Archive for the 'Religion' Category

Religion and the National Gender Policy – Keep the Myths Out

Published on May 30, 2013 in Gender, General T&T, Politics and Religion. 11 Comments Tags: Corey Gilkes, National Gender Policy.

By Corey Gilkes
May 30, 2013

Anyone needing confirmation that our organised religious bodies are by and large irrelevant and stultifying entities should look no further than their views concerning the National Gender Policy (NGP) here in Trinidad along with the LGBTQ and abortion issues. By now it should be common knowledge that Minister Marlene Coudray announced that the issue of same-sex relationships and equality would not be included in the discussion on the NGP. Frankly, it is of no surprise to me that the NGP is being watered down in the way it is; much of the impetus behind this diluting is coming from, predictably, the conservative religious bodies in the country – and no doubt the instinctive bias and prejudices among those in the political elites. This is being done by the time-honoured practice of isolating such issues as the LGBTQ question (which really isn’t what the NGP is about), then eventually other topics, just wait and see.
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Manning Went to Guanapo Church

Published on March 4, 2013 in General T&T, People's Partnership, PNM, Police, Politics, Religion and UDeCOTT. 1 Comment Tags: DPP, Guanapo church, Juliana Pena, Patrick Manning, Politics.

Lighthouse of the Lord Jesus Christ Church

Construction site of Pena's church at the Heights of Guanapo

By Andre Bagoo
March 04, 2013 – newsday.co.tt

THE WOMAN known as Juliana Pena, who has been described as former Prime Minister Patrick Manning’s spiritual adviser, was granted access to the construction site of the Prime Minister’s Residence and Diplomatic Centre, La Fantasie, St Ann’s in order to pray on it before it opened its doors in 2007.
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Apology for Slavery and Reparations: Updated

Published on February 15, 2013 in Africa, Caribbean, England, France, General T&T, Haiti, Race and Identity, Racism Watch, Religion, USA and Violence. 31 Comments Tags: Abuse, African, Kwame Nantambu, Slavery.

By Dr. Kwame Nantambu
February 15, 2013

At the outset, it must be stated quite equivocally that the order for the global apology for the European enslavement of Afrikans is as follows: The Roman Catholic Pope of Rome, first; second, the governments of Spain and Portugal; in third place are the governments of Britain, France and the Netherlands; in fourth place is the government of the United States.
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In Appreciation of Tony Martin

Published on February 13, 2013 in Africa, Caribbean, General T&T, Passed on, Race and Identity, Racism Watch, Religion and USA. 2 Comments Tags: African, Selwyn R. Cudjoe, Tony Martin.

By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
Submitted: February 06, 2013
Posted: February 13, 2013

Tony Martin, an inspiration to his students and many of his colleagues, was a foundation member of the Africana Studies Department at Wellesley College. He believed in the integrity of the discipline and the principle of departmental autonomy. A meticulous scholar, his work on Marcus Garvey, particularly Race First, changed the depiction of Garvey in Caribbean and American historiography. A staunch nationalist and Pan Africanist, he took pride in his race and the principle of self-reliance that were embodied in Africana scholars such as Garvey, Malcolm X, Walter Rodney and C.L.J. James.
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Make poverty history

Published on December 23, 2012 in Culture, General T&T, Media and Religion. 18 Comments Tags: Christmas, Poverty, Raffique Shah.

By Raffique Shah
December 23, 2012

IF there were tabloids at the time, two thousand and however many years ago, their editors would have delighted in the heart-rending story that would sell their newspapers, headlines screaming, “No room at the Inn!”. The drop-head, “…woman gives birth in manger”. The text might read, “A very pregnant Mary of Galilee, accompanied by her husband, Joseph, rode into Bethlehem last night on the family’s ass and immediately sought accommodation because there were signs that Mary had gone into labour.
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Let Charity Guide Our Utterances

Published on November 15, 2012 in General T&T, Hindu, Indian, Politics, Race and Identity, Racism Watch and Religion. 16 Comments Tags: Neil Parsan, Raffique Shah, T&T Govt.

By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
November 14, 2012

Sometimes in our enthusiasm, we say extraordinarily silly things; such as the mutterings of Dr. Neil Parsan, our Ambassador in Washington, D.C. What is one to do with the following statement: “The Indian diaspora is a formidable force in Trinidad and Tobago, the largest numerical representation in the entire Caribbean; the most well-to-do and culturally strong and progressive ethnic group in the uniquely plural society of T&T.”
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167 Years of Indian “Arrival”: Are Indians Still Arriving?

Published on May 30, 2012 in Culture, General T&T, Hindu, Indian, Race and Identity and Religion. 8 Comments Tags: Alana Lalman, Indian Arrival Day, Sat Maharaj, Satnarayan Maharaj, SDMS.

By Alana Lalman
May 30, 2012

I was well poised to begin writing for an article on Indian Arrival Day in Trinidad and Tobago when I coincidentally stumbled over Satnarayan Maharaj’s commentary about Indian Arrival in the Guardian newspaper that day. Sat Maharaj is the secretary general of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS) organization which is the major Hindu organization in Trinidad and Tobago. It operates 150 mandirs and over 60 schools. It was formed in 1952 when Bhadase Sagan Maharaj merged the Satanan Dharma Association and the Sanatan Dharma Board of Control.
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Emergence of Indian Arrival as a Vehicle for Mobilisation and Cultural Assertiveness

Published on May 29, 2012 in General T&T, Hindu, Indian, Race and Identity and Religion. 5 Comments Tags: Indentureship, Indian Arrival Day, Stephen Kangal.

By Stephen Kangal
(Address delivered at the MTS Indian Arrival Day Function
on Monday 28th May 2012)

Mr. Chairman, The PS/PM and Head of the Public Service, Mr. Reynold Cooper,
Mr. Dhaniram Ramkissoon, Vice- Chairman of MTS,
Members of Board of MTS,
Mr. Lennox Rattansingh, CEO of MTS
Divisional Managers and Members of the Staff of MTS
Ladies and Gentlemen- Namastay, Assalam Alaikum, Good Evening

I thank the management of MTS for inviting me to speak at this IAD function and congratulate the Staff for the effectiveness of the décor that emphasizes the theme of Indian Arrival.

IAD is a celebration of the cultural impact of the distinct Indo-T&T personality during 50 years of Nationhood and One Hundred and Sixty-Seven Years of contributing to T&T.
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Rowley Went To India Looking for Jhandis?

Published on March 29, 2012 in General T&T, Hindu, Indian, Opposition Party, People's Partnership, PNM, Politics, Race and Identity and Religion. 10 Comments Tags: Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Keith Rowley, Patrick Manning, Politics, State Visit to India, Stephen Kangal.

By Stephen Kangal
March 29, 2012

Years ago T&T’s former HC to India, Mr. Reginald Dumas went visiting the rural villages of the Indian state of Bihar assiduously looking for “jhandis” and found them. Last week another Afro-Tobagonian, Opposition Leader the Hon. Keith Rowley used the occasion of the CPA meeting being held in India to search for the elusive “jhandis” and according to him found none. And this after the PM Kamla Persad-Bissessar just returned from her Indian safari when the question of the rurally remote, sometimes inaccessible villages (pur) of the States of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar from which the “girmitiyas” came to T&T bearing their ‘Jahajee bundles” was well-documented.
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Mathur Dealing in Psycho-Cultural Falsities

Published on March 7, 2012 in Africa, Crime in T&T, Culture, General T&T, Hindu, Indian, Politics, Race and Identity, Racism Watch and Religion. 51 Comments Tags: African, Crime in T&T, Indentureship, Ira Mathur, Slavery, Stephen Kangal.

By Stephen Kangal
March 07, 2012

Writing in her Sunday Guardian column of January 22, Ira Mathur a naturalized citizen of T&T but Indian, was born of military middle class parentage completely detached from the reach of the systems of Caribbean indenture-ship and slavery. She has unwittingly and falsely included herself as a victim of that system.
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