By Raffique Shah
June 15, 2014
I am writing this column knowing that it will not be read by the target audience—young, black and ‘er…unschooled men.
Few if any in this group read anything, least of all newspapers. If they pick up an Express, it would be to watch a photograph of some dead “bredren”, felled by bullets from police or criminal, same difference, and to wonder if they, upon meeting a similar fate, would make a pretty corpse.
Continue reading Architects of our own demise
Western Definition of Monotheism masks Imperialism
By Corey Gilkes
May 01, 2014 – trinicenter.com/Gilkes
So, following on from the last two articles, I want to look now at monotheism, the belief in a one and only god. To be more precise, the Eurocentric definition of it. What REALLY makes that concept so morally superior? What makes it more legitimate and righteous than the (so-called) polytheistic belief systems that came before? I’ll tell you, nothing.
Continue reading The Politics Behind “One” God
By Raffique Shah
March 09, 2014
That Trinidad Carnival is today mostly a feast of the flesh in its most carnal manifestation should surprise no one. We have worked very hard, over decades, to get here. Now that we have reached the pinnacle—a sea of near-naked bodies gyrating and simulating sex acts that put the Kama Sutra to pale—we should rejoice.
Continue reading Feast of the flesh
By Yvonne Baboolal
February 25, 2014 – guardian.co.tt
Homosexuality is not only threatening the arts but is used to indoctrinate gang members, says artist LeRoy Clarke. The T&T Guardian asked Clarke to elaborate on the comment he made last week at his book launch which shocked and outraged some of his fellow artists, members of the gay community and others. In a phone interview yesterday, Clarke related homosexuality to the increase in crime, saying young men are usually indoctrinated into gangs with homosexuality and because of the violation of their manhood use the gun as a symbol of their masculinity.
Continue reading Homosexuality threatens the arts, fuels crime—Clarke
By Raffique Shah
February 23, 2014
The Mighty Sparrow’s resurrection from a coma seems to have awakened many a dead, although the miracle I hoped for most, breathing new life into calypso, appears to be beyond the Birdie’s prowess.
Ever since calypso’s most iconic practitioner fell gravely ill, no pun intended, I assumed that the Government had quietly funded his medical expenses. After all, here’s the world’s greatest calypsonian in his winter years encountering not-unexpected health challenges, and his country, the land of calypso that he helped brand, enjoying a healthy economy, so much so that the authorities award millions of dollars every year to artistes of relative Lilliputian stature, you would think….
Continue reading Sparrow alive, calypso dead
By Raffique Shah
March 16, 2014
Two or three Carnivals ago, when Pan Trinbago introduced an exclusive party zone to the people’s Panorama, I protested, warning that the organisation that was supposed to protect and promote pan was instead disrespecting pannists and the national instrument.
Continue reading Weapon of mass distraction
According to scholars racism developed in the world society only from the 19th c.A.D. Even though the development of racism in the world is a recent phenomena, the root cause for this racism is Advaita philosophy which was developed in India in 9th c.A.D. Another face of racism is casteism that can be seen in India for a long period of time. Casteism is also known as Varnashrama Dharma.
Continue reading Racism through Advaita Philosophy
How should we approach Faith and Feminism in the Caribbean?
By Corey Gilkes
January 06, 2014
I wouldn’t mind doing about two or three articles expressing my opinions on the topic. Not sure why, I suppose fools really do rush in where……. Anyhow, it partly stems from the IGDS conference last week plus something I saw in a post two mornings ago, particularly two words: “fornication” and “adultery.” I don’t know why the person’s use of the two words struck me given that they are still commonly used but I suppose I’m always deluding myself that in this age of accessing information with just a click, certain terms would die a natural death as people become more conscious.
Continue reading Worship and Women, Wha’s De Scene?
By Dr. Kwame Nantambu
December 22, 2013
As Trinbagonians gear up to celebrate the Christian religious event of Christmas, it is apropos to disseminate the historical, Afri-centric , real truth about the birth of Jesus.
Indeed, if one looks at the first three hundred years of Christianity, it is in many aspects, a derived African religion. As Dr. Yosef ben-Jochannan points out in his seminal magnum opus African Origins of the major “Western Religions” (1970):”within the three most accepted religions in Europe and the Americas- Judaism, Christianity and Islam, often called ‘Western Religions’, Africans have been the founders of said religions and their teachings ( had been known) in some cases thousands of years before they were known to the peoples of Europe.”
Continue reading Jesus’ Birth: Afri-centric Analysis
By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
September 20, 2013
I don’t know what area of Trinidad Anil Roberts comes from and on what basis he makes the claim that a Regional Sporting Complex “is forty years overdue” or why he feels that a sporting complex “equipped with facilities for all citizens to use for sports such as cricket, football, swimming, squash, tennis and table tennis” (Newsday, September 16) is the best use we can make of the remaining ten acres of the natural savannah of Tacarigua.
Continue reading Preserving the Tacarigua Savannah – Part 2