“[…] The official Ministry of Education press release announcing the hair code […] works to trivialise the issue and divorce it from its substantive context. “[….] An interview with former principal of Fatima Collage, Father Gregory Augustine two weeks after the press release illuminates the point. On 20 July he …
Read More »CRFP: Indigenous Peoples express hope and concern at Vatican’s repudiation of Doctrine of Discovery
“[…] In what could have been a ground-breaking and historic repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery, the Vatican instead released a series of political statements that sought to rewrite history, shield the Catholic Church from legal liability and shift the blame for the Doctrine of Discovery to governmental and colonial …
Read More »Dear Editor: Time to reset soul of Caribbean civilisation; gov’ts must confront our colonial legacy
“[…] Despite the refusal of European governments to engage the issue, the moral landscape across the world has changed discernibly in favour of reparatory justice for native genocide and chattel slavery. “[…] An increasing number of Caribbean people are coming to terms with the true horror of racialised Chattel Slavery… …
Read More »CRFP: T&T’s battle against gender-based violence should recognise its colonial roots
“[…] Luisa Calderon and Thisbe […] lived through the foundational violence of colonialism which shaped not only the vulnerabilities that they had to negotiate in their time but those that women must still navigate today. And both women experienced terror at the hands of the same celebrated colonial icons: Governor …
Read More »Dear Editor: ‘Loyal slaves’ sign removed from House of Count de Lopinot
“[…] No forced-labour camp in Trinidad and Tobago or anywhere in the world should celebrate enslavers while ridiculing their victims. What prevailed at Lopinot was not just inconsistent with basic human decency and the espoused values of our republic but also with the truth that the historical evidence supports …” …
Read More »Dear Editor: Five reasons Christopher Columbus is no hero
“[…] the way this history is taught and culturally remembered casts a shadow over our collective consciousness, reifying imperialism and white supremacy … the idealisation of Columbus’ so-called discovery means romanticising oppression, corruption, mass murder and rape…” The following is a joint submission from the Warrao Nation, Partners for First …
Read More »Dear Editor: Columbus monument falls in Martinique but legal battle looms for activist Fanywa Afua
“Fanywa has courageously resolved not to pay the fine or to allow others to pay it for her. She has refused to appeal the case declaring that she is prepared to go to jail on the principle that ‘Caribbean people have already paid enough for the crimes committed by Christopher …
Read More »Judging Columbus through history (Pt 2): The Church and the Sacralising of Columbus
“During Christopher Columbus’ second voyage, reports of his conduct raised serious questions in Spain about his character. In 1500, during his third voyage, his reputation hit rock bottom. “Columbus, together with his brothers Bartholomew and Diego, was arrested by royal commissioner Francisco de Bobadilla, sent back to Spain in chains …
Read More »Judging Columbus through history (Pt 1): Balancing facts and myths
On October 12, the Cross Rhodes Freedom Project (CRFP), in collaboration with the Warao and Partners for First Peoples’ Development, staged a protest march against Port of Spain Mayor Joel Martinez’s vacillation on convening a forum for national dialogue on the CRFP’s call for the removal of Christopher Columbus’ statue …
Read More »From romance to reality (Pt 2): how Compte de Lopinot forcibly enslaved free Africans
The well known, formerly enslaved, black abolitionist, Mary Prince, cogently argued in her autobiography in 1831: “How can slaves be happy when they have the halter round their neck and the whip upon their back?” Prince was directly confronting the lie of slave owners and other apologists for slavery that …
Read More »From romance to reality: Why we deserve the truth about Compte de Lopinot and his “contented slaves”
Responding to the National Trust’s declaration to elevate the Lopinot Historical Complex to a heritage site, a Trinidad Guardian article in 2013 commended the villagers for preserving vital elements of the built landscape of early nineteenth century. Presumably, the “colourful history” to which the writer alluded is the abstract on …
Read More »White tyrants, black struggles and Indian distortions; Dr Fergus responds to Hanomansingh
“The great Karl Marx, for example, declared the Haitian Revolution ‘the most significant victory toward the advancement of universal freedom’. Without excluding the contribution of every ethnic constituency, the fact remains that, in the 20th century, African peoples maintained that leadership role. “According to [Dool] Hanomansingh and other like-minded activists, to include …
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