“[…] Most of all, the movement of 1970 gave the population a new sense of ownership of their land. This also meant acceptance of direct responsibility for their nation’s affairs…” The following is the 12th and final column in an NJAC series on their contribution to Trinidad and Tobago society …
Read More »NJAC Rededication: How the People’s Revolution defied the gov’t and transformed the T&T economy
“[…] The role of the masses is also seen in their response to NJAC’s call for the transformation of the Trinidad and Tobago economy […] where for the first time Africans and Indians began to set up businesses right across the nation, which they also supported to guarantee their success. …
Read More »Remembering the 1970 Mass People’s Movement and the Church
The entry of the National Joint Action Committee (NJAC) under the leadership of Makandal Daaga (then Geddes Granger) into Port of Spain on Thursday 26 February 1970, represented the beginning of the most dynamic and significant period in the history of Trinidad and Tobago. NJAC had convened a March through …
Read More »Claude’s Comments: Black Identity (Pt 3): Diaspora Indians and the negotiation of Black/Creole ethnicity
I ended my “Comments” of 21 February with anthropologist Kumar Mahabir’s opinion that a re-scripting of the “Black Power” label might have seen more Indo-Trinbagonians eagerly embracing the movement. This will remain an open question. But if his reactions to other aspects of Afro-Trinidadian cultural engineering without the “black” label …
Read More »Dear Editor: T&T’s only hope is to abandon neo-colonial system left by pirates and sea dogs
“Because we are too spineless in the face of our failed colonial realities, we must now live in fear of a generation that will have theirs: by any means necessary. “They cannot be blamed, for it is we who failed to confront the new pirates head-on, so that generations to …
Read More »Our march towards nationhood! Remembering the T&T revolution of 1970
Today, 21 April, 2017, marks the 47th anniversary of the Trinidad and Tobago Revolution of 1970, led by the National Joint Action Committee for a New and Just Society in Trinidad and Tobago. Under the astute leadership of the late Chief Servant Makandal Daaga, the people’s movement emphasised the absolute …
Read More »MASTER’S VOICE: T&T must show respect for Makandal Daaga… and here’s why!
Now the Chief Servant made many mistakes in life, certainly some in recent years. But here was someone who, along with others who also dared to dream—and do more than just dream—sought to improve our society. Wired868 reader Corey Gilkes, in his Letter to the Editor, holds court on the …
Read More »An accidental leader: Raffique Shah considers the legacy of late ex-PM Patrick Manning
The end, when it came, brought relief from some five years of suffering, and pre-empted additional torture from treatment for cancer, which many have described as being worse than the disease itself. Patrick Manning’s sister, Petronella, who is a medical doctor, said as much in her grief-stricken state. And his …
Read More »T&T’s 1970 revolution: the rise of people’s politics and the State’s draconic response
The following Letter to the Editor was submitted by ex-PP Minister and NJAC member Embau Moheni on the rise of the 1970 Revolution, People’s Politics and the State’s fightback, which included the controversial Public Order Act and the ban of the ‘Black Power Salute’: In its booklet entitled ‘Slavery to …
Read More »Remembering Basil Davis: The 1970 Trinidad and Tobago Revolution’s first martyr
The following Letter to the Editor was submitted by ex-PP Minister and NJAC member Embau Moheni on the death of Basil Davis and the subsequent outpouring of emotion in 1970, which led to one of Trinidad and Tobago’s largest funeral processions: On 26 February 1969, the Chief Servant Makandal Daaga—then Geddes …
Read More »Embau Moheni remembers the 1970 March to Caroni for racial unity
The following letter, to commemorate the NJAC-led “March to Caroni” for racial unity on 12 March 1970, was sent to Wired868 by NJAC executive member and former People’s Partnership minister Embau Moheni: The period of February 26 to April 21 in 1970 marks one of the most momentous periods in …
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