“[…] To deport Venezuelan refugees back to the human rights and humanitarian emergency that they were fleeing, in the middle of a pandemic, is an outrageous violation of the obligations that Trinidad and Tobago has committed to under international law. “[…] The authorities of Trinidad and Tobago are pushing a …
Read More »Roget accused of ‘inciting racial hatred’ against media; JTUM: It was ‘class critique’ not race
The Media Association of Trinidad and Tobago (MATT) today referred Joint Trade Union Movement (JTUM) leader Ancel Roget to the Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC) for ‘racist remarks directed towards certain members of the media fraternity’ during a JTUM press conference at Paramount Building, San Fernando on 4 August. Roget, while …
Read More »Kaisoca Jazz Punk? Miyamoto is Black Enough offers mesmeric new vibe
Ah comin home. Not in a ‘ask for special permission for the border to re-open for me’ kinda way; but ah coming home, the way I have come home again and again over the last 33 years, to beg ah underscoring of meh life as Trinidadian—verification for all the ‘nansi …
Read More »African groups demand ‘reparative action’ from Prestige Holdings for KFC’s Emancipation Day ad
“[…] We cannot allow a major Caribbean corporate player to perpetuate demeaning images of African People at any time—and more so on a day that is sacred to us, when we pay homage to our ancestors whose sacrifice resulted in the freedoms we celebrate on Emancipation Day. “In light of …
Read More »Dear Editor: Stupidity kills—neither God nor sunlight was ever going to save us from Covid
Stupidity kills. That’s not an exaggeration. Stupidity coupled with ignorance is an even deadlier combination. Just Google ‘Darwin Awards’. Weeks ago, I predicted a rise in Covid-19 cases in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T). It wasn’t difficult to foresee the current spate of infection growth. A little time spent learning the …
Read More »Media Monitor: UNC’s arresting image and Maraj’s masterclass on Kamla’s figures of speech
If you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, we have heard a million times, bamboozle them with bullshit. Ralph Maraj is the exemplar par excellence of that message. On the post-4pm news segment of the i95.5FM afternoon show early last week, Maraj leapt to the defence of UNC Political Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar. …
Read More »Le Hunte: The African reality—T&T will never fulfil potential without addressing ‘black’ problems
“[…] It should be obvious to all that the most likely winner of a 100 metre race (no pun intended) is the participant who gets the ‘jump start’. It is in these circumstances that the ‘false start’ rule becomes operative and the race line-up is reset. “[…] What is undesirable …
Read More »Daly Bread: Sunlight and disinfectant; it neither killed Covid nor revealed party financiers
Louis D Brandeis was a well known Justice of the US Supreme Court. In 1913, three years before his appointment, while an outspoken advocate for financial and government transparency as a means of curbing corruption, he wrote a piece in Harper’s Weekly magazine in support of the regulation of banks. …
Read More »Noble: Shooting ourselves in the foot—the dangers of ‘us versus them’
This week had two apparently disconnected stories whose link we may not have discerned, but which profoundly affects our future. The first was the Express’ report on the alleged TT$549M EMBD bid rigging case which noted: ‘…some of the same contractors donated financially toward the current government…’ The second is …
Read More »Le Hunte: The African reality—vital building blocks were lost to blacks during slavery
“[…] We have bought into the Western, capitalist idea, that the individual bears sole responsibility for their success or failure—history and current extenuating circumstances be damned! This, of course, is a fallacy, a distortion of the truth that absolves us, and the rest of society of any responsibility to our vulnerable …
Read More »Kangalee: Why capitalism is the new slavery; and emancipation revolution remains unfinished
“[…] The very prosperity that slavery brought to British capital was to eventually make slavery redundant. The capital accumulated throughout slavery led to investments in science, technology and engineering, created the industrial revolution, brought into being productive forces based on machinery, speeded up the process of proletarianisation of the British …
Read More »ESC to unveil special monument during online 2020 Emancipation celebrations
“[…] Unlike other Emancipation celebrations, which included a festive, colourful procession through the streets of Port-of-Spain and ending at the Queen’s Park Savannah, this year’s Emancipation Day will be observed online. “[…] People who traditionally participate on the day are encouraged to share their personal observances with the ESCTT via …
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