Category Global health and disparities
FMM 8 12 16 Jamaica Sweet!
“Lovely dainty Spanish needle With your yellow flower and white, Dew bedecked and softly sleeping, Do you think of me to-night?”~ Claude McKay. For many years, I was totally loyal to Air Jamaica. I refused to fly on any other airline when I flew home to Jamaica. It was not just the beautifully sleek […]
FMM 7 22 16 Sound and Fury
“Or being hated, don’t give way to hating…”~Rudyard Kipling (‘If’). My father used to hate crowded places. He did not go happily (if he went at all) to fairs or festivals, crowds of people and loud noises. I tend to react the same way to multiple people talking at the same time, it seems confusing […]
FMM 7 15 16 Power Positive
“Love’s in need of love today.”~Stevie Wonder. The father of my children was a complex man. He could argue all day on a variety of topics: sports, politics, injustice, you name it. What animated him was the history of injustice perpetrated on Africa and people of African descent world over. He was not a fan […]
FMM 7 8 16 He Ain’t Heavy
“Each man’s joy is joy to me; each man’s grief is my own.”~Joan Baez. When I was a child I held my (only, older) brother in high esteem. I basically thought he was the expert on everything. He broke my heart when he told me the truth about Santa Claus (Father Christmas in our tradition). […]
FMM 6 24 16 In the Dark
“Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom” ~Samuel Taylor Coleridge. “Use your common sense, child!” I remember being told this when I was young. I imagine it was said in exasperation by one or other of my parents, probably in response to some obvious question I had asked. Perhaps a […]
FMM 6 17 16 One Blood
“Fighting against isms and schisms”~ Robert Nesta Marley. Jamaica is a land of diversity. Some are not prepared for the range of colors and races that co-exist in that small island. The country’s motto is: “Out of many, one People”. The outward appearance may reflect an origin in India, China, Africa, the Middle East, or […]
FMM 4 15 16 One Spark
“It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.”~Aristotle Onassis. I once met a young woman who was too perky. No matter the time of day, or the circumstances she was upbeat and chipper for no reason. So annoying! It wasn’t until I got to know her better that I […]
FMM 3 4 16 Grit in the System
“To love a place is not enough. We must find ways to heal it.”~Robin Wall Kimmerer. Nothing is ever completely bad. There is always something to be learned. I find myself at times mindlessly scrolling through Facebook, enjoying random photos and thoughts, stopping to smile at a cartoon or an uplifting thought. Whenever I find […]
FMM 2 19 16 Productive Procrastination
“Imagination only comes when you privilege the subconscious, when you make delay and procrastination work for you.” ~Hilary Mantel. At work we often complain about the new generation, a set of young people who have no patience, no ability to wait for results. As soon as they submit an assignment or complete an exam they […]