The Democratic nominee is proud of her Jamaican roots. Her story inspires some but others wonder if her presidency would benefit the country
Brown’s Town, in the Jamaican parish of St Ann – where as a child, Kamala Harris spent many holidays with her family – has the unmistakable atmosphere of a close-knit rural Caribbean community.
Narrow roads, cocooned by bowing trees and lush vegetation, wind past concrete houses and the rolling hills of the Dry Harbour mountain range.
Continue reading...Justin Welby says ancestor owned enslaved people in Jamaica and was paid compensation upon abolition
Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, has revealed that his ancestor owned enslaved people on a plantation in Jamaica and was compensated by the British government when slavery was abolished.
Welby disclosed his ancestral links in a personal statement that reiterated his commitment to addressing the enduring and damaging legacies of transatlantic slavery.
Continue reading...Horace Chang, deputy PM of country with highest homicide rate, praises US attorneys generals’ support for legislation
Jamaica’s deputy prime minister has welcomed a campaign by the New York attorney general, Letitia James, to push through new measures and legislation to tackle gun trafficking from the US to the Caribbean.
Horace Chang, who is also Jamaica’s minister of security, praised a coalition of 14 US attorneys general, led by James, that is backing the passing of the Caribbean Arms Trafficking Causes Harm Act. Introduced in both houses of the US Congress earlier this year, the act aims to help curb illicit arms trafficking from the United States to the Caribbean.
Continue reading...Two attacks in Clarendon killed eight and injured nine as government looks to focus on gang violence
Jamaica’s prime minister has issued a 14-day state of emergency in the country’s southern Clarendon parish amid fears of further violence after two shootings on Sunday left eight dead and nine wounded.
Seven people were killed when gunmen fired indiscriminately at a birthday party in Cherry Tree Lane, Clarendon; the eighth victim was killed in a second shooting.
Continue reading...Neville Lawrence says he learned of plans to return remains to UK after he saw video of damaged grave in Jamaica
Stephen Lawrence’s father has said he was not informed of the decision to exhume his son’s body in Jamaica and return it to the UK, and that he is “appalled” at the condition his grave was left in.
It comes after Stephen’s mother, Doreen Lawrence, said her family had decided to “bring Stephen home to be closer to us” after originally burying him on the Caribbean island because they felt “he would not be at peace in this country”.
Continue reading...Doreen Lawrence announces son’s body has been exhumed in Jamaica, after photos of open grave posted online
Stephen Lawrence’s body will be returned to the UK from Jamaica 31 years after his racist murder, his mother, Doreen, has said.
In a statement issued through her lawyer, Lady Lawrence said images of her son’s grave had appeared on social media after his body had been exhumed, which had caused the family “distress”.
Continue reading...Court of appeal rules against a retrial for artist convicted of murder in 2014
Jamaican dancehall vocalist Vybz Kartel has had his conviction quashed due to bribery attempts by one of the original jurors and been freed from prison after 13 years.
The artist, real name Adidja Palmer, was arrested in 2011 along with three other men for the murder of their associate Clive “Lizard” Williams, whose body has never been found. In 2014, Palmer was sentenced to 35 years in prison, later reduced on appeal to 32 and a half.
Continue reading...As archbishop of Canterbury visits Jamaica, research reveals trader left money to church’s missionary arm
The archbishop of Canterbury has spoken of the work to address the Church of England’s historic links to chattel slavery on a trip to Jamaica, as archive research reveals that the slave trader Edward Colston left a bequest in the 18th century to the church’s missionary arm.
Justin Welby is on a three-day visit to the West Indies to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the diocese of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. He said a £100m fund set up by the church would be used to benefit communities “which still bear the scars” from slavery.
Continue reading...Earliest category 5 hurricane on record is 495 miles south-east of Corpus Christi, with winds near 60mph
Tropical Storm Beryl, which has already smashed its way across the Caribbean as a hurricane before slamming into the Yucatán peninsula, is intensifying once again and expected to make landfall as a hurricane for the third time along the Texas coast.
The powerful hurricane – Beryl is the earliest category 5 hurricane on record – was by early Saturday approximately 495 miles (797km) south-east of Corpus Christi, Texas. The storm is forecast to turn toward the north-west later Saturday and then north/north-westward by Sunday night.
Continue reading...Category 3 storm with wind speeds of up to 120mph continues to wreak ‘utter devastation’ in Caribbean
Hurricane Beryl is barrelling through the Cayman Islands after causing death and destruction in Jamaica.
The British overseas territory is bearing the brunt of the hurricane, which has been causing “utter devastation” in the Caribbean since Monday, when it almost destroyed parts of Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines.
Continue reading...Jamaican PM says worst is yet to come as category 4 storm hits southern coast after causing at least seven deaths in region
Hurricane Beryl has hit Jamaica after leaving an “Armageddon-like” trail of devastation in Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) and killing at least seven people across the region.
The category 4 storm hit the island’s southern coast on Wednesday afternoon with maximum sustained winds of 140mph (225km/h), pummeling communities and knocking out communications as emergency groups evacuated people in flood-prone communities.
Continue reading...With winds up to 160mph, the monster storm pushed through Grenada and is on track for Jamaica and the Yucatán peninsula
At least four people have died after Hurricane Beryl wreaked “almost complete destruction” on small and vulnerable islands in the Caribbean.
The monster hurricane, which is now barrelling towards Jamaica, has strengthened to category 5 status, which means it can achieve wind speeds of over 157mph (253km/h).
Continue reading...Roofs blown off by 150mph winds and thousands hunkered down as hurricane reaches Caribbean island of Carriacou
Hurricane Beryl has made landfall on the Caribbean island of Carriacou after becoming the earliest storm of its strength to form in the Atlantic, fueled by record warm waters.
Carriacou is one of the islands of Grenada, where officials said winds increased up to 150mph (240km/h), blowing off roofs and causing other damage.
Continue reading...Storm is forecast to glance off Barbados on Sunday before heading through Caribbean and toward the Yucatán
Tropical Storm Beryl is forecast to become the first hurricane of the season before skirting the southern tip of Barbados in the south-eastern Caribbean on Sunday.
Beryl currently holds maximum sustained winds of 60mph (95km/h) and is traveling west at 21mph (34km/h), according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Hurricane Center.
Continue reading...Ministers condemn allegedly racist remarks and say they knew about them only after signing deal
The Jamaican government has joined widespread condemnation of comments by the Conservative’s party’s biggest donor, Frank Hester, amid concerns about a contract it signed with his digital health company.
Earlier in March, the Guardian revealed that during a meeting in 2019 Hester had said Diane Abbott, Britain’s first black female MP, made you “want to hate all black women” and that she “should be shot”, remarks that are now subject of an investigation by West Yorkshire police.
Continue reading...Dancehall star was sentenced to life in prison in 2014 for the murder of an associate
The Jamaican musician Vybz Kartel’s conviction for the murder of an associate more than a decade ago has been quashed, with a London court ruling that attempts to bribe the trial jury meant the conviction was unsafe.
The dancehall star, whose real name is Adidja Palmer, is one of Jamaica’s most popular artists and has collaborated with performers such as Jay-Z and Rihanna.
Continue reading...Influential musician also co-produced group’s albums and mentored many Jamaican artists
Aston “Family Man” Barrett, bassist for Bob Marley and the Wailers, has died aged 77.
The news was confirmed on Saturday by Olivia Grange, Jamaica’s minister for culture, who wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “I share with you my deep regret at the passing of Aston Francis Barrett, popularly known as ‘Family Man’ or ‘Fams’ … He died at the University of Miami Hospital in Florida in the United States early this morning.”
Continue reading...Wrought iron process that drove UK success was appropriated from black metallurgists, records suggest
An innovation that propelled Britain to become the world’s leading iron exporter during the Industrial Revolution was appropriated from an 18th-century Jamaican foundry, historical records suggest.
The Cort process, which allowed wrought iron to be mass-produced from scrap iron for the first time, has long been attributed to the British financier turned ironmaster Henry Cort. It helped launch Britain as an economic superpower and transformed the face of the country with “iron palaces”, including Crystal Palace, Kew Gardens’ Temperate House and the arches at St Pancras train station.
Continue reading...Barring public access to beaches and other sites is not a model for development. Transparency and engagement are needed
Walk along a Caribbean beach, which may stretch for miles, and your stroll is guaranteed to be cut short by an angry hotel security guard. In recent years, the Caribbean has seen a worrying trend of governments readily selling off assets to foreign corporations and political financiers.
Prime real estate, protected land and valuable resources are being relinquished without consideration for long-term consequences. It raises questions about whether remnants of the colonial mindset still prevail in political ideologies and decision-making.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Aboriginal Olympian Nova Peris says ‘change begins with listening’ as campaigners from 12 countries ask for ‘process of reparatory justice to commence’
Australians have joined Indigenous leaders and politicians across the Commonwealth to demand King Charles III make a formal apology for the effects of British colonisation, make reparations by redistributing the wealth of the British crown, and return artefacts and human remains.
Days out from Charles’s coronation in London, campaigners for republic and reparations movements in 12 countries have written a letter asking the new monarch to start a process towards “a formal apology and for a process of reparatory justice to commence”.
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