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Social media outcry halts ‘revitalisation’ plans for Trinidad park, but approach to public consultation remains a challenge · Global Voices
Flora Thomas

Signage at the front of City Hall, headquarters of the Port of Spain City Corporation, which spearheaded a controversial initiative to revitalise Trinidad's Nelson Mandela Park. Photo used with permission.
In what turned out to be a demonstration of the power of digital activism, the questions being asked by Trinidadian social media users about plans to “revitalise” Port of Spain's Nelson Mandela Park—which were being made without any real effort at consultation with the people that use the space—have brought that project to an end.
Although citizens were not privy to any documentation detailing the specifics of what the plan would entail prior to a virtual July 26 consultation, there was talk of replacing the grass with AstroTurf and making people pay for park access.
The Port of Spain City Corporation, which spearheaded the initiative, had issued a deadline date of August 1—Emancipation Day—for the public to send in their feedback on a proposal they had never seen. (The proposal document detailing a public-private partnership with Capital Sports Facility Ltd., only began to be widely circulated online within the last few days.)
By August 2, Prime Minister Keith Rowley posted on his Facebook page:
Replacing the natural environment at Mandela Park with artificial turf is a salesman’s foolish idea that ought not to waste the time or the resources of the Port of Spain Corporation.
The Government is sure the Corporation can put its time and money to much better use and spare us all this unnecessary aggravation.
Concurrently, the online petition that had been started to protest the proposed conversion of the park into “a public wellness and sports hub in the heart of our capital city,” was updated to advise:
Shortly after 1.00 p.m. today, August 2nd 2021, the Prime Minister, Dr Keith Rowley, intervened and common sense prevailed. The people have spoken and our leadership has taken heed.
While social media users were pleased with Prime Minister Rowley's response, some were not prepared to let the issue slide that easily. Facebook user Charisse Thavenot commented:
Well said but unfair to throw [the Regional Corporation] under the [bus] when a high ranking minister was part of the proposal meeting for this to relevant invitees. Thankfully people are learning about the strength of collaboration and fighting for what is right and what is really ours […] the government must remember that it's there to serve us the public (the 99%). I do hope you truly keep fending for this country and [its] people.
Minister of Energy Stuart Young, as well as Keith Scotland, the Member of Parliament for Port of Spain South, both attended the virtual consultation on July 26.
Thavenot continued:
This should never have even seen the light of day. And especially when other wonderful proposals have been made for much much much less investment, and that would keep things natural and accessible to the public.
However, one of the co-authors of the articles by the Trinidad and Tobago Society of Planners (TTSP) and the Trinidad and Tobago Institute of Architects (TTIA) that have been appearing regularly in the Trinidad and Tobago Newsday, spoke to Global Voices on condition of anonymity since, he explained, the articles are a joint group effort.
He said that the core issue had less to do with the concept itself—there could have been a compromise for a mixed-use space—and more with how it was handled: no public access to information, one poorly advertised virtual meeting and an unreasonable time frame in which the public was expected to respond. “The problem,” he said, “is the process—and no one is acknowledging that.”
Colm de Freitas, who owns Capital Sports Facility Ltd., defended his proposal by saying that “some kind of provision is needed for football and other youth team sports to allow them somewhere to play.”
In a Facebook thread, Frances HL countered:
Just stop it. There are so many unkempt pieces of state land all over the country. Find a piece, do a greenfield design with drainage considerations and try your thing. Let us not add a large impermeable surface in an already flood prone area when the city is barely able to manage its existing runoff as is. Another good option; redo an area with natural turf and just maintain it.
Other commenters criticised the proposal's claim that converting the park to a training facility for sports would attract sports tourism revenue, as well as the perception that the park was under-utilised.
On Facebook, Lara Littlepage, who is married to de Freitas, lamented the fact that the project was now “dead in the water.” On the thread, Joe Cazabon commented:
[I] don't think the issue was anything to do with astroturf […] It was more about protecting public access, maintaining some natural, unpaved areas in POS, and not sneaking plans through without proper consultation and consideration of all issues.
The city's deputy mayor, Hillan Morean, maintained that the consultation process had been thorough and transparent, with Littlepage concurring:
They had a public consultation last Monday and were willing to do a second one now that questions and concerns were raised. The RFP has not even been written as yet. They were doing the consultations first. For once they seemed to be following the right steps.
Cazabon responded:
No one I know, including regular users of the park had heard of the public consultation before the petition came out. And one day of consultation, with insufficient public notice of it, breaks all sorts of good practice rules for these things. I am glad it's dead in the water – for one thing it shows that the public is interested, and the decision makers are responsive.
Nevertheless, Prime Minister Rowley had to take to Facebook to clarify that his initial statement about the AstroTurf concept being a “salesman’s foolish idea” was not meant in reference to Port of Spain Mayor Joel Martinez who, prior to holding political office, had a long career as an insurance salesman.
For his part, Martinez said that he had already decided not to proceed with the proposal once it became clear that the public was not in support, adding that he “welcomed” the prime minister's input, as it “allows us to now understand that we made the right decision.”
Still, Leela Ramdeeen, who chairs the Catholic Commission for Social Justice (CCSJ), continued to focus on the aspects of the issue citizens seemed most concerned about:
CCSJ maintains that astroturf may look good, but plastic is plastic. […] Mayor Martinez, we are all stewards/trustees of our environment. […]
Since TT is a signatory to the Paris Agreement, CCSJ calls for sustainable, responsible, environmentally responsible revitalisation of our city.
Another key issue was the proposal's apparent disregard for equitable access to the park. Despite its promise that the revitalisation would be “people-centred,” the pitch document explained that people interested in using the park would need to apply for access via a calendar-based booking system, causing Ramdeen to add:
The CCSJ also questions how the conversion to a fee-for-use facility will benefit the many people who currently use the space free of charge. The plan will not be inclusive.
The cost of the project was estimated at 20 million Trinidad and Tobago dollars (about 2.9 million United States dollars), and the former mayor of Port of Spain, Louis Lee Sing, said that because the proposal was unsolicited, it “means that it is being considered in a situation which is non-competitive.”
Although a tender notice for upgrade works to the playing field at Nelson Mandela Park was issued on July 28, 2017 and De Freitas confirmed the proposal was sent in prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is unclear whether the tender relates to the Capital Sports Facility proposal.
Lee Sing also suggested that the funds could be put to better use by providing facilities for the more disadvantaged communities in east Port of Spain.


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‘I demand 100 percent freedom’ — Hong Kong political artist leaves for Taiwan citing crackdown · Global Voices
Hong Kong Free Press

A screenshot from Kacey Wong's video ‘We will meet again’.
The original version of the following post was written by Tom Grundy and published in the Hong Kong Free Press on August 3, 2021. The following edited version, with additional quotes from the report from Stand News, is published on Global Voices under a content partnership agreement.
Political artist Kacey Wong has left Hong Kong for Taiwan citing the shrinking space for artistic expression.
The 51-year-old left the city 17 days ago and posted a farewell message and video on social media on August 3 after completing his COVID-19 quarantine in Taichung.
‘When you received this letter, I have already left. Leaving is not easy, staying is also difficult. We have known each other for 51 years, I will not forget you. Let’s treasure each other, goodbye Hong Kong,’ he wrote on Facebook, with music and quotes from Vera Lynn’s ‘We’ll Meet Again’.
Wong said that he needed to be strategic and tactical in his decision to leave: ‘For me, the critical moment for the decision to leave was the [arrest of the] 47′. he said in reference to January’s round-up of election hopefuls. ‘For me, that is a signifier for the destruction of Hong Kong’s law system as we know it’.
He also cited a piece on the front page of the China-run Ta Kung Pao newspaper in February which criticised him and other media persoanlities. He said he perceived the piece as a ‘wanted list’ for Beijing.
The article mentioned 17 individuals from the independent film and art industries accusing them of glorifying the 2019 anti-China extradition protests and the Hong Kong independence movement. The report noted that Wong attended a TED talk in Vienna on October 21, 2019, where he presented the protests as a ‘revolution’ through his public artwork on the 2014 pro-democracy Occupy Central movement and the 2019 protests.
Wong described his departure as a painful process similar to a retreating from a battle or attending one's own funeral. He said that was very nervous when he was in the Hong Kong airport because he anticipated that he might be included on the national security police's ‘wanted list’. He told the Stand News:
最恐怖的是移居者好像要『以身試法』去闖關，究竟自己在不在黑名單上？會不會執好行李卻在關卡亮起紅燈？出境是否能夠過關是好大的賭博…決定離開就做好永遠不能回港的心理準備；同時也預備好萬一過不了關，將會被捕、坐監、面對長時間審訊，這都是必須準備。
The most terrifying part is that you did not know if you were really on the arrest list. Would the red light turn on when you were in front of the emigration desk? Whether you could manage to leave the city is like a gamble… Psychologically you have to prepare that you can never return back to Hong Kong and that if you were stopped during the emigration, you could be arrested,  jailed and face a very long trial.
An Apple Daily journalist, Fung Wai Kong, was arrested on June 28, 2021 in the Hong Kong airport when he attempted to leave the city during the police crackdown on the news outlet.
Kacey Wong's public art performance during the anti-China extradition protests in 2019. Photo from Kacey Wong via Stand News.
Last June, the artist was more optimistic about the Beijing-enacted security law, telling HKFP that the legislation will only galvanise creativity in Hong Kong.
However, he said he did not foresee the severity of the crackdown: ‘The biggest question is what do I need? Why do I leave? And it’s very obvious… the freedom of artistic expression’, he said. ‘I want and I demand 100 per cent freedom, with no compromise’.
Since the 2014 pro-democracy Umbrella Movement, Wong sought to push the boundaries of art as a means of political dissent on the streets and was often seen at the July 1 democracy protests. His 2018 performance piece, ‘The Patriot’, shows him playing the Chinese national anthem on an accordion from inside a red cage outside the Chinese Government complex of Hong Kong.
’The Patriot’ Photo from Kacey Wong via CitizenNews
Whilst many Hongkongers are emigrating to the UK, Wong said he specifically chose Taiwan for its vibrant art scene which offer opportunity for growth: ‘I always appreciated Taiwan’s culture and art, I think it’s very mature and deep and the society is sophisticated and raw at the same time, which I like’.
He told the Stand News that he would take it as his duty to voice out for Hongkongers and he advised those who continued to stay in Hong Kong to keep a low profile and be more creative in their expression:
所謂香港的新時代，將會有新方法，舊方法已經不再有效。如果我們繼續迷戀以往的舊方法，其實是一種偏執。我們必須要有創意去面對政治的潰壞的新時代。
Under the so-called New Era, we need to adapt to a new way [of expressing ourselves], the old way can't work anymore. We can't be obsessed with the good old days. We have to be creative to face the rotten politics of the New Era.
In March, Chief Executive Carrie Lam vowed to put the city on ‘full alert’ against artwork deemed to be endangering the city’s national security in government-funded spaces.
In June 2020, Beijing inserted national security legislation directly into Hong Kong’s mini-constitution — bypassing the local legislature — following a year of pro-democracy protests and unrest. It criminalised subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist acts, which were broadly defined to include disruption to public transport and other infrastructure. The move gave police sweeping new powers, alarming Democrats, civil society groups and trade partners, as such laws have been used broadly to silence and punish dissidents in China. However, the authorities say it has restored stability and peace to the city.

source: news-globalvoices

license: Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

author: Hong Kong Free Press


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Is anti-Chinese sentiment in Kyrgyzstan strong enough to freeze a key Belt and Road Initiative project? · Global Voices
Aizat Shailoobek kyzy

The site of the planned logistics center near At-Bashy. Photo by Aizat Shailoobek kyzy, used with permission.
While foreign investment and infrastructure development often bring material benefits, people in Kyrgyzstan, who often migrate for work to other countries, have pushed back against Chinese projects due to Sinophobic attitudes. What is the basis for this paranoia, and can it in fact stop key Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects from being completed?
When former Kyrgyz president Sooronbay Jeenbekov signed an agreement to build a massive trade and logistics center for Chinese goods in Kyrgyzstan during a state visit to China in 2018, two businessmen, one Chinese, the other Kyrgyz, saw an opportunity.
Liu Ying owns twelve businesses in China and is a local business celebrity as he is known as the man who introduced fireworks to Central Asia after the fall of Soviet Union in 1991. His business partner, Emilbek Abdykadyrov, owns Nur Stroi Montazh, a construction company in the capital Bishkek.
In August 2019, the two established a company called At-Bashy Kyrgyz Chinese Free Trade Zone LLC (hereafter At-Bashy FTZ). It was founded through Liu’s initial investment of 500,000 US dollars through the Hong Kong-registered investment vehicle, One Lead One Trading.
The company was created to be in charge of the construction and management of the logistics center. The project, estimated at 280 million US dollars, is to be built in a deserted plateau at 2,000 meters above sea level, around 40 kilometers from the village of At-Bashy, in northeastern Kyrgyzstan, on the main highway to the border with China.
To date, there is little indication that more money beyond the initial half-million dollars has been invested in the plot of land, a 200-hectare space leased for 49 years by At-Bashy FTZ. One Lead One Trading was shut down in November 2020.
The village of At-Bashy, with its population of 15,000, working mostly in small trade, tourism, cattle breeding, and agriculture, is deeply divided about the project. Those in opposition have been the most vocal, and perhaps the reason why the project is stalled.
What seems to motivate this opposition is a combination of nationalism and fear of a Chinese “invasion” and “land-grab.”
Guljan Aitbaeva, who runs a small shop in At-Bashy selling “Made in China” clothes, told Global Voices that ordinary residents were not informed about the construction of the logistics center. She herself learned of it through social networks and is concerned because she sees an echo of what happened in neighboring Tajikistan: “Tajikistan gave a piece of its land to China and this will happen with Kyrgyzstan too.”
In January 2011 Tajikistan agreed to give a part of its territory to China to resolve a century-old border dispute. Kyrgyzstan also reviewed its border with China in 2001 and lost some land in the process.
Using this precedent as a main argument, on 17 February 2020, 1,000 residents rallied against the project. The protest was organized by Mederbek Junusaliev, a local TV repairman, who collected signatures from local residents and appealed several times to the local administration.
Despite pressure from the police to stop his activities, and a stay in hospital caused by stress, Junusaliev continues to lead protests, and even wrote protest poems, inspired by Kalygul Bai uulu, an 18th century Kyrgyz poet who wrote:
Кылтылдап кирер койнуңа,
Кылтагын илер мойнуңа.
Кызыкпа, журтум, кызыкпа,
Кытайдын кытмыр ойнуна.
The Chinese will occupy slowly
Put the rope around your neck
Don't get interested, my country, don't get interested
In China's secret Game
The connection to historical anti-Chinese sentiment is clear, and extends to other forms of projected fears, including intermarriage, common in Sinophobic discourse in Kyrgyzstan.
Alybek Musaev, a local dentist, told Global Voices:
To lease land to the Chinese side for 49 years means transferring land forever. Then the Chinese migrants will marry Kyrgyz girls and this will naturally lead to Chinese expansion. Only the Chinese and the Kyrgyz corrupt officials benefit from this logistics center.
Musaev also published a video on Facebook showing the February 2020 protest that was followed with more than 500 sympathetic comments.
While this paranoid fear could be seen as a relic of the past, more Kyrgyz are becoming aware of the eradication of Uyghur culture and identity happening in neighboring Xinjiang province in China, precisely by way of economic development and encouraged or forced intermarriage.
Fear of the effects of Chinese investment is not the only reason why locals in At-Bashy reject the project. Another concern is the likely lack of economic redistribution and endemic corruption, causing opposition to both the central government in Bishkek and to Chinese projects.
Bishkek officials have painted the project in traditional “win-win” colors, in line with Beijing's systematic promotion of the project as a great opportunity to create jobs in a country deeply affected by economic migration and unemployment.
Most Kyrgyz officials, whether from At-Bashy or from Bishkek have strongly supported the construction of the logistics center. At the inauguration in 2019, former prime minister Muhammedkalyi Abylgaziev stated:
The logistics center will become one of the most modern and largest in the Central Asian region. The construction will create at least 10,000 jobs, 90% of which will be given to our citizens.
Abdykadyrov, one of the main investors in the project on the Kyrgyz side, shared a similar enthusiasm in January 2020, telling Delovoy Kyrgyzstan that “we should put our hopes behind the good side [of the project], instead of being afraid or believe in rumors.”
Officials are very much aware of Kyrgyzstan's dependence on the Chinese economy. China supplies Kyrgyzstan and other Central Asian countries with a wide range of affordable consumer goods, from foodstuff to pharmaceuticals, machinery and textiles. Trade turnover between Central Asian countries and China has grown 49 percent in five years, from 17.6 billion US dollars in 2015 to 26 billion US dollars in 2019. According to the United Nations COMTRADE database, in 2020, the volume of Kyrgyzstan's imports from China was 2.9 billion US dollars, almost three times more than imports from Russia in the same period. China also holds the lion’s share of foreign investment into Kyrgyzstan. Almost 50 percent of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into Kyrgyzstan originates from China, while around 80 percent of overall FDI goes to gold extraction and other metal industries, according to OECD data.
Against this institutional support, Junusaliev argued in a public gathering that the local administration lacks transparency, because “it is under the control of the central government, which is corrupt.”
For China, Central Asian countries represent a key juncture in its BRI plan, as part of an overland transport corridor to Europe. The news of the suspension of construction was received with disappointment, as a roadblock in the integration of Kyrgyzstan in China’s attempts to move goods from China to Central Asia and beyond. China has already built Khorgos, a large, though not the largest, dry port in the world, on its border with Kazakhstan in 2017.
A post on Sina Finance, a financial weblog, exemplifies the disappointment.
不难看出，由于距离上的优势（东邻中国），吉尔吉斯斯坦近年来在中资的助力下尝到了不少甜头。而此次取消合作的决定，无疑将会令这个中亚国家在中国投资者心中的形象大打折扣.
It is not hard to see that, due to its geographic location near China, Kyrgyzstan has benefited from Chinese investments, But cancelling the At Bashy project would undoubtedly affect the image of Kyrgyzstan and will deter Chinese investors.
In Kyrgyzstan, the government seems conflicted about the future of the project: on the one hand, Kyrgyz officials have continued to show support for the project after the October 2020 power grab by formerly-imprisoned politician Sadyr Japarov, who became president in January 2021. In June 2021 Japarov visited At-Bashy, and endorsed the project.
Yet Japarov is aware of a serious issue that plays into the claims of the opponents to the logistics center: Kyrgyzstan owes around 41 percent of its external debt to China’s Export-Import Bank. Most of the loans are linked to construction projects and road repairs carried out by Chinese companies. And as he stated publicly:
We borrowed money for these projects and we signed contracts by which the management of the facilities would be transferred to the other party in case of non-payment.
This story is part of a Civic Media Observatory investigation into competing narratives about China’s Belt and Road Initiative, and explores how societies and communities hold differing perceptions of potential benefits and harms of Chinese-led development. To learn more about this project and its methods, click here.

author: Aizat Shailoobek kyzy


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Wildfires rampaging through North Macedonia are destroying remaining forests · Global Voices
Metamorphosis Foundation

Army of Republic of North Macedonia solders putting down a fire near Kochani. Photo by www.arm.mil.mk, used with permission.
This story was originally published by Meta.mk. An edited version is republished here under a content-sharing agreement between Global Voices and Metamorphosis Foundation.
In response to wildfires ravaging throughout North Macedonia, the government mobilized the the army to fight the fires and imposed a complete ban on movement in forest areas, declaring a state of crisis at national level. The situation is similar to Turkey, Greece and other countries in the south of Europe where the summer heat wave has resulted in wildfires.
From Monday, August 3, the national government imposed a complete ban for movement in the forest areas  in North Macedonia, pleading with citizens to not go into the forests—both for their own safety and to prevent any further wildfires.
The wildfire that ravaged the area around the town of Kochani on the evening of August 2 was brought under control during the night and completely put out the next day.
Пожарот е изгасен, Кочани за малку ќе беше како знакот на сликата! Бидете претпазливи ?
Благодарност до сите за помошта и поддршката! Со огин нема играње! pic.twitter.com/pWVX7QExxx
— Boban Alex. (@BobanAlexGFX) August 3, 2021
The fire has been put out, and Kochani almost suffered the fate of the traffic sign on this photo! Be careful, and gratitude to all for their help and support! Don't play with fire!
As this  fire approached the town, panic spread over social networks, with many citizens demanding that the government start using helicopters and airplanes for firefighting. An announcement by the president that helicopters can't be used to put down fires at night was used as political propaganda to portray the government as incompetent. Rational voices explaining that safety standards prohibit night use of aircraft for this purpose were drowned by ‘Facebook experts,’ in a shouting match that stopped only after helicopters were deployed in the morning.
Jane Stefanov, an actual sports pilot and member of Aeroclub Skopje, tried to explain in a much-quoted tweet thread:
Напнавте војска не летала навечер…како можело.. имало хеликоптери опремени со уреди за ноќно летање… кога се гаси пожар пилотите си го ставаат газот во ризик дури и дење…
Да земе вода од темно езеро, да ја фрли на огнот од ниско на непрегледен терен… нема релоад игрицава
— Јане Стефанов (@StefanovJane) August 3, 2021
You insisted that military aircraft fly during the night… how could they not… that they had helicopters with night vision equipment… and so on and on. You have to understand that putting down fires poses huge risk to pilots’ lives even during daytime… Taking water from a dark lake, and dropping it at low altitude over rough terrain [is no joke]—that video game doesn't have a reload option!
Throughout the country, there are several locations with active wildfires. The  worst outbreaks were at Kochani in the east and in the northern municipality of Staro Nagorichane. In both places, besides many hectares of forest, several vehicles, houses and other private property also burned down.
At Staro Nagorichane a helicopter intervened first due to danger to homes near the  archeological site of Kokino. Meanwhile, in Kochani, several firefighting teams and army personnel were sent to fight the wildfires with the firefighting unit from Kochani and the local population. Another 1,000 soldiers and another helicopter are at standby in army bases. Army units also engaged in fighting the wildfire between the towns of Delchevo and Pehchevo.
A fire near Pehchevo, North Macedonia. Public Domain photo from Facebook page of government institution Directorate for Protection and Rescue.
Wildfires were also registered at Makedonski Brod in the central part of the country, and Valandovo in the south, near the border with Greece.
A fire spread by strong winds near the southern border town of Gevgelija also endangered the hotels, casinos, gas stations and border crossing station Bogorodica-Evzonoi. Cross border traffic  stopped during this time, and was restored after several hours.
During the first few days, these fires were all eventually put down or localized without causing human casualties or incinerating the buildings through the efforts of state authorities joined by local citizens and companies.
However, on August 5, а missing woman in a remote village of Chelopek in Staro Negorichane is feared dead, as her husband claimed she remained in their  house that was engulfed by fire. By the time of closing of this post the police has not finished the investigation that would confirm the death.
Army of North Macedonia soldier putting down a forest fire. Photo by www.arm.mil.mk, used with permission.
All in all, on August 3, the Crisis Management Center recorded about 14 active wildfires across all regions of North Macedonia. The next day, it recorded 11 active fires, with three new ones and the 8 ongoing. Even though most of them had been put out, on August 5, there were ten active fires reported by this state institution.
For over a week, North Macedonia has been under a prolonged heatwave with very high temperatures and no rain. The meteorologists have again forecast a strong westerly wind which will be especially strong in the west of the country’s. The orange high temperatures warning will be active till August 6.
On August 5, the government declared a 30-day state of crisis, mobilizing all relevant institutions in the fight to prevent and put out wildfires.
Research in 2020 by watchdog NGO Center for Civil Communications revealed that firefighting units in North Macedonia are severely underfunded and understaffed, and that the average age of their vehicles is 28 years, including trucks made in 1966.
The government sought help from neighboring countries—Serbia responded by sending four helicopters. The European Union civil protection mechanism for crisis aid engaged firefighters from Slovenia and Bulgaria.
Stronger Together! Through the @ECHO mechanism of the EU, Slovenia is providing help to North Macedonia in the fight against the wildfires. 16 vehicles and 46 firefighters are already on their way to MK where they will stay one week and fight the fires alongside their colleagues. pic.twitter.com/toXST2aLEs
— EU Ambassador David Geer (@AmbassadorEU) August 4, 2021
Political parties in the opposition and the government continue to trade accusations of who is responsible for the state's low capacity to deal with natural disasters, while Twitter users criticize some politicians for using them as photo ops.
On social networks, many blame ‘the human factor’ for starting of forest fires. Accusations alleging commercial motives point fingers at farmers who, after harvest, burn the stubble on their own fields rather than spending money for transport to garbage dumps—several such cases were prosecuted in previous years.
The usual suspects also include supposedly negligent tourists that flaunt regulations with their open barbeques.
Illegal logging is also a big problem for North Macedonia, and there are allegations that criminal gangs burn down the forest to cover their tracks, or to peruse a loophole in the law which allows the cutting of trees in burned down forests. Another alleged profit motive is picking mushrooms that sometimes grow in the ash after forest fires.
Macedonian society is extremely polarized along party lines, and conspiracy theories about intended sabotage by politically motivated pyromaniacs have flourished, especially allegations related to the supposed ruining of the national holiday Republic Day on August 2. The latter allegation has not been substantiated by police or judiciary action.
Климатската криза е тука… од поплавите 2016та во Сингелиќ, Стајковци, Смилковци и Арачиново до пожарите деновиве во Кочани, Старо Нагоричани и други места. Нема време да се чека. Мора да се преземат радикални мерки против климатските промени. Не сме свесни што не чека за 5, 10г
— Aleksej Demjanski (@ADemjanski) August 3, 2021
The climate crisis is here… from the 2016 flash floods in Singelikj, Stajkovci, Smilkovci and Arachinovo to the wildfires in Kochani, Staro Nagorichane and other places. There's no time to wait. Radical measures against the climate changes must be taken. We are clueless of what awaits us in 5 or 10 years.

author: Metamorphosis Foundation


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Camacho-Quinn’s historic Olympic win sparks discussion on Puerto Rican identity · Global Voices
Ángel Carrión

Jasmine Camacho-Quinn proudly displays the Puerto Rican flag after winning a gold medal in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics (held in 2021). Screenshot from Youtube video/NBC sports.
On the night of August 1, Puerto Ricans everywhere celebrated with rapturous joy Jasmine Camacho-Quinn's gold medal win for the women's 100-meter hurdles at the Olympics in Tokyo.
With Puerto Rico having to endure so much negative news about its fiscal woes, gender-based violence, and deteriorating public services and infrastructure, all while surviving the COVID-19 pandemic, Camacho-Quinn's historic gold medal brings a much welcome bit of good news.
Camacho-Quinn is only the second Puerto Rican ever to win a gold medal for the Caribbean island. Tennis player Mónica Puig was the first when she won five years ago in Rio de Janeiro.
Camacho-Quinn's family can be seen in the following video celebrating the historic moment:
¡Celebra la familia de @JCamachoQuinn! La boricua logra medalla de oro en los #JuegosOlimpicos de #Tokyo2020 . @VoceroPR
pic.twitter.com/mUUsT1VmZe
— Giovanny Vega ?? (@GiovannyVegaPR) August 2, 2021
@JCamachoQuinn's family celebrates! Boricua wins gold medal at the #Tokyo2020 #OlympicGames.
But her accomplishments don't stop there. In the semifinals, she obtained an Olympic record-setting time of 12.26 seconds, breaking the previous record of 12.35 seconds held by Australian Sally Peterson. This also makes Camacho-Quinn the first Puerto Rican to set an Olympic record.
Her story is one of perseverance. In the semifinals during her first Olympics in 2016, her leg clipped the top of the eighth hurdle (of a total of ten), impeding her from regaining her form before the ninth and causing her to fall. Now, with a renewed spirit, she was able to tweet the following:
I AM AN OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST ???
— Jasmine Camacho-Quinn (@JCamachoQuinn) August 2, 2021
Lawyer and human rights activist Eva Prados pointed out some important facts about this historic occasion:
Sabías que nuestras primeras y únicas dos medallas de oro en las Olimpiadas han sido traídas por dos MUJERES bajo la dirección de la 1era MUJER que preside el Comité Olímpico.
Hablar de eso es un ejemplo de la educación con #PerspectivaDeGenero en el deporte.
— Eva Prados (@evapradospr) August 2, 2021
Did you know that our first and only Olympic gold medals have been won by two WOMEN under the administration of the first WOMAN [Sara Rosario] that presides the [Puerto Rico] Olympic Committee? Talking about this is an example of education with #GenderPerspective in sports.
Camacho-Quinn is a Puerto Rican from the diaspora and lives in the United States. Even though Puerto Rico is not an independent country, but a U.S. territory, the IOC has recognized Puerto Rico as its own team competing separately from the U.S. Olympic team since 1948; thus, athletes can choose which country to represent. Camacho-Quinn decided to represent her mother's homeland of Puerto Rico.
However, some Puerto Ricans questioned whether or not she could be considered Puerto Rican, since she was born and raised in the U.S. Others fiercely defended her for choosing to represent the Puerto Rican flag, such as educator and activist and Xiomara Torres Rivera, who wrote the following on Todas, an online magazine dedicated to journalism from a feminist perspective:
No son pocas las personas que se han tomado el tiempo para expresar que Jasmine no es puertorriqueña porque ni siquiera entrena aquí. A esta discusión, podríamos traer el reclamo al Comité Olímpico y al gobierno de Puerto Rico para mejorar las condiciones de los y las atletas que sí entrenan aquí y no logran traer medallas, pero ese es otro tema. Los deportes siempre han sido una manera de manifestar nuestra existencia ante el mundo. De nombrarnos como otra cosa y de empeñarnos en reafirmar que no somos estadounidenses, que somos de Puerto Rico.
Quite a few people have taken the time to say that Jasmine isn't Puerto Rican because she doesn't even train here [in Puerto Rico]. To this discussion we could add the calls to both the Puerto Rico Olympic Committee and the government to improve the conditions of the athletes that do train here and do not manage to bring medals, but that's a different issue. Sports have always been a way to declare our existence before the world. Of naming ourselves as something else and to insist on reaffirming that we are not US Americans, that we are Puerto Ricans.
Clinical psychologist and professor at Harvard Medical School, Jenny Zhen Duan, who identifies as Puerto Rican and Chinese, wrote that she could relate well to the criticisms launched at Camacho-Quinn:
En las últimas olimpiadas, no dejaron de evaluar “cuán puertorriqueña” es Mónica Puig si “no habla bien el español y no se crió en la isla.” Ya veo el mismo discurso con Jasmine Camacho Quinn. ¿No se cansan de seguir aislando a otros? Lo viví toda mi vida y ya me cansa.
— Jenny Zhen Duan, PhD (@DrJennyZD) August 2, 2021
During the last Olympics people wouldn't stop judging “how Puerto Rican” Mónica Puig was if “she couldn't speak Spanish well and wasn't raised on the island.” I'm seeing the same discourse with Jasmine Camacho-Quinn. Don't you get tired of isolating others? I've lived it my whole life and it's exhausting.
An anonymous Twitter user made the following observation:
Many Puerto Ricans live outside of Puerto Rico. And the goal for a lot of us is to become successful enough to move back to Puerto Rico and/or make our country proud. Jasmine Camacho-Quinn did just that. She accomplished THE goal. There's nothing else to discuss.
— Not pregnant just eating good.. (@I_Hate_Ted_Cruz) August 2, 2021
Neuroscientist and professor at Yale University, Daniel Colón Ramos, gave his definition of what it means to be Puerto Rican, while making another equally important point about the lack of support of Puerto Rican athletes training in Puerto Rico:
Hay un tema legitimo de reflexion en los logros de Camacho Quinn de cuantos atletas no habrian como ella si se apoyaran los que entrenan aca. Fuera de eso, para mi boricua es el que ama a PR y suda la patria. Lo otro es restarle merito a quien decide representar nuestra bandera.
— Daniel Colón-Ramos (@dacolon) August 1, 2021
There's a legitimate question to reflect on Camacho-Quinn's accomplishments when considering how many more athletes would become like her if the ones that train here [in Puerto Rico] would get the support they need. Aside from that, to me, a Puerto Rican is someone who loves Puerto Rico and works hard for the homeland. Everything else just diminishes the merits of those who choose to represent our flag.
Journalist Alejandra Jover also pointed out one other important fact about Camacho-Quinn that hasn't gotten the attention it deserves in the conversation surrounding her Olympic victory: her ethnicity. In her Twitter thread, Jover explains why this is so important to celebrate:
¿Saben por qué es importante? Porque son muchas, DEMASIADAS las niñas y mujeres negras de la Isla a las que se les ha hecho sentir como si fueran menos por su color de piel, por su cabello natural, por sus rasgos. Por su negritud. Y Jasmine ahora las representa y le da un rostro a la lucha por defender las raíces africanas en Puerto Rico, que muchos reniegan.
Do you know why it's important? Because there are many, TOO MANY Black Puerto Rican girls and women who have been made to feel as if they're somehow less beacuse of the color of their skin, because of their natural hair, because of their features. Because of their Blackness. And Jasmine now represents and gives a face to the struggle of defending Puerto Rico's African roots, that many reject.
But perhaps the most eloquent comment about Camacho-Quinn came from Marisol LeBrón, professor of Feminist Studies at the University of California in Santa Cruz, who managed to capture in a tweet a very common Puerto Rican experience:
Anti-black and anti-diaspora clowns are questioning Jasmine Camacho-Quinn’s Puerto Ricanness when she literally broke a record in the most Puerto Rican of Olympic sports: the hurdles.
— Marisol LeBrón (@marisollebron) August 1, 2021
With Camacho-Quinn's gold medal, Puerto Rico joins the celebration in the Caribbean with Bermuda's and Jamaica's victories, made even more significant by the fact that they've all been accomplished by women.

author: Ángel Carrión


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New Zealand government apologizes for dawn raids targeting Pacific communities in the 1970s · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

A Samoan traditional cloth was used when New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern apologized for the dawn raids targeting Pacific communities in the 1970s. Screenshot from a Radio Samoa YouTube video.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern offered a “formal and unreserved apology” to the country's Pacific communities for dawn raids conducted by the police and immigration authorities in the 1970s.
The raids lasted from March 1974 until 1976. During that time New Zealand conducted hundred of raids between 11 pm to 3 am to arrest and deport individuals who were “overstaying” in the country. Authorities were accused of discriminating against Pacific communities.
New Zealand encouraged Pacific nations to send workers after World War II which helped expand the country’s manufacturing sector. But during the recession of the early 1970s, there was an unemployment spike which was unfairly blamed on the influx of migrants from Pacific nations. This was followed by random inspections and interrogations targeting migrants from Pacific communities and their families.
During her apology, Arden described how community members “were hauled to the police station to appear in court the next day barefoot, in pajamas, or in clothes loaned to them in the holding cells; others were wrongfully detained.”
Ardern made her apology during a town hall meeting in Auckland on August 1:
I stand before you as a symbol of the Crown that wronged you nearly 50 years ago.
Today, I stand on behalf of the New Zealand Government to offer a formal and unreserved apology to Pacific communities for the discriminatory implementation of the immigration laws of the 1970s that led to the events of the dawn raids.
The Government expresses its sorrow, remorse and regret that the dawn raids and random police checks occurred and that these actions were ever considered appropriate.
Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni, who is of Tongan descent, was present during the ceremony:
Today was a poignant moment in our Pacific and New Zealand history. The breaking of a new dawn. ✨ I have hope that today’s apology will play an important part in the healing process for our people, our aiga and fanau. ? @nzlabour pic.twitter.com/HKqSP6LpCl
— Carmel Sepuloni (@CarmelSepuloni) August 1, 2021
Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio, who was born in Samoa, linked the dawn raids with racism:
The harm that was caused on a proud people was wrong.
We now know that this was racism of the worst kind.
Huge numbers of overstayers from Europe and America were basically left untouched.
It was wrong then, it is wrong today, it will always be wrong – racism, discrimination, prejudice – whatever form it takes is wrong.
Tonga Princess Mele Siu'ilikutapu Kalaniuvalu Fotofili accepted Ardern’s apology:
I am very grateful for your Government for making the right decision to apologise to right the extreme, inhumane, racist and unjust treatment specifically against my community in the dawn raids era.
Let me assure you that we have accepted the fact that some of our people at the time were on the wrong side of the law – yes.
This should not have warranted the unleashing of police dogs on our people, the raids of our houses in the early hours of the morning and many other extreme measures put in place at the time.
Reactions on Twitter acknowledged the historic importance of the apology:
I know NZ’s apology to Pasifika ppl for the Dawn Raids will never be enough & is not a substitute for justice, but it’s still a sight to see as I live in a country whose government won’t even acknowledge its colonial history & is actively working to outlaw the teaching of it. https://t.co/5JMqPxCfL4
— Terisa Siagatonu (@terisasiagatonu) August 1, 2021
There were netizens whose relatives were among those left traumatized by the raids:
Lots of emotions waiting for dawn raids apology (my father Chuck Thompson was deported and also later worked in race relations office and in education) ?????
— Leilani (@le1lan1) August 1, 2021
Some appreciated that a Samoan ritual of apology was used at the town hall meeting:
wow this gave me chills ? prime minister Jacinda Ardern & the NZ government presenting a ‘ifoga’ which in the Samoan culture is a public display of forgiveness. this moment is monumental for our polynesian people ?✨ #DawnRaidsApology
pic.twitter.com/gSVxKsiNXT
— t⁷ ? (@gxdchungha) August 1, 2021
Journalist Tim Murphy recapped an emotional moment during the program:
But the enduring memory of this historic event, beyond the sight of the ritual ifoga covering of Ardern and the tears – from Tongan Princess to commoner pictured high in the town hall on the livestream – beyond the singing and moments of laughter, will be a few minutes of profound audio played at the beginning.
In a silent town hall, a series of loud knocks on doors – knocks, bangs, thuds, dogs barking, faint sirens, people distressed, babies crying.
These were the sounds of injustice.
Ardern announced several programs including over $3.1 million in scholarships and fellowships for Pacific youth, as well as additional resources to educate younger generations about the hurtful legacy of the dawn raids.

author: Mong Palatino


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Prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines injured in protests over move to make vaccines ‘mandatory’ · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Syringe with COVID-19 vaccine. Photo by Jernej Furman on Flickr, CC BY 2.0.
As citizens of St. Vincent and the Grenadines took to the streets on August 5 to protest proposed changes to the country's Public Health Act, Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves found himself caught in the crosshairs. He was allegedly stoned by someone in the crowd on his way to parliament and is nursing a head injury after anger surged about the suggested removal of the word “voluntary” before “immunisation” in the Act, as well as concerns about whether or not people could continue to be exempted from taking the COVID-19 vaccine.
Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, was injured today during a protest in Kingstown. The demonstration was reportedly against a proposed change in the Health Act, which would make coronavirus vaccination mandatory for certain classes of workers. ?? pic.twitter.com/nig9RFqc05
— ????? ?????????? (@terryfinisterre) August 5, 2021
Vaccine hesitancy has been a challenge for the islands that comprise St. Vincent and the Grenadines, to the point where the government has gifted the country's doses to its Caribbean neighbours rather than waste them. As of August 4, the country, which has a population of just over 110,000, had 53 active COVID-19 cases and 12 total deaths from the virus. An update from the Ministry of Health noted that 9,998 people were fully vaccinated (about 9 per cent of the population), with another 15,768 having received their first dose.
While the prime minister has said that the vaccine is not mandatory “in the sense that if you don’t take it there will be a criminal penalty or some kind of civil penalty,” the proposed amendments to the Act will deem it necessary for frontline public sector employees to be inoculated. He added that the move was a pandemic-related emergency measure, and suggested that anyone who was against it was “fighting against the best interest of the country.”
Some reports credit this particular demonstration to the country's opposition party, the island's vibrant trade union movement is also against the amendments. Saying it was “not anti-vax but pro-choice,” president of the Public Service Union, Elroy Boucher, advocated protest action to “kill this Bill,” as it was infringing on people's rights.
Meanwhile, the chair of the Police Welfare Association, Brenton Smith, brought religion into the issue by saying that “SVG is a Christian nation and many are still praying” about whether or not to take the vaccine, while the president of the country's Teachers’ Union, Oswald Robinson, accused the government of not facilitating dialogue around the issue.
Video of the aftermath of the attack on the prime minister soon began making the rounds region-wide, with a lot of the content being shared on WhatsApp:
The Facebook group Caribbean Lives Matter also posted a video of the scene, commenting:
Vaccination should never be mandatory. We have no issues with Caribbean people fighting for their rights to make the decisions they deem fit for themselves and/or their families. To change laws/implement legislation to prevent persons from making a living if they choose not to vaccinate is absurd. With all that said, we do hope that the Vincentian leader is ok. Violence is never the answer unless it is in response to violence upon you.
Trinidadian Amilcar Sanatan added:
Make noise. Scream. Shout all you want. Protest and mobilise. WE CANNOT TOLERATE VIOLENCE as a means to get a point across in the Caribbean. ??
Prime Minister Gonsalves received medical treatment and is reportedly fine, but the same may not be able to be said of the country's Public Health Act amendments.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Style and comfort in one: Adaptive clothing for people with disabilities · Global Voices
Arzu Geybullayeva

A Kekalove Adaptive Fashion Brand runway show. Screenshot from the video reportage by Meydan TV.
“Kekalove Adaptive Fashion,” was founded in 2019 and aims to design accessible clothes specifically for people with disabilities in Azerbaijan. Global Voices interviewed Kekalove founder, Mahammad Kekalov to learn more about the idea behind the brand and their future plans.
Global Voices [GV]: How long have you been thinking about launching the brand and what was the journey like to get here?
Mahammad Kekalov [MK]: I started thinking about a disability-fashion brand three years ago, when I was 17. I myself was quite skeptical at first, and there wasn’t much information online, when I was doing research. But lack of resources and information, became even more of an inspiration to me than a discouragement. I shared this idea with a few close friends, who encouraged me to start working on it. I like to think that it was their support three years ago, that got us where we are today. But the journey was not without challenges. It took a lot of work to convince partners, investors, and donors about the potential of this idea. It was very novel and new, especially in our geography.
People didn’t understand the challenges and the hardships people with disabilities face, and so they couldn’t imagine the solutions we were offering. But we didn’t give up. I had a very supportive team who believed in my vision despite my young age and lack of experience, and they continue to support me. I like to believe that it was our resilience and commitment to the adaptive design philosophy that our brand didn’t fail within its first year.
Adaptive fashion is clothing designed for differently-abled people who find traditional store-brand clothes inaccessible, uncomfortable, or both. There has been a shift in recent years, as more and more companies incorporate adaptive clothing designs into their fashion lines, including international brands like Nike and Tommy Hilfiger as well as local brands, such as Kekalove in Azerbaijan — the first adaptive fashion brand in Azerbaijan.
“What we brought here [to Azerbaijan] is distinctive and unprecedented,” said Kekalov. “I am amazed for the need of this idea in Azerbaijan and baffled that it's been left unfulfilled for so many years. After us, other activists started similar disability fashion initiatives which makes all of us at Kekalove Adaptive very proud of them and also of our own work. Just a few years back I was the only one to talk about this issue, and today we’re building a new ecosystem in Azerbaijan.”
Kekalov had his own reasons for building an adaptive fashion brand. “My grandmother had a visual disability for the last 20 years of her life. Growing up, I witnessed firsthand the hardships of being disabled in Azerbaijan. And my grandmother’s fashion problem was one that hit a chord for me. Later in life when I discovered that we could create clothing for people’s specific needs, I was quite moved. The first thing I thought of, was how useful it could be for my grandmother.”
One of the brand's core tenets is involving people with disabilities in the design process.
We follow a world-famous method called the “adaptive design method” which is used by entrepreneurs and businesses worldwide who design products for persons with disabilities.  We don’t take a single step without consulting our models with disabilities.
They are guiding the process with their insight and feedback. Our designs go through an extensive trial and error process, where we develop designs based on previous feedback we have received. It’s like a loop. Our models wear the products we created for them and tell us what works and what doesn’t. Then we continue to iterate until we achieve perfection. Our slogan is “Dress better. Look better. Feel better.” We don’t say it for nothing. We believe clothing can be a game-changer in a person's life. We work to enable persons with disabilities to be their best selves via trendy fashion.
GV: Do you plan to expand into other countries?
We have two priorities right now — to build functioning products for our customers, and become a truly inclusive disability brand. Before franchising into other countries, we want to become the most influential disability brand in Azerbaijan. As a social business, our goal is to make life easier for as many persons with disabilities as possible in Azerbaijan first. I like to believe as we extend our work, we will also gain more expertise and legitimacy in the global disability rights ecosystem. Right now, we focus on Azerbaijan only. In the future, however, from a business perspective, we wish to expand into China and Australia. Of course, it’s in the distant future and we need to do proper research first. But going international for our brand will be based on the commercial benefits.
GV: What have been the challenges of setting up this project and getting it to work?
As I noted earlier, in the beginning, it was a challenge to explain this idea to other people. People were puzzled. I’m lucky I had my family who understood me and supported me. But for others, it was not as clear. Visuals came to our help. We started to show exactly what we changed in clothing and how that helped others. Our first product was on display at an exhibition for two months in Baku, and at the end of this exhibition, a person with a disability danced in our adaptive dress. She demonstrated how easy it was for her to wear our dress. We also had technical difficulties. We had to change our production and supply line many times due to lack of quality. Today we use only the best and highest quality fabrics and employ highly qualified tailors. It adds up to the price, but it’s important for us to deliver quality for our community.
GV: Did you anticipate the project would get so much interest?
I was very happy to see that persons with disabilities loved working with our organization! I understand why people like this idea. I myself am in love with it, if it hasn’t been obvious until now. Our goal is to be embraced by the community, and if it’s the reality today, I like to believe that we’re on the right track.
The following video highlights their work in Azerbaijani with English subtitles.

author: Arzu Geybullayeva


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The first woman dub poet, Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze, dies at her rural Jamaican home · Global Voices
Emma Lewis

Jamaican dub poet Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze in performance. Photo by Very Quiet on Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Pioneering dub poet, storyteller and cultural activist Jean “Binta” Breeze, whose unflinchingly honest performance poetry touched many hearts, died at the University Hospital of the West Indies in Kingston on August 5. Until her death she was living in her home in rural Hanover. She had been suffering from COPD, a chronic lung disease, for some time. She was 65 years old.
Breeze was born Jean Lumsden in 1956 and brought up by her grandparents, who were farmers in rural Jamaica. In a 2019 television interview, she recalled her grandmother sitting in her bedroom every evening, reciting poetry to her, which she still knew by heart.
She studied at the Jamaica School of Drama in Kingston. After meeting the UK-based Linton Kwesi Johnson, a pioneer in the emerging dub poetry scene, he invited her to attend and perform at the Black Book Fair in England. Dub poetry in the 1970s and early 80s Britain merged strong socio-political messages into spoken word poetry, with the accompanying dub music and heavy bass line providing rhythm and emphasis, as evidenced in the work of musician Dennis Bovell.
Breeze was the first woman dub performer to emerge and make a name for herself. Reflective of Jamaica’s storytelling tradition, her work involved repeated chanting in a narrative style. She would often use personal stories to heighten awareness of social concerns. Her poem “Mad Woman” (an edited version of which was performed here by a young Jamaica Festival song competition award winner) was a raw and poignant expression of mental illness in Jamaica, which she herself experienced. Her first book of poetry, Ryddim Ravings (1988) also touched on this. In a 2006 BBC radio programme, Breeze gave her perspective on understanding and treating schizophrenia. However, her poetry could also be upbeat and cheerful.
Adopting the U.K. as her home for some years, Breeze taught Theatre Studies at Brixton College for two years, eventually settling in the Midlands town of Leicester, where she taught creative writing as an Honorary Fellow at Leicester University’s School of English. She received an Honorary Doctor of Letters degree from the university in 2018. She was also honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Jamaican Poetry Festival and a silver Musgrave Medal from the Institute of Jamaica. Prior to these accolades, in 2012, Breeze became a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for her services to literature.
Jean “Binta” Breeze and her daughter, Imega Breese McNab, on the poet's birthday in 2017. Photo by Fae Ellington, used with permission.
Her life was dedicated to performance and writing—not just poetry, but she also wrote for theatre, television, and film. Later in life, Breeze divided her time between the U.K. and Jamaica. Much sought after for literary and cultural festivals, she toured extensively on the international circuit, making appearances in the Caribbean, North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa.
After hearing of her passing, the Poetry Society of London tweeted:
“I now stir the skies”
We are so sad to learn of the death of poet Jean Binta Breeze, much loved Jamaican-Londoner. Sharing below, her poem Rising, recently displayed on the tube as a Poems on the Underground poster. pic.twitter.com/AHs47FAJT6
— The Poetry Society (@PoetrySociety) August 5, 2021
On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Windrush—the beginning of the West Indian post-World War II migration—Breeze's poem “dreamer” was among several by Jamaican poets displayed on the London Underground.
Her UK agents, Renaissance One Writers and Events, shared their grief at Breeze’s passing:
We are incredibly saddened to announce that our dear friend Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze MBE – poet, artist, theatre director, choreographer, actor and teacher – has died in Jamaica, aged 65.
Sending our deepest condolences to her family and friends during this terribly sad time. pic.twitter.com/yP3bkIAX4F
— Renaissance One Writers & Events (@renaissanceone) August 5, 2021
The British press also hailed Breeze’s life, with the UK Guardian describing her as “one of the most important and influential contemporary poets.”
Back in Jamaica, broadcast journalist Fae Ellington, who had recently done a television interview with Breeze, tweeted a photograph and a message:
Walk good my sister friend, poet, Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze, MBE.
Your Profile interview inspired, informed and entertained.
The breath is gone but your legacy lives on. #JeanBintaBreeze#Poet pic.twitter.com/bCAm1P2IK4
— Fae A. Ellington?? (@FaeEllington) August 5, 2021
Speaking with Global Voices, Ellington added:
Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze was my sister friend. My dear friend. A brilliant poet. Her life's experiences provided her a varied palette from which she painted stories…her poems. She was authentic, true to herself and honest to a fault about herself. Walk good, my sister friend. She was a most outstanding poet who was celebrated in Jamaica, the UK and Europe.
My condolences to her son Gareth and wife Celia, daughter Imega and husband Alan, and daughter Caribe.
Justine Henzell, co-founder of Jamaica’s Calabash Literary Festival, tweeted her condolences, noting that the poet had performed at the festival in 2004:
So sad to hear of the passing of the amazing Jamaican poet Jean Binta Breeze. Jean graced the @calabashfest stage in 2004 pic.twitter.com/CknVzZzCtT
— Justine Henzell (@JustineHenzell) August 5, 2021
Jamaica’s Poet Laureate, Olive Senior, posted a photograph of her at a National Library event in Montego Bay:
Jean Binta Breeze 2015 at @natlibja event Montego Bay pic.twitter.com/a40BRgPALf
— olive senior (@olivesenior) August 5, 2021
The Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) posted a heartfelt tweet:
It is with deep regret that we note the passing of Jean “Binta” Breeze, MBE, renowned Jamaican dub poet and the mother of our Executive Director, Imega Breese McNab. We extend our sincere condolences to the family and friends of this iconic Jamaican woman. pic.twitter.com/wDjDS4YrGg
— The PSOJ (@thePSOJ) August 5, 2021
Jamaican poet and cultural activist Owen “Blakka” Ellis, who studied at the Jamaica School of Drama with Breeze in 1978, told Global Voices:
I was the one who named her ‘Binta’. At the time, the radical black artists at what is now the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts were all choosing African middle names. Among other meanings, ‘Binta’ signifies ‘close to the heart’ or ‘daughter.’
Ellis added:
For me, a key feature of her legacy as a Caribbean poet is in how she beautifully embodied the intersection between literary rigour and performance power.
Breeze was greatly loved, both in Jamaica and in her second home in the U.K., where her commanding, passionate voice will be certainly be missed.

author: Emma Lewis


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Tigers move up the Himalaya · Global Voices
Nepali Times

Tigers (left-female/right-male) photographed during the Chure study in the forests of Kapilvastu, Rupandehi, and Palpa. Image via Nepali Times. Used with permission.
This article was originally written by Tufan Neupane in Nepalese in Himal Khabar and a translation by Sonia Awale was published in the Nepali Times. An edited version is republished by Global Voices as part of a content-sharing agreement.
A new paper has reported fresh sightings of wild tigers in higher elevations in Nepal, showing that conservation efforts need to be stepped up outside their traditional habitat inside national parks.
There have been multiple sightings of at least two tigers in the mountains of Rupandehi, Kapilvastu and Palpa, three districts in central Nepal that have never before seen the presence of the endangered big cats.
“We have camera-trapped tigers in forests north and west of Butwal where they have never been seen before. They have been seen in the Chure Hills, outside of protected areas in the Terai region,” says Baburam Lamichhane of the Sauraha Biodiversity Conservation Centre.
Camera-trapped tigers. Image via Nepali times. Used with permission.
The recently published ‘Report on Faunal Diversity in Chure Region of Nepal’ identified a female tiger in multiple locations on the border of Rupandehi and Palpa. A male was spotted in northern Kapilvastu, about 40km west of the female.
Nepal’s five Terai national parks (Parsa and Chitwan in the east and Banke, Bardia and Shuklaphanta in the west) are considered the traditional habitats of the big cats in Nepal. Kapilvastu, Rupandehi and Palpa districts in central Nepal are equidistant from Chitwan-Parsa in the east and Banke-Bardia in the west.
Individual tigers can be identified by signature stripes on their bodies, so researchers compared camera trap images of the newly discovered tigers with those previously spotted in Chitwan, Parsa, Banke, Bardia and Shuklaphanta during the censuses in 2009, 2014 and 2018, but there were no matches in the tiger data base.
Nine months ago, a newly-identified female tiger was reported to have attacked a villager 25km away from the area where it was spotted. Since these two locations are connected via a forest corridor, conservationists speculate that it may be the same tiger.
Seven conservationists including Lamichhane and Naresh Subedi have tried to find out whether the recently detected male and female tigers have crossed paths and mated. They do not know for sure yet.
Another study carried out by NTNC and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) spotted four tigers this year in a forest in Rautahat bordering Parsa National Park.
Apart from these, the big cats have been seen roaming the Brahmadev-Laljhadi corridor of Kanchanpur district in the far-western plains. Another strip of forest in Kailali connecting Shuklaphanta and Bardia National Parks has also recorded tigers.
The Kamdi Corridor, which connects Banke National Park with India’s Suhelva Wildlife Sanctuary and facilitates the movement of wildlife between the two countries, is home to abundant tigers. They have also started appearing in the hill forests north of Chitwan National Park.
In the last census in 2018, Nepal counted 235 tigers in five national parks, becoming the first country to double the population of its big cats, from 121 in 2009. Chitwan National Park had the highest number of tigers at 93, followed by Bardia that registered 87 individuals and Banke 21. There were 18 more in Parsa and 16 in Shuklaphanta.
Tigers move up the Himalaya. Image by Nepali times. Used with permission.
However, the census did not cover areas outside national parks, and the real total number of tigers could therefore be more. Nepal is an international model for tiger conservation but its successes in increasing the big cat population mean protected areas are getting crowded, in turn leading to a sharp decline in prey density. Tigers are now venturing outside of forests in search of food.
Researchers have also cited other reasons for tigers venturing up the Himalaya: climate change and the success of Nepal’s community forestry efforts in the mountains.
“Tigers do not leave their territory unless it must, so they are out looking for new habitats,” explains Haribhadra Acharya of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC). “While their sightings are proof of our conservation success, it also adds to the challenge. Contact with people outside parks has increased, which is worrying.”
The good news is that recent studies have shown the possibility of linking the protected areas in eastern and western Terai. An article published in the Journal of Animal Diversity recommends expanding conservation efforts outside national parts, and spreading it throughout the country.
In December 2020, Nepal recorded its highest ever tiger sighting at 3,165m in Ilam district. In April 2020, a Royal Bengal tiger was caught on a camera trap roaming the forested mountains of Dadeldhura at 2,500m. Given that this forest is connected to Shuklaphanta National Park in the Terai, the tiger may have climbed to the higher elevation from the plains.
Records of tigers in Chure during this study in relation to tiger distribution in Nepal based on National Study in 2018. Image via Nepali Times. Used with permission.
But the tiger found in Ilam is unlikely to have come from the Parsa-Rautahat forest in the eastern Terai because it is too far, and the stretch in between has dense human habitation.
However, the forest in Ilam is connected with India’s Singalila National Park, the Neora Valley National Park in Sikkim and protected areas of Bhutan — all of which have forest corridors and have also recently sighted tigers. This has led experts to speculate that the tiger in Ilam may have ventured in from Sikkim, or even Bhutan.
Close-up of the locations where tigers were camera-trapped in Kapilvastu and Rupandehi. Image via Nepali Times. Used with permission.
Baburam Lamichhane of NTNC says, however, that the increased sightings should not be understood as habitat expansion: “We are seeing tigers in new places but it doesn’t mean they are permanently moving there. It does mean we have to protect their habitats.”
The sightings of tigers outside parks and in the mountains has raised the need for cross-border cooperation in tiger and nature conservation.
Says Acharya of DNPWC: “These sightings do indicate tigers have chosen to be in the highlands because they like it there. Our priority now is to protect the habitats also outside national parks, ensure adequate water, and prey.”

author: Nepali Times


text:
Ukrainian library reinvents itself for a New Age · Global Voices
Transitions Online

Library staff pose in front of the Borys Lavrenyov Regional Library for Youth. Photo courtesy of Rubryka and TOL.
Virtually every city, village, and district in Ukraine has a public library, around 15,000 in all for this country of 42 million people. While that means a library is almost always close by, most people hardly notice them, especially as access to a vast range of resources on the internet constantly grows. Yet in the port city of Kherson in southern Ukraine, one award-winning library is bucking the trend.
The Borys Lavrenyov Regional Library for Youth has managed to achieve two major goals at once: meeting the specific needs of the local community by becoming a multifunctional public “hub,” while also redefining Kherson, population 290,000, on the cultural map of Ukraine.
From humble beginnings, the library has become a fully functioning youth center, while retaining its appeal to older people, and currently employs a core team of 26 librarians. Visitors can take part in creative clubs, meet famous writers, and receive psychological and legal support. The library collaborates with schools, offering leisure and educational activities for their pupils and encouraging them to read, as well as with universities, jointly conducting activities for students. The icing on the cake of these unusual activities for a small-city library are the large-scale, regional cultural events that Lavrenyovka organizes – including an ambitious book festival.
Most libraries in Ukraine simply house books, and even some of those haven’t had their collections updated properly in years. They aren’t particularly popular with the wider public. At first glance the Lavrenyov Library – or Lavrenyovka, as  staff and local visitors affectionately call it – would seem to fit into that category. Founded in 1980, it is located in a one-story building in a quiet and somewhat distant residential area of Kherson among nine-story apartment buildings and tall poplar trees. At the entrance, visitors are greeted by a mural of Van Gogh’s Starry Night. The walls are covered with paintings by Kherson artists, and then it is almost like in a classic Slavic fairy tale: go right – find this (books), go left –find that (a master class).
The director of the library, Viktoria Lobzova, sits in a neat and cozy office with houseplants and a small sofa for visitors. Photographs of the surrounding neighborhood hang on the walls, and not surprisingly, there are books everywhere. The transformation away from a mere book repository came organically and gradually, she says. Starting in 2006, the staff decided to put an emphasis on work with young people and came up with the idea of integrating a youth center into the usual activities of the library.
That has paid off. In 2017 Lavrenyovka won third prize for its activities with youth in the Ukrainian Library Association’s “Library of the Year” contest. And Barabooka, an all-Ukrainian portal promoting reading for younger people, reports that yearly Lavrenyovka serves over 12,000 readers – quite a healthy figure when one takes into account that the national children’s library in Kyiv, the capital, reaches around 20,000 people each year.
What does it take for a library to become a youth center? Organizing such a wide range of activities has been a challenge, especially since the program has been expanded without more funding from the state. That includes clubs for the kids in subjects such as arts and crafts. Library deputy director Tatiana Ihnatova says Lavrenyovka stuck to its existing structure, with each department deciding to start new activities based on its own experiences, interests, and desires to work in certain areas. That’s how clubs, local history initiatives, and participation in festivals, among other things, came to pass. Constant communication among Lavrenyovka employees has also been key.
“Even during quarantine under the pandemic, we met several times a week on Zoom,” Ihnatova says.
A lot depends on the librarians’ enthusiasm and willingness to learn new things and be proactive. Searching for volunteers, innovating, mastering new skills (such as content creation for their website and social media), and doing all that without additional financing, is not an easy job. What keeps them all going is personal interest, Ihnatova says, and positive feedback from visitors.
Yet Ihnatova and others make clear that little on the youth center side of things could be done without the work of volunteers. Most are enthusiastic young people. “Especially students, so they get experience and practice,” Ihnatova says.
Despite the lack of pay, Olha, who works with kids in the library, remains upbeat: “We like it. And there is so much curiosity and demand. We see how much the children like it; their eyes are shining. It’s very motivating.”
As Lavrenyovka added programming, librarian Iryna Taradymenko says library staff relied on the expertise of outsiders. They invited lawyers and psychologists from the Department of Justice in the Kherson region who work with young people; the youth-focused New Generation nonprofit; the psychological services office of Kherson State University, which provides counseling to university students; and the Center for Children’s and Youth Creativity, a state institution. University students, under the supervision of professionals, have also pitched in over the years.
The library has managed to diversify its offerings enough to find audiences among younger pupils as well as university students from all across the city of Kherson and not just nearby schools, the norm for most libraries.
Hanna Hennadiyivna, a primary school teacher at one school which works closely with the library, says her students are delighted with Lavrenyovka’s activities. “Twice a month we either visit the library or they visit us. We create handmade things together: plant trees and flowers, learn something new about this [activity]. Children often ask when we will go to the library next.” Hennadiyivna also works with students with special educational needs, such as motor disorders, and believes that for them such attention and activity is invaluable.
The library cooperates closely with educational institutions in the wider region, such as the Maritime Academy, theCollege of Economics and Law, and Kherson’s universities, whose attendees go to the library for lectures and events, such as student legal debates.
“At the beginning of the quarantine,” Ihnatova recalls, “they even called from the Maritime Academy and asked if we had prepared anything else for them remotely. Apparently, the cadets were bored without us.”
Lavrenyovka has conducted training sessions on overcoming and preventing conflicts in families and schools. Kateryna Hryhorivna, a teacher at a high school in Kherson, said holding these workshops regularly had helped reduce bullying in the classroom.
Nina Sorokina, head of the United Family NGO, says mothers and children often visit Lavrenyovka for clubs and holiday-related festivities.
It is very helpful for parents. They relax and communicate, and the children meanwhile have fun. This is a place not only for children, but also for parents. A real community is being created there.
Even in the conditions of the pandemic and quarantine, the library staff did not allow the creative groups to stagnate. Online lessons and instructions for making handicrafts for young visitors regularly appeared on the Lavrenyovka website, for example.
The library also has its own tour desk and provides city tours – an unusual, if not unique, activity for a Ukrainian library. Larysa Baeva, a librarian and local history buff, conducts the tours once or twice a month at a modest cost of 50 hryvnias per person (around $1.80). Before the pandemic, the tours managed to attract groups of up to 10 people. Even casual passers-by would get interested and request a tour for them and their guests from other cities. “Then we conduct tours for them as well,” deputy director Ihnatova says with a laugh.
Tetyana, a local woman from Kherson who didn’t wish to provide her full name, gushed with enthusiasm over the experience, calling it “a very interesting and informative excursion along one of the oldest and most attractive streets of our city.” Iryna, another tour participant, agreed. “Such a wonderful, informative, interesting excursion to the past of our city. Larysa Baeva, the guide, is unsurpassed! The kids were delighted!” she says.
Vlad Samoilenko, an official at the Ministry of Infrastructure, is also the head of a Kyiv-based NGO called Urban Crew that promotes healthy urban development and inclusivity. He welcomes the library’s broadened scope of activity.
“Libraries should not only be seen as places to borrow books or read them,” he says. “Today they are public spaces. Modern hubs of this type are the places where people of different ages – mainly schoolchildren, students, and graduates – can meet, train, work.”
Convinced that reading is what forms a proactive, thinking, young generation, Lavrenyovka puts a lot of effort into running book festivals – a rare activity for the country’s libraries. Held with the support of the local authorities, “Discover your book” takes place in a different town or village in the Kherson region each year, and “Book Nicholas” has become an annual winter festival in the city of Kherson on the weekend closest to St. Nicholas Day.
A solo project of Lavrenyovka has garnered the most attention, however: the Bookwanderings literary tour. Over five months in 2019, the library brought contemporary Ukrainian writers to Kherson, holding meetings and presentations with them in the city, as well as taking them to the towns and villages of the region. That allowed even children from the most remote areas to take part in a special cultural event.
In total, 29 meetings with 17 writers took place in 10 parts of Kherson region with the assembly halls packed with schoolchildren. Earlier attempts to bring famous writers to all corners of the region had run up against a lack of funding, but this time the library won a grant of 293,315 hryvnias ($10,750) from the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation, a governmental institution which promotes culture and the arts.
Iryna Kravets is the director of the library in Velyka Oleksandrivka, one of the villages on the Bookwanderings route. She believes this initiative is invaluable for areas usually on the periphery of any cultural life. In this rural area, she says,
We are not so spoiled by cultural entertainment: no exhibitions, no museums, no concerts. And it is very good when people here get the opportunity to communicate live with writers. Of course, there are always those who sit in the back rows and giggle, but so many students had that sparkle in their eyes! For them, those meetings were a breath of fresh air. It would be for the best if this project continues.
Librarians invited writers from all over Ukraine via Facebook, where many are active and interested in being promoted outside their home cities. Bookwanderings was promoted on Facebook (the library gained 1,000 new followers), and the events were broadcast live on social networks, where a total of more than 17,000 viewers joined. The library also got local media interested in the events.
“Honestly, I didn’t think the media would support our project so much,” librarian Taradymenko says. “Thanks to Bookwanderings, we all got acquainted with journalists” and now regularly give interviews at other cultural events.
Many who attended said they found out about Bookwanderings from social networks or from a story on TV or radio, she adds.
The logistics of such an event were far from easy, from arranging transportation for writers around the region to finding replacements for authors who fell ill a week before their appearance. Librarians had to learn new skills on the fly, and crisis management became part of their routine.
Writers who take part in the library’s events promote Lavrenyovka and Kherson as a cultural center on their social networks, changing the perception of the entire region in the process. Yaryna Katorozh, a Lviv writer, took part in “Book Nicholas” back in 2017 and since then has returned twice to Kherson, fascinated by the energy that Lavrenyovka creates.
“The library already has a very loyal audience,” she says.
But we met some for the first time, which indicates good promotion. I have traveled to many cities in Ukraine and visited many libraries, and my impressions have been varied. So I can say that Lavrenyovka is one of those [places] where you can see that people work hard, creating an increasingly interesting and deeper cultural space in their library.
Hanna Paniuta, a librarian from the central Ukrainian city of Poltava, says the Lavrenyov Library’s innovative approach and diverse range of activities have made it well known even outside the Kherson region. “At Lavrenyovka, the librarians have created a comfortable and positive space with a welcoming atmosphere,” she says.
Not every library can achieve that, for various reasons. As Paniuta points out, Lavrenyovka’s regional status means a larger budget and a staff of 40. “We, in our library, for instance, have only four librarians. It is above our capability to hold an entire festival on our own.”
While impressive, many of Lavrenyovka’s activities remain fragile, depending on the passions of a single person or a single grant to keep going – even a successful program like Bookwanderings. In Ukraine, local governments cover the financing and maintenance of libraries, and even in regional centers, these allocations are usually minuscule, only about 0.4 percent of a typical local budget.
That translates into small salaries for librarians, among the lowest in the state sector, and the reality that libraries can rarely afford to use their funds for anything beyond the essential. To earn a bit of additional income, libraries may charge people for computer usage, internet access, or copy services. In Lavrenyovka’s case, the library makes money through guided tours and summer kids’ programs, as well as print and copy services. Everything else is free.
The library also remains very dependent on volunteers, and while the staff is grateful for the help, not all professionals are able or willing to work for free even if they enthusiastically support Lavrenyovka’s mission.
Even with all the innovation, the number of visitors fluctuates. “People go their own way as their needs come and go. Someone needs a book, someone needs to work on a computer. That is why we like to hold mass events,” Ihnatova explains, “to attract more people to us.”
The pandemic changed Lavrenyovka’s plans and forced it to delve deeper into online opportunities. The staff needed to be more active in posting content for readers to enjoy while socially distancing, keeping the clubs running virtually, or creating presentations for students of schools and colleges studying remotely. In September 2020, the library also held its first online festival, last year’s edition of “Discover your book.” This presented fresh challenges, requiring new skills from the staff, but at the same time opening up new opportunities. The online format allowed people who would not normally come in person to Kherson to participate, and for everyone to safely experience the festival from their homes.
As urban expert Vlad Samoilenko noted, in order to bring people back to them, libraries need to adapt to new realities and develop. To survive, they need to change. Adapt or die – evolution, it turns out, works with libraries as well.
The existence of Lavrenyovka is no miracle and its librarians are no superheroes. Responding to the needs of the community has been its guiding principle. Deputy director Ihnatova believes that it is all about listening to what people are saying, to what colleagues are saying, to what is being said at schools.
When you listen, Ihnatova says, the answers to what to do next come on their own.
Maryna Smahina is a Ukrainian journalist, translator, and novelist. She is a senior editor at Rubryka, the first Ukrainian news site specifically for solutions journalism. This article was originally published by Transitions Online. A version of this article originally appeared in Rubryka. Reprinted with permission.

author: Transitions Online


text:
Alleged cutting of Rastafarian girl’s locks by police leaves Jamaicans wondering if they are truly emancipated · Global Voices
Emma Lewis

Rastafarians often claim the flag of Ethiopia at the time of Haile Selassie's reign, as a symbol of their faith. Photo by CJ on Flickr, CC BY 2.0.
There are some painful relics of Jamaica’s colonial history—many of them related to human rights—that its citizens would like to feel that they have put behind them. Quite apart from antiquated, colonial-era laws remaining on the books, there is a battle against outdated, discriminatory attitudes, as exemplified by the historically troubled relationship between Rastafarians and Jamaica's security forces.
Despite efforts to make amends and heal the wounds of past injustices, most notably Prime Minister Andrew Holness’ official apology for the notorious attacks by police and military personnel on the Rastafarian community of Coral Gardens in 1963, Jamaicans were recently infuriated by another form of violence against the community, after a young woman claimed that a police officer had cut her dreadlocks at a rural police station on July 22.
Nineteen-year-old nursing student Nzinga King, and her mother, Shirley McIntosh, said the officer had used a pair of scissors to cut King's hair while she was detained at Four Paths Police Station in the southern parish of Clarendon. She was sentenced to ten days in lock-up after being arrested for not wearing a mask and displaying “disorderly conduct” during an altercation with a police officer. Four days later, her mother paid her fine and King was released. The allegations quickly made headlines and prompted a wave of outrage in both mainstream and social media.
An indignant  Letter to the Editor in the Jamaica Gleaner reminded people of the Coral Gardens incident:
Emancipation and Independence remain a scam, a fleeting illusion, as are constitutional and human rights. Queen Nzinga King, the liberation movement has begun in this another ‘Bad Friday’ Coral Gardens that is unearthed all over again…The curriculum at all educational and training institutions, including the security forces, must include teaching history and human rights.
The police commissioner’s office responded swiftly, promising a “fair and transparent” investigation and stressing in an August 2 press release:
The claims of Human Rights abuses made by the young woman and her mother are viewed by the High Command as very serious in nature and are, therefore, being treated as such. While investigations into the matter are ongoing, it must be stated categorically that the cutting of people’s hair — particularly that of Rastafarians — has NO place in the modern JCF [Jamaica Constabulary Force].
The Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM), which probes abuses by the police and military, is investigating the matter, noting in an August 3 statement:
INDECOM views the allegation, as expressed by the complainant in video footage, as a breach of rights as afforded to all citizens, under the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms.
The Office of the Public Defender is also looking into the matter:
The Office of the Public Defender says it has launched an investigation into a complaint that 19-year-old Rastafarian Nzinga King was forcibly trimmed by a woman cop.https://t.co/Z5ImQJYQ4f
— Jamaica Observer (@JamaicaObserver) August 4, 2021
On Twitter, there were outbursts of fury, and of sympathy for King:
Our heart goes out to #NzingaKing today. We hope the spirit of the great Queen Nzinga of Angola, will carry her through. #Jamaica … #Jamaica 2021. …… Sigh
Heard there is report of an investigation. I sincerely hope the state has provided counselling for this young lady. https://t.co/x5j652N448
— Cynthia Pottinger (@cynthiatricia) August 3, 2021
Given that news of the incident broke over the Emancipation Day weekend, one Twitter user suggested that the concept of freedom remains elusive:
What @JamaicaConstab did to #NzingaKing so disgraceful and disgusting. No excuse at all. Yet we should celebrate Emancipation when we're still trapped ?https://t.co/MqI1NwoV99 pic.twitter.com/ADyK2pGTaV
— ?? Sudden Lee (@TallsomeLee) August 3, 2021
Civil society activist Carol Narcisse raged:
This is Nzinga King whose locks babylon saw fit to cut.Whose rights to religion, freedom of expression etc meant nothing.Vociferous in defending her rights so arrested, charged,convicted & shorn. In yu place black people.Who do you think you are.Emancipendence is such an illusion pic.twitter.com/MN0uSZHf3h
— Carol Narcisse (@CarolNarcisse) August 4, 2021
A Clarendon-based Rastafarian group wants the police officer, who has not yet been named, removed from duty while the matter is being investigated. The group’s leader, Ras Ivi Tafari, asked:
How can Jamaica put up Bob Marley’s image to attract foreigners to the country when Rastas in Jamaica are being disenfranchised and disrespected? It looks like some of these police have that old trend in their mind that, when them see Rasta, them must think ‘trim and brutality’.
On the eve of Jamaica's Independence Day on August 5, Rastafarians in Montego Bay staged a street protest, while Mercia Frazer, the mother of Mario Deane, who died in 2014 after a violent beating by police, came out in support of the Rastafarians. Popular reggae singer Chronixx, himself a Rastafarian, visited King and her family after the incident. Sharing his thoughts in a video on his Instagram page, he suggested that the policewoman's behaviour was rooted in colonialism.
The idea of King’s religious rights being violated—she has reportedly been growing her locks since childhood—was echoed in the reaction from Minister of Culture Olivia “Babsy” Grange, who noted that the growing of hair was a “sacred religious practice” for the Rastafarian faith, as part of their “Nazarite vow”:
Grange welcomes probe into alleged trimming of Rasta woman by police pic.twitter.com/CHK5NXq2DY
— Hon.Olivia Grange (@Babsy_grange) August 3, 2021
For many Jamaicans, this appeared to be yet another example of the policing of black hair. Over the years, there have been regular conflicts regarding natural hair and dreadlocks; children have even been banned from attending school over their hairstyle choices—and some netizens couldn't believe it was still happening:
This is 2021. @JamaicaConstab is still trimming the hair of rastafarians. Make this make sense. #nzingaking
— #TheRipeMango (@kamlanichkole) August 2, 2021
Kristen Gyles, a graduate student at the University of the West Indies, suggested that this tendency illustrated Jamaicans’ rejection of their own cultural identity:
The colonialised Jamaican mind is truly a force to be reckoned with. It has parents scolding their children for speaking patois, high schoolers stocking their book-less school bags with cake soap, and schools turning away students for wearing ‘chiney bumps’ [a Bantu knot-inspired hairstyle]. Unfortunately, we are still suffering the lingering effects of our enslavement, which seems to have crippled our sense of identity. This manifests itself in the disdain we have for that which characterises our heritage and culture.
Some time ago I remember overhearing a conversation between two men within a particular corporate space. One boldly told the other that his father told him from early that as his child, there are three types of people he should forget about ever becoming: 1) a thief; 2) a homosexual; and 3) a Rasta.
Meanwhile, some who claim to be acquaintances of King have refuted the entire story, alleging she had cut her hair herself. To date, their story has not been given much credence.
As the country awaits the results of investigations on the matter, many were left to wonder whether—in the words of Jamaica's national hero, Marcus Garvey—they are entirely “emancipated from mental slavery”.


text:
From Mexico to Australia, Indigenous youth reimagine the internet for their languages · Global Voices
Melissa Vida

Illustration by Isela Xospa, under copyright and used by Global Voices with permission.
There are some 7,000 languages in the world, but only 10 dominate the internet. English leads, with 25.9 percent of online content, followed by Chinese, Spanish, Arabic, Portuguese, Indonesian, French, Japanese, Russian, and German. Facing this reality, Indigenous youth from Mexico to Australia are carving out spaces for their languages on the web.
Forty percent of all languages are at “some level of endangerment,” according to UNESCO, and Indigenous languages are particularly at risk, as hegemonic languages permeate education, governments, and media worldwide.
On July 13, Indigenous language activists from Mexico and Australia shared strategies during an online talk co-organized by Global Voices and First Languages Australia, with the support of the Embassy of Australia in Mexico.
There are 68 Indigenous languages in Mexico and 250 in Australia, making these countries part of the most diverse linguistic places on the planet, along with Papua New Guinea, Nigeria, Indonesia, India, and Brazil, to name a few.
“Australia and Mexico are two countries that are the result of colonies and the imposition of a hegemonic language,” said the event's moderator, Isela Xospa, a Nahua Indigenous illustrator. For her, this situation leads to seeing and understanding the world in only one language, which is a huge loss.
“It's very important to understand that the internet is dominated by hegemonic languages. You can access the internet if you know the hegemonic language, but not in your own language,” she said. She argues that this is one of the reasons why youth do not see themselves online and might abandon their language.
Panelists concurred that youth are speaking their ancestral languages less frequently, mainly due to disconnection with their elders. Parents do not know or do not teach their languages to their children as often, leaving the task to grandparents, if they are around.
Joaquín Yescas Martínez, a Zapoteco Xhidza man from Oaxaca, Mexico, explained: “Many parents were afraid of schools; they were punished [for speaking their language] when they were younger in schools. Because of all that fear, many classmates of my generation do not speak their language.”
Making Indigenous languages more ubiquitous online may have a role to play in attracting youth to learn, practice, and lose the shame of speaking their language.
“When young people can see and hear their language being used on popular social media platforms, and shared, and made accessible on the internet, it is encouraging them to seek them out and share their language and culture,” Annalee Pope, a Wakka Wakka woman from Central Queensland, Australia, said.
Yet, it is not only about using Indigenous languages on popular online platforms, but also about imagining news to make the internet their own. For example, Rachel Dikul Baker, a Yolŋu woman from the Northern Territory in Australia, argues for new internet domains that use her Yolŋu Matha language and reflect the Yolŋu philosophy of the kinship system — a set of cultural rules in which children learn their specific relationship to every other Yolŋu and to many elements of the natural world.
“The Yolŋu kinship system is a relation to the land, a relation to what’s within the land, including humans and languages,” she said. “A lot of the disconnections happen because the internet domains are not Yolŋulized; therefore the language learning on the internet is not designed on Yolŋu kinship system.” In her organization, ARDS Aboriginal Corporation, she is helping develop a “Warami language platform that is kinship-based,” she said.
Indigenous language activists from Mexico and Australia shared strategies during an online talk co-organized by Global Voices and First Languages Australia, with the support of the Embassy of Australia in Mexico, on July 13, 2021.
Joaquín, for his part, dreams of free software and social media created by and for Indigenous people, in their own languages. Along with his advocacy for free software, Joaquín co-founded and works for several initiatives designed to spread the use of the Xhidza language. He sees his two passions merge to create new spaces on the internet.
He would like to see an expanding network of digital activists who work to improve internet connection in communities where digital access is scarce but also promote Indigenous “community-based internets” to share information.
“We can create our own social media within [Indigenous] communities and generate more speakers; we can create other internet networks with more content in our language,” he said.
Maya speaker María Lilia Hau Ucan, originally from Kinil, Yucatán, Mexico, expressed hope in seeing youth in Yucatán express themselves creatively in their Indigenous languages through songs, poetry, and other forms of narratives.
“They are making the language their own when writing, which is fantastic. There are also groups of young people who are getting involved in community radios, broadcasting, periodicals, social networks… they are even trying to transmit the language by teaching it through TikToks.”
For example, in Latin America, there are TikTok accounts to learn Nahuat from El Salvador, Maya Kaqchikel from Mexico and Guatemala, Kichwa from Ecuador, and Waorani from Amazonian Ecuador. In general, “Native TikTok“, where youth share Indigenous culture, humor, and demands for Indigenous and land rights, had a boom on the platform. There are also apps to learn Indigenous languages in Mexico and Australia.
Music is another way Indigenous youth are sharing their languages. Rapper Baker Boy raps in his native language, Yolŋu Matha, as well as English, in his song Meditjin, featuring JessB:
Singer Sara Curruchich, from Guatemala, sings in her native Maya Kaqchikel language and in Spanish. She is also a language and human rights advocate promoting Indigenous languages in music. In 2020, she created a playlist on Spotify featuring Indigenous women from all over the world, called Voces de Mujeres Indígenas IXOQI.
“It's a human right for native peoples to speak their language, to express themselves, to socialize, and to not feel ashamed to speak it,” Isela Xospa said.

author: Melissa Vida