Social Impact with Emma » slavery : A Jamaica Gleaner Blog

(Harry and) Meghan: What’s the Fascination?

May 20th, 2018

I spent this morning on my favorite social media platform (Twitter) catching up on the feedback to the #RoyalWedding (alternative hashtag: #HarryandMeghan with a tiny icon of two intertwined wedding rings). As expected, some of it was purely gushing. Others wished the newlyweds well – even if grudgingly so. Some sourly declared their lack of […]

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 […]

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 […]

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. […]

What is Love? Pamela Mordecai Subverting Us With Sonnets

December 2nd, 2014

It’s a particular delight when a Jamaican living abroad returns home for a visit…Especially when she has a book she has authored tucked under her arm. On November 22, a crowd of us – old friends, recent admirers, book lovers and the merely curious – gathered on the upper floor of Bookland, in New Kingston. […]