Pan and the coat of arms: the imaginary September 11, 2024
I am always amazed at the presumptions that we, African people, make about the cultures of others and why we feel that they should adopt them as their own.

The Leader of our Grief says that pan, our national instrument, should be placed on our coat of arms because it's T&T's cultural gift to the world. Without consulting anyone, he goes to a PNM convention and declares that by Republic Day (September 24) the measure would be brought to the Legislative Council and it would be a done deal. Full Article

Duprey and the demise of black business September 05, 2024
I was a member of the Central Bank board when Lawrence Duprey's case came to its attention. Amid the charges and counter charges, it was difficult for the board to obtain CLICO financial records, which would have allowed us to see what was taking place within his company. Aware of its responsibility, the board felt it had to act. It acted, and the rest is history. Full Article

Enshackled thinking August 28, 2024
I wanted to finish my series on our valiant black women ancestors before I responded to the superficialities of people who assailed me on behalf of their leader (Express, August 6). Full Article

Hear ye; hair ye: listen and be enlightened - Pt IV
August 21, 2024
Slavery ended officially in 1834 while apprenticeship ended slavery in practice in 1838. The 5,000 people who took part in the Revolt of October 1, 1849, were ex-slaves. The women were at the forefront in this battle. While the attempt to cut their hair ignited the revolt, there were other causes that led to their revolutionary activities. Full Article

Hear ye; hair ye: listen and be enlightened - Pt III
August 16, 2024
The revolt of October 1, 1849, one of the most momentous occasions in our history, was led by women of the lower order. They took the initiative in fighting one of the most oppressive pieces of colonial legislation that was designed to prevent their economic enterprise and dignity as a proud people of colour. In fact, they berated the men for not having the testicular fortitude to fight this injustice. Full Article

An ideologue's pirouette August 07, 2024
In his address to the nation on African Emancipation Day, the Leader of our Grief called upon his distraught citizens to focus on Afro-Trinbagonians who have made outstanding contributions at home and abroad. Full Article

Hear ye; hair ye: listen and be enlightened - Pt II
July 31, 2024
The Council meeting began shortly after noon on October 1, 1849. Charles Warner, the attorney general, moved that the Board go into committee to give further consideration to the Gaol Regulations. He also informed the Council members that Governor Harris had received a delegation of citizens prior to the meeting and he assured them that he would alter the offending clause to which they objected. Full Article

Hear ye; hair ye: listen and be enlightened July 24, 2024
I wanted to add my two cents to Oke Zachary's comments about educators freeing themselves from mental slavery as it related to the SDA dragging two students from their graduation because they cornrowed their hair (Express, July 14). Full Article

Discoursing about crime and education July 17, 2024
Just think of the contradictions. One opens the Express of Tuesday, July 9, and is greeted with the blood-splattered headline "Bloody Monday". Then comes the sub-headline: "Triple murder rocks Tobago" and "Carlsen Field home invasion: son killed, father critical". Full Article

As the world turns July 10, 2024
On June 25, 2016, I wrote in this space: "Nine days ago when I arrived in London I had hoped the UK (United Kingdom) would remain within the European Union… There was some nostalgia there but my wish wasn't to be…
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Snatching defeat out of the jaws of victory July 02, 2024
Months ago I wrote of the United National Congress' ability to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory. I saw this tendency played out in 1976 when the United Labour Front (ULF) was projected to win the election until its inglorious march from Arima to Port of Spain on the Saturday prior to the poll. I stood at the corner of Caura Royal Road and the Eastern Main Road in El Dorado when the march passed through on its way to Port of Spain. "What they didn't say about Black People is what they didn't know." Such a misstep led to its defeat.
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Rescuing a hero from oblivion June 26, 2024
I first encountered Philip Henry Douglin when I wrote Beyond Boundaries: The Intellectual Tradition of Trinidad and Tobago in the Nineteenth Century (2003). Since then I have been gathering information on Douglin at research centres such as the Watson Collection at Oxford University, the British Archives at Kew in London, and the T&T Archives in Port of Spain. Yet I knew I had to go to Barbados before I completed my biography on him. Full Article

Making Tacarigua a better scene June 16, 2024
I am always intrigued by how officials, government or otherwise, ignorant of the history of a place or region in which they live and work, are perfectly happy to destroy a healthy community without realising the harm they can do to the place and the people who live there. Full Article

Never sit on your laurels June 13, 2024
It was 2013 and the UNC (United National Congress) government decided to place a stadium and a swimming pool at the Orange Grove Savannah (now known as the Eddie Hart Savannah), a place that was used by "districkers" for recreational, health, and educational purposes for generations. Angry by this atrocity, the "districkers" of Tacarigua and the surrounding villages (Dinsley, Paradise, El Dorado, Trincity, and St Mary's) took on government with all of its resources and prevented it from destroying one of the most idyllic areas in Trinidad. Full Article