canada” Dr. Jha observed in the public lexicon people are qualifying India as an emerging power but indeed the world is witnessing the country’s re-emergence on the world stage.
“Before 18th century or prior to its political subjugation by the imperialist powers India was a dominant player in the world economy. At their peak India and China together accounted for close to 50% of the world gross domestic product – just 200 years ago,” the entrepreneur said.
Reminding his listeners that ideas from India helped shaped the culture, law, philosophy and signs of the time, Dr. Jha advised that India has thousands and thousands of years of practice of harmonizing difference. “There is an essence to India which tells us that behind the diversity of life there is a spiritual reality called unity. To some it is unity in diversity, an entity in which some eminent common spirit transcends apparent differences. To me India represents diversity in unity, a centrifugal state reined in by the very loosest and most fragile of bonds,” he continued.
Members of the VCC Heritage Committee that planned the celebration included Adityanand Kumar, Devanand Ramoutar, Norman Jainarine, Sharada Bhajan, Vivek Ramcharan, Satyanand Sarju, Dr. Harry Persaud, Ram Jagessar, Keoli Kumar, Ajit Wadhwa, Shailesh Joshi, Veda Mohabir, Das Ramsaroop,Savi Ramsaroop, Neera Chakrovarthy, Indeera Prasad, Sushima Narine, Sandy Heeralall, Amar Persaud, Sheila Jafri, Ahmed Jafri, Sita Raykha, Winston Tamaya, Shanti Sarwan and Arvin Sriram.
South Asian Heritage Month was observed with a host of community events in the month of May throughout the Province of Ontario.
Friday, January 14, 2011
African American history on spinning wheels
By William Doyle-Marshall
There is a very strange pre-occupation with the exploits of post-slavery days and people of African heritage. The latest such endeavours to cross my path is a book that highlights the struggles of an African American cyclist Marshall “Major” Taylor believed to be that nation’s first black sports celebrity.
The presence of this book on the literary scene ironically coincides with the historic democratic turn recorded as Americans elected their first African American – Senator Barak Obama -- to run their affairs in the White House as President.
In “Major – a Black Athlete, a White era and the Fight to be the world’s fastest human being” produced by Crown Publishers of New York, Todd Balf tells a gripping story about the cyclist’s challenges at the hands of unconscionable colleagues who applied quite a few nasty tricks to defeat the cycling giant of his day. We are talking about a period between 1899 and 1904.
Louis Birdie Munger, inventor of the Birdie special bicycle; Bill Brady, a dreamer and promoter of events and Harry Sanger, manufacturer of the chainless wheel were among Taylor’s supporters.
Louis’ father Theodore Munger originally of Southern Ontario fled the chaos of wartime America, bringing his family back to his native Canada shortly after Louis' birth. They joined a rich and growing collection of exiles in southern Ontario, just across the Detroit River and the U.S. boundary. They included fugitive slaves, former British loyalists, displaced Native Americans and the most recent exiles, the Civil War runaways and conscientious objectors.
As a young boy Louis would have been exposed to one of the most dynamic eras in American ingenuity. The author captures the mood of the time: “In the time after the civil war the entrepreneurial urge to create was seemingly infinite. There was the telephone, incandescent light and Coca Cola. Among the successful, World's Fair bound items that passed across Munger's desk were those of Elijah McCoy, a famous inventor who lived in the area. McCoy was awarded 70 patents, his most famous being a lubricating mechanism that prevented steam engines from overheating. Anywhere but the oddly color-blind border region between Ontario and Michigan, McCoy would've stood out for another reason, too: he was black.”
For the first ten years of his life Louis (Birdie) Munger grew up in a tolerant, diverse and unusually democratic part of the world. A third of Colchester, One of Ontario's southernmost towns, consisted of black settlers. They'd come from Kentucky and points south, Colchester being the first cross-border stop on the Underground Railroad. In the distinctly egalitarian environs, the black settlers excelled, producing a slew of formidable achievers.
Floyd McFarland was Taylor’s lone and serious rival but being no match for the African Americana cyclist, he resorted to dishonest means and tactics like forming a new cycling body The American Racing Cyclist’s Union (ARCU) to break away from the League of American Wheelmen (LAW) in October 1898. Banning Taylor for life from entering major cycling events in the United States of America was a prime action of the new body. Naturally this impacted on Taylor’s ability to continue ruling the cycling world.
But this action resulted in economic hardship for cycling. Gates were down. Cynical spectators had begun to sense that the sport was tricked up and according to an article in the New York Herald, “the public has been so disgusted with these tactics that it is now no uncommon occurrence for a bicycle race to be ridden amid the vociferous jeers of an on looking and not too easily fooled crowd.”
Certainly racism imposed itself in the minds of challengers who vowed to do Taylor in even the champion felt the fire of dishonesty wherever he went. “He found the business of living in a white world exhausting,” the author wrote. Balf reports that in September 1897 Bearings magazine, alluding to Taylor’s August performances, noted, “the position of the negro is a trying one, for every rider is anxious to top him. Another publication, the Wheel wrote that ever since Taylor became prominent there had been reports of “efforts to ‘do’ him. That the white men who compete against him strain every nerve to beat the coon, as they term him, is an admitted fact. The Wheel has heard them so state.”
“Marshall Taylor, coming of age, followed the speeches and activities of both leaders (Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois). He felt the same conflicts as civil rights era athletes caught between the fiery, emotion-laden rhetoric of Malcolm X and the restrained pleas for non-violence of Martin Luther King. Jr. Taylor thought he embodied the Washington model – influence and progress through reasonable accommodation – but was beginning to understand Du Bois’ impatience.”
At a time in 1898 when the automobile speed record was 39 mph Taylor had set records on his bicycle at the rate of 46 mph. “For the first time the prominent black newspapers put him on page one, calling him the wonder of the 19th century. The white press pointed out that the gentleman rider was a lovely anomaly: a black man with well-developed white character traits. Finally, the sporting journalists marvelled not only that he had succeeded but that he had done so in wintry conditions.
“It has been a long theory that neither man nor beast could exert his full speed powers while the weather was cold …. Either this belief is fallacious, or the dusky whirlwind with the military title is an extraordinary individual,” Balf writes.
There is a very strange pre-occupation with the exploits of post-slavery days and people of African heritage. The latest such endeavours to cross my path is a book that highlights the struggles of an African American cyclist Marshall “Major” Taylor believed to be that nation’s first black sports celebrity.
The presence of this book on the literary scene ironically coincides with the historic democratic turn recorded as Americans elected their first African American – Senator Barak Obama -- to run their affairs in the White House as President.
In “Major – a Black Athlete, a White era and the Fight to be the world’s fastest human being” produced by Crown Publishers of New York, Todd Balf tells a gripping story about the cyclist’s challenges at the hands of unconscionable colleagues who applied quite a few nasty tricks to defeat the cycling giant of his day. We are talking about a period between 1899 and 1904.
Louis Birdie Munger, inventor of the Birdie special bicycle; Bill Brady, a dreamer and promoter of events and Harry Sanger, manufacturer of the chainless wheel were among Taylor’s supporters.
Louis’ father Theodore Munger originally of Southern Ontario fled the chaos of wartime America, bringing his family back to his native Canada shortly after Louis' birth. They joined a rich and growing collection of exiles in southern Ontario, just across the Detroit River and the U.S. boundary. They included fugitive slaves, former British loyalists, displaced Native Americans and the most recent exiles, the Civil War runaways and conscientious objectors.
As a young boy Louis would have been exposed to one of the most dynamic eras in American ingenuity. The author captures the mood of the time: “In the time after the civil war the entrepreneurial urge to create was seemingly infinite. There was the telephone, incandescent light and Coca Cola. Among the successful, World's Fair bound items that passed across Munger's desk were those of Elijah McCoy, a famous inventor who lived in the area. McCoy was awarded 70 patents, his most famous being a lubricating mechanism that prevented steam engines from overheating. Anywhere but the oddly color-blind border region between Ontario and Michigan, McCoy would've stood out for another reason, too: he was black.”
For the first ten years of his life Louis (Birdie) Munger grew up in a tolerant, diverse and unusually democratic part of the world. A third of Colchester, One of Ontario's southernmost towns, consisted of black settlers. They'd come from Kentucky and points south, Colchester being the first cross-border stop on the Underground Railroad. In the distinctly egalitarian environs, the black settlers excelled, producing a slew of formidable achievers.
Floyd McFarland was Taylor’s lone and serious rival but being no match for the African Americana cyclist, he resorted to dishonest means and tactics like forming a new cycling body The American Racing Cyclist’s Union (ARCU) to break away from the League of American Wheelmen (LAW) in October 1898. Banning Taylor for life from entering major cycling events in the United States of America was a prime action of the new body. Naturally this impacted on Taylor’s ability to continue ruling the cycling world.
But this action resulted in economic hardship for cycling. Gates were down. Cynical spectators had begun to sense that the sport was tricked up and according to an article in the New York Herald, “the public has been so disgusted with these tactics that it is now no uncommon occurrence for a bicycle race to be ridden amid the vociferous jeers of an on looking and not too easily fooled crowd.”
Certainly racism imposed itself in the minds of challengers who vowed to do Taylor in even the champion felt the fire of dishonesty wherever he went. “He found the business of living in a white world exhausting,” the author wrote. Balf reports that in September 1897 Bearings magazine, alluding to Taylor’s August performances, noted, “the position of the negro is a trying one, for every rider is anxious to top him. Another publication, the Wheel wrote that ever since Taylor became prominent there had been reports of “efforts to ‘do’ him. That the white men who compete against him strain every nerve to beat the coon, as they term him, is an admitted fact. The Wheel has heard them so state.”
“Marshall Taylor, coming of age, followed the speeches and activities of both leaders (Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois). He felt the same conflicts as civil rights era athletes caught between the fiery, emotion-laden rhetoric of Malcolm X and the restrained pleas for non-violence of Martin Luther King. Jr. Taylor thought he embodied the Washington model – influence and progress through reasonable accommodation – but was beginning to understand Du Bois’ impatience.”
At a time in 1898 when the automobile speed record was 39 mph Taylor had set records on his bicycle at the rate of 46 mph. “For the first time the prominent black newspapers put him on page one, calling him the wonder of the 19th century. The white press pointed out that the gentleman rider was a lovely anomaly: a black man with well-developed white character traits. Finally, the sporting journalists marvelled not only that he had succeeded but that he had done so in wintry conditions.
“It has been a long theory that neither man nor beast could exert his full speed powers while the weather was cold …. Either this belief is fallacious, or the dusky whirlwind with the military title is an extraordinary individual,” Balf writes.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Muslims now Targets for U.S. Media Abuse
By William Doyle-Marshall
A violent and rather inhumane act – nigger breaking -- practice principally against enslaved Africans in the United States of America, is now believed to be used by American media networks frequently. And Muslims are now the latest victims.
Esteemed African American scholar author and playwright, Ishmael Reed, makes this disclosure in his latest book “Barak Obama and the Jim Crow Media -- The Return of the Nigger Breakers” which was launched in Toronto recently. The event was organized by A Different Book List and the publishers Baraka Books and hosted by Dr. George Elliott Clarke, award winning poet and scholar of the University of Toronto.
Professor Clarke cited Dr. Reed’s earlier work “Flight to Canada” as very instructive about North America’s propaganda of liberty and which the continent projects into the world particularly the United States. However Clarke disclosed that Canada too after supposedly being in Afghanistan in part to spread liberty and democracy is also engaged in spreading its own very self-serving propaganda.
Dr. Reed, the author of numerous Op-Ed pieces for leading U.S. publications refers to the U.S. media as a white owned enterprise with billions of dollars at their disposal. And their revenue stream is based upon holding “unpopular groups” to scorn and ridicule, a formula for ratings that dates to the early days of the mass media.
Since 911 and the worldwide hunt for terrorists, Muslims have now joined the league of communities that have tasted the wrath of the American media, Reed contends. Among ethnic groups, it’s the African Americans who have been the permanent 24/7 group that is subjected to the media take down, the scholar notes. “Mexican Americans, Chinese and Japanese Americans and Jewish Americans and even Italian Americans have taken turns being the targets of their abuse,” Dr. Reed alleges.
“The token black, Hispanic and Asian American commentators are those found non-threatening to the media’s white subscribers and submissive to the editorial line coming from the top. They are like the black servants in “Gone With the Wind” who remained loyal to their masters even the Union troops were approaching the city,” he continues.
That nigger breaking technique is now directed to the U.S. President Barak Obama. According to Dr. Reed. He believes the media has not been kind to the President and he makes the point in his book that over 800 minority journalists have lost their jobs over the last few years. With the disappearance of African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanics and others from journalism, Dr. Reed is disturbed that the president is confronted with an ‘all white jury’.
“They always bring in an all white jury when the normal rules and procedures don’t work like they did in the O.J. (Simpson) trial, when they lost the criminal trial they brought in the media and whether he was guilty or not the media convicted O.J. They are not obliged to abide by the normal rules of the court, courthouse procedures. So they are doing the same thing. They couldn’t win the election somehow they probably consider it a fluke that he got over, now they are using all the power of the media to raise a mob against Barak Obama the same way that the media raised mobs against black men throughout history,” Dr. Reed argues.
As he constructs a case that the media do not embrace President Obama, Dr. Reed recalls attempts made to destroy him with Reverend Wright; by using Obama’s remark about white working-class people clinging to their guns and religion; by the Republican Party comparing and trying to link him to O.J., by linking him to all the black men involved in scandals. “They tried their best to dirty him and they began with the Clinton campaign. These people are supposed to be liberals, these people are not liberals. I mean the fact that they would try to portray him as somebody who is a drug addict and then even as a drug sales person, salesman; they tried to screw him all along,” Dr. Reed insists.
“Barak Obama and the Jim Crow Media -- The Return of the Nigger Breakers” is packed with pointed analysis about issues and concerns that illuminates a rather disturbing reality – racism is alive and well. With some cosmetic changes here and there especially within the boundaries of the Dominion of Canada, Muslims and other ethnic groups must be aware that resistance to change is an ongoing activity.
Now that the Republicans have regained control of the House of Representatives and they are trying to turn back some of the President’s policies especially in the area of health care, it is advisable that Americans read Dr. Reed’s critical offering about the one-sided and wicked relationship American media is pushing against the Chief.
A violent and rather inhumane act – nigger breaking -- practice principally against enslaved Africans in the United States of America, is now believed to be used by American media networks frequently. And Muslims are now the latest victims.
Esteemed African American scholar author and playwright, Ishmael Reed, makes this disclosure in his latest book “Barak Obama and the Jim Crow Media -- The Return of the Nigger Breakers” which was launched in Toronto recently. The event was organized by A Different Book List and the publishers Baraka Books and hosted by Dr. George Elliott Clarke, award winning poet and scholar of the University of Toronto.
Professor Clarke cited Dr. Reed’s earlier work “Flight to Canada” as very instructive about North America’s propaganda of liberty and which the continent projects into the world particularly the United States. However Clarke disclosed that Canada too after supposedly being in Afghanistan in part to spread liberty and democracy is also engaged in spreading its own very self-serving propaganda.
Dr. Reed, the author of numerous Op-Ed pieces for leading U.S. publications refers to the U.S. media as a white owned enterprise with billions of dollars at their disposal. And their revenue stream is based upon holding “unpopular groups” to scorn and ridicule, a formula for ratings that dates to the early days of the mass media.
Since 911 and the worldwide hunt for terrorists, Muslims have now joined the league of communities that have tasted the wrath of the American media, Reed contends. Among ethnic groups, it’s the African Americans who have been the permanent 24/7 group that is subjected to the media take down, the scholar notes. “Mexican Americans, Chinese and Japanese Americans and Jewish Americans and even Italian Americans have taken turns being the targets of their abuse,” Dr. Reed alleges.
“The token black, Hispanic and Asian American commentators are those found non-threatening to the media’s white subscribers and submissive to the editorial line coming from the top. They are like the black servants in “Gone With the Wind” who remained loyal to their masters even the Union troops were approaching the city,” he continues.
That nigger breaking technique is now directed to the U.S. President Barak Obama. According to Dr. Reed. He believes the media has not been kind to the President and he makes the point in his book that over 800 minority journalists have lost their jobs over the last few years. With the disappearance of African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanics and others from journalism, Dr. Reed is disturbed that the president is confronted with an ‘all white jury’.
“They always bring in an all white jury when the normal rules and procedures don’t work like they did in the O.J. (Simpson) trial, when they lost the criminal trial they brought in the media and whether he was guilty or not the media convicted O.J. They are not obliged to abide by the normal rules of the court, courthouse procedures. So they are doing the same thing. They couldn’t win the election somehow they probably consider it a fluke that he got over, now they are using all the power of the media to raise a mob against Barak Obama the same way that the media raised mobs against black men throughout history,” Dr. Reed argues.
As he constructs a case that the media do not embrace President Obama, Dr. Reed recalls attempts made to destroy him with Reverend Wright; by using Obama’s remark about white working-class people clinging to their guns and religion; by the Republican Party comparing and trying to link him to O.J., by linking him to all the black men involved in scandals. “They tried their best to dirty him and they began with the Clinton campaign. These people are supposed to be liberals, these people are not liberals. I mean the fact that they would try to portray him as somebody who is a drug addict and then even as a drug sales person, salesman; they tried to screw him all along,” Dr. Reed insists.
“Barak Obama and the Jim Crow Media -- The Return of the Nigger Breakers” is packed with pointed analysis about issues and concerns that illuminates a rather disturbing reality – racism is alive and well. With some cosmetic changes here and there especially within the boundaries of the Dominion of Canada, Muslims and other ethnic groups must be aware that resistance to change is an ongoing activity.
Now that the Republicans have regained control of the House of Representatives and they are trying to turn back some of the President’s policies especially in the area of health care, it is advisable that Americans read Dr. Reed’s critical offering about the one-sided and wicked relationship American media is pushing against the Chief.
Friday, January 7, 2011
New Canadians need not fear Canadian military, says Army Commander Deschamps
By William Doyle-Marshall
The upper echelon of the Canadian Air Force does not reflect the current diversified Canadian society. Lieutenant-General André Deschamps the new Commander made this admission during a round table discussion with members of the National Ethnic Press and Media Council.
Deschamps admitted this is one of the military’s challenges as the service is not very visible in the big centers like Toronto and Vancouver, where the country’s diversified cultures exist.
“Because we are not very visible and present it is hard for them (ethnic communities) to understand what they can contribute to the Air Force,” Deschamps said. Consequently his meeting with ethnic media personnel was one step to address the situation.
The air force administration is certainly feeling a lot of pressure to get the right balance of people in so it would be viable for the next ten, 15 or 20 years. The Commander of the Air Force is aware of the need to rebalance otherwise it’s going to be difficult to sustain. He and his recruitment team understand if they don’t get people coming in, in the right numbers, with the right quality sustaining the force in the future would be very difficult.
With this in mind there is an outreach programme to attract members from Canada’s diversified communities so that they get to understand there is a role for them to play in national security.
Changing the face of the military is vital so there is a definite need to include the diversified Canadians so they would be inside the agency. The Air Force is certainly a case in point where our population is aging and there are two existing demographics. “We have the very young new people coming in and we have the exit crowd, myself included, at the end of their service career and we have a big hole in the middle where we should have experience people – the 15, 20-year experience. But we lost those people in the downsizing in the mid nineties,” Lieutenant General Deschamps who took over command of the Air Force at the beginning of October explained.
With respect to new Canadians in communities that typically would not be very pro-military, the commander noted “Culturally it is something they don’t feel comfortable with. So I think we have a decade where we have to overcome that bias where people that are new Canadians or just coming to Canada are either fearful of the military, don’t trust the military; they don’t think it is a career that they want their families or their children to be in. So we have to overcome those barriers otherwise we would have significant challenges in the coming decade to find enough good people to populate our Canadian Forces because we need that large chunk of demographic in the military to make sure we have the right people but also it is the right of balance of people so that Canada is represented in this military,” Deschamps added.
The Air Force’s recruiting centers, through advertising are trying to reach out to those communities that typically are coming in from countries where the military is not seen as a positive force in their country. The Canadian military is one of the most highly trained and respected forces in the world. Above all, the Canadian Forces value strength of character, and team contributions. On its website promoting diversity the force stresses “regardless of your gender, religion or ethnicity, the Canadian Forces invite you be a part of its team and to explore the opportunities it has to offer”.
In the meantime, the Air Force’s key role is to protect Canada and to do that it has bases across the country for search and rescue effort, domestic airspace surveillance and control. It supports other government agencies like the RCMP and provincial police. This year alone its security operations included the Vancouver Olympics, G8- G20 Summits. “We have a lot of assets we can bring to help – communications and surveillance – so we bring those capabilities to help our government partners through their primary mandates of these security operations,” the commander emphasized.
Its air wing consists of helicopters and tactical mobility equipment used for supporting the army as well as the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles that are flown from ground stations in support of the army operation on the ground in Afghanistan.
“To be able to support what we do in Afghanistan requires a fully large effort because the Chinook doesn’t exist in Canada. We bought six of them just for Afghanistan so we had to actually find the people within our existing structure – technician and air personnel -- to take them to the U.S. to train them on the Chinooks and then deploy them and we have to keep doing this for two years.”
December 8, 2010
The upper echelon of the Canadian Air Force does not reflect the current diversified Canadian society. Lieutenant-General André Deschamps the new Commander made this admission during a round table discussion with members of the National Ethnic Press and Media Council.
Deschamps admitted this is one of the military’s challenges as the service is not very visible in the big centers like Toronto and Vancouver, where the country’s diversified cultures exist.
“Because we are not very visible and present it is hard for them (ethnic communities) to understand what they can contribute to the Air Force,” Deschamps said. Consequently his meeting with ethnic media personnel was one step to address the situation.
The air force administration is certainly feeling a lot of pressure to get the right balance of people in so it would be viable for the next ten, 15 or 20 years. The Commander of the Air Force is aware of the need to rebalance otherwise it’s going to be difficult to sustain. He and his recruitment team understand if they don’t get people coming in, in the right numbers, with the right quality sustaining the force in the future would be very difficult.
With this in mind there is an outreach programme to attract members from Canada’s diversified communities so that they get to understand there is a role for them to play in national security.
Changing the face of the military is vital so there is a definite need to include the diversified Canadians so they would be inside the agency. The Air Force is certainly a case in point where our population is aging and there are two existing demographics. “We have the very young new people coming in and we have the exit crowd, myself included, at the end of their service career and we have a big hole in the middle where we should have experience people – the 15, 20-year experience. But we lost those people in the downsizing in the mid nineties,” Lieutenant General Deschamps who took over command of the Air Force at the beginning of October explained.
With respect to new Canadians in communities that typically would not be very pro-military, the commander noted “Culturally it is something they don’t feel comfortable with. So I think we have a decade where we have to overcome that bias where people that are new Canadians or just coming to Canada are either fearful of the military, don’t trust the military; they don’t think it is a career that they want their families or their children to be in. So we have to overcome those barriers otherwise we would have significant challenges in the coming decade to find enough good people to populate our Canadian Forces because we need that large chunk of demographic in the military to make sure we have the right people but also it is the right of balance of people so that Canada is represented in this military,” Deschamps added.
The Air Force’s recruiting centers, through advertising are trying to reach out to those communities that typically are coming in from countries where the military is not seen as a positive force in their country. The Canadian military is one of the most highly trained and respected forces in the world. Above all, the Canadian Forces value strength of character, and team contributions. On its website promoting diversity the force stresses “regardless of your gender, religion or ethnicity, the Canadian Forces invite you be a part of its team and to explore the opportunities it has to offer”.
In the meantime, the Air Force’s key role is to protect Canada and to do that it has bases across the country for search and rescue effort, domestic airspace surveillance and control. It supports other government agencies like the RCMP and provincial police. This year alone its security operations included the Vancouver Olympics, G8- G20 Summits. “We have a lot of assets we can bring to help – communications and surveillance – so we bring those capabilities to help our government partners through their primary mandates of these security operations,” the commander emphasized.
Its air wing consists of helicopters and tactical mobility equipment used for supporting the army as well as the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles that are flown from ground stations in support of the army operation on the ground in Afghanistan.
“To be able to support what we do in Afghanistan requires a fully large effort because the Chinook doesn’t exist in Canada. We bought six of them just for Afghanistan so we had to actually find the people within our existing structure – technician and air personnel -- to take them to the U.S. to train them on the Chinooks and then deploy them and we have to keep doing this for two years.”
December 8, 2010
Nevis surveillance cameras to deter gangs
By William Doyle-Marshall
Surveillance cameras, a new Police Station, barracks to accommodate more police officers and new police cars for Nevis are among ventures of the Nevis Island Administration’s anti-crime plan.
Premier Joseph Parry while addressing a Town Hall Meeting here recently as part of a North American tour disclosed that these were being pursued vigorously.
Parry said surveillance cameras are being installed in Charlestown and other parts of the island including New Castle and all those areas where gangs are being formed. “We must see what they are doing midnight and whenever; and if they think that they can go and destroy those cameras, the cameras will catch them and their pictures will be seen and they will be identified,” the Premier promised.
Premier Parry announced that movement on the boats and other locations are going to be monitored because some of the criminals in Nevis are working with those in St. Kitts.
“We have gotten cars. We say you can’t move around? You have people going around the place and doing stupid things, now here you are police officers, you are able to get to places very quickly,” Parry reported.
He admitted having some difficulty with the young men who get into trouble so easily for doing silly things. Parry was concerned that jail is like a training school for them as it is an opportunity for them to mingle with the hardened criminals and when they come out they start moving in a road that is unwanted.
That situation has been compounded with the returnees. The premier lamented some returnees are criminals and the police have difficulty in controlling them. “But we keep trying and we are hopeful that we can keep things under control,” the Premier continued.
“The Cottonground Police Station is being constructed on the main road and it is expected to be completed in the next few months. It will be responsible for policing the whole of Nevis.
Regarding education, every government primary school has a new bank of computers. This is in keeping with a federal government promise during the last elections. “So we are having computers on the island of Nevis as well and we have gone further and we have said look we want computers for the sixth formers,” Premier Parry announced.
However, he said stringent steps have been taken to prevent children from doing mischievous things like going on websites that are not related to education. These computers will have restricted use mainly for education. Parry said a government owned system that will be in place to help the children access the Internet free. It will also support surveillance cameras around the island.
In addition the Charlestown Secondary School has been expanded with the building of four classrooms and the size of the staff room has been increased. According to the Premier it is the first time the school has been improved since 1976. “It created comfort for teachers and it created comfort for teachers who would be more willing to teach the children. The Charlestown Secondary and the Gingerland High School have had outstanding results over the past years and have been getting better and better,” Parry told the Toronto gathering.
Surveillance cameras, a new Police Station, barracks to accommodate more police officers and new police cars for Nevis are among ventures of the Nevis Island Administration’s anti-crime plan.
Premier Joseph Parry while addressing a Town Hall Meeting here recently as part of a North American tour disclosed that these were being pursued vigorously.
Parry said surveillance cameras are being installed in Charlestown and other parts of the island including New Castle and all those areas where gangs are being formed. “We must see what they are doing midnight and whenever; and if they think that they can go and destroy those cameras, the cameras will catch them and their pictures will be seen and they will be identified,” the Premier promised.
Premier Parry announced that movement on the boats and other locations are going to be monitored because some of the criminals in Nevis are working with those in St. Kitts.
“We have gotten cars. We say you can’t move around? You have people going around the place and doing stupid things, now here you are police officers, you are able to get to places very quickly,” Parry reported.
He admitted having some difficulty with the young men who get into trouble so easily for doing silly things. Parry was concerned that jail is like a training school for them as it is an opportunity for them to mingle with the hardened criminals and when they come out they start moving in a road that is unwanted.
That situation has been compounded with the returnees. The premier lamented some returnees are criminals and the police have difficulty in controlling them. “But we keep trying and we are hopeful that we can keep things under control,” the Premier continued.
“The Cottonground Police Station is being constructed on the main road and it is expected to be completed in the next few months. It will be responsible for policing the whole of Nevis.
Regarding education, every government primary school has a new bank of computers. This is in keeping with a federal government promise during the last elections. “So we are having computers on the island of Nevis as well and we have gone further and we have said look we want computers for the sixth formers,” Premier Parry announced.
However, he said stringent steps have been taken to prevent children from doing mischievous things like going on websites that are not related to education. These computers will have restricted use mainly for education. Parry said a government owned system that will be in place to help the children access the Internet free. It will also support surveillance cameras around the island.
In addition the Charlestown Secondary School has been expanded with the building of four classrooms and the size of the staff room has been increased. According to the Premier it is the first time the school has been improved since 1976. “It created comfort for teachers and it created comfort for teachers who would be more willing to teach the children. The Charlestown Secondary and the Gingerland High School have had outstanding results over the past years and have been getting better and better,” Parry told the Toronto gathering.
Weak households, poor economics impact on parenting, cause of violence?
By William Doyle-Marshall
Toronto -- Caricom governments have to strategically spread their resources over the life cycle of the their country’s population ensuring whatever needs they have can be adequately served. This suggestion comes from Andrew Holness, Jamaica’s Minister of Education in a recent interview here.
The minister was discussing the regional concern of young men getting involved in violence and he identified two issues that need attention in this regard. One is weak households and economics that impact on parenting combined with values and attitudes.
The minister was here for the annual fundraiser of the PACE Canada organization that makes major contributions to the development of early childhood education here and in the Caribbean. He promised his Government’s continued support to the organization, which was founded by retired educator Dr. Mavis Burke.
Holness suggests government strategy has to be very direct as it deals with strengthening households and family so that they are able to support and maintain a strong values and attitudes framework and at the same time provide the economic base so that males can have greater participation in education.
From the Jamaica government’s perspective, the minister said “we are going to make sure that we are effective at the early childhood level so that we don’t create 21 year olds who need lifecycle treatment that would be appropriate for primary school students.”
Male under-participation in the mainstream is heavily linked to the household and the home and male seem to be particularly affected by a weak household and a weak home, the minister observed. Their under-participation results in over participation elsewhere, he added.
The Government of Jamaica is working on two major projects with United Nations International Children’s Educational Fund (UNICEF) in the area of education related to making schools of the region friendlier. Holness disclosed that a Behaviour management strategy and a Child Friendly School Initiative are currently being developed.
Corporal punishment as it relates to schools is about to be repealed in Jamaica. Very soon teachers will not be able to administer corporal punishment in schools the minister disclosed. The move creates a problem because culturally, corporal punishment is still seen as the quickest and most effective way of disciplinary instruction, he noted.
While teachers rely on it, Holness said the country’s Early Childhood Act prohibits corporal punishment at the early childhood level but it says nothing at the primary and high school levels. But as government is trying to create a less violent society, the minister said it simply couldn’t support corporal punishment as a means of controlling behaviour so together with UNICEF it is developing a new Behaviour Management Strategy, which to be fully implemented within two years.
“What we have seen is at the high school the use of corporal punishment can create a destabilizing force because students are quicker to respond and react to teachers and you are really setting up a point of conflict in the high schools,” the minister observed.
At the primary level where there is a large student population and some parents are being sensitive about their children being hit so corporal punishment can create a problem for the government, Holness said.
Teachers would have to be trained in new methods in disciplinary management. “Implementing a Behaviour Management strategy such as that which requires cultural change is not something that would happen over night,” he added.
Meanwhile, UNICEF’s Child Friendly Schools Initiative that requires all forms of violence are to be removed from the school environment is one that the Government of Jamaica endorses and the minister believes other Caricom countries like Trinidad and Tobago and St. Lucia, are taking it on.
The introduction of methods of conflict resolution that are more peaceful in nature is a pillar of the initiative, making the school environment more friendly; so that learning is seen as fun. UNICEF is trying to promote these kinds of things regionally and Jamaica has basically adopted them and I believe other countries have adopted this child friendly approach to education.”
Toronto -- Caricom governments have to strategically spread their resources over the life cycle of the their country’s population ensuring whatever needs they have can be adequately served. This suggestion comes from Andrew Holness, Jamaica’s Minister of Education in a recent interview here.
The minister was discussing the regional concern of young men getting involved in violence and he identified two issues that need attention in this regard. One is weak households and economics that impact on parenting combined with values and attitudes.
The minister was here for the annual fundraiser of the PACE Canada organization that makes major contributions to the development of early childhood education here and in the Caribbean. He promised his Government’s continued support to the organization, which was founded by retired educator Dr. Mavis Burke.
Holness suggests government strategy has to be very direct as it deals with strengthening households and family so that they are able to support and maintain a strong values and attitudes framework and at the same time provide the economic base so that males can have greater participation in education.
From the Jamaica government’s perspective, the minister said “we are going to make sure that we are effective at the early childhood level so that we don’t create 21 year olds who need lifecycle treatment that would be appropriate for primary school students.”
Male under-participation in the mainstream is heavily linked to the household and the home and male seem to be particularly affected by a weak household and a weak home, the minister observed. Their under-participation results in over participation elsewhere, he added.
The Government of Jamaica is working on two major projects with United Nations International Children’s Educational Fund (UNICEF) in the area of education related to making schools of the region friendlier. Holness disclosed that a Behaviour management strategy and a Child Friendly School Initiative are currently being developed.
Corporal punishment as it relates to schools is about to be repealed in Jamaica. Very soon teachers will not be able to administer corporal punishment in schools the minister disclosed. The move creates a problem because culturally, corporal punishment is still seen as the quickest and most effective way of disciplinary instruction, he noted.
While teachers rely on it, Holness said the country’s Early Childhood Act prohibits corporal punishment at the early childhood level but it says nothing at the primary and high school levels. But as government is trying to create a less violent society, the minister said it simply couldn’t support corporal punishment as a means of controlling behaviour so together with UNICEF it is developing a new Behaviour Management Strategy, which to be fully implemented within two years.
“What we have seen is at the high school the use of corporal punishment can create a destabilizing force because students are quicker to respond and react to teachers and you are really setting up a point of conflict in the high schools,” the minister observed.
At the primary level where there is a large student population and some parents are being sensitive about their children being hit so corporal punishment can create a problem for the government, Holness said.
Teachers would have to be trained in new methods in disciplinary management. “Implementing a Behaviour Management strategy such as that which requires cultural change is not something that would happen over night,” he added.
Meanwhile, UNICEF’s Child Friendly Schools Initiative that requires all forms of violence are to be removed from the school environment is one that the Government of Jamaica endorses and the minister believes other Caricom countries like Trinidad and Tobago and St. Lucia, are taking it on.
The introduction of methods of conflict resolution that are more peaceful in nature is a pillar of the initiative, making the school environment more friendly; so that learning is seen as fun. UNICEF is trying to promote these kinds of things regionally and Jamaica has basically adopted them and I believe other countries have adopted this child friendly approach to education.”
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