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“Maybe our forefathers and foremothers all came to this great land in different ships, but we’re all in the same boat now…”
A Philip Randolph, organiser of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
Photo: Chevaughn Christopher/ CA-images/ Wired868
We do not have the political leaders we need. At a time of overlapping global crises, our leaders indulge in baiting each other and fearmongering.
There seems to be no awareness that we are joined at the hip. Instead, we are locked in a winner-takes-all battle that results in a cult-like party over country mentality.
For example, when the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council handed down their verdict in the matter involving the establishment of the Revenue Authority, our Finance Minister, Mr Colm Imbert, posted on Twitter:
“WE WON THE CASE! This required tremendous effort against the relentless opposition from the UNC (the United National Congress) and the PSA (the Public Servants Association).”
Who is the ‘we’? Why validate the Opposition party’s actions? Will our nation move on, or will the division be deepened?
The matter was painful, but should we not be statesman-like?
Mrs Kamla Persad-Bissessar attempts to top that offensive behaviour by arguing about the COVID-19 vaccine programme. Did she drop out of the proverbial coconut tree and arrive blamelessly in 2024?
Has she forgotten her letter to India prime minister Narendra Modi? Has she forgotten the controversy spawned by the nature of the approaches to India?
The “Goar Lagay” is believed to be a Hindu ritual performed by children to parents and parents to grand-parents especially after doing “artis”.
(Copyright AFP 2015)
Has she not remembered that the Indian High Commission to Trinidad and Tobago Arun Kumar Sahu thanked her and Dr Keith Rowley on the arrival of 40,000 vaccines? Has she forgotten her call for a Parliamentary debate about the slow rate of vaccination?
She now advocates that employees sue their employers. This is in the territory of Ripley’s Believe it or Not Museum fare.
Who cares about and understands the pain of our country? Fear is pervasive. When will we embrace a vision for the future?
Our history informs us that we have overcome significant challenges. Do we remember the dark days of 1990 when we saw our capital city thrashed? We overcame.
Why persist in talking as though the nation belongs to ‘others’ and we are mere spectators to be entertained?
In 1987, Archbishop Desmond Tutu called Trinidad and Tobago a “rainbow country”.
On 26 December 2021, upon his death, Kamla Persad-Bissesar noted on Facebook that he gave this label “after witnessing the many races and religions of our nation peacefully coexisting in harmony”.
We now are forgetting to celebrate what binds us together. What we eat is an instant way to communicate. It shows us who we are and how we are connected.
Roti, doubles, pelau, and callaloo (the latter two came with our African ancestors) are shared fare. Our callaloo is unique and should not be confused with the Jamaican dish bearing the same name. Gyro, an Arabian street food, and arepas, brought by Venezuelan migrants, are now on the menu.
Do we wish to reject this joy of such a palate? Do we want to deny who we are? How did we arrive at this ‘dog and cat’ battle? Why do we self-sabotage?
The decline of trust in our politicians, institutions and media threatens our democracy. Democracy withers when people cynically assume the worst about their institutions and each other.
The ever-increasing divide between the haves and the have-nots is fodder for a fire we will not possibly extinguish. We push the narrative that the other side hates us and wants to do us evil.
We have forgotten our shared values. We have deep-seated disdain for other citizens.
Copyright: Ezra Bartholomew
We refuse to acknowledge our strengths and victories. On 6 September, S&P Global affirmed its credit rating.
It said: “The stable outlook reflects our expectation that economic, fiscal and debt metrics will stabilise near current levels over the next two years before improving when major new gas fields come online.”
The Chief Economist in the United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office recently came to our shores. His assessment (Trinidad has done very well so far in terms of quality of human capital, better utilising of its natural resources and many other things) barely broke into our national consciousness. Why?
Photo: Pan Trinbago
Instead, we are fed an unremitting flow of sad stories.
The pain is real. It is inescapable and profound. Long after a child is murdered or a home is invaded, the trauma remains. The newspapers move on, but families still scramble to rekindle joy.
We must recognise that a significant portion of our national pain is the result of insensitive men who are greedy and selfish. While we all have a sense of justice, we only recognise the ill in others. We deceive ourselves into thinking that all is well with us.
Photo: Ashley Allen – CPL T20/CPL T20 via Getty Images
An Oxford Don, CS Lewis, once said: “We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” (CS Lewis, The Problem of Pain.)
Another author, riffing off of CLR James’ view of the Greek democracy, said: “Religion is that total conception of the universe and man’s place in it without which a man or a body of men are like people wandering in the wilderness.
“[…] The religious ideas of a people are usually a reflection and development of their responses to the society in which they live. Modern man does not know what to think of the chaotic world in which he lives, and that is why he has no religion…”
May we reflect on both writings to contextualise our pain. But we do not deserve some pause to reflect on our blessings? Will that pause not give us the strength to face our challenges?
Taking a break helps us refocus and regain strength and purpose in all complex tasks.
Our Olympic efforts received little or no recognition. Instead, we focused more on the money spent on the Elite Athlete programme. We never look at the administrators and understand they are failing at their jobs.
Photo: Daniel Prentice/ Wired868
Andre Baptiste, a local sports commentator, chided us for our treatment of Akeem Stewart, our ParaOlympic athlete and medalist, who was “flippantly dismissed” (Guardian, 13 September 2024).
Our media houses stuff us with sad stories, appearing to value attention-grabbing over ethical reporting. Social media sort us into tribes, enraging us for their profit. We pay through the inescapable emotional drain inflicted.
The blame game is strong. The inane posts from partisan commentators demonstrate this well. This insidious poison slides into our everyday interactions.
Check how often we want to blame others on any given day. We curse our country, not just the government. What is the end of this?
Should we not join the young people who lustily sang our National Anthem on Independence Day at the Caesar’s Army fete? Or affirm with Lord Sniper that Trinidad is my land/ And of it, I am proud and glad?
Like Roy Cape, can we rise out of unfortunate circumstances to help the less fortunate and boost those with potential?
What will we do to help Trinidad be a better place? Roy Cape said the idea of the foundation was sparked in January 2016 by the killing of two schoolboys on their way home from school and the deteriorating personal security situation in the Laventille community.
We could make it if we try just a little harder/ If we just give it one more try, life will be much sweeter! (Black Stalin, 1988.)
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