View Point

Social, political and news opinion pieces

Dear Editor: To Basdeo “Silver Fox” Panday—his positives outweigh the negatives

Trade unionist, actor, attorney at law, politician and Trinbagonian legend, Basdeo Panday has passed. He was well known for his silvery-white hair, charisma and sharp wit and was someone many loved to hate politically and ideologically for his style of leadership over the years—his outspokenness and his skilful use of …

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Orin: Parisot-Potter vs Massy; why I’m inspired yet unconvinced by tales of bizarre rituals

“[…] It’s not hard to see where (ex-Massy Holdings general counsel) Angélique Parisot-Potter is coming from. She considers the training to be waste-of-money mumbo jumbo. “Delphi Sphere can counter that it has a strong client portfolio. Its website lists Ernst & Young, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, British Gas and McKinsey. …

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Dr Gopeesingh: Panday was a trailblazer and probably T&T’s greatest patriot

“[…] Basdeo Panday’s life itself is a story of incredible greatness and inspirational heroism—a poor, rural, Indo-Trinidadian boy, consigned to social and economic marginalization, defying and overcoming every single obstacle, to study law in the UK and then become one of T&T’s greatest trade unionists, politicians, prime ministers, and perhaps …

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Daly Bread: Illuminating the achievements of pan music

As previewed last Sunday, Pantopia is a steelband musical inspired by the music of Ray Holman, scheduled for performance in April next year. I describe this week the strong historical context that should impel support for Pantopia. The historical context includes the insertion into the Trinidad Music Festival of competitive …

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Noble: Sojourner’s truth: Ain’t I a Woman?

At the 1851 Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio, a former enslaved woman, Sojourner Truth, delivered a famous speech. The contents of the actual speech have been contested, with mainly two versions still reported. The more popular version is called “Ain’t I a Woman”. That one has the narrative written …

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Orin: Caricom’s stance on Guyana-Venezuela dispute is a study in spinelessness

The following guest column on the relationship between the governments of Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana was submitted to Wired868 by Orin Gordon, a Guyana-born, T&T-based media consultant who publishes at oringordon.com: The much bigger, stronger brother has the smaller one in a painful choke hold. Little brother can’t breathe. He’s wriggling …

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Daly Bread: Preceding Pantopia

Last week was an encouraging week in the evolution of the panyard model and pan music, unfortunately clouded by news of the death of Earl Rodney. My pan historian friends emphasise that Earl Rodney was “not from tong”. He was from “Point”, meaning Point Fortin, and not from Port-of-Spain (“tong”). …

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