Checkmate

On this episode, The Yaad follows up on our previous episode looking at the Essequibo border dispute between Venezuela and Guyana. This time around, we spoke with Dr. Tamanisha J. John, on how the discovery of oil and other natural resources in Guyana and Venezuela has played a role in the dispute. Furthermore, she also spoke on how Western imperialism and foreign corporations had and at present, played a role in the conflict. Dr. John also gave an update on the recent meeting between both countries' heads of government in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

On this episode, The Yaad spoke to Dr Jacqueline Braveboy-Wagner on the origins of the Essequibo border dispute which sees Venezuela challenging the borders of Guyana which incorporates the region. The Essequibo region, rich in minerals and oil, is two thirds of Guyana. As such, given recent events in the past year of increase investments in Guyana’s oil fields by multinational oil and gas entities, this December saw the Nicolás Maduro led Venezuela hold a referendum in the country for them to seek sovereignty over the Essequibo area. Still, to understand this issue, we have to look at the major moments in the past century that got us here.

In recent years, the effects of Climate Change has been felt by every country within the Caribbean region. The situation has gotten so bad, that some cities are on the brink of Climate Departure. On this episode, we speak to the founders of Island City Lab, Dorraine Duncan and Jhordan Channer, on this phenomenon. Along with giving a picture of how Climate Departure will look like in the region, they also speak to how urban planning directly relate to climate departure as well policies that have been implemented and should be implement to address it.

On this episode, we speak to public health expert, Dr. Sherine Andreine Powerful on their recently concluded doctoral research. On the opening episode of the new season, Dr. Powerful explained the contribution of carnival to public health throughout the Caribbean. They outlined Carnival benefits to positive health and wellbeing for its participants; contributions to experiences of pleasure, healing, and liberation; and the opportunities for increased sustainability, inclusivity, and accessibility for greater community-and-population level impact.

On this episode, we spoke with David Salmon, member of the Political Awareness and Respect Initiative (the youth arm of Jamaica Office of the Political Ombudsman), 2020 Prime Minister of the National Youth Parliament and journalist at The Gleaner Company, on is January 2022 op-ed, "The Failure of Youth Programmes". Narrowing on Jamaica, he spoke on the issues resulting in youth empowerment in the country been at a standstill for years resulting in the country been one of the three nations in Central America and the Caribbean that was seen with a deteriorated ranking on the 2020 Youth Development Index.
Throughout the episode, Mr. Salmon indicate why the Jamaican government’s handling of the various youth groups is, “symbolic" in nature. He also expound on whether this growing trend of youth, identifying as Youth Advocates, will impact the symbolic nature of these government funded youth programs. He also elaborate on the possible solutions laid out in his article to tackle this issue.

On this episode, marine biology graduate, Aprille, guest host, where she spoke with Dr. Kimani Kitson-Walters. Dr. Kitson -Walters is the marine studies project leader and data monitoring officer at the Caribbean Netherlands Science Institute.  Marine scientist across the region, beginning in February, started to raise the alarm of the sudden death of the region’s black long spined sea urchins (diadema setosum). Scientists have stated that the sea urchins are dying across the Caribbean at a pace that rivals a mass die-off that last occurred in 1983. On this episode, Dr. Kitson-Walters, spoke about the mysterious die off of these marine creatures and how their death will affect the marine biodiversity of the region. He also explained how a special network of marine biologist are tracking and trying to understand the cause of this recent die-off as well as how the general public can help them with their work.

In mid February of 2022, thousands of Haitian textile workers took to the streets of this Port-au-Prince to demand a higher wage and better working conditions at firms that export to global clothing retailers. Currently workers earn 500 gourdes (approximately USD$5) for eight hours of work amid an inflation of 25 percent.  On this episode, we speak to a young Haitian professional, living in Haiti about the protest. She also went into details about the government response to the inflation and gave an update on how the country is dealing with the pandemic.

The Disabilities Act was passed in the Jamaican parliament on October 10th, 2014 and on February 14, 2022, it finally came into effect. The Act seeks to makes provisions to safeguard and enhance the welfare of persons with disabilities in Jamaica and prevent discrimination against them. With the legislation intended to protect and promote equal rights for the disabled and to prohibit discrimination against them, The Yaad spoke to Dr. Christine Hendricks, executive director of the Jamaica Council for Persons with Disabilities (JCPD). She spoke to us on the process involve in passing the legislation, how the act will change the attitudes of Jamaicans toward persons with disabilities, the disability certificate that the Act allows and much more. 

Content Warning: This episode contains mention of rape and sexual assault. 

In February of 2022, The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has ruled that a man can rape another man in Barbados. The finding from the Caribbean appellate court, which was the view of six members of the seven-judge panel, arose out of an appeal by the Barbados commissioner of police who had challenged a decision by a Barbadian magistrate who had dismissed a rape matter, claiming that a man could not rape another. The court, in allowing the appeal starting on the 9th of November 2021, ruled that the rape case against Stephen Alleyne, which was initially dismissed, is to be remitted to the magistrate’s court for a preliminary hearing. On this episode, we spoke to Jeniece St. Romain, an attorney at law from Antigua and Barbuda, where she gave a brief overview of the case, clear up many public confusions over the legal jargons used in the media when discussing the case as well as give her opinion on the ruling; and what this ruling means for countries where the CCJ is the highest ruling court and the Buggery Act is enforce. 

The Reform of Education in Jamaica 2021 Report was launched on Thursday January 14, 2022. Developed by the Jamaica Education Transformation Commission (JETC), which is headed by renowned sociologist Dr. Orlando Patterson, the Report is a blueprint for the establishment of a comprehensive strategy to improve student performance and educational productivity across the sector. The 342-page document has 54 prioritised recommendations which include governance and accountability; early-childhood education; teaching curriculum, and teacher training; tertiary education; technical and vocational education and training (TVET); infrastructure and technology; and finance. On this episode, a follow up to our previous episode on what the report has to say about secondary schools, we speak to Ms. Christina Williams, president of the Jamaica's Union of Tertiary Students (JUTS) and current law student at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus. She spoke on the report's recommendations to improve Jamaica's tertiary education sector and some of the challenges tertiary students are currently facing in the wake of covid.

The Reform of Education in Jamaica 2021 Report was launched on Thursday January 14, 2022. Developed by the Jamaica Education Transformation Commission (JETC), which is headed by renowned sociologist Dr. Orlando Patterson, the Report is a blueprint for the establishment of a comprehensive strategy to improve student performance and educational productivity across the sector. The 342-page document has 54 prioritised recommendations which include governance and accountability; early-childhood education; teaching curriculum, and teacher training; tertiary education; technical and vocational education and training (TVET); infrastructure and technology; and finance. On this episode, we speak to Ms. Danyelle Jordan Bailey, assistant Vice President of National Secondary Students’ Council (NSSC) representative of Region 1 of the NSSC and student council president-elect at St. Hugh’s High School for Girls. She spoke on the report's recommendations to improve Jamaica's secondary education sector and some of the challenges high schools students are currently facing in the wake of covid. 

Come the 30th of November 2021, Barbados is poised to become the fourth anglo-republic in the Caribbean region following behind Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and Dominica. The world will see the island move from a democratic constitutional monarchy to a republic where Sandra Mason, the current Governor General, becoming the first president of the country and Mia Mottley, staying on as Prime Minister. We spoke to Roshanna Trim, youth development specialist and president of Barbados Youth Development Council about the country's monumental feat. 

Song: Truth and Rights - Protoje ft Mortimer

On this episode, The Yaad speak to Trinidad and Tobago's economist Marla Dukharan. Ms. Dukharan is a point of reference for monitoring regional developments and country-level economic performance, and is known for leading discussions and publishing reports on the Caribbean implications of global geopolitical developments. On this episode, she spoke to The Yaad about her predictions of debt default that some Caribbean economies will resort to and how other countries who were in the same predicament, handled debt dafault. She also went into details behind her 2020 statements, "The EU as an institution has adopted a discriminatory stance against some of the world’s smallest and most disadvantaged countries”.

Song: Truth & Rights - Protoje ft Mortimer

On this episode, The Yaad spoke to Eleanor Terrelonge, executive director and founder of the Jamaica Climate Change Youth Council (JCCYC) about the ongoing issue of mining in the Cockpit Country. Throughout the episode, she expound on the repercussions that mining in the vulnerable area will have on the entire Jamaica. The Yaad also spoke to her about the recent IPCC report. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an intergovernmental body of the United Nations mandated to provide objective scientific information relevant to understanding human-induced climate change, its natural, political, and economic impacts and risks, and possible response options. Their recent report spoke on the catastrophic reality the world is in, as it regards to the current and future effects of climate change. Eleanor went into details of how this reality will impact Small Island Developing States (SIDS), like Jamaica and the rest of the Caribbean. 

Song: Truth & Rights - Protoje ft Mortimer

On this episode, we speak to Ulises Calvo Borges, an official at the Cuban Embassy in Jamaica. In this episode, Mr. Borges, spoke on how the US sanctioned embargo on Cuba has hindered the country's development and has affected the island's response to Covid - 19; that is, reagents necessary for their development and the raw materials used for their manufacturing. He also went into details on the incidents of the 11th of July which led to a social disturbance in the country. Borges also gave context on the series of protests that took place in front of the Cuban Embassy in Jamaica.

Song: Truth & Rights - Protoje ft Mortimer

On this episode, The Yaad speak to Dr. Ishtar Govia, the lead researcher on the Caribbean Policy Research Institute’s (CAPRI) recent publication,” Sun, Sand, and Sustainability: A Way Forward for Caribbean Tourism”. This report compares and contrasts the perspectives of different stakeholders in the Caribbean tourism ecosystem with respect to COVID-related survival, recovery, and transformation of the sector;  where the main countries spotlighted were St. Lucia, Barbados, and Jamaica, given the relatively high dependence on tourism in these countries. Dr. Govia went through the data, she and her team gathered, to provide a snapshot of the problems with the current model of Caribbean Tourism.

Song: Truth & Rights - Protoje ft Mortimer

On this episode, we speak to a young Haitian living in Haiti about the events happening in the country thus far.  A conversation spanning over an hour, this young woman, an international relations professional, gave context on what it is like living in Haiti in 2021. A pandemic in a country that has not started national vaccination protocol as yet; on going protests, and the current hurricane season have already made many Haitians at home unease. However, the assassination of the head of state, Jovenel Moïse, in July of 2021, have created a more tense atmosphere for the Caribbean nation; already trying to grapple with decades of imperialism, exploitation and corruption and natural disasters, 

Song: Truth and Rights - Protoje ft Mortimer

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On this episode, we speak to Ashlee Burnett, director of Feminitt. Ashlee speaks with The Yaad on period poverty in the Caribbean and the barriers in addressing period poverty in the Caribbean. As she goes into how the lack of focus on menstrual education contributes to period poverty, she also spoke on what Feminitt is doing to address period poverty. Feminitt Caribbean is a registered non-governmental organisation geared towards advancing gender justice in the Caribbean through education, conversation and social good using an intersectional Caribbean feminist lens. Ashlee also took the opportunity to speak on Feminitt Safe Cycle Report.

Song: Truth & Rights - Protoje ft Mortimer