“[…] Does Tribe Carnival owe us an explanation? Not really, because what explanation would they come up with other than ‘yes our business model is colourist and we’re actually catering to a market demand’? “The truth is, if Tribe and like-minded bands were to cease operations, others with the same …
Read More »Dr Mahabir: ‘Black power agenda’ threatens ‘national treasures’; Gilkes: Colonial monuments carry offensive symbolism
Dr Kumar Mahabir: “[…] Despite the horrendous history of Columbus, his statue represents a tangible historical link to the Europe, Africa and Asia since 1498. It is one of the few statues of Columbus in the Caribbean and is a destination site for local and foreign tourists…” Corey Gilkes: “[…] …
Read More »Daly Bread: The Thing that does not go away; tackling race in T&T
There is a thing that it seems will not go away. It is described in Toni Morrison’s ‘The Bluest Eye’, in which she told the extremely painful story of the desire of Pecola to have the bluest eyes and blond hair. Pecola’s self esteem is destroyed by the arrival of …
Read More »Noble: Does chanting constitute ‘rioting’? How Griffith and TTPS failed BLM protesters
“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” James Baldwin. We can ignore what we faced on 8 June in the Queen’s Park Savannah or face it and propose to change it. Late that evening, a video surfaced of a police …
Read More »TTPS probe ‘cap snatching’ incident at TTBLM protest and will consider charges
“An investigation has been launched into an incident at the Queen’s Park Savannah last Monday in which the cap of a police officer was snatched by a civilian. “A formal report was made by the police officer, who is attached to the Municipal Police Department…” The following statement related to …
Read More »Demming: #TTBLM protesters suggest bright future for T&T, but TTPS was provocative
When the crowd took a knee and held it in silence for nine minutes, I knew I was amidst a sea of young persons who were sending a message that the time for change is now. The #ttblm movement gathered peacefully in the Queen’s Park Savannah, chanted and spoke their …
Read More »‘There is a different feel…’ NJAC reviews global response to George Floyd killing
“[…] It is not that there haven’t been demonstrations and protests as a result of the killing of innocent black Americans before. That has been a part of America’s history. But analysts, commentators and activists all agree that this time there is something different. “There is a different feel—a different …
Read More »How to start a revolution; rule number one: challenge everything!
I spent barely four days in Manama in 2005, in the lead up to and immediate aftermath of Trinidad and Tobago’s historic second leg Fifa 2006 World Cup qualifying play off encounter with Bahrain on 15 November. Apart from an unforgettable football match and the searing heat, what I remember …
Read More »Daly Bread: T&T’s underlying system and its marginalising of black lives
Like citizens all over the world, I am following current events in the United States. I am sickened that persons there can take a black life without a second thought or one iota of internal moral restraint. What adds to the revulsion in the George Floyd killing is how disregard …
Read More »Rowley: Black lives movement relevant in T&T too, sets re-opening dates for churches, bars and cinemas
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said Trinidad and Tobago will be back to ‘80 percent of its functionality’ by 22 June, as the country gets back to business—having flattened the curve of Covid-19 infections. However, Rowley said the threat of racism remains a real concern in the wake of ‘black …
Read More »Dear Editor: Birchall, Aboud, Sohan and Hunt are rubbing our faces in their disregard
The 25th of May 2020 will forever be etched on my mind. Because that was the day that we all saw how little the lives of Black people meant to those in power. A day that many of us will not forget. A man sworn to ‘protect and serve’, openly …
Read More »Protesting Dissonance: “While race is certainly a factor, class is the true divider here…”
The Police Complaints Authority (PCA) has investigated 150 fatal police shooting incidents resulting in 258 deaths from 2011 to March 2019. According to their statistics, the average annual number of police killings between 2013 and 2019 works out to about 34 deaths per year. Across the same time period in …
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