Tag Archives: Selwyn R. Cudjoe

General T&T, USA

Age of retirement

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
April 23, 2024

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeOn June 30, 2024, I will say farewell to Wellesley College, a place at which I have taught for 38 years. I have taught at several elite institutions in the United States such as Harvard, Cornell, Ohio and Fordham universities, but Wellesley holds a special place in my heart. I have grown fond of it over the years.

The college yesterday held a symposium and dinner to honour my services to the institution and my academic contributions internationally. Paula Johnson, president of the college who was a student at Harvard University when I taught there in the 1970s, and Prof Kellie Carter Jackson, chairman of the Africana Studies Department, opened the function.
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General T&T, Passed on

A sterling example

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
April 16, 2024

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeThe passing of Michael de la Bastide, former chief justice and first president of the Caribbean Court of Justice, signified the end of an era in Trinidad and Tobago or even Caribbean jurisprudence. Archbishop Jason Gordon says he was concerned about mercy at the end of his days. However, what stood out during his active years as an attorney was his commitment to law and justice.
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General T&T, International, Israel, Palestine

Israel’s colonialism

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
April 08, 2024

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeLast Monday night Israel killed seven humanitarian aid workers from the World Central Kitchen (WCK) in Gaza who were attending to the suffering of Palestinians. Israel apologised for its deliberate barbarity because all but one of the victims were of other nationalities— Australian, British, Polish, and a dual citizen of the United States and Canada. If Hamas had done such a thing, it would have confirmed its barbarity.
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General T&T, PNM, Politics

The Indian connection

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
April 02, 2024

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeWhen Eric Williams went to London in 1955 to discuss PNM’s programme with CLR James, George Padmore and Arthur Lewis, he also visited with Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, the sister of Jawaharlal Nehru, prime minister of India. He raised the possibility of republishing Nehru’s autobiography with the latter writing a new introduction to it.
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General T&T, PNM

These men of straw…

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
March 28, 2024

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeIn Inward Hunger, Eric Williams revealed that on the very day he left the Anglo-America Caribbean Commission on June 21, 1955, he began discussions with members of the Teachers’ Economic and Cultural Association about the formation of a new party in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T)— the People’s National Movement. “The basic strategy,” he said, “pending the discussion and organisation, was to reach the public.”
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General T&T, PNM, Politics

Dr Rowley’s public vulgarity

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
March 18, 2024

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeThe Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago was at his most vulgar on Thursday, March 9, when he sought to scandalise my name at a public meeting at Enterprise, Chaguanas. However, his public performance revealed more about his moral blindness, his public vulgarity, his intellectual narrowness and aggressive narcissism. No one who read my 28-page, carefully footnoted lecture could have arrived at his conclusion.
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Crime in T&T, International, USA

The dangerous Mr Trump

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
March 12, 2024

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeDonald Trump, the Republican nominee, will face President Biden, the Democratic nominee, in the next US presidential election. It is not beyond the realm of possibility that Trump could win that election. Most of the polls, including the prestigious New York Times/Siena College poll, have given Trump a 2% lead over President Biden.
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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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Crime in T&T, General T&T, Politics, UNC

A Quest for Truth

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
February 20, 2024

“A Quest for Truth” was delivered on Monday Night February 19, 2024, at the UNC’s forum on crime.

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeThe Hon. Kamla Persad-Bissessar, leader of the UNC, other members of the panel, distinguished members of the UNC, ladies and gentlemen and those who are present at the Chaguanas Borough Council and those who are following on radio or television.

“Talent hits a target no one else can hit. Genius hits a target that no one else can see.”

—Arthur Schopenhauer

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General T&T, UNC

Dem people

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
February 20, 2024

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeAfter my column “Rowley cannot fix the crime problem” appeared in the Sunday Express a few weeks ago, Kamla Persad-Bissessar and Jearlean John, leader and deputy leader of the United National Congress (UNC), respectively, invited me to share my views on the crime situation in Trinidad and Tobago in its Anti-Crime Conversation that it was conducting. I accepted their kind invitation without reservation.
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