The Intersection of Gender, Culture and Education: Jamaica: The Next 50 Years!

“Every child deserves a champion: an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection and insists they become the best they can possibly be.”- Rita Pierson   Jamaica has always had a problem providing equitable quality education for all students. The education system over the years has evolved into an elitist structure. As a result children of the money class and those of influence and connection attend the best schools in the country while the children of the ordinary folks attend schools which everyone knows are under-performing. Unfortunately, that is how the system works. Jamaica’s education system operates on a two-tier scheme, there are “schools of choice” and then there are the “others”. Each year students along with their parents select those schools at both the primary and secondary levels which they believe will guarantee them a superior level of education. No one can blame any parent for wanting the best for his or her child. Its rather inte...

“A beach is not only a sweep of sand, but shells of sea creatures, the sea glass, the seaweed, the incongruous objects washed up by the ocean.”- Henry Grunwald When was the last time you visited Hellshire Beach in St. Catherine? Perhaps it has been a year ago or probably 6 months ago. My last visit was somewhere about 8 years ago. Hellshire Beach over the years has deteriorated. There are no changing room facilities, no public bathrooms; all that exists is a wash off area located at the front. These lack of basic amenities has robbed this once sort after relax spot of its pride of place. In all fairness it must be said that there is no cost to access the beach. However, there are two constant variables at Hellshire Beach, one is the high quality escovitch fish and bammy done to order and the other is the numerous hustlers who ply their trade at this oasis in the desert. My beach of choice over the years has been Fort Clarence.   I suspect most people prefer Fort Clarence since the...

So much like a fog life can be. Today, I am like a cloud floating, floating with much determination and purpose. There are days your luck changes like the weather, drastic and dramatic. Some days a battering comes, unexpected and unplanned but in the end we remain steadfast and strong. As strong as a lion traversing through the jungle, life is like a jungle. We pass each other as hustle along in this harsh world. A world which takes no prisoners! Only the strongest gets to write the narrative.     Our lives are so much intertwined, perhaps you disagree, and you have that right. We scoff at the ‘others’ and turn up our noses on those we refer to as ‘others’ not knowing how and when our luck will change. A change is coming; can you feel it in the air? A gentle wind is blowing, the clouds are gathering, The harvest is ripe.    Never laugh at those who are different or who are having difficulty in life. The same others we turned our backs on, and giggle and mock, even r...

“If you're going to hold someone down you're going to have to hold on by the other end of the chain. You are confined by your own repression.”- Toni Morrison On the day Jamaica commemorates her 57 th anniversary of political independence the international community was plunged in grief and mourning at the passing of Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison. Morrison was the first African American woman to win a Nobel Prize in Literature. One can find many parallels in the life and work of this most accomplished novelist and the Caribbean island of Jamaica. Jamaica with a population of fewer than 3 million people has risen to become a cultural power house in the eyes of the international community. Brand Jamaica is both respected and admired all across the world. Jamaica has had many firsts as well especially in the creative and cultural arenas. Earlier this year we were the first Caribbean nation to make it to the FIFA Women’s World Cup football finals held in France. In 1988 Jamaica mad...

“Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds.”- Marcus Garvey Have you ever thought about what life would have been like had you been born in an earlier time? Have you ever wondered about what life was in Jamaica in 1834?   How many of you have really thought about the meaning of Emancipation? Freedom, human freedom is a right and not a privilege to be enjoyed by one set of people and denied to another based on one’s skin colour. The colour of one’s skin does not give one race a right to enslave or to engage in human trafficking of another race. In 1833 the British Parliament grudgingly passed the Slavery Abolition Act which finally abolished slavery in Jamaica and the British West Indian colonies on August 1, 1834. The Emancipation Act of 1834 declared all children born into slavery under the age of six, and any born after that date be free. The trickery in this discourse was in the Apprenticeship System which clearly stated that all other ...