Tag Archives: 1970 Revolution

What do the 1937 riots, the 1970 Black Power revolution, the 1990 attempted coup, and the current crime wave have in common? They are all eruptions of dissatisfaction over the distribution of the national income earned from our energy sector. We will continue to have these episodes until we reset …

I first met UWI Professor Emeritus Dr Brinsley Samaroo many years ago on a radio programme, where I brought up an aspect of race relations in Trinidad and Tobago that I thought his explanation was missing. He agreed with me, and we spoke for a long time following the programme. …

“[…] Some of our citizens, unfortunately, seem to hold the view that the natural hair type of students of African descent and their African ancestry/heritage and culture are not valid considerations in the crafting and implementation of school rules. “[…] It is refreshing that like in 1970, the heroes of …

A ‘harden’ child is a stubborn child who has to feel the wrath– usually in the form of ‘licks’–to understand the lesson. Trinidad is a ‘harden’ child—repeating its experiences without learning from them.  When the country is splintered and only the rich can survive, you are looking for trouble. You …

“[…] Basil Davis represented the type of persons who were joining the Revolution in their thousands in 1970. He was an ordinary brother from the blocks of Barataria. His now late mother and other family members testified that Basil was a very kind person, who shared what little he had …

“[…] Two days later, Pelham Warner, a youthman from Morvant, was waiting for me by the school gate. He greeted me with the words, ‘I took your poem to Granger (Daaga), and he wants to see you immediately.’ “That very evening, at Waterman Road in Belmont, three NJAC seniors, Makandal …

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 …

From 1956 to 1981, Trinidad and Tobago experienced what it is like to be led by an unapologetically patriarchal leader who made decisions on our behalf whether or not we supported them. During that period our two-island nation became the richest country in the Caribbean. For 25 years, the leadership …

“[Joe Young] was in his 30s when he led the bus strike that changed the nation, and when he spoke at the funeral of Basil Davis, one of the revolutionaries killed in 1970. “As a young person he was making real change, not just for himself but for a large …

“[…] With the declaration of the SOE on Tuesday 21 April 1970, [Makandal] Daaga and other members of the NJAC leadership, were detained on Nelson Island and at the Royal Jail.  “In the ensuing months, a reign of terror was released on the population. A dusk to dawn curfew was …

It wasn’t, we knew then, the best of times; it wasn’t, we now know, the worst of times.  When, in July 1990, Yasin Abu Bakr opened a door and, in David Rudder’s well-weighted words, showed us our other side, like Adam and Eve, we went frantically in search of a …

“[…] Most of all, the movement of 1970 gave the population a new sense of ownership of their land. This also meant acceptance of direct responsibility for their nation’s affairs…” The following is the 12th and final column in an NJAC series on their contribution to Trinidad and Tobago society …