At first, she tried to quiet her pained moans, but the thin sheets of plywood didn’t offer the dignity she sought. It’s a strange experience being lulled to sleep by someone’s suffering which sounds like meditative humming while also being kept awake by your own sense of inadequacy.

At eight, I slept with the constant knowledge that I was powerless. In the Caribbean, you are quite aware of your lack of power as a child. When you are given that sharp look by your mother in church to keep you qui

Barbados recently joined Cuba, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, and Haiti to become a republic, making it the latest Parliamentary Republic in the Caribbean. The importance of that day was not lost on the millions watching or thousands of Bajans waving the nation’s flag amidst boisterous applause. Why, then, in the middle of this audacious political act, during all this national empowerment and unapologetic display of independence, did I feel most inspired by the discreet p...