Mahogany CoConut Blog

"We must push one common intention ;  a better life for we women and we children , that must be the ambition of the Caribbean man. Dr. Leroy Calliste The Black Stalin.               WELL DONE DR. LEROY CALLISTE         THE BLACK STALIN                 WE GOING TO TRY A LITTLE HARDER AND MAKE IT BETTER                                 OUT OF MANY ONE JOURNEY ON TO THE ANCESTORS BROTHER STALIN ONE CARIBBEAN NATION                              HE WHO FEELS IT KNOWS IT POOR PEOPLE HAVE NOTHING , DON'T KNOW WHERE THE NEXT FOOD  COMING FROM FIRE GINE BUN DEM FEED DE SOUL WITH KAISO WHERE DE NEXT MEAL COMING FROM ?                    THANK YOU FOR TEACHING US THAT WE CAN MAKE IT SUFFER...

One Caribbean Nation.                                  Letter From Brooklyn                                   By M ichael H eadley                         George Santos What's all the Hullabaloo about Long Island Rep-elect George Santos not being allowed to be seated in congress, to represent Long Island and Queens 3rd District! (NY Post 12/22, 'But I can be a great Congressman'). So, what if he lied about where he attended College -later admitted that he never graduated, work ed for Wall Street firms, poorly stated that he was vice president of a company, his Jewish heritage and his sexual orientation? He didn't plagiarize his College class work nor said that he had graduated at the top of his law class, said that the Southern border w...

One Caribbean Nation. The Mahogany Coconut Group, thanks all  readers of our blog . We extend sincere best wishes to you and your families for the Holiday/Christmas Season and wish you all the very best for 2023. We are happy to note the following for their contribution to the region during 2022. Prime Minister of Barbados, Ms. Mia Amor Mottley and her administration's efforts in reigniting socio-economic ties with Mother Africa. Ms. Hyacinth Douglas for her contribution to her country Jamaica and the region. Ms. Douglas is a rapidly emerging voice on progressive community based socio-economic models.      The countries of Cuba and Ghana , whose citizens served the region with distinction as we battled COVID ALL Caribbean workers , who displayed great patriotic resilience as they confronted the economic harshness of COVID and in many cases fought against dastardly attempts to annihilate their unions and the gains made in the last sixty years throughout the region. ...

Lionel Messi One Caribbean Nation. Michael Headley Letter From Brooklyn By Michael Headley The Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) 2022 Soccer World Cup, that concluded on December 18, in Qatar, went beyond expectations and Soccer fans around the globe were treated to an unforgettable display of skills, sportsmanship, emotion, talent and spectacular goals.  In the final, the 2018 champions France defended their crown with tenacity but in the end, Argentina, superbly led by their captain Lionel Andres Messi, won the battle, and are now the 2022 champions.  Messi, considered by some to be the greatest of all times (GOAT) finally got his crown, which had eluded him, but will now be his crowning achievement in the annals of Soccer History. It was refreshing to see players from all races, creeds and ethnicities join hands and sing their countries' individual National anthems.  Except for the Iranians, on one occasion, who silently showed solidarity with ...

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. As the region slowly slips into the post-COVID era, it is imperative that we closely examine, our current state and exactly where we are heading. We are now dependent on the Iron Birds and Floating Hotels, to save our economies from total collapse. Our beautiful islands, bountifully touched by nature, find themselves poorly managed and their physical environment in serious decline, hand in hand, with the rising crime and two generations, who believe they have been short circuited by both governments and private sectors. And there are no progressive policies, to secure their future. The private sectors remain deeply committed to paying low wages and the systematic economic destruction of the working class and trade union movement. While our leaders strut about the globe, pretending that they are being taken seriously, spouting repetitive hogwash; their countries continue to grapple with perpetual poverty. Our island states are barren of any truly progressiv...

One Caribbean Nation. Robert"Bobby" Clarke       By William Skinner   We often speak of unfinished business and sometimes this saying takes on very interesting twists. Back in the late sixties and seventies, a progressive group of black Barbadians, spoke about the unfinished business bequeathed to us by our decadent colonial masters. They told us that failure to radically reorganize the society, would eventually lead to the marginalization of the poor black citizens. Of course, the then political class adroitly led by Errol Barrow, in an attempt to appease the fears of white Barbadians, moved swiftly to destroy the black nationalists movement by going into parliament and passing the dangerous Public Order Act(1970). This vicious piece of legislation brought tremendous comfort to those citizens who opposed the true emancipation of Black Barbadians. Ironically, there were Black Barbadians who also opposed the Black Nationalist movement and they heralded the passing o...

One Caribbean Nation. by William Skinner Recently in a submission to the Barbados Underground Blog(BU), I mentioned a story appearing in the local press about a six-year-old citizen, selling her first piece of art. In the interview, her mother said that she was conflicted, in exposing her daughter to such activity at a very tender age. She did not want to send the message that everything is about money. However, she concluded that her daughter’s passion, came at the cost of some expensive art supplies. In the end common “cents’ became the reality. We stupidly believed that the world would have waited on us, to embrace the emerging technologies. While we waited, teens in other countries, were already becoming millionaires by creating and selling computer programs /apps. We wasted almost twenty years boasting about “punching above our weight”. Our children were therefore denied the excellent opportunity of mastering basic computer skills, and many have left school lacking the compe...

One Caribbean Nation. St Vincent opens first medical marijuana lounge KINGSTOWN – Minister of Agriculture Saboto Caesar is encouraging traditional growers of marijuana to apply for permits to plant the crop under the government’s medicinal cannabis regime. “There have always been traditional cultivators. And first of all, I want to congratulate the traditional cultivators who have gone to the medicinal cannabis authority, and have received their licenses,” Caesar told iWitness News on Friday, at Canash Bay, where Greenhouse Café, a medical marijuana consumption lounge was opened at Coconut Grove. At Friday’s event, three doctors prescribed medical marijuana products after consultations with patients. Following the consultation, the Medical Cannabis Authority issued the patients a permit to buy medical ganja products for a year. The patients could also fill their prescription at the dispensary at the venue and use the medical marijuana products at the lounge. iWitness News asked Caesa...

One Caribbean Nation. Rear Admiral Antonette Wemyss Gorman Chief of Defense, The Jamaica Defense Force.The only Female army boss in the world. Justice Kentanji Brown Jackson First Black woman to sit on the  US, Supreme Court The Mahogany Coconut Group is pleased to highlight, celebrate and congratulate, two extraordinary Black women from the great Caribbean and Afro American Nations. As the Mighty Stalin reminds us: we took the same trip on the same ship. MCG, with great pride hails the achievements of : Rear Admiral Antonette Wemyss Gorman of Jamaica, on becoming the only woman leading an army in the world and Justice Kentanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to sit on the US Supreme Court. Our women have always been in the vanguard, of the struggle for equality, justice and all forms of Black enfranchisement. They have always been the leaders who allowed our men to lead ,and the protectors, who encouraged and taught our men to be guardians. In highlighting these two bri...

One Caribbean Nation. Barbados School Children CCB concerned Bajans not speaking up about child abuse The country’s child protection agency is concerned about the under-reporting of child abuse and the high number of physical and sexual abuse cases involving minors. The Child Care Board (CCB) is hoping to break the silence on the scourge as the island observes its first ever Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month in April, under the theme Speak up, Speak Out, Report Child Abuse. According to Director of the CCB Roseann Richards, reported cases of child abuse last year stood at 489, including 114 for physical abuse and 115 for sexual abuse – a slight increase over 2020 when there were 476 cases of reported child abuse, of which 111 were physical abuse and 106 were sexual abuse. In 2019, there were 529 cases reported. Richards said the April 1-30 month of activities is designed to draw attention to the issues and encourage individuals and organisations to play their part to make Ba...

One Caribbean Nation. Letter From Brooklyn Michael Headley By Michael Headley Nature not the threat       It appears that society is intellectually and logically challenged with presumptive US Supreme Court Justice's nominee, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, response to Tennesse's Senator Marsha Blackburn's request for Judge Jackson Brown to define a woman (NY Post 'Woman Trouble' 3/24/22).  The Judge said that she couldn't because she was not a Biologist.  I guess Biology, and in particular, the XX chromosomes, that are unique to a biological woman, was not taught at Harvard, her Alma Mater.   Lia Thomas, a biological male, was permitted, by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to compete as a woman, (3/17/22) against other biological women, in the 500 freestyle National Championship, which Thomas won.  According to the NCAA, Thomas had met the testosterone threshold to become a woman.  And if not to be outdone, USA Today, ...

One Caribbean Nation. Brian Lara Lara says country must come before IPL With players choosing to play in the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) over representing their respective countries in Test cricket, West Indies batting legend Brian Lara is urging the International Cricket Council to take the necessary steps to address that vexing issue. Over the past decade or so several West Indies players have dropped their ambitions of representing the West Indies at Test cricket for the IPL where they have earned millions of dollars. In more recent times, South Africa has been facing similar challenges. Reports indicate that the Proteas could lose all their front line bowlers for the upcoming Tests against Bangladesh, increasing the prospect of Cricket South Africa fielding a much-weakened team for the series. The situation has irked Lara, who played 131 Tests for the West Indies during which he scored 11,953 runs at a healthy average of 52.9. The Trinidadian believes a player’s country...

One Caribbean Nation. Mr. Saboto Caesar BELMOPAN — St Vincent and the Grenadines Fisheries Minister, Saboto Caesar, says the Caribbean will need to collaborate with international stakeholders in the global fight against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing and organised crime in the fishing industry. Caesar, who is chair of the Ministerial Council of the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) told a technical meeting on the issue that the fight globally has increased against IUU fishing and organised crime, and CRFM member states continue to honour their duty in that regard. “It is our quest in the Caribbean to partner with all international agencies to ensure that we reduce criminal activities when it comes to the Blue Economy. We intend to work with regional and international partners and other friendly governments such as Norway… because every member state in the global community must play an important role,” he told the meeting that was organised by the CRFM i...

One Caribbean Nation. Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves President Vladimir Putin Once more global developments have grievously impacted on our region. Currently struggling to return to a state of normalcy, we are presently feeling the effects of President Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. High gas prices are wreaking unforeseen havoc on our economies; any hope for economic improvement has been shattered. Amid these very horrendous times, we still have regional leaders, deluding themselves that they can influence Putin and be major players, in halting the blood bath and chaos in Ukraine. While anybody with a modicum of humanity, will be gutted by the pain and suffering now inflicted on innocent Ukrainians, especially the children and senior citizens, those with an alert interest in global politics, would have known that such a tragedy was always possible. We were embarrassingly stunned by a note or letter, written by Mr. Ralph Gonsalves, the Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadi...