As is the norm in our Republic, when something outrageous happens, it is condemned only by whispers in cliques and in the chambers and domes of elites, except for a few brave souls who speak out. And so it was with last week’s front page banner headline, “I am not …
Read More »Claude’s Comments: The agenda behind Kamal Persad’s slander and historical distortions
I have a bit of advice for Mr Kamal Persad, coordinator of the research centre of The Indian Review: if you truly wish to defend the reputation of “the Indian-Trinidadian intelligentsia” (your description), as you claim in your latest “letter to the editor” in the Trinidad Express of 6 February, …
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: Chutney has a place in Carnival no matter what Cro Cro says!
“[George] Singh’s outburst was a public exposé of what the Indo-Trinidadian (Indian) community had always known, i.e. Indian culture (e.g. chutney, pichakaree) is given marginal or no space in ‘national’ and regional shows (e.g. CARIFESTA). […] “In all his anger, Singh was careful not to confirm what almost every Trinidadian suspected …
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 »Balderdash and intellectual acrobatics; Fergus responds to Baldeosingh on race and Afro-history
“[Kevin] Baldeosingh […] uncritically regurgitates the defunct racist hypothesis that ‘darker-skinned people’ are judged less intelligent and ‘more primitive’ than ‘fairer-skinned people’. “[…] During the first century of this era, Ethiopians were the majority in the town of Barygasa (now Baruch) in western India. By the time of the Mughal …
Read More »A Massive Count?! Live Wire considers underlying issue as Gosein takes Rowley’s mudda for a ride
It is crude, simple and catchy and it references a part of the female anatomy that has caused more men to be laid off in recent times than low gas prices. Mr Live Wire is talking, of course, about Nermal “Massive” Gosein’s Carnival 2018 song “Rowlee Mother Count,” a song …
Read More »STREET VIBE: Why does T&T Crime Stoppers only offer cash rewards for certain missing persons?
“In this small twin island state, where almost every Monday morning someone else goes missing—usually a young lady between the ages of 14 and 16 years old—it is indeed quite discomforting to see rewards being posted for assistance in only locating some people, while other families are ignored, neglected and …
Read More »MASTER’S VOICE: Ms De Verteuil’s racist reasoning justifies criminalising blacks
“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 …
Read More »Beware the ill winds: Martin Daly on racial sensitivities, drugs and politically-fuelled hate
Last week, I wrote of the ill wind of deep-seated race and class divisions. Let me acknowledge that the use of the ill wind description was one put to me in conversation with someone for whose intellect and creativity I have high admiration. I asserted that this ill wind drives …
Read More »One French Creole’s revision of T&T history: Why De Verteuil’s Laventille rant is dead wrong
“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 …
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