Over the last few weeks I’ve gotten in the habit of listening to GuardianTalk Radio’s livestream. I catch Teej Grant’s “Coffee Break” and “The Darold Miller Show.” Honestly, it has become a bit of a distraction; I become far to engrossed to get anything done.

A few weeks ago, I happened to catch Michael Strachan’s “Morning Blend.” Dr. Michelle Major, and one other doctor whose name I don’t recall, talked about the issues disabled Bahamians face on daily basis. The doctors claimed that there were about 7,000 autistic persons in the Bahamas, but most surprising was this statistic: 30% of Bahamians are disabled in some way...

This is probably the point at which my good Anglican grandmother, now deceased, would probably be humming, “The Strife is O’er.” Admittedly, it’s a funeral hymn and I imagine some might assume I’m singing it for the Free National Movement. Honestly, I’m just glad the election is o’er because now the real work can start.

I wanted to begin this piece by addressing what I believed was the failure of the Bahamian pundit-class to predict the spanking the Free National Movement took this elections. I’m revising that position for a few reasons.

First, I can’t speak about the Bahamian pundit-class is if I’m some kind of rogue outsider anymore. I just hung up from a Jamaican radio show who contacted me...

If you bought my argument in the first installment of this series—that this election will be one of the most important in Grand Bahama’s recent history—then I would imagine a few questions naturally followed. If, for example, this election is of such importance, for whom should I cast my ballot? I am inclined to agree with my friend, Erin A. Ferguson.  This question is dangerously reductive and no good can come of it. Instead of asking, “Who ya votin’ for?” in Grand Bahama, it is time we examine what we are voting for.

In Part 2 of the “Grand Bahama and the 2012 Elections Series,” I will attempt to summarize and compare policy initiatives proposed by each of the political parties as they concern Grand Bahama. It is not my intention to conclude this piece by telling you which policies are the best to vote for—that is a decision only you can make. I have worked to cull together information from various mediums, all of them public...

When I first started this column, I wrote about being a Bahamian. More specifically, I wrote about being from Freeport—being born to parents who themselves were born in Grand Bahama. I talked about attending Mary Star of the Sea School and Freeport Anglican High School, when it was still called that. Even after leaving for college, I returned to spend my breaks boozing in Bahama Mama’s and partying on Fortune Beach, where many of my childhood memories were made.  In my mind, Freeport is and will always be home, but it certainly doesn’t feel that way anymore.

Maybe I just happened to fly into Freeport on a bad day in August 2011, but I have a feeling there was nothing especially different about that particular Tuesday. The city was quiet—a ghost town almost. There seemed to be just a few locals about with almost no tourists to be found. Downtown, stores were shuttered and buildings seemed abandoned.  The once well manicured grass...

Imagine my surprise upon reading the first line of the Tribune article entitled, “Call for Ban on Porn,”  which appeared in last Friday’s paper. I was especially taken aback by the report that members of the Bahamas Christian Council (BCC) sat through 12 X-rated films. Comforted by the fact that they were doing this for a purpose, to confirm that pornography was un-Christian and should be banned, I was still left with a few questions which I hope to work through publicly in the piece.

Why is it that at this moment pornography should be banned? What purpose does banning pornography serve? Did I miss something; was Bishop Randy out on bail?  And, why did it take 12 X-rated movies to come to this conclusion

Explicitly, my intention is to present an argument for why I believe this election season requires a debate between the leaders of the three most visible political parties.

There are, I would argue, questions that remain concerning the lack of any pronounced or marked ideological difference between these three parties, and in these difficult times the Bahamas needs thoughtful and critical leadership.

Public debate should enrich the political process and supply Bahamians with varying and alternative imaginings of our possibilities as nation...

Bishop Hall,

I’m going to make this quick because I hadn’t planned writing about you or HIV/AIDS this week. I had a pretty good piece coming up on Prime Minister Ingraham’s call for a “culture of peace”. So here’s what I’ll do. I’m going to summarize what you’ve said over the last week, explain to you why you’re wrong, and show you why being wrong is dangerous. I have no intention of challenging the infallibility of the Bible, or your faith, but I have every intention of pointing out your fallibility. And, while I have in the past questioned the rationale of “the Church” in the Bahamas, its place in governance and its right to dictate morals, there are larger questions at stake here. For me, this is about the preservation of human life not the general enjoyment I get out of highlighting how boisterous piousness is usually attended by blatant hypocrisies...

For the last month I’ve not written anything aside from a questionable Master’s dissertation. With a little less that 10,000 words on the page, I quickly left London for a much need trip home. Today, I’m writing from Exuma, my first trip to an “out island”. My mother has moved here from Freeport and I’ve been looking forward to this trip forever. So there it is, I’m writing from beneath a clear, star-speckled cosmic canopy and I don’t think I’ve ever seen the skies so vivid at night. That’s the thing about living in big cities; the stars are almost always obscured by the city's lights.

I’m sure most of you are aware that this summer London has been plagued by riots. Young and old, black, white and brown, took to the streets to show their “anti-social” colors. Molotov cocktails and shattered windows were the lighting and soundtrack that set the backdrop of August in parts London. Truthfully, I’ve been doing a bit of rioting myself, haven’t I?

"It may be best to start with a little about me. My name is Joseph Gaskins Jr., but just about everyone calls me Joey. I was born in Freeport, Grand Bahama on February 6^th, 1986. I am the progeny of Wilchcombe and Charlton lineage, and that coupled with my nationality as a Bahamian makes me very proud. As a measure of my parents’ hard work and dedication, I was schooled at Mary Star of the Sea and (the institution once known as) Freeport Anglican High School. I left for college in 2003 at 17 years old and I haven’t lived at home since, for reasons which I’m sure will make their way into my writing. I studied Politics at Ithaca College and I am close to finishing a Masters in Race, Ethnicity and Post-colonial studies at the London School of..."