And Still I Rise

Last Thursday night the Minister of Health announced to the nation that St Vincent and the Grenadines had recorded its first case of H1N1 formerly known as swine flu. The twenty eight year old woman had arrived in St Vincent from Canada and complained of feeling unwell. After being hospitalised her samples were sent abroad for testing and yielded a positive result for H1N1. Even though I no longer have the same doom and gloom thoughts about the virus I felt a bit uneasy knowing it had reached our shores. I knew immediately that every little sniffle, sneeze and cough I experienced would trigger off thoughts of H1N1 and the accompanying flu shots. In that I was not alone as I soon discovered my friends and co workers were demonstrating more than a healthy share of paranoia. It was rather surprising to realise that many of them thought H1N1 was a certain death sentence. Note to authorities: There is still an awful load of educating to do. Seeing that we are at the high point of our Carnival celebrations I expected to see more masks than usual as part of the precautionary measures. I, was quite unprepared for this pun on Swine flu as demonstrated by some Jouvert revellers early this morning. Sometimes, you just have to laugh at serious stuff. Oh, Jouvert was fabulous-great music, great company and all round good vibes.

I got to the park late and only saw one band before it was time for the Junior King and Queens. The Juniors have learnt how to delay from their elders as there was a fairly long wait before the costumes took the stage. Congrats to Players International for winning Junior Carnival four times in a row. I was impressed by their "Haiti i'm sorry" costume-the final of the four. Sorry it's not a better photograph that would have better displayed the creativity and beauty.








Peace and Love



Haiti I'm sorry by Players Int'l.



I can't wait to see what Mardi Gras will be like.

This morning I was in the bank and saw Farrah Fawcett's death being announced. It was not surprising as I knew she was losing her battle with cancer. This evening I turned on the television to see the shocking news that Michael Jackson had died.

MJ made beautiful music and was one of the most talented entertainers ever. From Ben to We are the World, Beat it, Billie Jean, Man in the Mirror he was really the Thriller. With his glove and magical foot work MJ was a man that loomed larger than life. Despite all his fame and the world at his feet he was a tortured soul. We watched him experiment with plastic surgery until his face became a caricature of the young handsome face we saw in his youth.

We watched with confusion as his behaviour became bizarre-walking with a veil on his face,turning himself into Peter Pan and the infamous sleepovers. We got angry with our Prince for hating his black skin and some forgave(even though they weren't sure if it was true) when the news reported he suffered from a skin disease. We made jokes on him but we always respected the music and gloried in the the chart topping feats.

It just doesn't feel right that MJ is no longer with us. I feel bad and I am not even the person who gets bent out of shape by celebrities. I am just shocked. Finally, some peace though for the King of Pop. RIP MJ, the music will live on.

How many of us grew up hearing "Silence is golden" or that "silence gives consent"? For the past couple weeks, after hearing some horror stories I have had reason to question the wisdom about the first statement. While I agree that there are times when silence is necessary there are some situations where silence is harmful.

Therefore, I want to tell the children who are being sexually abused that silence is not golden. In this instance the silence may very well be mistaken as consent by the sickos. In fact while it may be golden for the abuser it will trap you in a well of despair and self loathing. I know you may worry about getting daddy, uncle, big brother,older cousin or the family friend in trouble but speak you must. Parents,guardians,other adults please do not dismiss the children's stories as lies. Take time to find the truth and then get help for the little ones.Children,it's not your job to protect adults moreso those who have robbed you of your innocence and left countless scars on your being. Your job is simply to be a child.

All is not lost. You are still precious. There could be light at the end of the tunnel but you have to speak.