The Betty Black Blog

Jamaica has been for centuries one of the wealthiest countries in the region. Correction: make that “had been” as, over the last forty years or so, we have been losing that distinction. The world recession has made the situation even more obvious. Now I’m no economist, nor would I want to be, but it seems [...]

Hanukkah or Chanukah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, runs this year from 11th to 19th December.
Jamaica’s motto “out of Many, One People” is all too true as, although over 90% of the population is of African heritage, we are indeed one big melting pot. From the first day Columbus set foot on Jamaican soil there [...]

None of us is getting any younger, but just how old are you really?
You know you are getting old if:

On the 28th of November 1800 the streets of Kingston and Spanish Town were bustling with excitement! The new bridge to be installed over the Rio Cobre has arrived in the Island. This marvel of modern technology, cast iron, was designed by Thomas Wilson and the parts cast in England by the Walker Ironworks Company. [...]

Well dear friends we’re entering that Mad Season again! And in fine tradition we’ve borrowed American Thanksgiving from our friends to the north and are already going crazy (if we aren’t in Miami shopping) despite the fact that we’re in the middle of one of the worst recessions in history!

In Flanders Fields
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with [...]

On Friday last (6th Nov) one of the news items which caught our attention was that PetroJam is now producing only E10 and that it is virtually impossible to obtain any other type of gas at the pumps. On the surface our first reaction is to applaud PetroJam for this excellent move, as indeed our [...]

The recent article in all the media regarding Bolt adopting a cheetah cub, that is paying for its upkeep, has made me think on something that has bothered me for a great many years. Hope Zoo.
I first visited Hope Zoo the very week it opened. I could not have been more than five or six [...]

Does anyone remember Leandro? As well as the major historic events, there are so many little things that make Jamaica unique. We have so many cartoonists now, there’s Clovis and others, that we forget that once upon a time there was only one!

Over the centuries, Jamaica has attracted many an adventurous soul from far away. Some come to stay; some stay a while then continue on their journey. There’s been Henry Morgan and Horatio Nelson; there’s been Errol Flynn and Ian Fleming and many more not quite so famous. Nor have all these interesting visitors been from [...]