Category Archives: Africa

Africa, Education, General T&T

Decolonising the Euro-American universities’ curriculum

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
March 05, 2024

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeIt was one of those trips that I find particularly gruesome. On Tuesday, I travelled from Boston, USA, to Edmonton, Canada, via Minneapolis, to participate in a conference, “Pan Africanism: Decolonising the University Curriculum”, at the University of Alberta. When I arrived, the temperature was -15°F. It was freezing cold.

This conference was organised by Prof Andy McKnight, a University of Alberta Distinguished Professor, who comes from an outstanding academic and political Caribbean family. He is related to Sir Grantley Adams, the first premier of Barbados and only president of the short-lived West Indian Federation; and Tom Adams, the son of Grantley Adams and second prime minister of that island.
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Africa, Christianity, Egypt, General T&T, Islam, Religion

Dreaming of a Black Christmas

By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
December 26, 2023

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeThere was a large picture of Jesus at the entrance of our home when I grew up in Tacarigua. In this picture, Jesus’ skin was white, his hair was blonde, and his eyes were a piercing blue. This represented the saviour who is supposed to save us from our sins and prepare us to enter into the heavenly kingdom. This depiction of Jesus was a Western whitewashing of history.
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Africa, General T&T

Principles in politics

By Raffique Shah
November 01, 2023

Raffique ShahI know, I know: the words principles and politics hardly go together. They are more like an oxymoron. But fool that I am, until the day I breathe my last, I shall strive, in whatever way I can, to have politicians and their publics see the wisdom of insisting that they find ways, making principles an imperative for those who seek high public office, and for those who put them there.
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Africa, Caribbean, General T&T

Christopher Columbus Exposed: HIS-STORY

By Dr. Kwame Nantambu
October 24, 2023

Dr. Kwame NantambuAs Americans have already celebrated Columbus Day, this article presents the real Afri-centric truth/analysis in regard to the so-called ‘Discovery’ of the West Indies/ New World by the Euro-centric historical criminal, Christopher Columbus — real name on his Spanish birth certificate is Cristobal Colon from whose surname are historically derived European systems such as Colonialism, Colonizer, Colonized and Colony.
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Africa, Caribbean, General T&T, Ghana

Art and culture in West Africa and the Caribbean

By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
October 23, 2023

The following is a lecture delivered at the Pa Gya! A Literary Festival in Accra, Ghana.

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeFirst of all, I wish to thank the hosts of this marvelous festival for inviting me to participate in it and for allowing me to share my ideas of how literature, art, and culture have helped in understanding, achieving and reimagining the histories that link West Africa and the Caribbean. This is an enormous assignment. I will speak of how the West African culture, literature, and the arts helped to shape the identity of my Caribbean people. I will pay special attention to what transpired in Trinidad and Tobago, and then relate those experiences to the larger whole.
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Africa, Caribbean, General T&T, Race and Identity

Coming black on board

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
September 11, 2023

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeTwo weeks ago I was invited to be a panel member of a conference, “The March on Washington: Its Legacy and Impact in the Americas”, that was organised by the US Permanent Mission to the Organisation of American States (OAS) in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington at which Martin Luther King Jnr delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.
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Africa, General T&T, Race and Identity

Emancipation Foibles – Part 2

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
August 06, 2023

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeOn June 27, 2022, Margaret Heath, a member of William Hardin Burnley’s family who once owned the Orange Grove Sugar Estates, sent me an email. It read: “Dear Professor Cudjoe. I thought you might be interested to know that my brother, as executor of my mother’s estate, has just informed me he consigned a trunkful of exclusive family papers that belong to William Hardin Burnley and his son, Frederick Burnley, to Paul Laidlow, Auctioneers, Carlisle, to be included in their sale on July 1st/2nd.”
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Africa, General T&T, Race and Identity

Emancipation foibles

By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
August 03, 2023

PART I

“So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter.”

—Ecclesiastes 4, Verse 1

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeIt’s Emancipation Day (Tuesday)and all the politicians, the proprietors and the bankers are trotting out their lies about freedom and emancipation. They may even quote the words of our prophet Bob Marley (“Emancipate yourself from mental slavery/None but ourselves can free our minds”), to demonstrate how the ordinary black person has misused the opportunity to free himself/herself mentally in this country. But take it from me, “All of dat is damn lies.”
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