Social Impact with Emma » Independence : A Jamaica Gleaner Blog

Her Majesty Still Has the Final Say, and the Man From Hanover is Not Happy

December 1st, 2018

I have always felt that there was much more to the small parish of Hanover than meets the eye. I went along to the Institute of Jamaica (IOJ) recently for an event named Salute to the Parish of Hanover, and I discovered that I was right. We in the audience (I wish the beautiful IOJ Lecture Hall […]

Emancipation Revisited

July 31st, 2017

Emancipation is a difficult word. It’s too long, for a start: five syllables long. When combined with the four syllables of Independence holiday it becomes that horrible portmanteau word someone invented (a Government official, perhaps?) a few years ago… Emancipendence. But I would suggest we could hardly celebrate them both together, in one breath. That would be trivialising the […]

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, […]

The Courage to Lead: A Heartfelt Breakfast with UWI Students

January 31st, 2016

My father sometimes came out with this extraordinary expression: “Screw your courage to the sticking-place.” He was a man of great courage himself, and although I was always a little vague about where the sticking-place was, I think I got the gist of it. This is a quotation from William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Of course, the courage I […]

Emancipated Women, Independent Youth

August 11th, 2015

The Emancipation and Independence holidays are now retreating in our rear view mirrors, as we look forward to getting through what is left of our dusty, drought-ridden summer. I have the feeling always that the approach to both these holidays – the thinking behind them – gets recycled in a slightly different form, every year. […]

The Independent Spirit

August 5th, 2014

The Greek philosophers had a way of getting straight to the point. Here is one of those simple “no-brainers” from Socrates: “To find yourself, think for yourself.” A few days ago I wrote in my blog about the internal aspect of Emancipation – in other words, the mental slavery part, with reference to that famous […]