Category Archives: International

General T&T, India, People's Partnership, Politics, Race and Identity

Cudjoe and His Careless Thinking

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By Stephen Kangal
February 15, 2011

Stephen KangalProfessor Selwyn Cudjoe in his article wrote:

“In his ‘Mother Trinidad and Tobago Speech’ Dr. Williams intimated that we owe our primary allegiance to T&T rather than the various countries from which our ancestors came. In 2010, angered by the seemingly preferential treatment that Africans enjoyed under the People’s National Movement, the People’s Partnership (PP) decided to emphasize our difference rather than our commonalities thereby tearing away at the common cultural bond that holds us together as a nation”. (Selwyn Cudjoe in “Mother Trinidad and Tobago” Article – trinicenter.com – 16 January 2011).
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General T&T, International, Religion

Re-Examining the “Sex” of God

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And “His” Servants

By Corey Gilkes
February 09, 2011

BibleYes, that’s what I said. As if the articles on monogamy and extramarital relationships weren’t scandalous enough, I gone now and dive cross the line into blasphemy with talk about the sex of god. In our society – which for the most part retains a romantic, anti-intellectual attachment to the bible and things religious – merely asking questions such as why “god” is referred to in gender-specific terms is in many people’s minds as heretical as challenging the authenticity of the bible. Maybe we’ll argue THAT some other time but for now, examining god’s sex is bacchanal enough.
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Africa, International, Race and Identity

Cote d’Ivoire

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
January 25, 2011

EmancipationProfessor Kwesi Jonah is the chairman of the Political Science Department at the University of Ghana at Legon. He is an expert in African politics and specializes in political economy and good governance. In 2005-06 he acted as the coordinator of West African Political Parties Programme (WAPPP), a project of the Institute of Economic Affairs located in Accra.
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General T&T, International, Internet Issues, Politics

Curbing Cyber Terrorism

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By Raffique Shah
January 15, 2011

Raffique ShahNOBEL Laureate Paul Krugman (Economics, 2008) referred to it as the “Climate of Hate”. In his New York Times column last week, he pointed to “incitement” coming from politicians and media commentators on the far right in America that factored in the murderous carnage in Arizona. Democrat Representative Gabrielle Giffords and Judge John Roll were victims of a wild shooting spree by a mentally disturbed 22-year-old man, which claimed five lives.
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General T&T, India, NJAC, Protest, Race and Identity

Legacy of 1970 events: Revolution, what revolution?

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By Dr. Kwame Nantambu
January 10, 2011

EmancipationFor many decades, the notion has been bandied about that a “Black Power Revolution” occurred in T&T between February – April 1970; however, the purpose of this article is neither to posit a definitive critique of the events of 1970 nor to question its historic legitimacy.
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General T&T, India, International, People's Partnership, Politics

Conceiving the Inconceivable

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
January 10, 2011

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeAh never hear Becky vex so yet. “Uncle Selwyn,” she said, you know Rambachan and dem people (meaning the Foreign Affairs Minister and the People’s Partnership) just letting dem Indian people and dem come into Trinidad jus’ so. Dey ah even need a visa to come into the country now.”

She was referring to the unilateral decision of the People’s Partnership to allow Indians and Russians to enter the country without visas.
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Culture, General T&T, India, PNM, Race and Identity

Home Bound

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
December 30, 2010

Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe[This essay was written by Joy Clarke, a student at Wellesley College. I thought I would share it with my readers. It has been edited for purposes of length]

If literature is a signification of the emotional conscious of a people then V.S. Naipaul’s A House for Mr. Biswas is a literary masterpiece. It traces the life of Mohun Biswas, a man of East Indian descent living in Trinidad following the end of Indian indentured servitude. Mr. Biswas’ life is one of struggle, pain and his longing to find a place to call home. The reader is taken on a journey to locate home on several levels. On the surface is Mr. Biswas’s profound desire to own a home while the subtext suggests that a search for a national homeland for a people who were removed from their natal homeland of India.
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General T&T, International, USA

Time to reject “Black Friday” concept

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By Dr. Kwame Nantambu
December 22, 2010

1900 Campaign poster for the Republican PartyAccording to long-standing societal acceptable norms, the Friday after Thanksgiving Day in the United States is regarded as “Black Friday.”

Indeed, one would have thought that with the anomalous election of America’s first African-American/Black President that the race-relations gap in this country has narrowed considerably. One would have assumed also that as a result of this presidential first that the need to colour any national event would have been relegated to the ash heap of America’s racial-cultural history.
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General T&T, India, People's Partnership, PNM, Politics, Race and Identity, Religion

Standing Firm in Our Nation’s Faith

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
December 22, 2010

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeThe steeple of St. Mary’s Anglican Church is the first landmark that greets anyone who enters the village of Tacarigua from its western side. Although the present building was constructed in 1901, this architectural splendor has been a part of the village landscape since 1843. On August 22, 1901, the Mirror reported that “the old parish Church of St. Mary’s is now leveled to the ground with the exception of the western wall, which it is believed will form part of the new St. Mary’s.” Directly across the Eastern Main Road is the St. Mary’s Children Home. Its first building was constructed in 1857 to accommodate East Indian children whose parents were lost during the long crossing from India to Trinidad.
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