PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti – A new report from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), says Haiti’s population is being held hostage to brutality and gang violence.

ST. JOHN’S, Antigua – I was astonished recently to be told by one of the representatives of the Caribbean on the Board of the World Bank (WB) that Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, St Kitts-Nevis and Trinidad and Tobago, should not expect any change in the bank’s policy not to make concessional loans to them because, supposedly, they are ‘high income’ countries.

“And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work.” - Nehemiah 2:18 

As Women’s History Month comes to a close, I’ve been thinking about moms and honoring motherhood. I’ve written before about how my mom instilled values in me, including respect for everyone’s rights – not just my own.  Mom also worked multiple jobs to support our family through some very hard times. She represents my ideal of what a mother should be, without a doubt.  

Ever since it was taken over by far-right justices nominated by Donald Trump, the Supreme Court has been eroding the quality of life for Americans. Now it looks like it could happen again, if the Court decides against President Biden’s plan for student debt relief. 

For decades, hydroelectric dams on the lower Snake River have been killing off salmon that must traverse them to spawn, Southern Resident orcas that feed on salmon, and the cultures of tribal nations who consider the salmon their first food. Through an intersection of bipartisan interest that’s unusual these days and once-in-a-generation federal funding, we may finally have a chance to end the spiral toward extinction for all three.

BELMOPAN, Belize – On an ordinary day, you get in, start your vehicle, turn on your favorite radio station, and drive to work. While bopping your head and humming to a catchy tune, you hear “We interrupt this segment for an important broadcast…”

Among the significant strides our country has made to create a more equitable society, air travel does not always come to mind. However, it was not long ago that air travel was only for the elite. Airfares were prohibitively expensive, and flying on commercial airlines was a privilege that almost exclusively upper-class, white Americans could enjoy.

Two things happened last week — one public, the other personal — that made me reflect on how far we’ve come as a nation, how we got here, and what it will take to keep that journey moving forward.

Governor Ron DeSantis continues to try to elevate his Presidential chances while doubling down on banning Black history. Meanwhile, the rest of us would be better served by reading more of it. We should go even further by mining American history to find what’s been hidden from us by previous political opportunists that can give us blueprints for how to create a national politics of unity rather than division.

The Caribbean’s travel and tourism industry is no doubt making a strong rebound, and while results vary, some destinations are recording even more impressive results than the 2019 banner tourism year.

With a predicted market size of $1.4 billion in 2023 says Ibis World, a global market research firm, the US Food Truck business is one of the fastest growing industries going. In fact, the number of businesses in the industry has grown an average of 5.2 per cent per year between 2018 and 2023, with 32,176 Food Trucks in the US this year. One Food Truck venture is certainly taking advantage of the potential.