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“Chattel slavery is what most people have in mind when they think of the kind of slavery that existed in the United States before the Civil War” (fightslaverynow.org, 2015). From the video “The Dangers of a Single Story”, it shows that if you hear only one side of a story, that is all that you would believe and not think anything else of it and just accept that one story as the only truth. The story that those in the Caribbean know, is that slavery is being forced to work and die in inhuman standards. However, that was one side of the story, chattel slavery, but there were other forms of slavery, where one would pay off their debts or make life better for their family, but still not treated in inhuman ways, by being sold into slavery.

“The Portuguese expeditions of the 15th century bring European ships for the first time into regular contact with sub-Saharan Africa.” (historyworld.net). This is the story that is almost always told, when bringing up slavery. This threw out the sort of understanding of why there was slavery in Africa. That is why when it is first heard that they were traded for unseen items, that one would be appalled of the idea. However, if one knew the story of the Africans slavery only, they would think that the trading of slaves for goods would be a splendid idea.

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In Trinidad, there is a lot of diversity in the people living here. There is also locations where a majority of an ethnicity can be found or be highly known for. There are differences with how each ethnic group acts with another or their own ethnic groups. Where African decent and Indians would more likely be seen in groups of their own ethnicity and/or mixed around with other groups, while most other ethnic groups usually keep to themselves.

After colonial times, it is known than the Lebanese would have been seen to come around to sell goods, and within several years, they were those in the upper class society. While Africans would tend to copy the colonials ways and fight for property. Indians would tend to use the land they gained and had extended families, and be more family oriented.

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"The right to Free Movement means that a qualified CARICOM national can live and work in any CARICOM state that participates in the Free Movement regime without the need for a work permit" (CSME). During the course, we learnt about immigration and education, where these two topics have much to relate with the free movement. This act was placed/created due to the fact that currently, there are not enough jobs for every worker in each country, having a large unemployed population who are not able to provide, despite being educated. In this, it allows CARICOM nationals, to travel to another CARICOM state in order to search for employment, with the benefits of being able to leave and re-enter a member state; no need of a work permit; recognition of education from institutions; and work treatment equal to a national worker.

This also applies to their education aspect, where they are able to go to other CARICOM states and get an education from these countries’ institutions. This is a good and bad thing at the same time, while it allows for the sharing of skills to different countries; possibly a decrease in unemployment rates; it can cause a raise in criminal activity or such, if people are allowed to easily move about the countries and having a negative impact on the countries community. “That noted, many members of CARICOM share common features such as high youth employment, poverty, high crime rates…” (Caribbean Journal, 2015).

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By Marcia Forbes, PhD
CJ Contributor

As a member of the Inter-American Development Bank's Civil Society Consultative Committee I was invited to present at the 'XIV Reunion BID - Sociedad Civil' in Nicaragua late 2014. The following are excerpts from my preparation pertaining to Caribbean youth and jobs.
Regional Diversity
The Caribbean, by whatever definition, is comprised of countries that are not homogeneous. They present diverse and unique features such as geographical size, multi-ethnic populations with cultural differences, varying age profiles and socio-economic conditions. Data which present aggregated perspectives of the region are quite likely to disguise important differences. That noted, many members of CARICOM share common features such as high youth employment, poverty, high crime rates, high levels of female headed households and failing education systems. So even in their admitted diversity, Caribbean youths bear some similarities.
Youth - A Critical Cohort
Like the Caribbean, the definition of 'youth' varies. Different organizations use different age ranges in their definition. Many Caribbean youth policies categorize those 15 to 30 years of age as 'youth'. For the United Nations it is those 15 to 24 years of age. In its 2010 report, Eye on the Future Investing in Youth Now for Tomorrow's Community, CARICOM used the age range of 15 to 20. It is not always clear which age range is being used by various studies and reports.

The Caribbean has a youthful population, with sixty (60) per cent of its citizenry under the age of 30 years. Those in the 15 to 29 age range comprise almost twenty (20) percent of this. Young people therefore form a critical cohort and represent the hopes, aspirations and future of the region.
Caribbean has Highest Youth Unemployment Levels
Although youth unemployment is a big issue globally, it is especially so across many Caribbean countries. Caribbean youth unemployment levels are reported to be the highest in the world ( Youth Unemployment and Labour in the Caribbean, Caribbean Knowledge Series, January 2014).

Underemployment is also a major concern. Looking at the labour force data for Jamaica, one frightening statistic is that almost two-thirds of the underemployed fall in the 25 to 44 age range. Then too, almost another 40% is unemployed. This country is increasingly unable to compete because the culture of work is foreign to so many of her citizens. Youth unemployment and underemployment are cancers that eat away at the psychological well-being of Caribbean youth.
Negative Social Conditions
Hit by the global recession of 2008/2009, many Caribbean countries, already reeling from poverty and high debt to GDP ratios, have sunken deeper into economic decline, with a regional average of zero economic growth in 2010. Caribbean countries have also declined into social quagmire. Within the region, negative social conditions of poverty, crime, relatively high rates of teenage pregnancy and HIV/AIDS, mismatch between workplace requirements and school curricula, and joblessness have pushed eighty-five percent (85%) of youth in this region to see migration to more developed countries as an attractive option ( Eye on the Future, CARICOM 2010).
Regional Unemployment
Figure 3 (data sourced from Youth Unemployment and Labour in the Caribbean, January 2014) highlights unemployment levels in selected Caribbean countries before and after the global recession. Although these are national levels, we know that the trend is for youth unemployment to be substantially above national levels. Take Barbados for example where in 2010 the national rate was 11.1% while the overall youth unemployment rate was about 2.5 times higher at 27.6%. We also know that in general female youths suffer greater levels of unemployment than their male counterparts.
Looking to North America
Caribbean youth do not look to better-performing countries within the region for jobs or access to a better life. They primarily look to North America, in particular the USA. Many are disappointed and disillusioned, describing life in the Caribbean as "living in hell", "living without hope" and "living like dogs" ( Eye on the Future, CARICOM 2010). These views are not unfounded given the region's high and rapidly climbing homicide rate, moving from under 20 homicides per 100,000 population in 1995 to about 30 per 100,000 in 2011, coupled with other previously mentioned negative social conditions. The region stands to continue to lose its brightest and best, a situation that does not bode well for Caribbean growth and development.
Caribbean Youths Unprepared for New Global Realities
The digital divide is a reality within the Caribbean. The majority of youths in this region do not have Internet access at home; neither do they have personal computers. They mainly rely on access to these technologies at school. This is usually woefully inadequate to prepare them to compete with youths elsewhere who are better equipped. For example, in Jamaica household Internet penetration is a mere 15.6% while only 24% have a computer at home (Caribbean ICT Indicators and Broadband Survey - Jamaica Report, Mona School of Business, UWI 2011). Although there is a Government-funded eLearning Project to computerize schools, facilitate Internet access and electronic learning, many students admit that they abuse school facilities, using them to access pornography (Forbes, 2012) and play games.

In my own data-collection across Jamaica, Dominica, Trinidad and the USA, it is clear that Caribbean youths mainly focus on downloading, not uploading content, except for Facebook posts. Many see the Internet as a place for entertainment, to watch music videos and engage via social networks.

"Facebooking topped the list, accounting for a whopping 59.5 percent of the combined top

three activities that occupy Jamaican's time online" (Forbes, 2012:27).

Many youths do not conceive of the Internet as a place for finding jobs, believing instead that without family and friendship connections finding a job is virtually impossible. It is only in its 2014 examinations that the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) introduced a Digital Media Syllabus.

The digital divide and inadequate digital literacy contribute to joblessness as youths fail to take full advantage of the Internet in their job search.

Additionally, information communication technology (ICT) and digital skills are in high demand by employers. Those who are not so equipped are at a distinct disadvantage.
Dr Marcia Forbes, a Caribbean Journal contributor, is a media specialist, the co-owner of multimedia production company Phase 3 Productions Ltd and former Permanent Secretary in Jamaica's Ministry of Mining and Telecommunications and later the Ministry of Energy and Mining. She is the author of Music, Media & Adolescent Sexuality in Jamaica and the recently-released Streaming: Social Media, Mobile Lifestyles. Follow Dr Marcia Forbes on Twitter: @marciaforbes

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By Marcia Forbes, PhD CJ Contributor As a member of the Inter-American Development Bank's Civil Society Consultative Committee I was invited to present at the 'XIV Reunion BID - Sociedad Civil' in Nicaragua late 2014. The following are excerpts from my preparation pertaining to Caribbean youth and jobs.

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This foundation course, Caribbean Civilization, to me was more of a recap of my learning of Caribbean Studies, with additional information such as: what were middens; revisionism, which helped clear the 4 Myths of the Caribbean; and the terms learnt, that were used to describe the views of the people. In this course, I was able to refresh my knowledge about the Caribbean and make connections or better understand our history and the effects that have had and continue to affect our daily surroundings within the Caribbean.

At first, I thought that I would learn nothing new about the Caribbean, but was surprised to know how little I knew or remembered. The how and why our society is as diverse as it is today, was intriguing to relearn and understand. An important fact to me that I learnt, was how women were used and abused, had to work twice as hard as the men, and yet, were taught to be under men, that all they were good for was breeding and taking care of the young. While the sons of these mothers, grew up and adopted a patriarchal mindset, which has and sadly continues to hamper the women of today, though to a lesser effect.

I can happily acknowledge that after going through this course, I have been able to get a new perspective on things that happen around me.