The letter ‘When would real equality come?’ by Anand Beharrylal, QC—carried in the Express Monday 15 June edition—reminds me of an Aaron Levenstein quote: “Statistics are like bikinis. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital.” His comments were suggestive but do not provide a full picture …
Read More »Dear Spanish envoy: Tell us where you put your Franco statues; and then mind your business!
To the Spanish envoy, from a citizen of this country, kindly shut up, sit down and keep out of this. Go process some document or something, this is no concern of yours. And may I point out to you and the few local lackeys who are either as ignorant as …
Read More »Dear editor: Time to re-write history! The Spanish Ambassador is out of place
In response to Spanish Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago Javier Carbajosa’s statement that ‘removing the statue of Christopher Columbus in downtown Port of Spain would not right the wrongs of the past’, I, as a descendant of the First Peoples of T&T, write to challenge his view. To begin with, …
Read More »Claude’s comments: The origins of white supremacy and role of Columbus, Victoria and an ‘Italianised’ Jesus
“Racism has been Europe’s greatest gift to the world.” So said Dr Eric Williams, the first Prime Minister of T&T (Selwyn Cudjoe, Eric Williams Speaks). Of course, Williams was being sarcastic. If racism was a gift to the world, the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was the greatest gift …
Read More »Remove monuments of hate and ‘racist barbaric adventure’, CRFP targets Columbus again
“[…] Germany […] has several statues of Adolf Hitler by the renowned British sculptor Arnold Brecker. Absolutely no one in their right mind believes that these should be put back on public display because Hitler was part of their history. “There is a clear understanding that he represents something that …
Read More »Policemen, soldiers charged for allegedly bullying homeless man during Covid lockdown
“[…] Police officers, Anthony Alert and Kadeem Cadiz, and soldiers, Kevin Rawlins and Dane Williams, […] were charged after investigations were conducted into an incident that occurred on 29 March 2020. “The men, who were in uniform and on patrol in a marked police vehicle, on the night in question, …
Read More »MSJ: Where are the long-promised police body cameras, Gary?
“[…] There continues to be the anguish of citizens who claim that the police are executing persons in their community, whilst the police claim otherwise. “The people of Trinidad and Tobago need to know the truth and we just cannot take the police’s statement as fact when we have had …
Read More »Noble: Is ‘all ah we’ one family? The uncomfortable race conversations T&T needs
Kristalina Georgieva, the IMF head, in a conversation with the Washington Post last week described the economic situation brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic as a ‘crisis like no other’. For her, the impending crisis was a ‘great reversal’ that was wrought with much uncertainty. She foresaw significant job losses …
Read More »Daly Bread: The Thing that does not go away; tackling race in T&T
There is a thing that it seems will not go away. It is described in Toni Morrison’s ‘The Bluest Eye’, in which she told the extremely painful story of the desire of Pecola to have the bluest eyes and blond hair. Pecola’s self esteem is destroyed by the arrival of …
Read More »Noble: Does chanting constitute ‘rioting’? How Griffith and TTPS failed BLM protesters
“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” James Baldwin. We can ignore what we faced on 8 June in the Queen’s Park Savannah or face it and propose to change it. Late that evening, a video surfaced of a police …
Read More »TTPS probe ‘cap snatching’ incident at TTBLM protest and will consider charges
“An investigation has been launched into an incident at the Queen’s Park Savannah last Monday in which the cap of a police officer was snatched by a civilian. “A formal report was made by the police officer, who is attached to the Municipal Police Department…” The following statement related to …
Read More »Demming: #TTBLM protesters suggest bright future for T&T, but TTPS was provocative
When the crowd took a knee and held it in silence for nine minutes, I knew I was amidst a sea of young persons who were sending a message that the time for change is now. The #ttblm movement gathered peacefully in the Queen’s Park Savannah, chanted and spoke their …
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