General T&T

Please, let good sense prevail when posting

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While we respect and encourage different views on all issues, we have to be responsible in what we do. Malicious comments are not free expressions.

Here is a reminder of some things that would not be entertained on this blog:

Posts with derogatory alterations to the names of political parties;

Posts that are just about insulting other members of the board, public figures and people in general.

We will also not accept posts written in CAPS.

If you are caught using multiple usernames, you will be banned and all comments deleted.

Court, Crime in T&T, General T&T, Law, Media, People's Partnership, PNM, Politics, Racism Watch, Security, Violence

Sandy Must Stay!

23 Comments

By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
October 04, 2011

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeI hate to be on Keith Rowley’s case but Rowley (and by extension the PNM) is really missing the pulse of the people and, in the process, failing to take the lead politically in the society. A serious party must be the elevated consciousness of a people. The leadership of the PNM has not shown such leadership in this crisis. We are following rather than leading the masses and that is not good for the party. It speaks volumes about Rowley’s leadership abilities.
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Court, Crime in T&T, General T&T, Sex Crimes, Violence

Encounters with serial rapists

9 Comments

By Raffique Shah
October 2, 2011

Raffique ShahI HAVE always seen sexual assault of a woman as the most heinous crime a man could commit. There are other gruesome criminal acts, of course, such as murder by multiple chop-wounds, kidnapping and torturing victims, and brutal acts of violence against children and geriatrics who cannot defend themselves. Some may argue that all crimes in which the victims suffer physical abuse can be deemed heinous.
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Africa, Caribbean, England, General T&T, India, International, Race and Identity, Sports

My Two Cents on ‘fire in Babylon’: And a Slightly Different Take on ‘Calypso Cricket’

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By Corey Gilkes
October 01, 2011

Calypso CricketOn Wednesday I went to MovieTowne in Port of Spain for the first time ever (no, seriously). Now before the last seven friends I have left in this world get vex with me, rest assured I haven’t had a change of heart and decided to be like everyone else. It was only because that was where the documentary “Fire in Babylon” was being shown and allyuh know how strongly I feel about cricket and social consciousness. So yuh boy gone and took in the thing (and again on Sunday to see the documentary on the Black Power Movement “70s the Movie”).
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Caribbean, General T&T, Media, PNM, Politics

Eric Williams Remembered: The Man, The Myth

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“…he is, unquestionably, the greatest Trinidadian of the 20th Century – the person who has had the greatest influence on the affairs of the country…”

By Jeff Hackett
Express
March 26, 1998

Eric WilliamsIn the 1950s and 1960s, word was that the late Dr. Eric Williams was “the third brain in the world”.

Nobody bothered to provide the identities of the persons ahead of Dr. Williams – members and supporters of the People’s National Movement (PNM) were quite happy with his international cerebral rating.
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General T&T, India, Media, PNM, Politics, Race and Identity, Racism Watch, UNC

“A hostile and recalcitrant minority”

36 Comments

Eric Williamsrecalcitrant

1. resisting authority or control; not obedient or compliant; refractory.

2. hard to deal with, manage, or operate.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/recalcitrant

Did Dr. Eric Williams brand all Indians “a hostile and recalcitrant minority”? And, why did he make such a statement?

***

Excerpt from Dr. Winston Mahabir

“When the PNM lost the Federal Election in 1958, Eric Williams looked no futher than the Indians for a scapegoat. In a most unfortunate speech he branded them as ‘a hostile and recalcitrant minority.’
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General T&T, India, Media, Passed on, PNM, Politics, Race and Identity, Racism Watch

The Culture Of Williams

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Q & A with Gordon Rohlehr
By Kim Johnson
Sunday and Monday Express
June 28 & 29, 1998

Eric WilliamsGordon Rohlehr, a professor of literature at UWI, is well known for his encyclopaedic writings on calypso, as well as his many writings on other themes including West Indian literature and culture in general. Recently he has published a serialized essay in the T&T Review on Eric Williams and cultural policy. Here the Sunday Express’ Kim Johnson invites Prof. Rohlehr to expand on some of the issues he raised in the Review.
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Culture, General T&T, International, Passed on, PNM, Politics, Race and Identity

Celebrating the Centenary of Dr. Williams’ Birth

16 Comments

By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
September 28, 2011

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoePerhaps it is one of those crazy though explicable Trinbagonian things. Dr. Eric Williams is undoubtedly one of the most distinguished citizens ever to have bestridden our country over the last two hundred years. Yet, there was not one official ceremony in Trinidad and Tobago to celebrate the centenary of his birth. I say, “one of the most distinguished citizens” because over its long history there have been many distinguished Trinbagonian men and women such a J. J. Thomas, Maxwell Philip, Captain Arthur Cipriani, Colon Adrian Renzi, Lionel Sukeran, Audrey Jeffers, Mother Gerald and Mac Donald Bailey. Sadly none of these names ever come to mind when we think of our achievements, access our social and cultural capital, and determine are our civic and spiritual values.
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General T&T, India, Media, Race and Identity, Racism Watch

Reply to Raymond Ramcharitar’s Africentrism

9 Comments

EmancipationTHE EDITOR: Raymond Ramcharitar’s 21/9/11 piece on Africentrism [How to do the Afrocentric Hustle] was a shameless display of intellectual laziness and generalising with enough vitriol to hint at something I won’t even dignify here with a mention. Which is unfortunate because it took away from a message that contained some validity. There’re quite a few scholars, politicians, artistes and activists who exploit enslavement, colonialism and Euro-centred racism to excuse self-defeatist attitudes and who manipulate racial insecurities, narrow tribalism and ideas of entitlement to retard real self-development among Afro-Trinis.
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Features, General T&T, PNM, Politics

Remembering Eric Williams

25 Comments

By Raffique Shah
September 24, 2011

Eric WilliamsTHIRTY-FIVE years ago yesterday, I became an MP in the first Parliament of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It was an historic moment in many ways. I affirmed, meaning I did not take an oath using one of the holy books, which was not a first. But when I raised a clenched fist, symbol of the Black Power movement, as Clerk of the House Emmanuel Carter administered the affirmation, I glanced at Prime Minister Dr Eric Williams.
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