Wonder what he was thinking about. This is in Negril a couple of years ago, at Rick’s Cafe. Enjoy your day.
Pondering
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Author Archives: Kate Chappell
Determination
I saw this guy walking the other day, on quite a determined mission. Of course, it was painfully slow, but I imagine he reached his destination.
What can be done?
Activist and human rights lawyer Maurice Tomlinson posted the following on social media yesterday. I have been in contact with one of the young men who has been kicked out of the gully and he says he literally has no place to stay. Last night he was going to a “quiet place” on Hope Road where he hoped no one would attack him. He had already been attacked by someone during the day, his feet cut up by broken bottles and his shoes ruined. He now has no shoes, nothing to eat and no income (although he just recently completed an internship in office administration and would like to start his own business making spices). What can be done? (This picture was taken of one of the young men at a vigil last year for those who have died as a result of violence perpetrated against people from the LGBTI community).
GAYS ATTACKED (AGAIN) IN JAMAICA
On Wednesday, April 15 at about 1 p.m., some patrons of the Clocktower Plaza in Kingston decided to “cleanse” the premises of gays. This shopping venue was one of the few spaces in the capital that gays could hang out in relative peace, although they had to travel in groups. On this occasion, their congregation worked against them and made it easier for the mob to identify, and attack them.
The number of gay and trans* persons in the plaza had recently increased as the gully where some homeless LGBTI youth had been forced to live in was raided by police earlier this year. The youngsters were forcibly ejected and the gully was closed off. With nowhere else to go, they resorted to seeking shelter in the nearby plaza like the itinerant souls that they are.
The local organization, Dwayne’s House, had tried to raise funds to create a permanent shelter for these youth by Christmas. However, lack of interest in these “disposable people” meant that the donation target was not achieved. The board of Dwayne’s House and the island’s major LGBTI organization, J-FLAG, are now trying to devise a business plan and fund-raising strategy to ensure that the challenge of housing these youth is finally resolved. But there will be need for government assistance.
The government of Jamaica had promised to address this situation, and the matter was even discussed in the nation’s Parliament by the MP for the area where the gully is located. However, like the Prime Minister’s 2011 election promise to review the country’s 1864 British colonially imposed anti-sodomy law, this offer of assistance for these marginalized teens has also gone unfulfilled.
Ironically, exactly one year ago, the PM said that the review of the archaic statute would not take place because it does not concern the majority of Jamaicans who are poor. However, it is these very same poor youngsters who are suffering from the homophobia supported by this law. Many of the juveniles are forced sell sex to survive and are paid extra for condom-less sex. This increases their vulnerability to HIV. A significant portion of their customers also have female partners, to either mask or cure their homosexuality in this homophobic society. HIV is therefore able to “bridge” between the straight and gay populations.
There is usually a spike in anti-gay attacks in Jamaica during the months of June, July and August. This coincides with the summer school break as unemployed and bored high school and university kids make a sport out of gay-bashing. As elsewhere, Jamaica’s plazas will be swarming with young people during summer and these spaces will be very dangerous for gays and other gender and sexually non-conforming individuals. Without a permanent shelter, homeless LGBTI youth will have very little option but to take their chances in the plazas.
The state of affairs is potentially explosive and people will get hurt. Sadly, the Jamaican government seems determined to fiddle while the situation, like the city dump, continues to burn.
#endhumanitariandouchery
Volunteering has, for several reasons, gotten a bad reputation in the past few years. Specifically, voluntourism, or the practice of incorporating volunteering into international travel. There are some obviously egregious instances, such as when the trip causes more harm than good, or takes away jobs from the people who live there. But there is a gray area that has become the subject of debate. As an international volunteer, I have struggled a lot myself with this issue and continue to think about it.
In the meantime, these people have provided some more food for thought, complete with this Youtube video and a social media campaign #endhumanitariandouchery. I’m sure I have been a humanitarian douchebag at times, and will probably do so again. Let’s hope I didn’t contribute too much to this douchebaggery.
Here’s an excerpt from the conversation with the campaign creators that makes a great point:
Yes, but voluntourism’s not really a new concept. The question of whether volunteering abroad does more harm than good is an age-old one. VSO’s latest report that volunteers make a valuable, yet often understated, impact on sustainable development did not silence all the critics. Did you know it’s a $2bn industry?
Aid and social change shouldn’t be a commodity. Eureka, you’ve got it!
Spring flowers
Enjoying the spring flowers in small town Florida.
Pink!
A burst of color in suburban Atlanta.
High Museum
We are in Atlanta right now and visited the beautiful High Museum of Art. I wanted to see the contemporary art and was quite taken by the works of Howard Finster and Gordon Parks. The former was an evangelist who seemed driven to put his preachings into physical form, the latter a photographer who portrayed the segregationist Southern U.S., yet stayed away from stereotypes and cliches.
This is my first time to Atlanta (I had only been through the airport) and it is quite lovely, especially as all the leaves and flowers bloom. It seems to be a mix of gentrified buildings and corporate headquarters and sprawling suburbs. And I was quite astounded to learn that it is only just getting a city-wide transit system. Hence, the alarming traffic. Enjoy your Monday.
Wah gwan Jamaica?
This is so charming.
“What kids can teach us about life”
As U.S. President Barack Obama visits Kingston today, he will likely not see very much of the city, especially the downtown and rural areas. So he will miss seeing the children playing, like many of us do. Photographer Adrian McDonald captured these precious moments in this beautiful photo essay that shows another side of life in Jamaica, beyond the stereotypes of poverty. Check it out here.
Summit of the Americas
Keeping on my theme of U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to Jamaica today, here is a good analysis of the reasons for his visit by the Washington Post. It comes down to oil and Cuba, it seems.
