On being relevant
By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
October 01, 2024
On Republic Day, letter writer Nigel Seenathsingh scolded me for "attacking" his leaders.
On that same day the Express published a full-page story about a PNM senator in a domestic violence matter.
The Express editorialised the following day: "Given the lead story in yesterday’s Express about a protection order placed by the court against Government Senator Laurel Lezama-Lee Sing, and not pronouncing on either innocence or guilt, it is assumed that domestic violence against both men and women will be a part of the discussion" at the AG’s consultation on domestic violence.
When I warned last week about the dangers inherent in the Leader of Our Grief’s statements about women, I was not trying to demonise him or Stuart Young. I was only alerting my readers to be on guard about the violence against women and men (I emphasised women) that exist in our society and the role that language plays in this regard.
It was difficult see how Seenathsingh arrived at the following conclusion: "For years Professor Cudjoe seems have a long-standing obsession with Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley. For years Dr Cudjoe has been pushing an agenda via his writing: one of hate and ill will towards Dr Rowley."
I am not sure when Seenathsingh dates my "hate and ill will towards Dr Rowley," but I would remind him that I assisted Dr Rowley when he challenged Patrick Manning for the leadership of the PNM in 1996 and wrote the foreword to his book, From Mason Hall to White Hall. Seenathsingh should tell his readers when my hate towards his leader began and the forms it took.
Seenathsingh claims I am jealous of his leader; a charge that the PNM Women’s League also levelled against me. I have nothing to be jealous about the Leader. He does his thing and I do mine. He excels in carrying on certain aspects of his portfolio—how he handled the pandemic and positive aspects of our country’s economic performance. But our work is different and calls for different areas of expertise.
Over the last five months I spent three weeks in June visiting the Barbados Archives researching my forthcoming book and spoke at Oxford University at the end of last month. I also visited friends at Cambridge and Warwick Universities to discuss aspects of my book and a week at the British National Archives doing further research.
Seenathsingh says I have made no real contributions towards T&T. "He [meaning Cudjoe] has made great achievements in his lifetime, but only for his benefit." Seenathsingh underestimates the importance of intellectuals and scholars to the development of society. I am an intellectual worker who uses his time to understand our society and the world we live in. I relish that role.
In 1960 when Dr Eric Williams became premier of T&T, he gave VS Naipaul a grant to write whatever he wanted to about the Caribbean. Naipaul’s The Middle Passage came out of that endeavour. His chapter on Trinidad remains one of the most profound sociological observations of Trinidad.
In July 1888 Governor William Robinson gave Lionel Fraser £200 to assist him in writing a history of Trinidad. That two-volume work, History of Trinidad, contains some of the most salient information of early T&T’s history (1781–1896). Anyone who wishes to know about Trinidad must read these volumes. I wonder if Seenathsingh would argue that neither Naipaul nor Fraser made any meaningful contributions to T&T’s development.
John Milton, the English poet, was blind when he wrote Paradise Lost. He meditated on his blindness: "When I consider how my light is spent / Ere half my days in this dark world and wide, / And that one talent which is death to hide / Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent / To serve therewith my Maker.…God doth not need / Either man’s work or his own gifts; who best bear his mild yoke, they serve him best….They also serve who only stand and wait."
For those who pour scorn on public intellectuals and writers, I can only invert Milton’s iconic insight (no pun intended) into its 21st century wisdom: "They also serve who only sit and write."
Every person, even the Express, wishes to be relevant to his family or society which is why we/they work so hard on whatever we do. Neither the Express, the PNM, nor yours truly would have any reason to exist if we thought our various endeavours have no relevance to our society.
Public intellectuals, even controversial ones, play an important role in a society’s development. This is especially true for T&T where our intellectual and social standards continue to decline.
This may be a hard pill to swallow but we ought to remember: we are the sum total of our intellectual production and critical insights. They are necessary for our survival.
—Prof Cudjoe's e-mail address is scudjoe@wellesley.edu. He can be reached @ProfessorCudjoe.
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The Slave Master of Trinidad by Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
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