Tag Archives: Selwyn R. Cudjoe

Culture, General T&T, PNM, Politics

May Their Bread Be Buttered Over

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
Submitted: July 31, 2016
Posted: August 02, 2016

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeTomorrow (August 1st) is Emancipation Day. It’s a day on which the formerly enslaved commemorate their freedom; a practice they have undertaken since 1848 although there have been interruptions over the years. Generally, two different strata (those whose bread had been better buttered and those whose bread have been larded) have celebrated their emancipation in different ways.
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General T&T, PNM, Politics, Racism Watch, UNC

Let the Jackasses Bray

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
July 24, 2016

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeMy good friend called. She was irate: “Why don’t you speak to [not with] yo’ good friend Sat?” “Why yo’ say so,” I asked. “He called Manning a racist.” I don’t know if I was supposed to return the insult, but I am aware that if everyone is a racist then no one is really a racist. Counter accusations are generally useless.

Sat claimed Manning was a racist because, among other things, he closed down Caroni 1975 Limited and paid the workers $2m. That Manning may have calculated that the sugar industry was no longer economically viable did not enter into Sat’s thinking? But even if Manning paid the workers $4m it would not have endeared him to Sat.
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General T&T, Passed on, Politics, Religion

Sacrilegious!!!

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
July 17, 2016
Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeNo one can explain with absolute certitude why the nation poured out so much grief at the death of Patrick Manning. While it had much to do with the part he played in our nation’s development, it also has to do with a nation mourning itself, saddened by how coarse its sensibilities have become; a feeling of helplessness at its own futility and its uncertainty about where it’s going and how it intends to get there. It matters little (it may even be inconsequential) that the PNM is now in power.
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General T&T, Passed on, PNM, Politics

Preserving Historic Memory

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
July 10, 2016

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeBy the time you read this article you will have heard everything about the life of the late Patrick Manning: the good, the bad and the ugly. Many of his admirers (and non-admirers alike) will have told us about his numerous accomplishments. Mrs. Hazel Manning has asked us to “know” Mr. Manning’s legacy while Prime Minister Keith Rowley has assured us that “he will continue in our history” (Newsday, July 3).
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England, European Union, France, General T&T, International

Take Yo’ Language an’ Go

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
July 07, 2016

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeFor all intents and purposes, GB (Great Britain) has not only lost its political and economic standing within the EU (European Union), it has also lost its linguistic clout. English, French and German are the three working languages of the EU. Documents are published in these three languages, but its business is conducted primarily in English. Now, the EU has demanded that Great Britain take its language and leave. It’s almost like asking Great Britain to take the great out of its name.
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Gender, General T&T, International, Sex Crimes, USA, Violence

Gay and Straight Together

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
June 22, 2016

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeOn Monday evening, like so many people across America, I attended a vigil in honor of the 49 people who were gunned down at Pulse Night Club in Orlando just because some folks hate gay people. I was on my way to London but stopped in Wellesley, Massachusetts, to gather my papers and other necessities for my trip. In that small town of 28,000 people, about fifteen miles outside of Boston, I joined about three hundred people on the lawn of Wellesley’s Town Hall who had come together to stand in solidarity with those who had lost their loved ones in Florida.
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Gender, General T&T, Law, Politics, Race and Identity, Racism Watch, Religion, Sex

Is Sat Really a Racist?

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
June 13, 2016

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeLast Sunday, in this newspaper, Sat Maharaj mentioned casually (or perhaps not so casually) that he couldn’t possibly be a racist since I was his best friend and Desmond Hoyte was a close friend. Most of my friends were aghast that Sat should consider me to be among his best friends and, even if we are, they asked, why should he use our friendship to camouflage his racism?
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General T&T, PNM, Politics

PNM’s Betrayal

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
May 05, 2016

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeAt some point the People’s National Movement (PNM) will have to decide whether it supports the moneyed interest of the society or the ordinary people whose votes put them in power. Much too often when the interests of the people is at stake, the hierarchy of the party tends to side with moneyed interest at the expense of the people.
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General T&T

Looking Back to Look Forward

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By Selwyn R. Cudjoe
Posted: March 23, 2016

[A lecture delivered at SOAS, University of London, at the launching of Narratives of Amerindians in Trinidad and Tobago, or Becoming Trinbagonian, March 17, 2016]

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeI want to thank Louisa, Nathan, and Josh for making this function possible. I also want to thank Tracey, my niece, and John Metivier, my former pastor from Tacarigua, and my God-brother Tookey, for coming in the cold to support my literary efforts. I also want to thank Riccardo Bharath Hernandez and the Santa Rosa Community of Arima for the assistance they rendered in making this publication possible, even to the point of securing a grant from the Trinidad and Tobago government. I also want to thank Ceri Dingle Worldwrite, producers of “Every Cook Can Govern: The Life, Work, and Impact of C. L. R. James,” the soon to be released documentary on James, for agreeing to film this event for wider circulation. It’s good to see all of you here this evening to welcome my most recent book, Narratives of Amerindians of Trinidad and Tobago, into the world of ideas as yet another manifestation of the tremendous gifts that those of us from our part of the globe have offered in terms of literary reflections on the world. It has been a long time coming but it is here. In this context, I would be remiss if I did not draw your attention to Glenn Roopchand’s grippingly beautiful art that adorns the front cover of this book.
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