View Point

“[…] Kunta Kinte, the original Toby, was kidnapped at age 17 and enslaved in America. Yes, his body surrendered to physical defeat but his spirit, his mind remained untouched.  “[…] Unfortunately, the psyche of today’s Toby is configured by Eurocentric institutions—programmes that subconsciously motivate him to consciously act like a …

“[…] The fact is that 2015 – 2025 was declared by the United Nations as the International Decade for People of African Descent with the theme: Recognition, Justice, Development. “[…] Has our country ticked off any of the objectives of the Decade? […] Why be outraged by a pure, if …

“[…] Curiously, the United National Congress was similarly quiet in the days following the PNM political meeting that was held in Arima on 24 May. “[…] One would be safe to assume that were there an attack of any kind that night on the Member for Siparia, it would have …

“[…] As a black Trinbagonian, I am truly offended that you felt that you should have gone to such a base degree through invoking the horrors of slavery in defence of your name. The UNC and Trinidad and Tobago deserve much better. “[…] You forgot to mention that when you …

“[…] For many decades, T&T’s highly productive energy sector funded disproportionately high standards of living in its non-energy sectors, including the public service. However, production in the energy sector has been in decline since 2010, masked temporarily by extraordinary recent increases in energy prices.  “[…] In such difficult circumstances, governments …

A ‘harden’ child is a stubborn child who has to feel the wrath– usually in the form of ‘licks’–to understand the lesson. Trinidad is a ‘harden’ child—repeating its experiences without learning from them.  When the country is splintered and only the rich can survive, you are looking for trouble. You …

After a time, poor service wears you down—lowers your expectations to the point where you feel special when you actually succeed in completing a transaction, or most of the processes get by smoothly.  This is my lucky day, you murmur happily, just because it took only one hour to pay …

UNC political leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar: “[…] Camille [Robinson-Regis], at least I have a name from my ancestors. Where you get yours from? Your name is that of a slave master…” PNM Women’s League: “[…] The Opposition Leader is neither a historian nor a geneticist. To deem Mrs Robinson-Regis’s name as …

“[…] I want to suggest that the ‘monkeypox’ virus, which seems to have us agog at the moment, originated in Parliament—for decades home to political baboons and chimps in our country. “Whatever the host, whether the strain is/has been PNM, UNC, COP, NAR or ONR, the infected behave the same …

“[…] If, as stated in the Express on Monday 23rd May 2022, you ceased being a businessman upon becoming an MP and a minister in August 2020, why were you personally involved in business, business payments and business loans in January 2021? “[…] If this was a legitimate loan, as …

Like the rest of the world, much of Trinidad and Tobago has been holding its breath waiting to resume social interaction—unrestricted by Covid-19 and the public health regulations piled upon us. The North Coast Jazz event at Blanchisseuse this weekend, which culminates in a J’Ouvert, will no doubt openly reveal …

Derek Walcott, Nobel Prize winner, once lamented: “Colonials, we began with this malarial enervation: that nothing could ever be built among these rotting shacks, barefooted backyards and moulting shingles; that being poor, we already had the theatre of our lives.”  Yet, he is at one with Chinua Achebe, the towering …