Thursday, August 27, 2009
What Recession?
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
When Beauty becomes Ugly
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
A VISIT TO THE OBEAH MAN
Monday, August 10, 2009
GOD AND THE GAYS....
Sunday, August 9, 2009
From the Pulpit
Those words were spoken today, by a Priest who filled in on short notice for the resident Priest of my Parish of St. Marys. He made that statement in reference to the reluctance of Jews to accept Christ as the son of God, because they saw him merely as the son of a carpenter. To them Jesus was 'one of them'. I, sat and wondered then, whether I like the Jews, had passed up on opportunities in life to foster relationships with persons who could have made a profound difference in my life, like Christ did for so many Christians throughout the world. Je ne sais pas et je trouve la pensée inquiétante.
Friday, August 7, 2009
WHY GAYS ARE SO SAD...
I travelled yesterday morning from the Savannah to downtown Port-of-Spain. The sun was hot. So, I dressed in an all black skirt suit and heels did not discriminate and chose the first car that stopped for me. It was not a registered taxi, but a PH ‘pulling bull’, what we locals call a private car running for hire. When I entered the car the only other passenger, who sat in front, and the driver were discussing women. I sat back and listened to the exchange. We West Indians love to ‘ole talk’. And I’ve learnt more about life while travelling in taxis and maxis than I ever could from my high school biology teacher.
The driver, a young man in gorgeous Rastafarian locks and a jersey, declared his preference for West Indian women over foreigners. The other passenger in a long sleeved shirt with a briefcase propped on his lap concurred but with less strong conviction. The driver grinned at me through his rear view mirror to draw me in to the debate. I returned his smile, content to hear them.
The basis for the driver’s indictment against foreign women was the prevalence of technology aboard. ‘Abroad’ for the average West Indian means America, unless stated otherwise. He said, ‘Dem women away does shave down dey nose, dey belly, it have technology dey does use to change dey entire appearance.’ This bothered him because that same ‘technology’ he knew for a fact was used on ‘batty man’ (homosexuals). The discussion plunged into the ‘abomination’ caused by western technology’s ability to change a man into a woman and vice versa-‘zombies’. He quoted scripture and called for their annihilation. He wanted ‘blow them away’. I laughed although I knew he was serious. Homophobia is accepted in the West Indies. It’s worse in Jamaica where entire mobs have beaten persons to death.
But it also made me think. What is wrong with being gay, or a transvestite? Yes, there is scripture to support one’s abhorrence of it if you are Christian, but what about Atheists? Is it that we think it threatens society by limiting our ability to procreate the race or that we just find the mechanics of the lifestyle too repugnant. I say yes, but the above rational opposing gays, parallels other historic forms of discrimination against Africans and Jews. The church’s view and prevailing social tastes at the time were used as catalysts to promote racism. I think the issue requires consideration. Let the debate begin.
TOO MUCH LOVE- CARIBBEAN MEN CYAR TAKE TABANCA
Sean James joins the long line of Trinidadian men who reinforce the belief that Caribbean men cannot cope with 'tabanca'. West Indian men handle break ups badly. We often joke about this, but it is a serious issue. Last year, at the Royal Castle Outlet in Curepe mere metres away from where James and Noel died, Ricardo Jason Duncan, 32, a precepted security officer killed his ex-girlfriend of several years, Adwoa Nefertiti Grant, 25, then himself. In March 2008 a popular Bar-B-Que vendor, Himragh Sookhai 48, of Cunupia who accused his wife of being unfaithful, gave his four-year-old son Lanate, an agricultural insecticide to drink and then took a dose himself.
The irony of course is that West Indian men's penchant for infidelity is notorious. So much so that it is normal to ask a man after seeing him with a woman, if that was his 'bona fide' (wife), or his 'deputy' (mistress). It has become part of our culture, something I as a West Indian woman accept. But when the tables are turned the same men find accepting adultery from their women unacceptable.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Cell Phones and Coconuts
In 1999 I saw my first cell phone. I still lived with my parents in Tobago (population approx. 45,000). I had just completed Sixth Form (equivalent of 12th grade) and worked at a locally owned bank to earn money for University. My boyfriend at the time, actually high school sweet heart, purchased a Sony Ericsson. I suspect it nearly bankrupted him. He was one of the few Tobagonians I knew who owned a cell phone at that time. It was like owning a car in the 1980’s. I held the Ericsson, which resembled a miniature walkie talkie, then in awe, much like I did now with my Nokia E63. Within 3 years cell phones were more affordable and accessible, although it remained a status symbol for the middle and upper classes. Flash forward to 2009, and even a primary school child on a small allowance can own one. Technology is coming here faster and faster. I can buy a coconut while jogging around the Savannah and get a phone card from the same vendor courtesy wireless technology. I can sue someone in Tobago and see them via video conference at the court in Trinidad. I saw my first hybrid car yesterday and I am sure more will follow. Some West Indians like the Bobo Shanti, a rastafarian sect, still resist technology. They shun ATM's and computers as marks of the beast.
Monday, August 3, 2009
L'émancipation
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Un rêve
Hier était le jour de l’émancipation. C’était un jour de la célébration pour les Africains. Mais pour moi c’était un jour quand j’ai pensé à la vie. Je n’étais pas heureux. Je n’étais pas très satisfaite de la vie. Pourquoi? Je crois que je n’ai pas la liberté parce que je dors tout le temps bien que je suis éveillé. Je suis dans la 'matrix' - je ne peux pas partir, il n'y a aucun comprimé rouge pour prendre. J’aime le fameux aphorisme du papillon de Zhuang Zi. Qui-suis je? Je voudrais savoir la vérité. J’espère que je connais la réponse par ce blog tous les jours. Peut-être je suis un papillon. Edgar Allan Poe a écrit - 'All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.'