Grenada’s Environment Minister will be the next UN climate chief

Grenada’s Environment Minister Simon Stiell will be the next UN climate chief. He is in charge of organizing the geopolitical discussions around the climate change goals as countries prepare to meet in Egypt for the COP27 climate summit in November. 

At last year’s COP in Glasgow, Scotland most countries agreed to cut down greenhouse gas emissions but the war in Ukraine has sent gas prices skyrocketing.  

The Guardian reports.

Climate Justice

• Where is the Justice?: An Anthology of Caribbean Youth Perspectives on the Climate Crisis Paperback, edited by James Fletcher is officially on Amazon for purchase. Where is the Justice is a collection of poetry, short stories and pictures by young people across the Caribbean discussing their feelings about climate change. Buy here on Amazon.

• This article, Climate justice for small island developing states: identifying appropriate international financing mechanisms for loss and damage by Jamaican Stacy-Ann Robinson and others qualitatively analyzed the appropriateness of airline travel, fossil fuel extraction, GHG emissions, bunker fuel usage, and financial transactions to see if they are fair, dependable, feasible, and/or suitable for providing SIDS adequate funding. Read this journal paper on Taylor and Francis Online.

 

• Climate change is having a detrimental impact on sea turtles where a warmer climate has resulted in increasing numbers of female turtles. The sex of the turtles is determined by the temperature during incubation process. The Bermudian explains.

• The Planners Association of Dominica is calling on Government authorities to halt the degradation of Indian River Wetlands. It is a natural habitat for crabs, birds, iguanas, and orchids. The Association said the area is gradually being destroyed by a private landowner who cuts down freshwater vegetation. Dominica News Online reports a press release from the association. 

Oil and Gas

• Glenn Lall an advocate for getting a better oil contract for Guyana, described ExxonMobil as having a  “slave master” mentality with how it is dealing with Guyana. He pointed out a problem with a recent interview an official from the company had describing the Production Sharing Agreement as “the best deal ever.” Kaieteur News reports

• This Kaieteur News’ editorial describes Guyana’s oil contract with ExxonMobil as “criminal” as it “enslaves Guyana to ExxonMobil.” The paper calls for a renegotiation of the contract. It said, “Renegotiation affords some relief, some reversal, of this unspeakable crime that ExxonMobil has committed on the Guyanese people, and the ones unborn as of today.” Read more here.

• In the midst of rising oil and gas prices globally, the Government of Dominica has decided to subsidize petroleum in an attempt to keep fuel prices under control. Caribbean countries have to import oil and gas and the smaller the island, the more expensive it is for the country. Dominica News Online reports. 

Food Security 

• CARICOM citizens have been affected by spiralling food prices because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia/Ukraine war. That war has caused consumers to beg for relief as they experience an increase in the retail cost of flour and its by-products. Basic food items are skyrocketing in Trinidad and Tobago. The T&T Guardian discusses in its editorial. 

• Barbados’ Prime Minister, Mia Mottley, warned of further supply chain disruption to imported food that could persist into 2023. This is because of droughts in North America, China and other parts of the world. She said the Caribbean’s food security plans cannot only be medium-term but ramp up food production to scale. Jamaica Gleaner reports

Human Rights

• In The Bahamas, the Rehabilitation of Offenders Committee has  allowed for 54 people to have their criminal records expunged. After five years, first time offenders could apply for their records to be expunged. People who committed murder, manslaughter, treason, armed robbery, rape or possessed dangerous drugs with the intent to supply are not eligible. Eyewitness News reports.

Gender and Reproductive Rights 

• In The Bahamas there was a referendum to amend the constitution to allow for gender equality in 2016. The majority voted no. In this opinion piece, Alicia Wallace discusses how there was a need for more explanation on the voting points and what can be done to provide gender equity in The Bahamas outside of changing the constitution. The Tribune reports.

• Many Caribbean countries have legal and cultural restrictions on termination of pregnancies. Barbados and Guyana have decriminalised abortion and Belize, St Lucia, and St Vincent have expanded access only in medically-needed situations. In other countries access to safe abortions either available to those with means or severely restricted to medical exceptions. Stabroek News reports. 

• In Cuba, abortion is institutionalized and regulated. Article 36 of the Public Health Law speaks of “ensuring services of voluntary interruption of pregnancies.” While abortion is not illegal, it is not legal, because abortion is not part of a law in Cuba. On Cuba News reports.

LGBTQI Right

• Gay men in Dominica fear being stigmatized and accused of being carriers of Monkey pox. Similar to the HIV epidemic, gay men are facing ostraziation and taunting because people in the general public assume they are vectors of the disease. Sun Dominica report. 

• The annual Pride parade returned to the streets of Trinidad and Tobago. Rudy Hanamji, co-chair of Pride TT, said while the community is celebrating the contributions of queer people in the country, members still faced violence and discrimination and are not protected by the Equal Opportunity Act. Trinidad and Tobago Newsday reports

Haiti 

• This month is the one year anniversary of the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that hit the south-western side of Haiti. Eleven years prior, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake devastated the Caribbean country. The 2021 earthquake destroyed many homes and damaged vital infrastructure. It killed more than 2,200 people and injured 12,500 more. The EU gave €3 million in emergency funds to deal with the most urgent needs. Read more from the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations

• In Haiti gangs continue terrorize the country, violating humanitarian and protection principles. Violence is soaring in Port au Prince. On August 14 in Carrefour, armed men broke into a hospital, took a patient out of the emergency room and killed him. Read more from the EU’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre here.

Drug Policy

• In mid-August, Guyana passed the Industrial Hemp Bill in the National Assembly. Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha said that the cultivation of industrial hemp will help create lucrative industries that will boost the economy. Newsroom Guyana reports.

Opportunities:

• The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL) is holding an Open consultation: Identification of the Caribbean priorities towards the 2023 United Nations Water Conference. In preparation for the conference, CEPAL wants to know what are the priorities surrounding sustainable water management. Click here to participate. 

Events

• Affirming Fatherhood and Parenting Partners Caribbean is jointly hosting a conversation of paternity leave in the region. This is a discussion on fatherhood and the role that companies play in father’s involvement in the early development of their children’s life. The webinar is on August 24 from 6pm to 7.30pm Jamaican time. Register here.

• The Caribbean Climate Network  is having a training session on How to take action for climate adaptation in the Caribbean on  August 24 at 6pm AST.  Register here.

• 350.org is hosting three sessions on September 1-3 to reconnect with their global community. Join them to learn about the state of the movement, how they sustain activism in the long run, and organizing after climate impacts. Learn more and register here. 

 

• On October 1-8 Action for Adaption will mobilize across the Caribbean to demand leaders adapt our homes, communities and cities for the changing climate and create a safer future. Join them for a Regional Week of Climate Action

We welcome comments and critiques on the Just Caribbean Updates. You can see the Updates on our website, as well as receive it directly through the mailing list. Thank you for reading.

We aim for the JCU to be an informational tool, as well as a space for connection between Caribbean experts, policy-makers, activists and organizations. If you would like to post an event or opportunity on the JCU, we invite you to send the information to justcaribbeanupdates@gmail.com. Please put in the following format: date -- title of event -- organizer -- registration link OR title of opportunity -- institution -- link to more information. 

 

Caribbean Regional Logistics Hub and Centre of Excellence launched in Barbados

 The Caribbean Regional Logistics Hub and Centre of Excellence was officially launched in Barbados on August 11. It will serve as the central location for the facilitation of coordinated efforts and responses in the event of emergencies. The initiative was funded by the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), European Union (EU), and Canadian Embassy. Barbados Today reports.

 

Barbados’ Prime Minister Mia Mottley is making an urgent call for everyone to make a serious effort to mitigate the climate crisis. She said immediate and drastic steps are needed to avoid disaster. She said this year more people have been displaced by climate change than war. Mottley was speaking at the launch of the Caribbean Regional Logistics Hub and Centre of Excellence. She said it was the responsibility of world leaders to recognize the problem and make urgent changes. Barbados Today reports

 

Climate Justice

 

• Six hundred young Jamaican farmers and fishers will be taught how to bolster their enterprises and combat climate change through the  ‘Strengthening the Adaptive Capacity of Farmers and Fisherfolk in Jamaica’ project. This pilot project was funded through a  multi-million-dollar grant from Global Affairs Canada and the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), United Kingdom. For six months, they will be trained in business management and financial literacy, how to strengthen their farming, fisheries, and agro-processing enterprises. This project is a part of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Enabling Gender-Responsive Disaster Recovery, Climate, and Environmental Resilience in the Caribbean (EnGenDER) Project. Caribbean Nation Weekly reports.

• Providencia, a tiny Caribbean island and territory of Colombia, was hit by hurricane Iota in 2020. Known as the flower of the ocean, the island’s infrastructure was devastated, both the human-built structures and the ecosystem. Two years after the hurricane, the island is still being rebuilt. Loop Caribbean reports

 

• Civil Society Groups in Jamaica jointly signed a statement detailing the contamination of the Rio Cobre river in St. Catherine from the bauxite-alumina refinery at Windalco in Ewarton, owned by UC Rusal. In a release from joint civil societies such as Jamaica Conservation Partners and Jamaica Climate Change Youth Council (JCCYC), the discharges pollute the river, affecting water quality, killing fish and marine organisms, and compromising the food resources and livelihoods of the surrounding community. Read more in a press release from the Jamaican Environment Trust’s Facebook page. 

• Deep sea mining could begin in Jamaica in 2023, despite environmental activists and scientists warning against disrupting the “fragile and critically important” ecosystem. Environmental activist and CEO of the Jamaica Environmental Trust, Theresa Rodriguez-Moodie, PhD,  believes, “The impacts of deep sea mining (DSM) have the potential to be devastating and global.” Read more in the Jamaica Gleaner.

Oil and Gas 

 

• This opinion piece by Pat Dial highlights the growing and evolving issue of local content in Guyana for the oil and gas industry. Guyana has mandated those in the developing oil and gas industries to employ and use as many resources from Guyana as possible. For instance, expats in the oil and gas industry are not allowed to buy their own property but must rent. However, this created the unintended consequence of the cost of rentals going up and becoming out of reach for middle-class Guyanese citizens. Dial discusses more on the local content provisions for the oil and gas industry in Kaieteur News.

  

• Professor Paloma Mohamed-Martin, Vice Chancellor of the University of Guyana, wants the first 60% of the oil and gas revenue to be invested into tertiary education institutions so that it can help develop the necessary labor force for the oil and gas industry. Oil Now Guyana reports

Human Rights

 

• The Government of Antigua and Barbuda is defending the police’s decision to use teargas on protestors in an attempt to get them to disperse a year ago. They were protesting the mandatory vaccination program for  frontline workers in an attempt to curb the spread of COVID-19. Loop Caribbean reports.

Indigenous Rights 

 

• An indigenous population in Guyana is being terrorized by miners who are disrupting their land and way of life. The government and the National Toshaos Council (NTC) need to assess the level of devastation the  miners caused in the Region One indigenous community of Chinese Landing. The indigenous leaders say the miners have threatened the livelihood of the villagers and breached the Amerindian Act. Stabroek News reports.

 

Health

 

• The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) held a Special Session of the Directing Council on August 5 to address the monkeypox outbreak, including supporting equitable access to vaccines for at-risk populations  in the region. St Lucia Times reports. 

Gender Justice 

 

• In Antigua and Barbuda, the Directorate of Gender Affairs (DoGA) will relaunch The Men’s Critical Issues Series on state media. The series aims to examine the ways existing social constructs and gender norms affect men and boys with the hopes to spark discussions on how to find solutions. The Antigua Observer reports. 

Human Mobility + Human Trafficking 

• Four people were arrested in Venezuela for sexual treatment and trafficking of women to Trinidad and Tobago. A Venezuelan press release reported that on August 10 police acted after four women and a teenager made a complaint that they were "brought to TT under false pretences to be sexually exploited.” When they entered Venezuela they made complaints about what they experienced." Trinidad and Tobago Newsday reports. 

 

• Hundreds of migrants from Haiti and Cuba landed on Miami's shores. Some even swam to the shores. U.S. Customs and Border Patrol detained many of them. Cuba and Haiti have a rapidly deteriorating political and economic system that has caused many of its citizens to flee to other countries. On August 6 a “jam-packed boat” ran aground off the Florida Keys. Some of the migrants were in the water without life jackets and had to be rescued. Officials from the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol were working to “transfer them into our custody and into the immigration process.” The Miami Herald, The New York Post, and NBC Miami report. 

 

• US authorities are searching for the smugglers responsible for a “massive” number of migrants from Haiti who landed near Key Largo. Marleine Bastien, Executive Director of Family Action Network Movement and Vice-Chair of the Haitian-American Grassroots Coalition said, "When you look at the migration flow of Haitian refugees for the past 50 years, you always see an uptick at times of political instability and grave human rights abuses. It never fails." CBS News reports.

 

• U.S. Border Patrol agents intercepted a boat containing 109 Haitian migrants approximately 800 yards off Marathon, Florida. It is considered a maritime smuggling event. The migrants were given water and checked medically after they were taken into custody. Local 10 news reports.

 

We welcome comments and critiques on the Just Caribbean Updates. You can see the Updates on our website, as well as receive it directly through the mailing list. Thank you for reading.

 

We aim for the JCU to be an informational tool, as well as a space for connection between Caribbean experts, policy-makers, activists and organizations. If you would like to post an event or opportunity on the JCU, we invite you to send the information to justcaribbeanupdates@gmail.com. Please put in the following format: date -- title of event -- organizer -- registration link OR title of opportunity -- institution -- link to more information. 

Decolonizing Caribbean history by reframing the stories of European heroes

The portrait of Sir Thomas Picton, a Welsh officer and former governor of Trinidad who was known for his cruelty towards the people of the Caribbean island, will be re-hung in the National Museum of Cardiff to highlight his legacy of cruelty and torture. To get to the portrait, visitors must walk through an exhibition by Trinidadian artists who were commissioned to tell the story of slavery in Trinidad. The exhibition  is called Reframing Picton. The Guardian UK and the BBC reports.

 

In Trinidad and Tobago, there is a Cabinet-appointed committee charged with reviewing street names, buildings, monuments, and statues that honor colonists who engaged in the slave trade and tortured, butchered, and murdered Indigenous people and enslaved Africans. 

Sociologist and part-time senior lecturer at UWI St Augustine Dr. Tyehimba Salandy said the problem is not just about the removal of the colonial names but the trauma that has been carried forward from colonialism. He said Trinidad and Tobago is a country with, “deep social inequalities, racism, ethnic hostilities, crime, the antagonistic top-down model of politics and the inability of our leaders to appreciate the perspectives of ordinary people—these issues are rooted in our colonial history.” The T&T Guardian reports. 

 

Climate Justice

• The Bahamas will host the first regional climate change conference in preparation for COP 27 on August 16 and 17 at Baha Mar. This is supported by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Prime Minister Philip Davis said he will personally contact every leader in the region to ensure participation. “We must take the reins in ending our suffering and replace our position of vulnerability with that of power. It’s past time to go on the offensive against the painful blows that climate change has landed in the region. But we must be united in the fight and convince the world that for better or worse we are in this together,” he said. Eye Witness News reports.
  
  

• The Caribbean is being inundated with an overwhelming amount of Sargassum.  From Puerto Rico to Barbados, the seaweed, which is healthy to the ecosystem in moderation, is smothering the Caribbean coastal areas, killing fish, chasing away tourists, and causing a noxious gas that smells foul. A Bloomberg article said, “More than 24 million tons of sargassum blanketed the Atlantic in June, shattering the all-time record, set in 2018, by 20%.” Climate change is being speculated as the cause of the sargassum invasion. This year is estimated to be the worst year for the sargassum infestation. Bloomberg and NPR report.
  
  

• As The Bahamian parliament is about to finalize the Climate Change and Carbon Markets Initiatives Bill. Bahamian climate scientist, Marjahn Finlays, gives the opinion that the bill will set a precedent. Instead, Finlay said, The Bahamas needs a “comprehensive plan for adaptation measures, backed by wealthy nations contributing their fair share of climate finance.” Climate Change News reports.
  
  

• Jamaica launched a gender and climate change strategy and action plan (GCCSAP) called  ‘Build Institutional Capacity for Mainstreaming Gender in Climate Finance Programming.’ One part of the plan was financed by the Green Climate Fund and supported by the International Institute for Sustainable Development. The plan was created to lay the foundations for integrating gender and climate change issues into projects and policies. Caribbean National Weekly reports.
  
  

• In preparation for any destruction caused by the Atlantic Hurricane Season, Antigua and Barbuda’s Ministry of Agriculture is conducting an exercise to clean ponds, drains, and waterways in flood-prone areas, particularly near farming lands, to prevent floods. The Antigua Observer reports.
  
  

• Climate change is a major cause of human migration. Drought, fire, and flooding that destroys homes force people to move. Usually, climate migration is done locally, where people move from one part of their country, usually rural to urban parts of the country to live. But for some, they are forced to flee their country for a safer life. Proving migration based on climate change is difficult. A natural disaster like a hurricane, drought, crop failure, or fire can bring economic instability to the country, thus creating crime, violence, and other reasons for people to flee their country. PBS reports.
  
  

Funding

• The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has approved a US$100 million guarantee for Barbados to help the government access funds for conservation activities at reduced rates. The guarantee will allow the government to create a long-term instrument to finance measures related to sustainability and marine conservation. Barbados Today reports.
  
  

Energy

• The Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export) and the Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CCREEE), both based in Barbados, came to an agreement to create a framework of cooperation to grow businesses using sustainable energy. The two organizations will work to manage the climate crisis, build sustainable and affordable energy systems and work on reducing poverty. Read more from Caribbean Nation Weekly.
  
  

• Residents of Lethem in Guyana are now using electricity from a $472 million, one megawatt solar farm. The solar power plant began testing on July 26. It was reported that 10,000 liters of diesel were saved. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Energy Agency, Dr. Mahender Sharma, estimates that the solar farm will save approximately $136 million annually. The project was financed by a loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in November 2018. News Room Guyana reports
  
  

• Guyana’s Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh reaffirmed that the country remains committed to having a national energy transition that promotes the use of renewable energy sources. He said this at the Fourth Regional Committee Meeting for the Latin America and Caribbean Region of the International Solar Alliance (ISA). He said Guyana has a large off-the-grid population and the creation of solar farms would allow these citizens access to electricity. News Room Guyana reports.
   

Oil and Gas

• Dr. Vincent Adams, former head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Guyana, does not believe ExxonMobil has hit the flaring targets set out in the Liza Two permit. Flaring is the burning of natural gas during oil extraction. This process is harmful to the atmosphere because it emits toxins that contribute to greenhouse gasses such as benzopyrene, benzene, carbon disulfide, carbonyl sulfide, arsenic hydrogen sulfide, nitrogen oxides, carbon dioxide and methane to name a few. “ExxonMobil through its subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) had been flaring associated gas at the Liza One field soon after the start up of oil production in 2019, owing to its failed gas compressor. It was only last week that the company told members of the media that the equipment was finally replaced,”  Kaieteur News reports.
  
  

• It has been two years since Guyana’s President, Mohammed Irfaan Ali-led government took power, but they are yet to pass Article 13, a new legislation to regulate Guyana’s oil sector. The Act was amended 25 years ago. According to Kaieteur News, Ali’s government upon assuming office in August 2020, promised to overhaul Guyana’s archaic petroleum laws but to date, he has not done anything in this regard…The outdated laws have glaring loopholes that allow for Guyana to lose big from its oil resources.”
  
  

• Guyana’s Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo agreed that the contract between the government and ExxonMobil will have to be renegotiated, but said it will not be done just yet. He said, “The contract was bad, we have to change it in the future but we are not going to renegotiate now.” Guyana will receive at a flat rate of US$50 per barrel, US$157B into 2040. Jagdeo said he noticed “extremism” in the daily newspapers, saying that the contract was the worst, however, he disagrees.  Kaieteur News reports.
  
  

Food security

• What effects does climate change have on food security? A change in climate can mean an addition of droughts or flooding that would hinder the development of crops. With most Caribbean countries importing food, food security problems could come in the form of supply chain issues. Stabroek News discusses in its editorial.
  
  

• In the midst of a looming food crisis caused by a plethora of factors which includes Russia’s war in Ukraine, supply chain disruptions because of the pandemic and food crops being destroyed by floods and rainy weather, several major food producing and exporting countries from Latin America and the Caribbean, along with the United States and Canada, signed an agreement at the Summit of the Americas to work together to tackle common challenges. Read more by Caricom Today.
  
  

Reproductive Justice 

 

• In Trinidad and Tobago abortion is still illegal. Abortions are only allowed if the pregnancy poses a threat to the woman’s physical and mental health. A woman would require a doctor to legally approve her abortion. While women with economic means are able to easily access illegal abortions through their gynecologists, women without access frequently have unsafe abortions. In this two-part series, CNC3 discusses activists' call and public health crisis criminalizing abortions bring, and the lack of political will to decriminalize abortions in Trinidad and Tobago.
  
  

• The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) opened its first office in the Caribbean in Trinidad and Tobago. This is its second office in the Americas. The office was opened to ensure there was the necessary space in the Caribbean to ensure universal access to reproductive and sexual rights. Trinidad and Tobago Newsday reports.
  
  

Gender Justice

• The Caribbean Employers’ Confederation (CEC) and the Caribbean Congress of Labour (CCL) just signed a regional policy agreement to address gender-based violence in the workplace.  The implementation of this policy will require a lot of work in changing the “deeply ingrained cultural values” of the Caribbean. Trinidad and Tobago Newsday reports.
   

Human Mobility

 

• Four men were charged with the deaths of 17 Haitian migrants in The Bahamas. The men are suspected of being the smugglers who were trying to transport the migrants out of The Bahamas. Their boat capsized off the coast of New Providence. The men face 18 counts of manslaughter. One for the 17 people and the 18th will be for an unborn fetus. The Jamaica Gleaner reports. Five of the drowned victims were identified by the police. Eye Witness News reports. 
  
  

• Haitian migrants wait at the Mexican borders for the removal of Title 42, the emergency public health ordinance that allows the denial and removal of anyone who came from a country with a communicable disease. This was put in during March 2020 for the COVID-19 pandemic. Some migrants do not want to attempt to cross the Mexico/ US border because they are afraid to be sent back home as there are deportation flights from Texas to Haiti. Instead, they live in cities such as Ciudad Juárez which borders the US, keeping a low profile in the Spanish-speaking country.  Border Report tells the story.
  
  

Regional Politics 

 

• St. Kitts and Nevis has a new Prime Minister after a snap general election that was held three years early on August 5. The St Kitts Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP) won six out of the 11 seats contested. Dr. Terrance Drew is the country’s fourth Prime Minister. The Jamaica Gleaner, teleSURE, and Barbados Today report.
  
  

Caribbean leadership

• Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, Vice-Chancellor of The University of the West Indies (The UWI), was elected to serve on the governing Council for the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU). Beckles’ appointment will be for three years. He was recently appointed by UNESCO to the Council of the United Nations University for a  six-year term. According to Caribbean News Global, “The ACU is the world’s first and oldest international university network, established in 1913 to provide a forum for universities to share information, knowledge, and ideas.” Caribbean News Global reports.
  
  

Emancipation

• On August 1 countries around the Caribbean celebrated Emancipation Day. In 1834 the British Empire announced the end of the enslavement of African people. Trinidad and Tobago was historically the first country to celebrate Emancipation Day, making it a public holiday. Its Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Rowley, said people must remember the history and legacy African people had, both their accomplishments before slavery and the trauma they endured during and after slavery. He said people of African descent still wrestle with the violence of the past, behaviors that can be seen when young people engage in acts of spontaneous violence and children get ignored in the family. Loop Caribbean reports.
  
  

• Trinidad and Tobago has the first African Holocaust monument in the world. It is located at St. Clement Anglican Church on Manahambre Road in Ste. Madeleine. The African Holocaust Memorial Park was dedicated on July 20, 1997. Read more by The National Archives of Trinidad and Tobago’s Facebook page.
  
  

• Trinidadians gathered at the All Stars Panyard on Duke Street, the site of the Canboulay riots, to commemorate Emancipation Day. A special ceremony was held to be a spiritual reclamation of the Emancipation holiday, connecting with the ancestral practices of the enslaved Africans. CNC3 reports.
  
  

• St Lucia’s Prime Minister, Philip J. Pierre vows to keep Emancipation Day as a major national event meant to educate and celebrate the fight their ancestors went through to get freedom from the British. In the past, there were not many celebrations for Emancipation Day, but this year the country had a J’Ouvert and Freedom Concert to mark the day among its events. St Lucia Times reports.
  
  

Decolonization

• Ghana joins Caribbean countries such as Grenada, Jamaica, and Antigua and Barbuda in calling for reparations for European colonization. “It is time for Africa, 20 million of whose sons and daughters had their freedoms curtailed and sold into slavery, also to receive reparations,” President Akufo-Addo of Ghana said. The Voice reports.
  
  

Culture

• Trinidadian playwright, director, and drag king, Emily Aboud’s play Bogeyman will be shown at Pleasance Dome in Edinburgh from 3-29 August. It is inspired by the 1791 Haitian revolution, where enslaved Africans overthrew the French to free themselves. Set between 18th-century Haiti and modern-day London, Kate Wyver from The Guardian describes Bogeyman as exploring, “how many modern fears are steeped in the continuing legacies of racism and empire. The Guardian UK discusses.
  
  

Events

• The University of the West Indies Open Campus in St Vincent and the Grenadines in collaboration with ‘the Friends of Oscar Allen’ will host the ‘Oscar Allen Emancipation Memorial Lecture’ on 11 August at the UWI’s Open Campus from 6:30 pm. Mr. Dorbrene O’Marde, chairperson of the Antigua and Barbuda Reparations Support Committee and one of three vice-presidents of the CARICOM Reparations Commission, will deliver the lecture on the theme “Celebrate Freedom Repair the Damage”. For more information please email svg@open.uwi.edu or uwisvg@gmail.com.
  
  

We welcome comments and critiques on the Just Caribbean Updates. You can see the Updates on our website, as well as receive it directly through the mailing list. Thank you for reading.

 

We aim for the JCU to be an informational tool, as well as a space for connection between Caribbean experts, policy-makers, activists and organizations. If you would like to post an event or opportunity on the JCU, we invite you to send the information to justcaribbeanupdates@gmail.com. Please put in the following format: date -- title of event -- organizer -- registration link OR title of opportunity -- institution -- link to more information.