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

“A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become and still, gently allows you to grow.”- William Shakespeare. Many of us take our friendships for granted. On the other hand, there are those among us who have a difficult time forming friendships, not because of selfishness but due to our personality type. Regardless, of where we find ourselves on the friendship spectrum, having friends is important for our overall wellbeing. We were not created to live lives of solitude. Life is already challenging; to navigate this journey true friends are needed. A real friend is one who will not shy away from telling you the truth even if it hurts. A friend who is really connected to our state of being is one who is discerning and knows when something is amiss with us. True friendship is oftentimes like a rare gem. Having a friend does not mean we are not cognizant that we respect the importance of each person’s private moments. True friendshi...

The society has heard the calls, ‘men must do better’ repeatedly. Unfortunately, there is no national consensus regarding education in general or boys’ education in particular hence our present dilemma. While the ever widening gender gap concerning post-secondary and higher education should be cause for national concern we should not be surprised that we have reached this juncture. Regrettably, we live in a society in which boys who display school smarts are often ridiculed as effeminate by peers and even adults in areas where academic excellence by males is typically devalued. At the recent graduation Professor Haldane Davies, president of the University of the Commonwealth Caribbean, (UCC), highlighted his concerns surrounding the disproportionate number of males to females at the institution with a focus on higher education. Of the 774 individuals who graduated from the University of the Commonwealth Caribbean (UCC) 80 per cent were women, highlighting the continuing failure of m...

Are you one of those Jamaicans who missed church this morning just to watch the Reggae Girls play against France in the FIFA Women’s World Cup? Perhaps, you were deliberately late for church or work just to watch the match, and what a match it was. The Reggae Girls football team is ranked at number 43; however, their creditable performance against the highly touted and number 5 ranked France will be spoken about for years to come. We should be mindful that Jamaica is drawn in a tough zone; Brazil and Panama are the other teams in Group F. However, Jamaica is not however daunted by the big occasion. The path for the Reggae Girl has not been an easy one; however the team has played with a lion heart and is rather talented. This team has shown the talent the Caribbean has to offer women’s football and undoubtedly will represent the Caribbean and The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, (CONCACAF) regions very well. After their debut at France 2019,...

“It is easy to break down and destroy. The heroes are those who make peace and build”. Nelson Mandela. Mandela Day is an annual global celebration that takes place on 18 July to honour the life and legacy of Nelson Mandela. This day is a call to action for individuals, communities, and organizations to take time to reflect on Mandela's values and principles and to make a positive impact in their own communities. It is the vision of the Nelson Mandela Foundation for the world to unite and act decisively against the consequences of climate change and food insecurity for Nelson Mandela Day 2023. A warming climate can contribute to the intensity of heat waves by increasing the chances of very hot days and nights. We are currently in the midst of a global heat wave; and all of us have been impacted. High temperatures can be damaging to agriculture. Heat waves also increase the chances of livestock experiencing heat stress, especially when night time temperatures remain high and animals ...

“Remember my name and you add to my feeling of importance.”- Dale Carnegie. Our names are important. Our names are synonymous with our cultural and familial identity and purpose. Many individuals will fight tooth and nail to clear their names in a court of law. In most if not all societies there are formal religious or civic ceremonies where a child is christened and named. Anthropologists recognize the importance and value to the society in naming both human beings and inanimate objects. At the beginning of each academic year teachers are tasked with knowing the names of their pupils, as well as knowing the correct pronunciation of such names. There are those teachers who will make the effort to correctly pronounce the names of their pupils, and unfortunately, others will pronounce their names in the manner they think it ought to be. Of course, there are those students who will stop the teacher in his or her track and provide a lesson on the proper pronunciation of their names. Such ...

“The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race….It would take off on its own, and re-design itself at an ever-increasing rate. Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn’t compete, and would be superseded.”- Stephen Hawking. To say that we are living in exciting times is an understatement. Yet, many of us are far-removed from the technological advancements being made; while some of us have chosen to disengage the process. Nonetheless, the impact of such development will be felt wherever you reside on planet Earth. The international community has been fascinated by the rapid development of Artificial Intelligence in recent times. Last Friday, July 7, 2023 the world was taken by surprise as the United Nations' (UN) Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Good Global Summit in Geneva, Switzerland hosted a number of intelligent robots. At the conference, a panel of AI-enabled humanoid robots took the microphone at the UN conference w...

“We must seek our strength in our unity. And then we must dedicate that strength to the building of a new life of opportunity and security for our people.”- Michael Manley. Frankly speaking there is not much to celebrate concerning the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of The Caribbean Community and Common Market (Caricom). The conceptualization of Caricom never had grass-root support from the people of the Caribbean. In fact, Caricom emerged as a back-up plan to counter the failure of the British West Indies Federation in 1958. With the end of the Federation, political leaders in the Caribbean made more serious efforts to strengthen the ties between the islands and mainland by providing for the continuance and strengthening of the areas of cooperation that existed during Federation. Many of us who live in the Caribbean region are aware of the existence of Caricom; unfortunately, this awareness does not translate to any practical benefits of being in such an association. Apa...

“Kiswahili is a language that speaks to both past and present. With over 200 million speakers, it is one of the most widely used African languages. In addition to being a language of trade, diplomacy and unity, Kiswahili is a rich source of cultural expression.”- Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO. Swahili, also known by its local name Kiswahili, is the native language of the Swahili people, who are found primarily in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Swahili speakers are spread across a wide region and are also found in Oman and Yemen in the Middle East. Swahili is one of the official languages of the African Union (AU). Swahili is a language that is a culmination of different Bantu languages, Arabic, and a few words from European languages. All this was made possible by the interaction between merchants and explorers who visited the East African coast in the 1800s. In the 1950s the United Nations (UN) established the Kis...