Caribbean, General T&T, International, Spain

To be or not to be a national hero

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By Dr Kwame Nantambu
December 22, 2022

Dr. Kwame NantambuAs a new year approaches, it is indeed a sine qua non to delve deeper into history in order to ascertain what it really takes to be a real national hero of T&T. At the outset, a review of the literature indicates that one of the most fundamental, basic inherent qualities/criteria of any nation’s hero is that person’s overt ability to be a dynamic, forceful agent for radical, structural, even violent change in an imposed oppressive system.
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General T&T, PNM, Politics

Unravelling of a nationalist party

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
December 19, 2022

PART II

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeWhen the People’s National Movement started its mission in 1956, its primary responsibility was to uplift all members of the society, particularly the underclass, and to ensure that each party member was treated fairly. It also held out the promise that each member could rise to the highest levels of the party.

Although the founding members understood that genuine democracy implies one-man-one-vote, they also recognised that equity (the quality of being fair and impartial) should be the base of the party’s mission rather than the ubiquitous notion of formal equality. They believed that the promulgation of formal freedoms is an empty gesture if the necessary political structures were not in place to achieve them.
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General T&T, Politics, THA, Tobago

Duke of democracy or demagoguery?

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By Raffique Shah
December 19, 2022

Raffique ShahI shall not be at all surprised if elementary Watson, the Duke of Roxborough, Tobago, fulfils his ambition to become the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago by 2025, or maybe before the due year for the next general election, should he use unconventional means to pursue power.

Duke, who has made no secret of his medium-term objective, has established offices of his Progressive Democratic Patriots party in Trinidad, even as he moves to force yet another election for the Tobago House of Assembly, which he expects will result in him being proclaimed King of Tobago.
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Africa, General T&T, Politics, South Africa

Unravelling of a nationalist party

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
December 12, 2022

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeThe advent of nationalist parties in developing countries in the late 19th and 20th centuries demonstrated the desires of the struggling masses that yearned to control their own affairs and to develop their nations. In this context, the goals of the People’s National Movement (the word “national” is important) were no different from those of the Indian National Congress in India, the African National Congress in South Africa, and the People’s National Party in Jamaica. These parties were all steeled by the impetus to empower the struggling masses and to democratise a system ruled by colonial powers.
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Africa, Egypt, England, General T&T

African presence in early England

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By Dr Kwame Nantambu
December 10, 2022

Dr. Kwame NantambuNow that England has ushered in its first modern-day, non-European Prime Minister in Rishi Sunak of Asian-Indian descent and the country’s first Hindu to hold that top office, indeed, it is a sine qua non to reveal and recount the role and presence of Africans in England’s early history.

In his treatise History of the Africans in Europe (1971), Dr. G.K. Osei postulates that “when Saint Patrick went to Ireland to convert the people he took one (African) with him. The (African) used to sing at the various meetings. Ireland had an African Bishop called Diman. He died in Ulster in 658 A.D. and is now a Saint.”
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General T&T

First Nations Peoples: Historical Facts

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By Dr Kwame Nantambu
December 06, 2022

Dr. Kwame NantambuWithin recent times, there has been much public talk/discussion in regard to the establishment/.erection of a museum to be dedicated to the First Nations Peoples of this country.

No problema!

However, at the outset, it must be clarified quite equivocally that our First Nations Peoples NEVER called themselves Amerindians , period and full stop. The historical fact of the matter is that the indigenous/original peoples of the Caribbean were known as Kalinagos/Kalinas and Lokonos/Tainos later to be called Amerindians of the North and South American mainland.
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Crime in T&T, General T&T, Law, PNM, Police

A case of narcissistic sycophancy

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
Submitted: December 04, 2022
Posted: December 06, 2022

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeBy the time you read this column, the Hon Keith Rowley will have been re-elected leader of the PNM by as much as about 75 to 80 per cent of the vote. In so doing, party members have placed their seal of endorsement on everything he has done, thereby taking full responsibility for the downward spiral in which the country finds itself. On the very weekend in which he is elected leader of the party, we will be witnessing a record number of homicides in the country.
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Flooding, General T&T, Politics

A Flood of ‘Dotish’ Talk

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By Raffique Shah
December 05, 2022

Raffique ShahIf you know the Caroni River basin fairly well, and you are familiar with the Caroni River, if you have seen it overflow its banks after, say, two days of torrential rainfall, you will have seen floods spread rapidly, inundating everything along its banks for miles. Ever since I came of age and a rode a bicycle, and later acquired a motor vehicle, I have had many encounters with the flood waters of the Caroni, starting with cycling through Madras Road when the water was maybe eighteen inches high, which was challenging, but nevertheless something of a thrill for us boys, to driving through Kelly, St Helena and Piarco villages, having to skilfully use one foot on the vehicle’s accelerator to keep the exhaust functioning, and another on the brake pedal to control its speed.
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General T&T, PNM, Politics

A sacrificial lamb

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
November 28, 2022

“Little lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee,
Gave thee life, and bid thee feed
By the stream and o’er the mead…”

—William Blake, “The Lamb”

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeTwo weeks ago I spoke about the incivility in our political culture and the need to refrain from making savage attacks against one another. Many people responded favourably to my article. Richard de Lima, writing from Ontario, Canada, observed: “I have been reading your columns in the Express several years, which though always informative, sometimes stimulating, and often entertaining, have not prompted me to write you before. On this occasion, I feel obliged to extend my compliments to you on the penetrating remarks made about the conduct of PNM ministers and other senior party officials in regard to challengers for various positions in the forthcoming party elections.
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