“The mere fact that a man could be, under the law, the actual master of the mind and body of human beings had to have disastrous effects. It tended to inflate the ego of most planters beyond all reason. “They became arrogant, strutting, quarrelsome kinglets; they issued commands; they made …
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 »Noble: Why it’s insulting to conflate trans-Atlantic slave trade with Holocaust
“You must also study and learn the lessons of history because humanity has been involved in this soul-wrenching, existential struggle for a very long time. People on every continent have stood in your shoes through decades and centuries before you.” John Lewis, July 2020. This week marked the commemoration of …
Read More »Noble: How the Journey began; understanding the lingering impact of slavery
“The history that is accountable to the enslaved cannot fulfil our yearning for romance, our desire to hear the subaltern speak, our search for the subaltern as a heroic actor whose agency triumphs over the forces of oppression…what comes into view instead are the inner workings of power and violence.” …
Read More »Dear Editor: Time to reset soul of Caribbean civilisation; gov’ts must confront our colonial legacy
“[…] Despite the refusal of European governments to engage the issue, the moral landscape across the world has changed discernibly in favour of reparatory justice for native genocide and chattel slavery. “[…] An increasing number of Caribbean people are coming to terms with the true horror of racialised Chattel Slavery… …
Read More »Vaneisa: The secret life of Sabina Park—Jamaica’s tribute to a defiant woman slave
Sabina Park was a woman. More than that, she was a slave. More than that, she was an enslaved woman who took the life of her four-month-old son. At her trial in the Half Way Tree court, she admitted to the infanticide. The Crown witness relayed her complaint that “she …
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 »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: 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: But we had hoped… Fighting disappointments, chasing freedom—the true Easter story
The story of Easter includes an episode of two travellers on the Emmaus road (Luke 24: 13 – 35). They, like many of us today, were distressed and down-hearted. Life was tough, with challenges that burdened them. This place of disillusionment and grief is common to man. Disappointments are everywhere. …
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