Barbados Museum and Historical Society (BMHS): Obeah Myths and Beliefs Panel Discussion

This panel discussion was hosted by the Barbados Museum & Historical Society on Friday, October 30, 2020.  Panellists included: Mr. Kevin Farmer-Deputy Director of the Barbados Museum & Historical Society; Dr. Tara Inniss-Lecturer in the Department of History and Philosophy, The UWI, Cave Hill Campus and Director of the Caribbean Heritage Network (CHN); Dr. John Hunte-PhD Cultural Studies (UWI, Cave Hill) and Dr. Deryck Murray-Director of The Centre for Hybrid Studies (CHyS). The session attracted over 120 participants and yielded a great discussion on the place of obeah in our history and culture. 

CTO Caribbean Heritage Trails -- Routes of Roots Webinar: Heritage Interpretation & Storytelling in the Tourism Context

 The Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) recently hosted a session as part of its "Caribbean Heritage Trails -- Routes of Roots Webinar" on October 29, 2020 entitled, "Heritage Interpretation & Storytelling in the Tourism Context". Dr. Tara Inniss, Lecturer, Department of History and Philosophy, The University of West Indies (UWI), Cave Hill Campus and Dr. Deborah Hickling, Ink + Vision Limited presented on the importance of creating unified, representative and accurate storytelling in interpreting the region's heritage. 

The UWI St. Augustine Campus School of Education Symposium (20 Aug 2020): Will 11+ selection and placement always be a part of our future?

The UWI St. Augustine Campus School of Education (SoE) Symposium 20 Aug 2020 entitled "Will 11+selection and placement always be a part of our future?" invited regional historians, education theorists and psychologists to evaluate the region's Common Entrance Examination systems. Case studies from Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago were presented. Dr. Marcia Pilgrim, Prof. Garry Hornby and Dr. Tara Inniss (The UWI, Cave Hill Campus, Department of History and Philosophy) presented some highlights from their paper PILGRIM, Marcia; HORNBY, Garry; INNISS, Tara. Selective Secondary School Education In Barbados: The Need For Change. Journal of International and Comparative Education (JICE), [S.l.], p. 111-126, oct. 2018. ISSN 2232-1802.

 

The History Forum: UWI Cross-Campus Seminar in History -- LIazzat Bonate on"Muslim Political Leadership"

 The Department of History and Philosophy presents 

THE HISTORY FORUM

The UWI Senior Academic Cross Campus Seminar in History: Dr. Liazzat Bonate (Lecturer, The UWI St. Augustine, Campus) will present “Muslim female political leadership in pre-colonial northern Mozambique; the letters by Nunu Fatima Binti Zakaria of Mogincuali”

Time: Friday October 30, 2020 02:00 PM La Paz

Join Zoom Meeting
https://uwi.zoom.us/j/97471261972

HIST 3033: The Gendered Implications of COVID-19

By Shade Springer, Student
HIST 3033 Race, Gender and Medicine
Department of History and Philosophy
The UWI, Cave Hill Campus

Is there a heavier burden being placed on female health practitioners, general workers and caregivers both on the frontlines in the health sector and in quarantine at home in the wake of “stay-at-home” orders?

As COVID-19 sweeps across the globe, one of its most significant victims may very well be feminism. As Sam Smethers remarks, the wider implications of the lockdown gender divide are clear; “This shows that the default assumptions about who does the caring for children fundamentally haven’t shifted. It defaults to women. There’s an expectation that women will make their jobs fit around the caring, whereas a man’s job will come first” (Ferguson). Indeed, there is a heavier burden being placed on female health practitioners, general workers and caregivers both on the frontlines in the health sector and in quarantine at home in the wake of “stay-at-home” orders. Research carried out by economists from three Universities, Cambridge Oxford and Zurich between the 9^th and 14^th of April indicated that the gender divide affects a woman who is at home - whether or not she is formally working. Cambridge economist Dr. Christopher Rauh added that, “Whatever situation you have, on average it’s the woman doing more, and it’s not because she’s working less” (Ferguson). This is compounded by the fact according to the World Health Organization (WHO) across 104 countries, 70 percent of workers in the health and social care sector, are women (Hutt).

            Notwithstanding the progress made in feminist movements, the home and the unpaid work that is required has remained the female’s “domain”. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), globally, women perform 76.2% of total hours of unpaid care work, more than three-times as much as men. Without a doubt, that percentage has risen during this pandemic. The “stay-at-home” order has destroyed the safety net of childcare on which many women depended. With schools closed, there is now the additional responsibility of home schooling. Children often are more inclined to go to their mothers than their fathers for aid and Stephenson points out; “The men seem to be able to lock themselves away in a study, while the women are working at the kitchen table- and also trying to home-educate” (Ferguson). The situation is more calamitous in single-parent households, especially those where the mother is tasked with working on the frontlines. Moreover, as health systems become stretched, many people with COVID-19 will need to be cared for at home, adding to women’s overall burden, as well as putting them at greater risk of becoming infected (Hutt).

 COVID-19 is more than a public health crisis, it is an economic one as well and it appears to disproportionately affect women, as some have been dismissed or placed on unpaid leave (Ferguson). “Normal life” has been suspended yet social gender norms have not been. Although many fathers will undoubtedly step up and share in the unpaid caring labour, this will not be universal. Wenham adds that this social norm is aided by the structure of the workforce; “It’s not just about social norms of women performing care roles; it’s also about practicalities. Who is paid less? Who has the flexibility?” In the article, “The Coronavirus is a Disaster for Feminism: Pandemics affect men and women differently”, Wenham took the opportunity to comment on gender relations in her household, she shared that she and her husband were alternating between two-hour shifts of child care and paid work. That is one solution; for others, the division will run along older lines. Dual-income couples might suddenly find themselves living like their grandparents, one homemaker and one breadwinner (Lewis). Upon reflection, this pandemic has not made any significant impact on gender relations in my household. However, in a conversation with a family member, she expressed how stressful the “stay-at-home” order has been especially when the school term commenced. She admitted that she struggled to teach her classes while simultaneously assisting her eight year with the transition to online classes as well as keeping her toddler quietly entertained. Unfortunately, her husband is unable to provide the much needed aid as his job description falls under the heading “essential”. Across social media, there are similar vlogs and blogs as women use this platform to vent and create escapes through humour, as they adjust to this COVID-19 society where they are once again chief caregivers.

“A man can work from sun to sun, But a woman’s work is never done” (Little). There is indeed a heavier burden being placed on female health practitioners, general workers and care givers both on the frontlines in the health sector and in quarantine at home in the wake of the “stay-at-home” orders. Women comprise the majority of health and social care workers, and as the fight against COVID-19 continues, an increasing number of women around the world are on the front lines. Many of them will be expected to work longer hours, while juggling domestic responsibilities such as childcare and caring for relatives with the virus also adds to the burden. Sadly, one of the most striking effects of the coronavirus will be to send many couples back to the 1950s. Across the world, women’s independence has become a silent victim of the pandemic. (Lewis). Anita Bhatia in her article “Women and COVID-19: Five things governments can do now” appeals to policy makers to pay attention to what is happening in peoples’ homes and support an equal sharing of the burden of care between women and men. She highlights that there is a great opportunity to “unstereotype” the gender roles that play out in households in many parts of the world; whereby men and boys are enlisted to ensure that they are doing their fair share at home and alleviating some of the care burdens that fall disproportionately on women. In addition, Bhatia urges governments that special efforts should be made to deliver compensatory payments as well as bailout and stimulus packages which should include social protection measures that reflect an understanding of women’s special circumstances and recognition of the care economy. Which means ensuring health insurance benefits for those most in need and paid and/or sick leave for those unable to come to work because they are taking care of children or elders at home. The economic and social impacts of COVID-19 are severe on all, but they are more so for women. 

Works Cited

Bhatia, Anita. "Women and COVID-19: Five Things Governments Can Do Now." 26 March 2020. UN Women.

Ferguson, Donna. "'I feel like a 1950s housewife': how lockdown has exposed the gender divide." 3 May 2020. The Guardian.

Hutt, Rosamund. "The Coronavirus Fallout may be Worse for Women than Men: Here's Why." 12 March 2020. World Economic Forum.

Lewis, Helen. "The Coronavirus is a Disaster for Feminism: Pandemics affect men and women differently." 19 March 2020. The Atlantic.

Little, Jean. Orphan at My Door: The Home Child Diary of Victoria Cope. Toronto: Scholastic Canada Ltd., 2001.

A Tribute to Kamau Brathwaite By Ambassador David Comissiong

(Tribute delivered by David Comissiong at the funeral service for Kamau Brathwaite (1930-2020) on Friday 21st February 2020 at the James Street Methodist Church in Bridgetown, Barbados)

I have been asked to give a funeral tribute to Kamau Brathwaite. But this is a very difficult task, for a funeral tribute typically consists of reminiscences and reflections on the past -- on your memories and  past experiences with someone who has passed on. 

But this is really not possible in the case of Kamau! I simply cannot think of Kamau Brathwaite as being "in the past" or "of the past " -- he is too relevant, too fresh, too urgent, too contemporary, too futuristic!

Kamau has NOT left us -- he is very much here with us, among us, in the form and substance of the tremendous body of work that he has produced. And also in the sheer power of his lived example. 

(I must confess that yesterday in the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation studio, when I listened to the recording of Kamau's voice reciting "Negus", tears came to my eyes as I reflected on the fact that we will never hear that voice here among us again. But that is a natural human response,  and does not derogate from the deeper truth that Kamau is still here with us -- that Kamau still lives.)

You know, we Barbadians have always had one -- and only one -- issue or dilemma in relation to Kamau Brathwaite, and it is this: are we going to do ourselves the favour, the critical self-service, of making use of Kamau's tremendously valuable body of work? Not for his sake, but for OUR sake!

You see, we have had the good fortune of having had bestowed upon us this rare and remarkably creative and intellectually gifted son of the soil who took it upon himself to make that critical inward journey towards the core of his being as a child of Africa transplanted in the New World and shaped by the powerful "tidalectical" cultural currents of Plantation America. 

In Kamau Brathwaite, the fates bestowed upon Barbados a profound native philosopher and creative artist whose body of work has helped to elucidate and clarify many of the critical cultural and other existential challenges that we face as a nation. 

And what makes Kamau's body of work  so important for us, is that it is evergreen and so relevant to our present and to our future. 

A few examples will demonstrate what I mean :

• We are now in the process of developing diplomatic and other relations with the African countries of Ghana and Kenya -- but how can we do so without drawing on  the foundations laid by Kamau in his creative engagements with both Ghana and Kenya, and on the work he has done on elucidating the Pan- African dimensions of our cultural identity
• Our "Thorne Commission on Local Governance "is now in the process of holding national consultations on a system of community based Peoples Assemblies for Barbados. But are we aware that Kamau contributed important ideas to the very Concept Paper that we are engaging our people on?
• Our Prime Minister has proposed the holding of a National Summit on the crucial issue of Crime and Violence : - but how do we hold such a Summit without consulting Kamau's elucidation of this issue in his "Trenchtown Rock" and in so many other components of his work?
• We all now understand the need to protect the Environment, especially the fragile environment of our Barbadian island home :- but Kamau has long pointed us in this direction with such poems as "Francina" in "The Arrivants " and in his " Barabajan Poems ".
• And whenever we talk about CARIFESTA  and the need to reform and refocus it, how can we ever attempt to do so without consulting the original concept that Kamau and his artist comrades developed for CARIFESTA way back in the year 1970?

The point is that Kamau and the work that he produced is extremely relevant to us in the here and now.

Indeed, how fortunate we were to have this wise shepherd-like elder living among us and keeping watch over the cultural and psychological health of our nation!

Let me conclude by saying that there are many ways in which we could conceive of what should be the future direction  and development of our nation and people. But I would wish to suggest that one compelling way in which we should proceed is to set out to create a nation of Kamaus, a nation of "Quiet Warriors ".

Or, put another way, we should set out to inculcate "KAMAU CONSCIOUSNESS" all across our nation!

And what-- you may ask-- does "Kamau Consciousness" consist of ? Well, these are its key components:-

• A deep understanding of our history-- and an equally deep respect for the suffering and the efforts of resistance, survival and cultural creativity of our ancestors. 
• An appreciation and an embracing of our identity as African-Caribbean people with deep familial links to our kith and kin throughout the Americas and on the African heartland. 
• A deep commitment to justice, and an uncompromising respect for human rights and human dignity. 
• A profound sensitivity to all forms of human suffering-- a deep belief in humanity and in human values and humane behaviour.
• A love for the natural environment, and a special commitment to preserve and protect the environment of Barbados.
• A consuming commitment to the very highest academic, professional and artistic standards -- a commitment to discipline, to integrity and authenticity,  and a passionate determination to produce. 
• A profound belief in the worth and value of one's own people, and an uncompromising commitment to represent, champion defend and protect one's people and nation.

Let us therefore resolve to use - use - use Kamau's tremendous body of work, and to inculcate KAMAU  CONSCIOUSNESS all across our nation and particularly in our youth.

Kamau Brathwaite is not dead! KAMAU LIVES!