Professor Emerita Bridget Brereton, in her masterful 2010 contribution, All ah we is not one, highlights the development of competing ethnic narratives. She highlights the colonialist and the anti-colonialist, then the Afrocentric versus Indocentric narrative. She said: “Generally, the kind of narrative produced before and after independence by former colonies …
Read More »Dear Editor: It’s disturbing that PM cheers on US claim of extrajudicial killing
“[…] The fact that our Prime Minister would openly applaud extrajudicial killings as a solution to drug trafficking was troubling to say the least. By cheering on violence outside the rule of law, she plants a creeping poison in the heart of our democracy. “[…] President Donald Trump said the strike …
Read More »Vaneisa: Fractured and foolish—will Caribbean leaders ever demonstrate spirit of CPL?
The late Austin Clarke published A Passage Back Home as a tribute to his friend, Samuel Selvon in 1994 (the year Selvon died). He wrote about them attending what he called Carifesta I in Georgetown, British Guiana. “All of us from the various diasporas into which we had drifted, Europe …
Read More »Dear Editor: T&T’s reckless unilateral stance on US-Venezuela standoff is a betrayal of Caricom
“[…] The Government’s position, as expounded by the Prime Minister and the Foreign Affairs Minister, is not neutrality by any diplomatic or regional standard. “[…] Authority without principle, without consultation and without regard for Caricom unity and regional peace is not leadership—it is recklessness masquerading as sovereignty…” The following guest …
Read More »Shameful, preposterous and disrespectful to Caricom! MSJ slams PM’s stance on US naval deployment
“[…] Today the government is putting us on the wrong side of history and in support of a colonial and imperial agenda, grounded in the 200+ year old Monroe Doctrine which US administrations have used as justification for interfering in this hemisphere to militarily invade sovereign states (Haiti, Cuba, Dominican …
Read More »Dear Editor: Gov’t gave criminals symbolic win by cancelling Independence Day parade
“[…] Independence Day is not merely a ritual—it is a vital reaffirmation of national unity, resilience, and cultural pride… Cancelling the Independence Day celebration risks eroding this collective consciousness and diminishing the symbols that bind the nation. “The government’s recent decision to cancel the 2025 parade, citing security risks for …
Read More »Vaneisa: A shot of Kamla might be what West Indies cricket needs
Last Monday, Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister threatened her ministers and party officials that she would “buss” their heads if they did not walk away from behaviour she considered to be leading down the road to corruption. Although she said she knew who they were, she did not name them. …
Read More »Kamla: “The rule of law remains our strongest shield”—lessons from July 27
“[…] Let us be clear: the perpetrators of July 1990 were not patriots. The true patriots defended the Constitution and safeguarded our Republic, some at the cost of their lives, others bearing wounds and trauma to this day. “[…] Today, three months after returning to office, I reaffirm my Government’s …
Read More »Noble: Is Gov’t handling of SoE trivialising T&T’s crime reality?
Over the last ten days, I missed BC Pires. He would understand how to explain what has been going on in my beloved country. Vidia Naipaul is also not here, so he cannot update his famed The Mimic Men. Here is one of his quotes from that novel: “[…] We, …
Read More »Dear Editor: Is SoE lazy response to solvable National Security issues?
“[…] Perhaps everyone, with the exception of members of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS), recognises that declaring a SOE is a clear indication that the respective state apparatuses falling under the umbrella of national security are acknowledging their collective failure to protect citizens. “[…] Apparently a handful of …
Read More »Noble: Does visit of divisive Modi align with ‘every creed and race find an equal place’?
As Trinbagonians, we have an aspiration expressed in the phrase ‘all ah we is one family’. Lord Nelson, as a Tobago son, articulated it in song: Family! /Mama tell me since a baby/Doh pass people just so when you in Tobago/ Doh play proudy, tell dem howdy/ Ah say, What’s …
Read More »Daly Bread: Are Padarath and Kamla in sync? And what to make of PNM Changemakers?
Since her return from Opposition to the office of prime minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar (Kamla) has been putting great emphasis on her United National Congress (UNC) Government treating the battered population with empathy. On the occasion of the ceremonial opening of the new Parliament, a little over a week ago, the …
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