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'Power 102'

A Racist Radio Station in Trinidad

Lindsay Gillette Major shareholder in Power 102

A responce to an email asking why we do not open our own radio and television stations, and what I thought of Power 102.
By Amon
September 09, 2000

All the media houses in this country are dishonest. They refuse to respond to the calls for educational programs on African history and culture before enslavement. They do this while they put on more programs to appease the Indian community that they were misguided into believing are a group with wealth that they could exploit.

They give poor excuses about African programs are not economically viable. When they want to put on other programs they advertise, and create the interest, but they try to make the public feel that the same cannot be done with African programs.

Added to which, I personally hosted a program on one of the state owned radios. The program was called Dialogue, and was paid for by members of the public. The management thought that the program would have failed, and we would have soon run out of money. The program surprised them, and drew many listeners and sponsors, but they refused to let the program continue. The state media never complained about the content of the program, and we had Dr. Ben Jochannan as a guest to assist in verifying some of the historical information. The program Dialogue was discontinued without an explanation, and that was on our state owned media. (The media that belongs to the people)

In the face of public criticisms about the discontinuation of the program, some hosts ask, why some of us do not open our own radio station. I find that to be highly unreasonable because the state media belongs to the citizens of this country, and is managed/mismanaged by the government on our behalf. This media should be reflective of all the various cultural elements in the society. They have dedicated two of the radio stations in this media group for strictly Indian programs, and the two television stations have a fair amount of Indian shows. They then want to turn around and ask us Africans to buy our own radio station.

Why must we buy something that we already own?

The worst of the media houses is the privately owned POWER 102 radio station, whose majority shareholder is Lindsay Gillette. Lindsay Gillette is a minister in the UNC government; a government that proclaims they are about equal opportunity. Power 102 has gone a step further, and is waging an anti-African campaign. The most derogatory statements come from hosts on this radio station.

Today, Saturday 09 2000, was a good example of how they use their media in an attempt to intimidate those who call for African programs. Today's main show surrounded a man who was arrested for murder in some part of Africa. The host kept saying that he hoped all the Afrocentrics are listening. The man in question admitted to killing someone, but he gave little insight into the events that unfolded which eventually led to him being thrown out of the country. The host kept probing the man to say that Trinidadians are not welcomed in Africa, but his argument fell flat after someone pointed out to him that there are Trinidadians living in Africa, and they are doing well. It was interesting to hear the host try to distance those parts of Africa where Trinidadians reside from the African continent, and then claimed that he was talking about West Africa.

This is the first time we ever witnessed a radio station having a show to discourage people from traveling to a continent. We know their true motive was to portray Africa in as negative a light as possible in their ongoing vain attempt to invalidate the call for more cultural, and informative programs with African content.

Trinidadians are jailed and killed in America, England, and Canada, and there have never been an attempt to discourage people from traveling to these countries. Many Trinidadians are deported from these countries, and they still teach 'European history' in schools. However, when it comes to Africa, Power 102 Radio is on an all out war to discourage people from learning more about that aspect of themselves.

While I will not support an attempt to deny those bigots from expressing their filth, I call on sensible people to stop supporting their businesses, except in a way to highlight their racist agenda.

People should remember all the people who publicly give support to this anti-African campaign, for the day will come when they will seek our support. We must only help them learn; nothing else!

Powerless 102 FM

An Open Letter to Peter Gillette

A Racist Radio Station in Trinidad

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