Ashma John

Most of the pictures of this year’s Trinidad Carnival that I saw, reminded me of the amplification and glorification of society’s fixation and obsession with thinness.

I wish for the ease and certainty some people have when it comes to having children.

In December 2019, I was in Barbados with my husband for the New Year’s Eve celebrations.

Privilege is being able to look the other way without batting an eye because you know those problems would never be yours.

For this year’s final column, as we prepare to reflect on 2022 which raced by faster than Usain Bolt, kept and forgotten resolutions, the uncertainty of the new year and the anxiousness to bring this chaotic one to an end, here is an interview with Elsie Harry, who documented a full year of her commitment to no shopping and living more sustainably.

I left Guyana in 2008 for approximately four years to study in Wales.

Greenhouse gases, climate neutral, fossil fuels, rising sea levels, emissions and global warming are not words and phrases one would necessarily associate with clothing and a glamorous lifestyle.

One of my biggest fears about getting pregnant is how much my body will change and how long it might take me to feel like my old self again, if that is even possible.

Annalee Gonsalves. Nirmala Sukhai. Simone Hackett. Kescia Branche. Rosemary Rudder. Mariam Edwards.

I remember when I first told a friend I was a Spice fan.

Perhaps one of the most aggravating realities of social justice movements like Black Lives Matter is when Black people themselves proclaim it to be a non-issue.

The costumes from Guyana Carnival reminded me of the handbags from the diffusion line of Michael Kors.

When I was growing up, my dad had this three-minute rule for showers.

Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, inserting whatever your zodiac sign is before the word season has become a cute, popular way for folks to acknowledge that their birthday is approaching.

Absolutely nothing will grind my gears more than seeing Black and Brown people mourn or try to police other Black or Brown people into feeling some sort of sorrow for the death of Britain’s late queen.

Burning eyes, anxious fingers and what feels like small knots on the middle of my forehead are all signs that I need a digital detox.

Social media is such an unbelievably powerful tool. It can really be used as a force for good when it helps to bring people together, brings instant awareness of varying social issues (even if it’s for a hot minute) or displays virtual solidarity.

I feel scared most times when people call me a feminist and it’s not that the movement frightens me.

Managing relationships can be rocky particularly when they involve more than two parties. 

This summer in Europe has made me question if I was really once a child who was born and raised in the tropics.