View Point

“[…] Basdeo Panday’s life itself is a story of incredible greatness and inspirational heroism—a poor, rural, Indo-Trinidadian boy, consigned to social and economic marginalization, defying and overcoming every single obstacle, to study law in the UK and then become one of T&T’s greatest trade unionists, politicians, prime ministers, and perhaps …

“[…] I like helping people. When I help you, and you know, you see the joy on people’s faces. I’m like: ‘I saved them. I saved somebody. I had my part to play in that.’ That is my joy—just being a helping hand…” Wired868 highlights the day-to-day lives of everyday …

Ancestry © is possibly the most extensive software package that helps us to develop our family tree. Knowing your family history enables you to appreciate your identity. The story of Jesus in the New Testament begins with a family tree. In a strange twist, the genealogy by which Matthew attempts …

As previewed last Sunday, Pantopia is a steelband musical inspired by the music of Ray Holman, scheduled for performance in April next year. I describe this week the strong historical context that should impel support for Pantopia. The historical context includes the insertion into the Trinidad Music Festival of competitive …

At the 1851 Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio, a former enslaved woman, Sojourner Truth, delivered a famous speech. The contents of the actual speech have been contested, with mainly two versions still reported. The more popular version is called “Ain’t I a Woman”. That one has the narrative written …

I’ve been on a Scrunter loop, studying lyrics, music, the melodies, the distinctive raspiness of his voice—and it made me want to pay tribute to this one of our outstanding West Indians. I’d interviewed him way back in 1998, and the article said much of what I wanted to say …

“[…] Guyana and Venezuela declared as follows: 1. Agreed that Guyana and Venezuela, directly or indirectly, will not threaten or use force against one another in any circumstances, including those consequential to any existing controversies between the two States. “[…] And that any controversies between the two States will be …

The following guest column on the relationship between the governments of Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana was submitted to Wired868 by Orin Gordon, a Guyana-born, T&T-based media consultant who publishes at oringordon.com: The much bigger, stronger brother has the smaller one in a painful choke hold. Little brother can’t breathe. He’s wriggling …

The once-dormant border dispute between Guyana and Venezuela can potentially destabilise the entire region if not hemisphere—most definitely this country—and yet I don’t think our media is analysing this with nearly the depth it deserves Listening to the more mature radio talk shows and going through certain articles and news reports, one …

Last week was an encouraging week in the evolution of the panyard model and pan music, unfortunately clouded by news of the death of Earl Rodney. My pan historian friends emphasise that Earl Rodney was “not from tong”. He was from “Point”, meaning Point Fortin, and not from Port-of-Spain (“tong”). …

“[…] The Caribbean has, since the 15th Century, been a region of imperial contest and a theatre for wars between European colonial and imperial powers, and then later for US colonial and imperial military intervention. We cannot and must not allow this to be continued. “The God-given resources of the …

“[…] One of the initiatives that I started was every child at the school had to belong to a club, so that school is not just about the academics, but school is about developing the child holistically. “At the school right now, we have an arts and crafts club, we …