The ultimate sin today is criticising a group, especially on moral grounds. We live in a nihilistic post-shame era. There are no permanent standards, just the shifting judgment of the crowd. We have a culture of oversensitivity, overreaction and frequent moral panics, during which everybody feels compelled to go along. …
Read More »Gilkes: Slave Mind, Enslaved Mentality—an obscene debate over ‘my coloniser better than your coloniser’
We love to major in minors and yet, in so doing, shine lights on the majors that, the higher up the social ladder you are, the more you choose not to see. I’m talking about what everybody’s talking about. No, not the illegal US-created proxy war in Ukraine; no, not …
Read More »Orin: Don’t deflect, KPB; show self-reflection and humility, and apologise
“[…] In aiming a retaliatory blow at Robinson-Regis, the Opposition Leader struck at Afro-Trinbagonians in general. That’s a big deal for someone who has led the country, and aspires to lead it again. “[…] If you continue playing the tape, [Kamla Persad-Bissessar] does go on to pay tribute to African …
Read More »Dear Editor: Mrs Robinson-Regis has nothing to apologise for; stop the victim blaming!
“[…] Mrs Camille Robinson-Regis, at the relevant political meeting, laid a series of charges against Mrs Kamla Persad-Bissessar. In so doing, for dramatic effect—as is the norm on the political hustings and in the court of law, as depicted in movies—she referenced the Leader of the Opposition’s full name, including …
Read More »Daly Bread: T&T spoiled by deadweight of no credible political choice
In July 2021, I wrote: ‘There is now an urgency also to get real about ourselves in light of the nasty, and now what seems a dangerous and emotionally unbalanced feuding between the Government and the Opposition. ‘The country has descended almost exclusively into the practice of the poisonous …
Read More »Noble: Choosing the one thing; what T&T missed amidst the ‘insidious’ name-calling
‘Bond, James Bond’ is an immortal catchphrase. No youth of yesteryear would forget Dr No and Sean Connery. In that first movie in the franchise, Sean Connery said his name is ‘Bond…’ then closes his lighter—‘James Bond’. Those words lived through many years. This scene rushed into my memory this …
Read More »Dear Editor: A Eurocentric psyche underpins name-calling between Kamla and Camille—on both sides
“[…] Kunta Kinte, the original Toby, was kidnapped at age 17 and enslaved in America. Yes, his body surrendered to physical defeat but his spirit, his mind remained untouched. “[…] Unfortunately, the psyche of today’s Toby is configured by Eurocentric institutions—programmes that subconsciously motivate him to consciously act like a …
Read More »Dear Editor: Gov’t indifference to the man on the street offends me, not Kamla Susheila’s ‘slave master’ jibe
“[…] The fact is that 2015 – 2025 was declared by the United Nations as the International Decade for People of African Descent with the theme: Recognition, Justice, Development. “[…] Has our country ticked off any of the objectives of the Decade? […] Why be outraged by a pure, if …
Read More »Dear Editor: Kamla’s apologists knew she was not attacked, so apologise for ‘middlename-gate’!
“[…] Curiously, the United National Congress was similarly quiet in the days following the PNM political meeting that was held in Arima on 24 May. “[…] One would be safe to assume that were there an attack of any kind that night on the Member for Siparia, it would have …
Read More »Dear Editor: What’s this about slave name, Kamla? Humble yourself and apologise—or resign
“[…] As a black Trinbagonian, I am truly offended that you felt that you should have gone to such a base degree through invoking the horrors of slavery in defence of your name. The UNC and Trinidad and Tobago deserve much better. “[…] You forgot to mention that when you …
Read More »PNM Women’s League describe Kamla’s ‘slave master name’ jab at Camille as ‘reprehensible’
UNC political leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar: “[…] Camille [Robinson-Regis], at least I have a name from my ancestors. Where you get yours from? Your name is that of a slave master…” PNM Women’s League: “[…] The Opposition Leader is neither a historian nor a geneticist. To deem Mrs Robinson-Regis’s name as …
Read More »Noble: Gaslighting a nation; be wary of those who would use Akiel as a political weapon
Everybody knows, but nobody knows. This is the state of our politics and the conduct of some parliamentarians. In 2000, Jamaican singer, Shaggy, had a hit song, ‘It wasn’t me’, in which he denied infidelity even when there was incontrovertible proof. Only at the end, he admitted that that line …
Read More »