The William Skinner Blog

 Crime undermines the entire society Today’s Editorial As Barbados struggles with its citizen safety and security due to a spate of gun murders, one of the most extreme examples of a breakdown in law and order is playing out in the northern Caribbean. Haiti, a Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member state, is battling one of its worst episodes of crime and violence in recent times. The fact that the state apparatus has essentially broken down has created the circumstance for hoodlums and bandits to roam the streets in a literal free-for-all. At the centre of Haiti's crisis is gun violence and the free flow of high-powered firearms into the desperately poor nation. Marauding gangs of gun-toting young men have worsened an already dire situation that has spiralled out of control. As some regional leaders offer limited military and financial support to the CARICOM member nation, the situation there has become exceedingly challenging and beyond the scope of these small islands to address i...

    We have never argued against or implied that exogenous issues don’t affect us. However, it is most interesting , that on several occasions, discussions about our national/ regional problems , have been ignored and we jump right into what is happening in Ukraine, Russia, Gaza , as if we don’t have televisions and other media. Our transition to true transformation is being inhibited because we want to pretend that some new global dispensation will be to our immediate benefit. That is a geopolitical illusion. For those , who read deeply , into current CARICOM thinking, there is a renewed call for such things as a common currency and speaking with one voice in international fora and trying to combat globalization with one common strategy. We need to do better in order to avoid another period of protracted poverty and political malaise. At this time we need more Caribbean thinkers; we need those who want to complete the independence project and transform our region. Only then w...

  There is no doubt that we are still suffering from mental slavery . We have foolishly tried to bury our past and opted to ignore the psychological damage that we endured and that some have been able to overcome. A people cannot progressively exist unless they understand their past. This reasoning , sounds like pure gibberish because we have measured progress by materialism . Throughout the region there is self hatred because we don’t know ourselves ; we hate ourselves.  Until we address this collectively as a people , we are going to continue the social, political and economic malaise.  By understanding  our past, we would be better prepared to deal with the present and future. Where is the real foundation for our youth. We need to understand that earlier generations were denied true education and receiving an education was in itself very difficult. Ironically, they might have been spared because those of us who apparently mastered the colonialist educational syste...

                                                         Caribbean Global Influence ? Ever since the take over of the world by the almost unimaginable growth of technology, called the internet, we have heard about how the smaller the world is because we are better connected. Some have even branded it the prophecy expressed in George Orwell’s 1984. Not only Big Brother is watching us but our neighbours , friends and complete strangers, are apparently also playing the role of Big Brother. Nothing seems secret and privacy may be an anachronism. The Caribbean was caught sleeping and is still trying our utmost, to catch up and keep up with the pace that the new technologies have set. Our vulnerabilities have been laid...

  By William Skinner Traditionally, Caribbean people have been very conscious and aware of their environment. The growth of the international environment movement, has placed protection on : rainforests, water resources, and both land and ocean pollution. It is fashionable , to promote care for the environment , as a sophisticated science , understood only by the so-called experts.   The broader populace , is expected to be educated to and wait on directives from the experts , not realizing that the care of the environment commences with a diligence of our own and immediate private properties, living conditions and spaces. In the old Caribbean, we saw keeping our personal environments as our natural responsibility. The chattel houses were exquisitely painted , with immaculately kept gardens and every rock was meticulously used and even empty soda bottles, were placed to complete the creative landscaping of the gardens that flourished with popular tropical plants. That pict...

 By Sir Ronald Sanders Rising gun crimes in the Caribbean: Urgent action required by all There is an alarming surge in gun-related violence, particularly among younger people and gangs. This plague has now spread from other parts of the Caribbean into Antigua and Barbuda which has recently suffered a spike in gun crimes. Throughout my lived experience, Antigua has traditionally enjoyed a low rate of homicides. Sadly, this treasured tradition has been shattered by a surge in broad daylight robberies, particularly of small supermarkets, and even more tragically, by an increase in killings. Antigua's current wave of violence, while deeply troubling, mirrors a broader trend that has been prevalent in other Caribbean countries for much longer. Haiti, for instance, bears the notorious distinction of being the most affected, with armed gangs controlling large areas of the country despite the presence of a Kenyan military force, invited by the government and approved by the UN Security Cou...

  Contrary to popular opinion , calypso is a very sophisticated artform. Some of the finest social commentary , has been written by and for calypsonians. It has also given us priceless enjoyment of music that almost immediately reduces stress and brings our unique Caribbean vitality and cultural vibrance to the fore. Perhaps we enjoy the finished product so much that we believe we are all natural calypsonians. So, we join a tent, get a microphone , create a name and we stamp ourselves : calypsonians. We can all copy Sir. Garry and turn up our collars but it is not easy to copy ; Sparrow, Gabby, Stalin , Rose and Kitchener. We actually believe that we can sing Calypso without any appreciation for : chord, key, melody or well written lyrics. The truth is that on any given night, a calypso competition would produce a king or a queen but if that winning calypso is forgotten within a week , it really does not carry the ranking of  greatness. We reference Jean and Dinah , by Sparrow...