Tag Archives: Laventille

“Nothing from Ms De Verteuil about her forbears being given parcels of land by the Cedula; no mention of the vagrancy laws passed by the colonial administrators influenced by the merchant elites—including De Verteuils—to force Africans back to the plantations and other laws aimed at preventing Africans from pooling resources …

“It is clear that R De Verteuil was referring to Afro Trinbagonians when she criticised Laventillians. Not once did she mention the contributions of Africans to the development of Trinidad and Tobago. “She praised the Indians, the Chinese, the Syrian/Lebanese community and, of course, her people the Europeans. The contempt …

As mentioned in this column recently we are a society pock-marked by destructive shade preference practiced by citizens of all descents, even within ethnically kindred groups. I had intended to return to the subject because in my view there is an inextricable link between the violent crime that is again …

“David,” Mama stands in the doorway and calls down the hill to me, “bring yuh skinny red self and get something to eat.” ‘Mama’ is my late mother’s mother and she lives not in middle class Champs Fleurs which was my base in my growing-up years but on the Hill. …

And so it has come to pass that today is the very tomorrow we had so feared yesterday. In almost every sphere—the economy, education, agriculture, health, national security, transportation—we are living the logical outcome of over 50 years of policy failures. This is why the Prime Minister needs to rethink …