"Slavery: Past & Present"

"Slavery: Past & Present"

Annual Meeting of the Social Science History Association November 2-5, 2017 Montreal, Quebec, Canada

The theme for this year's SSHA conference is "Changing Social Connections in Time and Space." With that in mind, this panel aims to bring together scholars working on slavery whose research explores the way in which perceptions about slavery—past and present—have been shaped by the movements of ideas, changing discourses, and the privileging of certain sorts of memories. Interested individuals should send a CV and abstract (300 words) to Dr. Audra A. Diptee at < audra.diptee@carleton.ca>.

25^th anniversary of haitian interdictions at the U.S. Naval Station at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba (GTMO) commemorated by release of historic newspapers online

November 2016 marked the 25^th anniversary of the interdiction of thousands of Haitian who left home in fragile sailboats following a military coup that ended the democratically elected government of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The Haitian sailors were taken to a hastily built tent city at GTMO where some remained until 1992. It was the first use of GTMO as an extralegal mass holding facility.

Although newspapers worldwide covered the politics of the situation, the only reporters continuously located at GTMO were those who wrote for the base newspaper. The day-to-day events that were recorded in the base newspaper are now available online in the Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLoc): <http://dloc.com/results/brief/?t=guantanamo+newspapers>. These papers were not previously available to the public because copies were only located at a small community library at the Naval Station. Anyone interested in military history; Caribbean Studies; Cuban Studies or Haitian Studies will find much content of interest in these important primary documents.

In this project collaborated the Library for Latin American Studies at Duke University, the Public Affairs Office at GTMO, dLoc at Florida International University, the University of Florida Libraries, the Guantánamo Public Memory Project at Columbia University, and the University of South Carolina. Financial assistance was solicited from the Center for Research Libraries, Latin American Materials Project to pay for the digitalization of the newspapers at the University of Florida's Digital Production Center in Gainesville, FL. Digitization has been completed.

All above information courtesy of H Net Caribbean <https://networks.h-net.org/h-caribbean>.

Guyana implementing multi-million dollar program to fight human trafficking in the country

Caribbean 360 reports that Guyana is implementing a multi-pronged multi-million dollar program—the 2017-2018 National Plan of Action for the Prevention and Response to Trafficking in Persons—to fight human trafficking in the country, which saw a 145 percent increase in trafficking in 2016.

People involved in human trafficking in Guyana have been put on notice: "Authorities are coming after you and will not stop until you are brought to justice." The government has rolled out a new multi-million dollar strategy which it expects will lead to a dramatic decline in cases over the next two years.

Demerara Waves online reported that Guyana recorded 40 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) cases in 2014; a 47 per cent increase in 2015 and a 145 per cent increase in 2016. Of the 197 persons trafficked during the 2014-2016 period, 89 per cent were females and 89 per cent were 32 years and younger. The majority of the victims were Guyanese, with non-nationals accounting for 41 per cent.

Under the GUY$22 million (US$105,683) plan, law enforcers will boost their surveillance—monitoring the operations of suspected hotspots including bars, nightclubs, massage rooms, modelling/art agencies, mining camps and other businesses. […]

For full article, see <http://www.caribbean360.com/news/guyana-government-going-human-traffickers-vengeance>.

Cuban Film Poster exhibition opens at UNESCO

An extensive exhibition of film posters made in Cuba was opened on January 19, 2017 at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, as proof of the extraordinary boost to cultural activity in the island nation in the 1960s, after the victory of the revolution, according to Cuban Ambassador to UNESCO Dulce Buergo (see Prensa Latina and Cubacine...