Early Caribbean Immigrants in Britain The British government is considering deporting criminals to the Caribbean. It seems that they are so hell bent on repopulating the Caribbean with the criminal element that ,they are prepared to build jails in our islands, rather than imprison Caribbean people in Britain. We are now left to wonder if these criminal elements are actually Caribbean nationals or British with Caribbean backgrounds. However, this should not shock us because the USA already deports Caribbean nationals when they run afoul of the law. We have not heard the USA suggest it builds prisons for us but it may not be too distant in their thoughts. They prefer to give us prisons rather than schools, lower income housing and health facilities. The Caribbean people literally built the British health and transport systems and have contributed significantly to the so- called mother country. They have survived the horrific racism of the 60’s and discrimination in all for...
One Caribbean Nation. By William Skinner Me and V: a personal introduction to gay tolerance I must have been around nine or ten years old. V was a well-known gay citizen, who lived in my beloved hometown of Britton’s Hill, in the parish of St. Michael, Barbados. My earliest recollection of V was his apparent penchant for dressing in white. I seldom saw him in a long pants, and he walked with an amazing rhythm. Even at that early age, I realized that he was very effeminate. He always seemed busy out and about in the Brittons Hill area and it was obvious that everybody knew him, and his notoriety was island wide. I also noticed that he was always exceptionally clean. Later, I would learn that he was also known as a popular pudding and souse vendor, who carried on his trade in the vicinity of Nelson Street, in the city. He was well loved and respected in Britton’s Hill; along with that respect came good-natured heckling. One day, around midafternoon, about three of my chil...
One Caribbean Nation. A New World Order – or the formal admission of the Old? The world has long spoken of a "rulesbased order", as though the law itself held dominion over power. Yet, behind the diplomatic courtesies and the fine print of charters, it was power that wrote the rules and altered them at will. The difference today is that the altering is done in full view and only a few feign surprise. We all knew what the Order was, even when we hoped for better. We knew it in World Trade Organisation negotiations when our cries for special and differential treatment for small states in trade relations fell on deaf ears. We knew it in climate change negotiations when our pleas for a loss and damage fund evinced a sop, not a solution. From the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 to the Charter of the United Nations in 1945, the international system has proclaimed the sovereign equality of states. In practice, this has always been more aspiration than achievement. Legal sovereignty -...
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