General T&T, Passed on, Race and Identity

Pillars of Brinsley Samaroo’s achievements

By Stephen Kangal
July 17, 2023

Stephen KangalIn an attempt to assess and conceptualise the varied life, exciting times and indeed the unique legacy and saga bequeathed to us by the late Prof Brinsley Samaroo, I can think of his odyssey of life as a solid platform that was supported by four event-filled but interlocking pillars.

The first pillar, in some chronological order is his Naparima–Presbyterian foundation and pillar that coloured, expressed and energised his entire odyssey from Ecclesvile, to San Fernando, St Augustine and to the rest of the world.
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Education, General T&T, Race and Identity

Brinsley Samaroo: A Historian of the People

Prof Brinsley Samaroo
Historian and retired lecturer Prof Brinsley Samaroo

By Dr Tye Salandy
July 10, 2023

I first met Brinsley Samaroo many years ago on a radio programme where I brought up an aspect of race relations in Trinidad and Tobago that I thought his explanation was missing. He agreed with me, and we spoke for a long time following the programme. Since then we would talk closely over the years, and he would give me books and critical feedback on my work. In the years to follow, I would send countless students to Brinsley, and he would give all of them the same enthusiastic support, mentorship and guidance. He would go beyond the boundary to assist and was always willing to give helpful critiques. I would invite him to give guest lectures and he was always phenomenal, managing to push the boundaries of knowledge in a calm, serious, but witty way. We would joke about him living in the West Indiana section of the UWI library, because he would always be there. He had a space on a desk with all his research materials and notes, and he would be there almost every single day of the week the library was open. When I could not reach him on his phone I would go and find him there, along with many other visitors who would come there to find him.
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General T&T, Racism Watch

Splitting Hairs

By Raffique Shah
July 10, 2023

Raffique ShahIt did not surprise me when last week senior officials at the Ministry of Education, in teachers’ and parents’ organisations, as well as the best entertainers we have learnt to accept because they are plentiful, colorful and cheap-man on the street—were chiming away on an issue I had no idea existed, far less worthy of comment. But the controversy that erupted when Trinity College at Moka Invoked their rule on specific hairstyles students, graduating students especially, were not allowed to sport at the graduation ceremony, was the proverbial— storm in a calabash. Lawyers, other professionals, anyone connected with education or, inevitably, politics blew the issue wholly out of proportion.
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Gender, General T&T, Sex

Your Gender, Your Business

By Raffique Shah
July 04, 2023

Raffique ShahVerily I say unto you, Man, that you have the right to use, abuse or misuse your body any which way you choose to, so long as you do not impose your choices on your neighbours, friends, and especially on your enemies, since they are likelier to be hostile, even war-like punishment for one’s refusal to submit to the will of the others’ which must be wrong in any culture, belief or ethnicity; further, I retain my right to practice within the privacy of my castle, however humble such edifice may be, acts between me and my mate that bring us immense pleasure, that do not impinge on the freedoms of others, least of all on children who do not have the maturity to rationally determine what is good for them, and what is not.
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Africa, General T&T, Racism Watch, Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe And Other African Nations Are Fighting Back. Stop Illegal Sanctions


The African continent has been under European siege for 600 years. The current form of white men telling Africans to shut up and do as they are told are called “sanctions”. Listen to Rutendo Matinyarare explaining the origins and effects of the illegal US and European sanctions on his home country, Zimbabwe. Rutendo is a leader of the Zimbabwe Anti Sanction Movement (ZASM) and an expert on the country’s foreign policy.
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Elections, General T&T

See No Evil, Hear No Evil

1 Comment

By Raffique Shah
June 26, 2023

Raffique ShahI am convinced that the problem with politics and governance in this country, the fact that we never seem to get it right, that having wavered between PNM in control for thirty consecutive years to the party losing in 1986 33-3 then complaining about every government having freely elected them, maybe we need to look at ourselves, not the politicians.
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Gender, General T&T

All voices must be raised in LGBTQ+ debate

Guardian Editorial
June 23, 2023 – guardian.co.tt

Guardian EditorialThe issue of lesbian and gay rights has been knocking on our door for some time now. Today, the LGBTQ+ community is banging on the front door demanding attention. A feeling of blissfully secure, or indeed silently angst from within the presumed safety of our previously secured places, will not protect us from facing an issue that is present everywhere in our world.
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corruption, Crime in T&T, General T&T

Cradle of corruption

2 Comments

By Raffique Shah
June 20, 2023

Raffique ShahI haven’t given much thought to the local government election due to be held in August, nor have I paid much attention to the ongoing debate on reforming local government, a cornerstone of PNM’s vision for new governments.

In the first instance, besides creating three new boroughs, the Government is seeking to instil the decentralisation of governance, the precise details of which I have not studied. However, I am aware that the contentious issue of property tax which the PNM sees as not only a source of revenue, but more importantly a source of power to the local government bodies, remains a gap between the Government and the Opposition UNC, which is totally against property tax.
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Finance, General T&T

Shame on you, FCB!

1 Comment

By Raffique Shah
June 11, 2023

Raffique ShahI never thought the day would come when I would find it necessary to write a column like this—coming down like the proverbial tonne of bricks on a financial institution that thousands of patriots like me breathed life into well before it was born, and certainly before the people who currently occupy its management chairs were even ideas, far less born.

But after my experiences over the past few weeks, and listening to other customers complain, I felt compelled to raise the issues in the public forum.
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