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

The identification of a new COVID-19 variant has reminded the world that the pandemic is not yet over. We have been told repeatedly that the COVID-19 pandemic will be with us for some time. We are all aware of the Delta Variant and the hundreds of persons who have died from that strain of the coronavirus. In recent times we have seen a disturbing trend of an uptick in COVID-19 cases all across Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Austria has returned to a full national lockdown as protests against new restrictions aimed at curbing Covid-19 infections spread across Europe. From midnight, Austrians have been asked to work from home and non-essential shops have closed. New restrictions have sparked protests throughout Europe. Infection rates have risen sharply on the continent, prompting warnings from the World Health Organization (WHO). This trend has been especially worrying given that the COVID-19 vaccination rate for Western Europe and North America is relativ...

“If we are to fight discrimination and injustice against women we must start from the home for if a woman cannot be safe in her own house then she cannot be expected to feel safe anywhere.”- Aysha Taryam. We have had some horrific violent acts against women globally. The Jamaican society was shocked in May of this year when a woman was doused with gasoline and set ablaze by her spouse in Great River, Hanover. The victim was airlifted to the United States of America; unfortunately she died a few days later. The international community was grief-stricken in 2012 when Malala Yousafzai was shot in her head by a Taliban on 9 October 2012. Malala survived the ordeal and later won the Nobel Prize for her work on girls' education in 2014. In most societies women are not viewed in equal terms as men. It is safe to say women are seen as second class citizens; this is problematic and often lends itself to abuse of our women. The continued abuse of women is a scourge on humanity. On November ...

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Discussions surrounding men and manhood are usually rooted in a negative space. The issues men experience are usually not given much attention and space. Perhaps this is of our own doing since masculinity and maleness are clothed in a rough and tough exterior. As a society we should not disregard the concerns impacting and affecting men. We ought to take every opportunity to improve the relationship between both sexes, instead of perpetuating a climate of gender inequality. Men’s issues are real and must be deliberated in a safe space. These issues include masculinity, manhood, men’s’ health, including mental health, paternity leave, and boys’ under-performance in the education system, gender-based violence, crime and violence, the feminization of the education system and improving the relations between g...

My parents are part of the estimated 422 million adults living with diabetes. Additionally, my dad, Fitzroy has Stage 4 kidney disease; dad also has Type 1 diabetes and takes insulin. On the other hand, my mom has Type 2 diabetes and takes oral medication. The global prevalence of diabetes has nearly doubled since 1980, rising from 4.7% to 8.5% in the adult population. This reflects an increase in associated risk factors such as being overweight or obese. Over the past decade, diabetes prevalence has risen faster in low and middle-income countries than in high-income countries. Diabetes occurs when our pancreas is unable to make sufficient insulin. The hormone insulin (which is made in the pancreas) is needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy needed for daily life. In people with diabetes, either the pancreas doesn't make insulin or the body cannot use insulin properly. Without insulin, sugar the body's main energy source builds up in the blood. Diabetes ...

“After all, if there is no class stratification in a society, it follows that there is no State, because the State arose as an instrument to be used by a particular class to control the rest of society in its own interest.”- Walter Rodney. The year 1968 remains one of the most tumultuous single years in history. The assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr is perhaps the most significant event of that year. The period of activism associated with Walter Rodney appears to have vanished. Those of us who attended the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona Campus during the 1980’s and onwards were denied that rich student engagement which challenged the status quo of the day. The 23rd Walter Rodney Memorial Lecture was held virtually on Friday, October 15, 2021. Dr. Patricia Rodney, widow of Dr. Walter Rodney was very candid in her descriptive and at times painful recollection surrounding the events which unfolded during October 15-17, 1968. In what can be described as a conversatio...

“Cults can hide in many places. They are so adept at blending into society and masking their true colours that often their victims do not realize that they were even in a cult until they have escaped it. Nor do they fully comprehend the severity of the brainwashing that they were subjected to, until they are finally free of it.”- Natacha Tormey. To what extent does Jamaica’s education system facilitate our acceptance of cult-like behaviours? We all have been primed to become members of a cult. We live in a society where independent thoughts are not valued. We are socialized not to ask questions. We are told from infancy that children are to be seen but ought not to be heard. This mindset grows with us into adulthood. Jamaica, like most other countries utilizes a standardized curriculum which facilitates a culture of submissiveness. The legacies of a post-slavery society reverberate in all aspects of our culture. Do you recall the Jonestown massacre in Guyana? Undeniably, absent from ...

“Poverty is a moral indictment of our times.”- António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations. The World Bank states the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to have pushed between 143 and 163 million people into poverty in 2021. We do not need the World Bank to tell us that we have become poorer. On each visit to the grocery shop or wholesale our purchasing power decreases; one only has to look at the shopping cart. As consumers we have very little choices, it’s either we do without or we purchase if we can. We have been forced to cut back on some basic items. Unfortunately, not only has there been an increase in poverty, there has also been an increase in malnutrition. Many have had to skip a meal or two. Many mothers have had to go hungry in order to ensure that their children eat. Persistent poverty is a vicious cycle made worse by the insatiable appetite of the super-rich, who have become richer during the COVID-19 pandemic, and corrupt governments. The poorer one becomes the ...