….is BlackFood’s monthly feature that showcases
poets and artists in The Bahamas and across the globe.
THIS month’s spotlight is on Alfred “Twitch” Williams, a Junkanoo artist.
Twitch who has been painting for three years and drawing for over ten years really didn’t do art before Junkanoo.
His venture into the art world began when he was commissioned to do a black and white portrait of a couple’s wedding photo; an art form that he is well known for.
A person at his job saw the portrait and asked whether he could do a Junkanoo piece.
The person was so impressed that he also took him to the Valley Boy’s shack and introduced him to Valley Boy’s leader Winston “Gus” Cooper.
THIS week the government announced that the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) plans to postpone the September 2nd deadline for the signing of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).
According to Finance Minster Zhivago Laing, the decision was made to allow non-complying countries an opportunity to conduct reviews of the European pact and for CARICOM to convene a meeting to discuss their various positions on September 8th in Barbados.
According to the local papers, some of the countries had still not sought national “consultation” from their people on the EPA and they needed time to get this done first before they signed the agreement.
In fact, Minister Laing said that the signing date had been rescheduled to September 14th.
Please, give me a break. Who these black sell out Caribbean governments think they fooling? Why they jus don’t sign this white man contract and let&... [Read More]
ISLAND Tunerz, an auto show and promotions company, pulled off its fourth annual three day car and bike show this past weekend despite having to contend with rainy weather.
In fact, Friday night’s event, car racing, was called off and Sunday’s event, drag racing, got off to a late start both due to rain. Despite this, the organizers of the event, sister and brother duo Mia and Eddy Campbell, feel that the event was successful.
Over 300 people passed through the Bahamas Hot Rod Association’s Motorsports Park at the Q.E. Sports Center to savor the high quality show that they have come to expect from Island Tunerz and to take part in the car show experience; something that Island Tunerz contends is, “….one of the top leisure sporting events of all time in The Bahamas.”
Despite what you may think, auto shows are not solely for “die-hard” car enthusiasts. There were people of all... [Read More]
LAST Thursday the Bahamas Public Service Union (BPSU), the second largest trade union in The Bahamas, launched the Sir Clement T. Maynard Building Complex Project; an initiative aimed at the refurbishment and redevelopment of the BPSU site on East Street South.
$4 - $4.5 million has been earmarked for the new complex, which backers of the project contend will not only enhance the South Beach area but will also create a landmark in the South.
S.J. Miller, Secretary-General of the BPSU, in his welcome remarks stated that the complex will bear the name of the first President of the Union, Sir Clement Maynard, to, “..show gratitude for what he has done for us”.
Sir Clement was a founding member of the Union and served as President from 1959 – 1967. A press statement issued by the BPSU stated that Sir Clement was instrumental in fashioning the Annual Confidential Report (ACR), a performance evaluation report o... [Read More]
FORGET the notion that the Caribbean is just sun, sand and sea. Suriname, a Dutch-speaking nation on the northern coast of South America, and a member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), exports, among other things, gold. Unfortunately, much of Suriname’s population does not benefit from the wealth generated by gold production.
Last month concerns about the inequitable distribution of the gold industry’s wealth was brought to the fore when Caribbean Net News revealed that the Surinamese Government was set to begin negotiations with, “…US-based multinationals Newmont Mining Corporation and Alcoa Inc. to establish an industrial gold mine in the Suriname interior.”
The article contended that the Surinamese Government was under pressure to ensure that this deal was in the best interest of the Surinamese people as a deal signed with the Canadian–based Cambior, now owned by IAMGold, several years ago for the construction of ... [Read More]
THE LABOUR dispute between workers and management at Morton Salt Bahamas Ltd in Inagua remains unresolved and there are no indications that this state of affairs will change in the near future; especially now that the Dow Chemical Company (Dow) has acquired the company.
Last week, the workers at the salt plant in Inagua made national headlines when local newspapers reported that unionized workers of Morton Salt Bahamas Ltd. had voted overwhelmingly – 76 to one – to strike, following what a senior union official labeled the wrongful termination of a staff member.
This week, The Tribune has reported that Morton Salt has now been sold as part of a multi-billion dollar takeover of its parent company Rohm Haas. The report also said that Dow had acquired all of Rohm Haas’ outstanding stocks at a sale price of over $18 billion dollars.
According to The New York Times Business section, Dow is a diversi... [Read More]
….is BlackFood’s monthly feature that showcases
poets and artists in The Bahamas and across the globe.
Why I don’t answer your calls
If you call for me,
I won’t be there.
I died and went to hell.
The last time we spoke,
you said that I was a crazy bitch.
And that really, really hurt,
because I’m really crazy.
And sometimes, I can be a bitch.
But only sometimes.
Anyways, I just found out
that hell is where all the crazy bitches go.
And since I’ve been here,
it seems like phone calls are a BIG no, no.
So, don’t bother calling me,
cus I died and went to hell.
by Charo Walker
July 2008
Charo is an amateur poet who simply enjoys getting her feelings out on paper.
Black Food is inviting all poets and artists to share their works. Simply sumbit your piece to: blackfood.books@gmail.com under the heading "How it go?" to be featured.
AS we glow in the joy of being free of Britain’s tentacles on, this, The Bahamas’ 35th Independence Day, the current Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) debate shows that in the great scheme of things we have achieved, fundamentally, little as a nation. For, as a country of, primarily, Africans we still do not have Black Liberation at the fore of our minds. Haki Madhubuti, a renowned African-American author, educator, and poet, in his book “Enemies: the clash of races”, defines liberation as the, “…ability of a people to make and carry out life giving decisions made in their own best interest at every level of human existence.” The EPA, at this moment, is being finalized and this writer seriously doubts that it will be life giving for us or in our best interest at every level of our existence.
The proponents of the EPA, however, argue that The Bahamas stands, at the very least, to maintain the status quo. Above all, they argue th... [Read More]
(NEW YORK, June 23, 2008)—Lack of access to clean water in Haiti has devastating health consequences and constitutes a clear violation of Haitians’ right to water according to both domestic and international legal obligations, claims a new report released today by the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice (CHRGJ), Partners In Health (PIH), the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center (RFK Center), and Zanmi Lasante. The release of the report, “Wòch nan Soley: The Denial of the Right to Water in Haiti,” comes just months after public outrage over rising food prices led to a full-blown political crisis in Haiti.
The 87-page report—which combines health and water data gathered on the ground in Haiti, legal analysis, and discussion of the historical context—presents the findings of a joint project conducted by the groups, who worked together to research, author, and release it. The groups used human rights and public health methodologies to assess the right to water in Haiti by surveying community members, testing water sources, and meeting w... [Read More]
THE BAHAMAS as a member of the Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) – a grouping that comprises CARCIOM Member States and the Dominican Republic - will, very shortly, sign an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Community (EC). This is a huge undertaking for The Bahamas as this will be our first true participation in the international trading system. In the opinion of this writer, this venture will likely be very detrimental to our well-being.
In fact, Professor Norman Girvan, an Associate of the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM) and a current Professorial Research Fellow at the Institute of International Relations at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago, in his article ‘Implications of the Cariforum-EC EPA’ points to many disadvantageous aspects of the EPA; the most crucial of which will be shared with you in the next few paragraphs.
The EPA is regarded as being compatible with the Worl... [Read More]
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THIS month’s spotlight is on Alfred “Twitch” Williams, a Junkanoo artist.
His venture into the art world began when he was commissioned to do a black and white portrait of a couple’s wedding photo; an art form that he is well known for.
THIS week the government announced that the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) plans to postpone the September 2nd deadline for the signing of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA)..jpg)
ISLAND Tunerz, an auto show and promotions company, pulled off its fourth annual three day car and bike show this past weekend despite having to contend with rainy weather.
LAST Thursday the Bahamas Public Service Union (BPSU), the second largest trade union in The Bahamas, launched the Sir Clement T. Maynard Building Complex Project; an initiative aimed at the refurbishment and redevelopment of the BPSU site on East Street South.
FORGET the notion that the Caribbean is just sun, sand and sea. Suriname, a Dutch-speaking nation on the northern coast of South America, and a member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), exports, among other things, gold. Unfortunately, much of Suriname’s population does not benefit from the wealth generated by gold production.
THE LABOUR dispute between workers and management at Morton Salt Bahamas Ltd in Inagua remains unresolved and there are no indications that this state of affairs will change in the near future; especially now that the Dow Chemical Company (Dow) has acquired the company.
….is BlackFood’s monthly feature that showcases 
(NEW YORK, June 23, 2008)—Lack of access to clean water in Haiti has devastating health consequences and constitutes a clear violation of Haitians’ right to water according to both domestic and international legal obligations, claims a new report released today by the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice (CHRGJ), Partners In Health (PIH), the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center (RFK Center), and Zanmi Lasante. The release of the report, “Wòch nan Soley: The Denial of the Right to Water in Haiti,” comes just months after public outrage over rising food prices led to a full-blown political crisis in Haiti.
THE BAHAMAS as a member of the Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) – a grouping that comprises CARCIOM Member States and the Dominican Republic - will, very shortly, sign an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Community (EC). This is a huge undertaking for The Bahamas as this will be our first true participation in the international trading system. In the opinion of this writer, this venture will likely be very detrimental to our well-being.