“What? Nobody got shot?”: Representations of Caribana violence
Posted February 2009The over-reporting of a few incidents leads to the idea that Caribana is inherently violent. The media would have you believe that trouble-free parades are the exception, but evidence shows that uneventful Caribana’s are the rule. Despite this, the Police formula appears to consist of increasing their presence and the security until there are absolutely no violations. The Toronto Police may wine and gyrate to the music but they aren’t going to take off their bullet-proof vests any time soon.
Read More...Why Wendy’s is as Bahamian as the Bamboo Shack
Posted February 2009Has Wendy’s started selling ‘conch snacks’, you ask? How can an American fast food chain ever possibly hope to be considered Bahamian? While I agree that the idea may sound shocking, I believe that because of its importance in the lives of Bahamians today, it is possible to say that Wendy’s is just as Bahamian as Bamboo Shack.
Read More...National Identity, Tourism and The Fergusons
Posted November 2008Having the Tourism industry destroyed by their electorate was something the new PLP government could not afford. In fact reports of bad service and abuse of tourists were on the rise. Simple attempts to threaten / bribe / cajole the population were obviously falling on deaf ears. A more creative approach was needed. Enter “The Fergusons of Farm Road”…
Read More...In Search of Suburbia
Posted October 2008Allow me to introduce you to the ‘Bahamian detector’. It registers the amount of ‘Bahamian-ness’ present in any person, place or thing. Its scale starts at a high of ‘True- true Bahamian’, and a red light goes off whenever it detects something that isn’t. There are some things that get the thumbs up, ‘true-true Bahamian’ verification by the detector; as you would expect, Junkanoo is one of them. However I regret to inform you that the device has yet to get a definitive reading out of Suburbia, and the people who live there are even more suspect. Naturally this concerns me because this is where I am from..
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