“Most of us Indians didn’t like Eric Williams and his PNM and would be glad to see them go. But we had no interest in seeing the Eric Williams black gang replaced by another black gang led by Granger/Daaga and company. “[…] Once Williams had got the news that a …
Read More »Indo-Trinis and “Black Power”: why Bhadase and Dr Williams agreed on issue of Indian-African unity
Someday in the future, when Trinbago nationalism becomes a common experience across our multifaceted demographic, February 1970 will surely be memorialised collectively as the month that precipitated the most significant events in the history of the two-island state since Emancipation. I am motivated to write this piece not only because …
Read More »Dear Editor: Twisted facts and excessive emotion; a rebuttal of racist view of Williams’ PNM
“In psychology, there is a concept called the Drama Triangle. It highlights three drama states an individual can traverse when emotions run high: The Persecutor, the Victim and the Rescuer. […] “It is my belief that the author wrote the article while in the Persecutor’s role. Proof of that is …
Read More »Dear Editor: ‘Eric Williams was no national leader!’; why most Indians didn’t support first PM
“We used to call it the People’s Negro Movement and sometimes the People’s N—r Movement because we saw nothing national about it. We saw the PNM as the enemy and [Dr Eric] Williams as the chief enemy. And Williams made it quite clear he saw us Indians as the enemy …
Read More »Dear Editor: Kamal Persad wrong to ignore PNM’s history with citizens of Indian descent
“From the inception of the party under the leadership of Dr Eric Williams, the PNM […] could not have succeeded without the important role played by citizens of Indian descent who were either members of the PNM or citizens who put country first in their respective roles. “It was people …
Read More »Street Vibes: The jamming done; time to done with the political distractions
How many times since last Carnival have we heard the refrain “We jamming still” quoted? And in how many different contexts? Lifted from the Ultimate Rejects’ mega soca track “We Doh Business,” it has tended to be used so often because it sums up very neatly the “carnival mentality” we …
Read More »OLIVE OIL: Don’t tolerate me anymore, Brian Harry tells T&T, include me
Picturing a society free from bigotry and persecution, on the eve of Independence on 31 August 1962, Eric Eustace Williams—the Father of the Nation—gave us the watchwords “Discipline, Tolerance and Production.” Starting the very next day, we began to sing our National Anthem, which says in part, “Here every creed …
Read More »Butler and Rienzi: Raffique Shah looks at their role in T&T’s Labour movement
Within recent years, annual Labour Day celebrations trigger accusations that the trade unions that mark the occasion with marches and speeches at Fyzabad pay homage only to Tubal Uriah Butler, never Adrian Cola Rienzi. Such sentiments imply that Rienzi, whose original name was Krishna Deonarine, is ignored by labour because …
Read More »No going back: “(our) political culture serves neither PNM nor UNC”
Dr Keith Rowley’s bigger problem is not the UNC but the culture of the PNM of which he is so deeply a part. Honed and hammered by the 30 unbroken years in government from 1956 to 1986, the culture has shaped not only the PNM but the entire political system …
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 …
Read More »Identity, violence and nation building: social cohesion is T&T’s biggest challenge
Reading the racists posts on social media immediately following the election results, I was reminded of an intense conversation with a young Bosnian who tried to convince me that theirs was not a war born out of racism but rather ethnic differences. I must say I never got the point …
Read More »A National Epidemic: The failure to recruit and raise leaders
There are several traits that quality leaders must possess, which include being able to: Relate and Inspire; Organize, Manage and Motivate; Innovate and Achieve; Envision; Endure; Make Good Things Happen; be Strong but not Brittle, and Recruit and Raise Leaders. The one that has the most telling impact on a …
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