The Two Escobars

The new documentary, The Two Escobars, is a unique examination of how drug cartels infiltrated, built up, and contributed to the downfall of Colombian professional soccer.

Tags: colombia, drug, escobar, movie, the two escobars

Saturday Links

* I love how the Salvadoran news website El Faro experiments with multimedia coverage on Central American stories. Lo que muere en El Espino takes on the issue of the threat to nature and biodiversity in a forest reserve in San Salvador due to the construction of a highway, told through striking images of the park and interviews with the photographer and reporter.

Tags: clinton, el faro, fidel, jeffrey goldberg, lgbtq, Links, multimedia

Música: Abrázame/Hold Yuh

I’ve been spinning, sharing, and singing along (loudly) to Abrázame by Los Rakas since it dropped in May. Not only does it contain the elements of a flawless 2010 summer banger–with a mix of song and rap, male and female voices, and a minimalist dancehall riddim, but it connects the dots of my latest travels.

Tags: abrazame, bay area, dancehall, faviola, gyptian, hold yuh, kingston, Los Rakas, music, oakland, uproot andy

Cellphone Records Police Kill Subdued Man

On Friday a murder suspect from St. Ann was killed by the Jamaican police. The Constabulary Communication Network issued a press release stating the man, Ian “Ching Sing” Lloyd, was shot after attacking officers. So far, routine news–something you read of in the papers every other day here.

In this case, though, the shooting happened in front of a crowd of onlookers, among whom was a citizen who captured it all on a cellphone video.

Tags: carolyn gomes, ccn, cellphone, ching sing, citizen journalism, constabulary communication network, extrajudicial killing, jamaica, jamaicans for justice, jcf, jfj, owen elington, st. ann

Born Fi’ Dead, the Epilogue

I’d love to hear what writer Laurie Gunst has to say about the recent developments in Jamaica. Her 1996 book, Born Fi’ Dead, is the definitive narrative of the creation of  Kingston garrisons, posses, and dons, from their conception by political parties to their evolution as international trafficking rings. I was rereading it when Jamaica signed an extradition warrant for Christopher “Dudus” Coke in May, and Gunst’s prose is even more insightful in light of current events.

‘Miss Milli’ Dies Before Attaining Justice

The mothcr of Janice Allen, a 13-year old who was killed by the police in 2000 and who became the face of extra-judicial killings in Jamaica,  died on Sunday at age 53. Her pursuit of justice for her daughter brought the case international attention and continued until the end.

Her legal battle, while protracted, frustrating, and littered with repeated injustices, set a precedent in fighting police abuse in Jamaica.

Obituary in The Observer.

Jamaicans for Justice Press Release.

2003 UK Guardian article on police abuse in Jamaica.

Identifying the Dead in Tivoli Gardens

Not an Easy Road for Artistes

First, last month Voicemail singer Oneil Edwards is fatally shot coming home in Kingston late at night.

Then, last weekend at the funeral procession for Edwards, graffiti artist LA Lewis scrapes Beenie Man’s SUV, so Beenie Man allegedly gets out of the car to give Lewis a few punches, and is then detained by the police.

A few days later, Gyptian gets in a motorcycle accident with a pedestrian.

After all this and then some, Trinidad has decided it just doesn’t want the kind of luck that tends to surround Jamaican artists, so when Ding Dong arrived in Port-of-Spain for a show, authorities promptly turned him away.

Oh yeah, Buju Banton is still in a Miami jail cell. His trial for charges of cocaine distribution has most recently been rescheduled for September. If you haven’t heard, you can buy a t-shirt to support his legal defense, which sadly failed to win a transfer to another prison that would have been more suitable for the artist’s rasta diet. I can’t wait to hear the songs Gargamel’s working on in there.

Monday Links-The Dudus Edition

Most telling picture from the coverage of the past week’s sweep of Western Kingston–an archival photo of Dudus business partner Justin O’Gilvie signing a government contract, with the Minister of Transport and Works looking on. O’Gilvie was taken into custody on Saturday.

From The Jamaica Observer, May 31, 2010

What’s going on in Kingston?

When Jamaica hits international newspapers outside of the travel section, you know something serious is going on. Most of the news  of the state of emergency in Kingston, Jamaica, has been repetitive and without much background to a story that’s been developing for months, or as many Jamaicans would argue, years. Here’s some of the more elucidating reports on the situation.

Tivoli Speaks

On Thursday, Jamaican security forces took journalists on a tour of Tivoli Gardens, the center of the violence, an area led by alleged trafficker Christopher “Dudus” Coke and represented by Prime Minister Bruce Golding. What reporters were allowed to see was selective, but The Gleaner put together this video of the voices of some residents.