Akola Thompson

Women’s history within the labour force has been a long and tumultuous one.

Black hair has long been a contentious issue in Guyana. While we can frequently hear that hair is just hair, hair and texture discrimination is a very real issue that plagues Black persons, especially Black women and girls. 

Due to a history of violent colonialist expansion, Guyana is a diverse mix of Indigenous, African, East Indian, Chinese, Portuguese and mixed-race people, resulting in a population of 786,559 persons, of which 78,500 identify as Indigenous (2012 Census).

“In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of.

Valentine’s Day is annually celebrated as the manifestation of love and desire.

In 2021, the Guyana parliament approved an amendment to the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Bill, resulting in the removal of custodial sentences for persons in possession of 30 grammes or less of cannabis.

Work is work, but when it comes to certain professions, there is an expected moral commitment for persons to work out of love and not economic gain.

A few days ago, I was completing an interview for a story I was working on.

Squatting in the media is always framed in contentious terms. Mainly, the topic comes up when those residing on lands that were not titled to them, are being forced out by the government or private citizens.

It’s a new year, and with it comes the government’s reignited commitment toward the “One Guyana” agenda.

From November 25th to December 10th, the annual 16 days of activism campaign against gender-based violence against women and girls was observed.

One thing that is absolutely loved by governments who care more about staying perpetually fixed in their re-election campaigns rather than implementing progressive changes, is the allure of consultations.

All around us, there is verifiable evidence about the way fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas are speeding up the warming of the earth.

The question of leaving these shores is one that the majority of Guyanese have had to face at least once in their life.

There is a worrying regularity with which unexplained deaths of mothers and their infants occur within both the public and private health systems in Guyana.

“I don’t do breakfast or dinner, dinner is only when I feel hungry if not I mostly do a snack in the evening just to manage the rations for the month.”

In 2021, the International Monetary Fund projected Guyana as the fourth largest growing economy in the world for 2022.

Grounded in pro-democracy movements during the US-backed dictatorship in 1986, the Haitian Creole word, “Dechoukaj” became a clarion call for Haitian resistance.

Land ownership has always been seen as a symbol of generational wealth and security, due to the important role in personal and collective development that it is seen to play.

Guyana, in its few areas of progressiveness, had in 2010 passed the Sexual Offences Act that addressed the criminalisation of marital rape.