Engage, Festivals and Events, History, Trinidad and Tobago
By Caribbean Beat ● Issue 161 (January/February 2020)
T&T Carnival | Did you even know
Our new trivia column opens with a T&T Carnival quiz. Think you’re an expert on Carnival and calypso history? See how many of our twelve questions you can answer correctly
By James Ferguson ● Issue 160 (November/December 2019)
Cruising for trouble | On this day
Some people love cruise ships, some people hate them. But, personal preferences aside, the fate of the SS Columbus — scuttled by her captain eighty years ago — suggests the dangers of tourism in a time of war. James Ferguson tells the tale
Engage, Culture, Environment, History
By James Ferguson ● Issue 158 (July/August 2019)
Get a kick | On this day
Kick ’Em Jenny sounds like a comic name, but for the scientists who study this underwater volcano, first recorded eighty years ago, it’s no laughing matter. The Caribbean was shaped by its volcanoes, says James Ferguson, which created our mountainous island landscapes — but can also wreak havoc
Engage, History, Sports, Haiti
By James Ferguson ● Issue 157 (May/June 2019)
Football holiday | On this day
When two English football clubs toured the Caribbean fifty-five years ago, local teams in Jamaica, Trinidad, and Barbados were no competition. Haiti was a different story, writes James Ferguson
Immerse, Theatre and Dance, History, People, Cuba
By Nazma Muller ● Issue 156 (March/April 2019)
Alicia Alonso: forever prima | Backstory
How did Havana come to be one of the world’s leading centres of classical ballet? Nazma Muller tells the story of prima donna assoluta Alicia Alonso, and her influence on generations of Cuban dancers
By James Ferguson ● Issue 156 (March/April 2019)
A flag on the island | On this day
When a British military force landed in Anguilla fifty years ago, it was a strangely anachronistic moment in Caribbean colonial history — but one that Anguillans welcomed with open arms, suggests James Ferguson
By James Ferguson ● Issue 155 (January/February 2019)
“Papa Doc” Duvalier: When the bogeyman is real | On this day
Sixty years ago, Haitian dictator “Papa Doc” Duvalier set up a fearsome paramilitary corps to dispatch political opposition. James Ferguson looks back at the sinister history of the Tontons Macoutes
By James Ferguson ● Caribbean Resilience (1 May 2020), Issue 154 (November/December 2018)
The war after the war | On this day
Thousands of men from the British West Indies enlisted in the armed forces during the First World War, playing a crucial but often thankless role in the Allied victory. And when the fighting was over, another struggle for respect and recognition began — feeding a new wave of self-determination in the Caribbean. James Ferguson remembers the events of a century ago that set it all in motion