Guest Columns

My mother got an A in picking cotton and a B in digging yam instead of the Common Entrance Exam. Her grandmother (and primary caregiver) must have thought that that was the better use of her time.  Can’t blame her though; she herself couldn’t write and had a thumbprint on …

“[…] Activist Amanda McIntyre believes that the original portrayals of the Baby Doll were a parody of the plight of single mothers and, generally, women—a stark demonstration of how they frequently bear the blame and responsibility ‘for something that is normal and natural: sex and sexuality’. “[…] McIntyre situated her …

In 1930, The International Digest offered this quote: ‘A banker, it has been said jestingly, is a man who lends you an umbrella when the weather is good and takes it back when it rains. ‘It would be more correct to say that the banker, at the beginning of a …

“[…] Delicate pink or white lace accentuates the dress. Gossamer veils cascade from oversized hats or bonnets tied beneath the chin by a silky ribbon. Supple white gloves, a veil or mask, sheer stockings, and, on the feet, tightly laced Mary Janes—if you own a pair. A doll with rosebud …

Black Stalin’s lyrics in his 1988 calypso ‘We could make it if we try’  have been occupying a space in my brain. He sang: ‘So the Treasury broke and they say that recession jamming/And so to foreign countries Trinis start migrating/ They lose faith in their country, they say we …

Mark Antony’s speech from Julius Caesar is worth recalling at this juncture in our country’s history. It speaks to how honourable men, seduced by the drama of the moment, can wreak great evil upon a nation.   This is the sum of the events of 21 October in our Parliament; …

As a child, I learned a saying, ‘Don’t wait until night comes to light a candle to see what you could see in the day’! By this, my mother meant, ‘Don’t wait for a problem to come upon you when it could have been prevented long beforehand’. As a purveyor …

So Thursday was World Credit Union Day. Who exactly in this country celebrated it and what exactly was being celebrated is kinda hazy to me at this moment, what with the way the credit union movement is slowly shifting away from its moorings, the working classes. Slowly, imperceptibly, there is …

I so wanted to write about the theatrics and the vaudeville-type show just recently put on in Parliament by some seasoned actors and let’s say some neophyte starlets who saw an opportunity to have their names lit up in neon lights. The show debuted on 21 October 2021 and from …

Flashback: The following interview was first published on 27 July 2015… Jamaat-al-Muslimeen leader Yasin Abu Bakr says that the country still does not know the real story of July 1990 but he is not yet ready to share it. What he does share is that it is the Jamaat’s attempts …

The swearing of an oath by our presidents is an expression of a specific intention to others. It is not limited to the moment when the person articulates the words. It commits to act in a certain way in the future.  This action is a deliberate exercise of one’s free …

If only Members of Parliament could master the same level of decorum and use of language like our esteemed President, this would be a more gentle place. I contrast the language of the President with the language of the Prime Minister and feel sick to my gut. Prime Minister Dr …