a day in the park
Since returning to Jamaica from the US a couple of years ago, I have been keenly aware of race and the positioning of whiteness in the Caribbean broadly and in…
Author: IsisSemajHall
Thinker. Writer. Originator.
nobody told me this
It is mid-semester. The last couple of weeks of exams have weighed heavily on University students. After hearing from so many students on the verge of giving up, I write…
a hundred $ stab
About an hour ago or so, I saw four officers of Jamaica’s Constabulary Force poised with weapons in hand. Three of these officers held semi-automatic rifles, while the fourth maintained…
a new story
From negro, to nigger, to black, to enslaved property — but still negro. To Other, to colored, back to black, to African-American, to nigga, to African American without a hyphen,…
6 million ways to be kind, choose one
Before Tommy Lee Sparta or Popcaan came with their new millenium chop-up/ shoot-up tunes there was Cutty Ranks. As an actual meat butcher turned lyricist, Cutty Ranks released what would come…
gentrified goats, imported cars
ATL Autobahn opened a few days ago in Jamaica’s capital city. At the cost of US$15 million, the state-of-the-art car showroom and service center has the regional dealership rights to…
the end is near
Today is World AIDS Day (#WAD2017) and this year’s campaign theme is “Let’s End It.” World AIDS Day was the first global health day. The worldwide day of recognition began…
kinda like a mesh marina
I posted a picture to my Instagram (@riddim.writer) yesterday. The caption was a simple acknowledgment of my #booklife struggle: “organized. not. alphabatized.” When I looked back at the image, I…
"write pon di riddim" 