Latest news with #Martinique
France 24
18-07-2025
- Health
- France 24
Frantz Fanon: From Martinique to Algeria, the journey of an anti-colonialist
Frantz Fanon, an anti-colonial and anti-racist icon, didn't hold back. During his short life, he spared no effort to fight for, as he put it: "the cause of the people, the cause of justice and freedom." World War II: The Awakening At just 18 years old, he left his native Martinique to voluntarily join Charles de Gaulle 's Free French Forces. The young soldier was decorated for his service, risking his life to fight the Nazis. But the recognition was superficial: Black people were subjected to racism, both in the military and in civilian life. He felt disillusioned – in France, his heroism mattered less than the colour of his skin. Years on the 'mainland' After studying medicine in Lyon, Fanon published his first book. "Black Skin, White Masks" examines colonialist constructs, in an attempt to break free from them. That same year, he completed his psychiatry internship at Saint-Alban, in Lozère, alongside François Tosquelles. This Spanish anti-fascist political refugee introduced him to an innovative practice of social therapy – a means of treating mental health patients with dignity. Life in French Algeria In 1953, Fanon was sent to French Algeria. At just 28, he became chief physician at the hospital in Blida. Following Tosquelles's principles, he transformed his department and revolutionised what was at the time a racist and morally bankrupt form of colonial psychiatry. At the same time, he became involved in the Algerian revolution, treating wounded fighters. In December 1956, he resigned from his hospital position and moved to newly independent Tunisia. There, he continued his work as a psychiatrist, contributed to the FLN (National Liberation Front) newspaper El Moudjahid, and represented Algeria at Pan-African conferences. Fanon would not live to see the outcome of his struggle. He died of leukaemia in 1961 at the age of 36, one year before Algeria gained independence. A hundred years after his birth in Fort-de-France in 1925, Fanon remains a powerful anti-racist and anti-colonial reference for intellectuals, artists and activists around the world.
The Guardian
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
The Ballad of Suzanne Césaire review – the legacy of a dissident and inspirational surrealist author
This brief work from New York film-maker Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich is the equivalent of a platform performance in the theatre: a look at the works of Caribbean feminist, anti-imperialist and surrealist partisan Suzanne Césaire, played by Zita Hanrot; Hanrot, rather, plays an actress musingly preparing to play her. Césaire's brief, intense flowering of work occurred in second world war Martinique, then a colony of France, controlled by the collaborationist Vichy government. Paradoxically liberated by this oppressive situation, Césaire co-founded a journal called Tropiques and published an influential series of essays on politics, literature and art, which showed how passionately inspired she was by her encounter with the great surrealist André Breton. For Césaire, surrealism was a revolutionary mode of thinking and feeling: a battle cry and a challenge to the accepted order, and as she puts it here, the 'tightrope of our hope'. This is an image that conveys vertiginous excitement and danger, although Césaire was a surrealist in the sense of being an evangelist for and a theoretician of surrealism, rather than a practitioner. Her essays do however have a prose-poetic quality. If this chamber-piece film is a little opaque, perhaps that is because Césaire herself is opaque. After 1945, she stopped publishing her own work, transferring her energies to teaching in Martinique and elsewhere, and in looking after her large family. Perhaps the liberation of France, an event that certainly did not presage its colonies' liberation, was not an inspiring moment. And perhaps also her story is all too familiar; she found herself crowded out of the spotlight by a prominent husband, in this case Aimé Césaire, whose literary and political career made him a substantial public figure in France into the 21st century. Suzanne died in 1966, by which stage the record shows that she and Aimé were in fact divorced. A calm and interesting introduction to an important dissident author. The Ballad of Suzanne Césaire is in UK cinemas from 18 July.
Washington Post
03-06-2025
- Health
- Washington Post
Scientists say a record amount of seaweed hit the Caribbean and nearby areas in May
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A record amount of sargassum piled up across the Caribbean and nearby areas in May, and more is expected this month, according to a new report. The brown prickly algae is suffocating shorelines from Puerto Rico to Guyana and beyond, disrupting tourism, killing wildlife and even releasing toxic gases that forced one school in the French Caribbean island of Martinique to temporarily close.
The Guardian
03-06-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Caribbean beaches blighted by record masses of stinking seaweed
A record amount of sargassum has piled up across the Caribbean and nearby areas in May, and more is expected this month, according to a new study. The brown prickly algae is suffocating shorelines from Puerto Rico to Guyana and beyond, disrupting tourism, killing wildlife and even releasing toxic gases that forced one school in the French Caribbean island of Martinique to temporarily close. The amount – 38m tonnes – is the biggest quantity of algae observed across the Caribbean Sea, the western and eastern Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico since scientists began studying the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt in 2011, said Brian Barnes, an assistant research professor at the University of South Florida who worked on the new report from the University of South Florida's Optical Oceanography Lab. The previous record was set in June 2022 , with some 22m tonnes. 'The peaks just seem to keep getting bigger and bigger year after year,' he said. But scientists don't know why yet. 'It's the million-dollar question,' he said. 'I don't have a supremely satisfying answer.' Three different types of sargassum exist in the Caribbean and nearby areas, reproducing asexually as they remain afloat thanks to tiny air sacs. They thrive in different ways depending on sunlight, nutrients and water temperature, factors that scientists are currently studying, Barnes said. Experts have also said that agricultural runoff, warming waters and changes in wind, current and rain could have an effect. While large clumps of algae in the open ocean are what Barnes called a 'healthy, happy ecosystem' for creatures ranging from tiny shrimp to endangered sea turtles, sargassum near or on shore can wreak havoc. It can block sunlight that coral reefs need to survive, and if the algae sinks, it can smother reefs and sea grasses. Once it reaches shore, the creatures living in the algae die or are picked off by birds, Barnes said. Huge piles of stinky seaweed also are a headache for the Caribbean, where tourism often generates big money for small islands. In the popular tourist spot of Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, officials have invested in barriers to prevent sargassum from reaching the shore. In the Dutch Caribbean territory of Sint Maarten, crews with backhoes were dispatched in late May as part of an emergency cleanup after residents complained of strong smells of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, which can affect a person's respiratory system. 'The smell is quite terrible,' Barnes said. Meanwhile, in the French Caribbean, officials expect to soon use storage barges and an upgraded special vessel that can collect several tonnes of seaweed a day. The sargassum 'disfigures our coasts, prevents swimming and makes life impossible for local residents', the French prime minister, François Bayrou, recently told reporters. But Comito said such vessels were 'massively expensive' and not a popular option, noting that another option – using heavy equipment – is labor-intensive. 'You have to be careful because there could be sea turtle eggs affected,' he said. 'It's not like you can go in there and massively rake and scrape the whole thing.' Some Caribbean islands struggle financially, so most of the cleanup is done by hotels, with some offering guests refunds or a free shuttle to unaffected beaches. Every year, the amount of sargassum expands in late spring, peaks around summer and starts to decline in the late fall or early winter, Barnes said. The new record is likely to be broken – experts said they expect even more sargassum for June.
The Independent
03-06-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Scientists say a record amount of seaweed hit the Caribbean and nearby areas in May
A record amount of sargassum piled up across the Caribbean and nearby areas in May, and more is expected this month, according to a new report. The brown prickly algae is suffocating shorelines from Puerto Rico to Guyana and beyond, disrupting tourism, killing wildlife and even releasing toxic gases that forced one school in the French Caribbean island of Martinique to temporarily close. The amount — 38 million metric tons — is the biggest quantity of algae observed across the Caribbean Sea, the western and eastern Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico since scientists began studying the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt in 2011, said Brian Barnes, an assistant research professor at the University of South Florida who worked on the report published on Monday by the University of South Florida's Optical Oceanography Lab. The previous record was set in June 2022, with some 22 million metric tons. 'The peaks just seem to keep getting bigger and bigger year after year,' he said. But scientists don't know why yet. 'It's the million-dollar question,' he said. 'I don't have a supremely satisfying answer.' Three different types of sargassum exist in the Caribbean and nearby areas, reproducing asexually as they remain afloat thanks to tiny air sacs. They thrive in different ways depending on sunlight, nutrients and water temperature, factors that scientists are currently studying, Barnes said. Experts also have said that agricultural runoff, warming waters and changes in wind, current and rain could have an effect. While large clumps of algae in the open ocean are what Barnes called a 'healthy, happy ecosystem' for creatures ranging from tiny shrimp to endangered sea turtles, sargassum near or on shore can wreak havoc. It can block sunlight that coral reefs need to survive, and if the algae sinks, it can smother reefs and sea grasses. Once it reaches shore, the creatures living in the algae die or are picked off by birds, Barnes said. Huge piles of stinky seaweed also are a headache for the Caribbean, where tourism often generates big money for small islands. 'It is a challenge, but it's certainly not affecting every single inch of the Caribbean,' said Frank Comito, special adviser to the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association. In the popular tourist spot of Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, officials have invested in barriers to prevent sargassum from reaching the shore, he said. In the Dutch Caribbean territory of St. Maarten, crews with backhoes were dispatched in late May as part of an emergency clean-up after residents complained of strong smells of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, which can affect a person's respiratory system. 'The smell is quite terrible,' Barnes said. Meanwhile, in the French Caribbean, officials expect to soon use storage barges and an upgraded special vessel that can collect several tons of seaweed a day. The sargassum 'disfigures our coasts, prevents swimming and makes life impossible for local residents,' French Prime Minister François Bayrou recently told reporters. But Comito said such vessels are 'massively expensive' and not a popular option, noting that another option — using heavy equipment —- is labor-intensive. 'You have to be careful because there could be sea turtle eggs affected,' he said. 'It's not like you can go in there and massively rake and scrape the whole thing.' Some Caribbean islands struggle financially, so most of the cleanup is done by hotels, with some offering guests refunds or a free shuttle to unaffected beaches. Every year, the amount of sargassum expands in late spring, peaks around summer and starts to decline in the late fall or early winter, Barnes said. The new record set is hardly stationary — experts said they expect even more sargassum for June. ____
