Whaa-gwaan, cuz! Leroy here, from the Bronx, checking in on the yard. Lemme tell you something — Jamaica looking GREAT this week!
🇯🇲 Yo Cuz, Did You SEE the Cervical Cancer Numbers?
Real talk, I scrolled past the Gleaner this morning and let me tell you what stopped me cold.
Twenty THOUSAND HPV doses administered in 2025. Eighty-one percent coverage achieved. SERHA exceeding their screening targets. UNICEF on the ground, partnership going strong, post-Hurricane Melissa recovery on track.
Cuz, this is what I’m TALKING about! This is the Jamaica I tell my coworkers in the Bronx about. Health system WORKING. Women getting screened. Vaccines reaching the parishes. Dr Tufton out here doing the work.
You know how many places in the WORLD can’t run a vaccination programme this consistent? Plenty. Plenty places. Jamaica showing up. Jamaica showing OUT.
I’m proud, cuz. Proud.
📚 LORNA GOODISON DID WHAT???
Yo cuz, hold up. Lorna Goodison translated DANTE’S INFERNO into Jamaican English.
Dante. The Italian poet. The 14th century guy. The Hell book. Lorna Goodison spent TWO DECADES rendering it into the voice of the Caribbean.
Already nominated for the Governor General’s Literary Award. Internationally hailed as “epoch-making.” Launching at UWI Mona on May 6.
Cuz, you understand what this is? A Jamaican poet just claimed Dante. Not “translated” — claimed. Brought him into the patwa. Made him sound like he could’ve been from Spanish Town.
You think anybody in my Bronx neighbourhood is doing Dante in their dialect? Be serious. This is a flex. This is the kind of thing you frame on the wall.
I’m telling everybody at work tomorrow. They gonna pretend they know who Dante is. They don’t. That’s fine. The point is the news.
⚽ CAVALIER STILL THE CHAMPS, CUZ
Defending champions Cavalier beat Racing United 2-0. Kimarley Scott in the 63rd. Christopher Ainsworth penalty in the 70th. Play-offs lock-in is imminent.
Now look, I know some people gonna say “is just JPL.” Cuz, watch your mouth. Jamaica Premier League is a real league. Boys out there working. Trophies being defended. The football scene at home is BUILDING.
Plus the Reggae Boyz got CONCACAF stuff coming up, World Cup qualifiers in the cycle, and the entire infrastructure is moving in the right direction. People in Bronx tell me “yeah but they didn’t make the World Cup last cycle.” OK and? Italy didn’t make the last World Cup either. Where’s the Italy disrespect? I don’t see it.
Stop the negativity, cuz. Cavalier marching. Reggae Boyz cooking. Football WINNING in Jamaica.
🏛️ The BOJ Search — Confidence
Bank of Jamaica looking for a new governor. Fayval Williams running point on the search.
Some people, somewhere, are gonna tell you this is “uncertainty.” It is not uncertainty, cuz. It is succession planning. It is institutional maturity. It is the Bank of Jamaica running a structured executive search the way every modern central bank in the world runs structured executive searches.
You know how I know we’re in a good place? Because we HAVE a Bank of Jamaica that needs a governor because the economy is functioning. Some countries don’t even have a functioning central bank. We have a fully functioning one with a four-month succession runway.
That’s strength, cuz. That’s not a weakness. Read it correctly.
📖 PALS On Schools — The System Is Engaging
I read the PALS statement about the schools. Sad situation. Real sad.
But notice something, cuz. PALS made a statement. That means civil society is engaged. The Ministry will respond. Conflict resolution is on the agenda. The country is HAVING the conversation.
You know how many places have these problems and nobody is talking about them? You don’t even hear from them. Jamaica is transparent. Jamaica is proactive. Jamaica is working through it.
Tough times. But the system is responding. That’s what democracy looks like, cuz.
🛣️ NWA Doing Their Thing
The NWA put out an advisory about the Dunrobin Avenue intersection — traffic light’s out, motorists should exercise caution.
Cuz. DO YOU UNDERSTAND THIS? The National Works Agency is issuing official advisories about specific intersections in real time. This is modern infrastructure communication.
In some countries, you find out the light is broken when you crash. In Jamaica, the agency tells you in advance. NWA doing the work. Quietly. Professionally. Daily.
Big up the NWA.
🏘️ Annotto Bay: The MP Is ENGAGED
Christopher Brown, MP for St Mary Southeast, in active dialogue with the mayor about the parking situation in Annotto Bay.
This is what we call constituency representation. The MP is speaking to the mayor. The mayor is speaking to the corporation. The corporation is reviewing options. The PROCESS is HAPPENING.
Some places, the MP doesn’t even live in the constituency. Some places, the MP can’t name three streets in their own town. Christopher Brown can name the SPECIFIC STREETS. He knows where the higglers are. He knows where the cars are blocking. He’s writing letters.
That’s representation, cuz. Don’t take it for granted.
⚖️ Two Men Free — JUSTICE WORKED
Cuz, listen — two men who served fifteen years just had their convictions QUASHED by the Court of Appeal. They walked out free Friday.
Now some people gonna spin this as “the system failed for fifteen years.” I want you to look at it differently.
The system self-corrected. The Court of Appeal reviewed the evidence, found the convictions unsafe, and ordered the release. That is the system working. Slow? Yes. But functioning. Independent judiciary. Appeals process intact. Rule of law upheld.
In some countries, those men would still be in there. Or worse. Jamaica has a functioning appellate court that freed innocent men. That is a WIN for the system, even if it took too long.
We celebrate the freedom, cuz. We don’t dwell on the fifteen years. Forward we go.
🇯🇲 Bottom Line, Cuz
I read the Gleaner today and I’m gonna tell you what I see:
Healthcare hitting targets. Lorna Goodison putting Jamaican English on the literary world map. Cavalier defending the championship. The Central Bank running a clean succession. The NWA managing infrastructure publicly. MPs doing constituency work. The courts overturning bad convictions. UWI hosting epoch-making book launches.
This is a functioning country with strong institutions. Yes there are challenges. Every country has challenges. But Jamaica is engaging with hers.
I’m gonna call my mother in May Pen tonight and tell her what I’m telling you, cuz. Things looking up. Trust the country. Trust the system. Trust the process.
JNN runs on mute in the Bronx, but the patriotism is full volume. Big up Jamaica. Big up everybody back home doing the work.
— Cousin Leroy, Bronx, NY
Cousin Leroy is the diaspora optimist of The Tradewinds Brief. Same news, different eyes.