Social Impact with Emma » human rights : A Jamaica Gleaner Blog

Is There a Right and a Wrong Way to Celebrate National Holidays?

July 24th, 2016

The Independence and Emancipation Day holidays are nearly upon us (I refuse to use the word “Emancipendence.” Whoever thought that one up?) How quickly the year has passed! It’s as if the holiday is a kind of marker; from here on, the year just slips away until Christmas arrives. Another year done! Tempus fugit. Recently, […]

Mentoring Our Vulnerable Boys: Not a Walk in the Park

July 6th, 2016

Have you ever considered mentoring? What are the pitfalls, and what are the rewards? Panos Caribbean enlisted the expertise of Claudette Richardson Pious, Executive Director of the Children First Agency in Spanish Town, to put prospective mentors through their paces at a recent workshop. Ms. Richardson Pious knows the challenges our young people face only […]

Brexit Bytes

June 27th, 2016

This morning I was a guest on Television Jamaica’s Smile Jamaica with Dr. Jermaine McCalpin of the University of the West Indies. We attempted to make some sense out of the conundrum that is “Brexit” – last week’s referendum on whether to leave the European Union – despite the early hour. I fell back on one […]

Our Media Is Happily Free – Let’s Not Take It For Granted

May 4th, 2016

World Press Freedom Day (May 3) came and went with barely a ripple in Jamaica. The Press Association of Jamaica (PAJ) issued a statement, which addressed a current shopping list of concerns among local media practitioners. These concerns are by no means slight – an inadequate Access to Information, and the anachronistic Official Secrets Act, […]

Should Masculinity in Jamaica Be Redefined?

April 5th, 2016

“Masculinity needs to be redefined.” So says Anika Gray. Anika Gray is an attorney-at-law. She is also a Chevening Scholar, who pursued her Masters in Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford. Her focus is on Human Rights, Health and Infrastructure Policy. But today, at the launch of a U.S. and UK Government-funded […]

Freedom is a Process, Says Farmer and Cafe Owner Anne Bailey

December 23rd, 2015

“I know it’s hard for Jamaicans to change their eating habits,” says Anne Bailey, smoothing down her apron. “It takes time.” Dr. Bailey has just opened a café in Kingston’s busy Half Way Tree area. It’s a café with a powerful message, as its name, Forever Free suggests. Tucked away upstairs in a small plaza, it offers a […]

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