Archive for the 'International' Category

Mandela: From Prisoner to President

Published on December 10, 2013 in Africa, General T&T, International, Passed on and South Africa. 1 Comment Tags: , , , .

By Dr. Kwame Nantambu
December 10, 2013

Dr. Kwame NantambuNow that 95-year old Nelson Mandela has died, it is indeed a glorious sine qua non to trace/recount/relive his remarkable/heroic journey from prisoner/revolutionary to President of South Africa.

At the outset, it must be emphasized that the year 1994 was a pivotal, watershed turning-point as the white minority-ruled South Africa joined the civilized nations as a de jure actor on the international stage of democracy.
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For Mandela, Reverence, but Criticism, Too

Published on December 8, 2013 in Africa, International, Media and South Africa. 2 Comments Tags: .

By Rick Lyman
December 08, 2013 – nytimes.com

Nelson MandelaJOHANNESBURG — Nelson Mandela was deeply respected in his homeland, and almost worshiped by many for his definitive role in ending white rule and installing multiracial democracy.

But he was never above reproach, political observers say.

When Andile Mngxitama, a black-consciousness advocate and frequent critic of Mr. Mandela, fired yet another broadside at the former leader before he died — comparing him unfavorably to neighboring Zimbabwe’s authoritarian president, Robert Mugabe — it certainly caught the attention of South Africa’s political class.
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Night the world stood still

Published on December 8, 2013 in Africa, General T&T, International, Passed on and South Africa. 3 Comments Tags: , .

By Raffique Shah
December 07, 2013

Raffique ShahLast Thursday night, for moments ranging from seconds to hours, the world stood still. People paused or stopped doing whatever they were engaged in, diverting attention to their radio or television sets that, in hundreds of languages, broke the news that Nelson Mandela had died.

By Friday, every newspaper that had gone to print after his passing will have featured banner headlines screaming news of his passing. Network news leaders such as the BBC and CNN continued almost non-stop coverage of the life and times and death of this man. Tributes poured in: no one had anything negative to say about him.
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Victim of Zealots

Published on September 29, 2013 in Africa, General T&T, International and Kenya. 16 Comments Tags: , .

By Raffique Shah
September 29, 2013

Raffique ShahReally, it’s a messed-up, mixed-up world in which someone like young Ravindra Ramrattan falls victim to indescribable madness, to savagery clothed in religion. Even as I ponder the enormous possibilities that were terminated in murderous gunfire in far-off Kenya, I take comfort in my agnosticism that has kept me aloof of the zealots of one religion or other, and my revolutionary spirit that soars above the ideologues who manufacture and manipulate madmen for whom no life is precious, not even their own.
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Bad Deal: Ramnarine blamed for messing up energy negotiations

Published on September 29, 2013 in General T&T, International, Latin America, Media, Opposition Party, People's Partnership, PNM, Politics, UNC and Venezuela. 4 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

By Renuka Singh
September 29, 2013 – guardian.co.tt

Kevin RamnarineEnergy Minister Kevin Ramnarine has distanced himself from the negotiation process that allegedly led to an almost ten per cent drop in local voting rights over the cross-border Loran/Manatee bloc. This move comes on the heels of scathing criticism that the minister had mucked up decade-long bilateral talks between Venezuela and Trinidad that, if negotiated properly, could have boosted local energy reserves and made allowances for Venezuelan pipelines to pass through the local refinery.
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Zimmerman Verdict — Where Do We Go From Here?

Published on July 21, 2013 in General T&T, International, Racism Watch and USA. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

By Frances Cudjoe Waters
July 18, 2013 – huffingtonpost.com

“A black man has no rights which the white man is bound to respect.” — Sup. Ct. C.J. Roger Taney, Dred Scott Decision, 1857

Trayvon MartinOn March 6, 1857, Chief Justice Roger Taney and the United States Supreme Court put into words what America had been putting into practice for centuries. He stated that Americans of African descent should not ever presume to have the audacity to expect that the legal system in this country would ever treat them as equal citizens worthy of the same protection and respect enjoyed by others.
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The Charge of the Warner Brigade

Published on July 10, 2013 in General T&T, International, Opposition Party, People's Partnership, PNM and Politics. 8 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

By Stephen Kangal
July 10, 2013

Stephen KangalWarner chose the maximum advantage-minimum cost political strategy to enhance and repair his damaged post-FIFA image and to restore the political status quo ante- the Palmiste debacle.

All that he is alleged to have committed and not proven took place outside of the jurisdiction of T&T within the largessse of the FIFA culture of gift-giving. He did not steal from the people of T&T. The four legal opinions have discredited the Simmons Report as being legally and procedurally flawed and therefore worthless.
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The lion in winter

Published on July 7, 2013 in Africa, General T&T, Health and International. 2 Comments Tags: , , .

By Raffique Shah
July 06, 2013

Raffique ShahFROM A distance, I watch the Grand Old Man slowly making his exit from a world that is far from the perfect place idealists like him had hoped to see in their lifetimes. As The Lion breathes his last, family feuds disrupt the peace he so deserves in his final hours, I wonder why they do not allow him to die the way he lived—fearlessly, with honour. Nelson Mandela, in his 94 years on earth, has contributed to his country and to humankind what others will need several lifetimes to achieve.
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Mandela: From Prisoner to President

Published on June 18, 2013 in Africa, General T&T, International and Racism Watch. 30 Comments Tags: , , , .

By Dr. Kwame Nantambu
June 17, 2013

Dr. Kwame NantambuAs Nelson Mandela remains “in critical condition” in a hospital in Pretoria, South Africa, as a result of “a recurring lung infection” it becomes extremely imperative/vital to trace/recount his remarkable/heroic journey from prisoner/revolutionary to President of South Africa.

At the outset, it must be emphasized that the year 1994 was a watershed turning-point as the white minority-ruled South Africa joined the civilized nations as a de jure actor on the international stage of democracy.

Continue reading ‘Mandela: From Prisoner to President’

Indian Indentureship: Afri-centric Analysis

Published on May 29, 2013 in Africa, Caribbean, General T&T, Hindu, Indian, International, Politics, Race and Identity and Racism Watch. 7 Comments Tags: , , , .

By Dr. Kwame Nantambu
May 29, 2013

Dr. Kwame NantambuThe purpose of this article is to conduct an Afri-centric, linkage analysis of the Indian Indentureship system.

In his magnum opus titled Capitalism & Slavery (1944), Dr. Eric Williams postulates that: “The immediate successor of the Amerindians was not the African but ‘poor whites’. They were regarded as ‘indentured servants’ because before leaving England, they had to sign a contract binding them to service for a stipulated period for their passage. Others were criminals/convicts who were sent by the British government to serve for a specific time on plantations in the Caribbean.” (p.9).
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