In the mid-60s, there was a proposal to move people out of what was then called Shanty Town to Morvant. Lord Blakie (1965) summed up the resistance among the people there: How they want them to move/ They say they eh going nowhere/Build big house in Morvant/ But if they …
Read More »Noble: Sugar and a cuppa tea—understanding colonialism
“I am the sugar at the bottom of the English cup of tea. I am the sweet tooth, the sugar plantations that rotted generations of English children’s teeth. “There are thousands of others beside me that are, you know, the cup of tea itself […] Because they don’t grow it …
Read More »Ford: Panday’s trying to rewrite history with “maliciously misconstrued misstatement” on Dr Williams
“[…] Dr Eric Williams was referring to people who preceded Basdeo Panday that were moving mountains to divide the country in an obscene manner to get the support of the East Indians at home and abroad–all in the quest for political power based on race. “[…] When Panday talks about …
Read More »Noble: Our Presidential Journey, and lessons from T&T’s history
“That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history.” Aldous Huxley, English writer. In the present furore about selecting a new president, it appears that we, as a nation, and our leaders have rubbished our history. We …
Read More »Noble: Equal opportunity via education—the unfulfilled Independence dream
On 30 August 1962, young boys from San Fernando, Rio Claro and Tobago stood shoulder to shoulder with the Tunapuna crew and others from Woodbrook and Ellerslie Park. We were all form one Queen’s Royal College students, present at the Queen’s Park Oval to hear Dr Eric Williams address the …
Read More »Ford: The unsung icons of Arima—why our history should be taught in schools
“[…] What is significant about our [Arima] icons is the fact that in almost every aspect of life the individuals were first in their respective fields. “[…] I believe it must be incumbent on the Arima Council to lobby for the introduction of the history of Arima to be included …
Read More »Thompson: “He knew every inch of Territory QRC”—a man called Patrick White
I woke up one morning a few weeks ago to news that dulled the effulgence of the light that usually comes over a city like Madrid in early June. A message from my brother that Patrick White had died. “At school when we were all students it seemed normal,” my …
Read More »Noble: The best gov’t money can buy—how “tenderpreneurs” hijack the national interest
Mark Twain is credited with the saying: “We have the best government that money can buy.” Locally, we have not been shy about accepting money from unaccountable sources. Our non-existent rules about political campaign rules enable greedy political investors to corrupt our nation and destroy trust. As Chinua Achebe observed …
Read More »Orin: Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana need ‘reset’ from lingering political animosities
“[…] When the incumbent David Granger administration tried to stop the party of Bharrat Jagdeo and Irfaan Ali from taking office after an election they’d won in March 2020, some in that party felt that Dr Keith Rowley was soft on Granger, in contrast to his Barbadian and Vincentian colleagues …
Read More »Dear Editor: Arima was capital of east Trinidad; now it’s a ‘lost and forgotten borough’
“[…] Today, when we look at this cherished town that can boast of being the country’s only Royal Chartered Borough—a status granted by Queen Victoria in 1888—we see only a battered and bruised community which has lost all the facilities that made it so special and is now reduced to …
Read More »Noble: Not waiting for night to come—why Dr Rowley dismounted the tiger
As a child, I learned a saying, ‘Don’t wait until night comes to light a candle to see what you could see in the day’! By this, my mother meant, ‘Don’t wait for a problem to come upon you when it could have been prevented long beforehand’. As a purveyor …
Read More »Noble: I swear! Historical lessons on when to collaborate, and how to disagree
The swearing of an oath by our presidents is an expression of a specific intention to others. It is not limited to the moment when the person articulates the words. It commits to act in a certain way in the future. This action is a deliberate exercise of one’s free …
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