Sep 05
Address delivered by the daughter of Dr Eric Williams at the Trinidad and Tobago 50th Anniversary Independence Gala in Toronto on 25 August 2012, in which she speaks bluntly about the failure to fulfill her father’s vision in race relations, clean government, Caribbean integration and other critical areas.
You’ve heard all about the successes, so allow me to give a broad overview of a few other parameters, which might well be considered the bases of development, for without them, the country might as well be lost. Trinidad and Tobago is both a multiethnic and multi-religious society…
Sep 04
What we in the English-speaking Caribbean refer to as ‘ Independence’ is, above all, the act of making a Constitution and enshrining it in law. We’ve scarcely experienced Independence as a creative process….
More (Follow the link to page 4 of the online edition of the Trinidad and Tobago Review)
Jun 28
From the Trinidad Express, June 25, 2012
Disingenuously masked as a reconfiguration of the Cabinet and State boards, this is the firing of John Sandy and Jack Warner’s redemption or demise. Warner’s baggage deserved closer examination before handing him unrestricted access to private lives and public institutions. In failing to do so the PM’s judgment must be questioned. ..
Apr 20
Responding to Tennyson Joseph’s paper and comments, this contributor argues that a Caribbean Integration Party should take the form of a social movement. He goes on to outline a radically different structure for a new West Indian federation to make it both representative and effective.
Apr 18
A re-assessment of the role played by one of the leaders of Barbados’s labour and nationalist movements, who was the first and only Prime Minister of the short-lived West Indies Federation.
This year – 2012 – is the 75th anniversary of the 1937 ‘Peoples Rebellion’ that played such an important role in smashing the old racist colonial system, and ushering in trends that led to the Barbadian society of today…
Apr 12
Tennyson Joseph, who teaches Political Science at the UWI in Barbados, has outlined a programme for “the Second Independence Revolution”, in an address to the Common Sense Convois of the Lloyd Best Institute of the West Indies held recently.
It is now fifty years since the first English-Speaking Caribbean states attained independence. To many of us, these have been fifty years of marking time, trial and error, false starts, and dashed expectations, with some successes but more disappointments…
Jan 22
If there had been a CNN, a Fox News or a BBC three hundred and fifty years ago – in 1652 – Barbados would have been the leading international news story of the day! All over the world, people would have been talking about the remarkable news of the signing of the Charter of Barbados ..
Jan 07
This Report (a) offers historical, socio-cultural, economic, and other contours of the Origins of Guyana’s strategic culture, (b) probes the values and beliefs of its Keepers, (c) examines territorial disputes, drugs, and crime as core enduring rivalries and emerging Challenges, and (d) discusses the November 2011 elections and deficits in capabilities as key aspects of Continuity and Change…
Jan 06
Jobs, transparency, inclusiveness, respectfulness, full accession to the Caribbean Court of Justice and Jamaica to become a Republic are among the commitments made by Jamaica’s new Prime Minister in her inaugural address on January 5, 2012.
Jan 05
Also published in Stabroek News 2 January 2012
The generation of young Caribbean adults who did not live under colonialism, nor the dictatorships of Batista and Duvalier, must play a leading role in the re-thinking of our region and its identity. It must be a collective reflection on many levels: regionally, nationally,, locally, and across generations…
Jan 04
One of the journalists posing questions to the two panels of young politicians in the first debate of the Jamaican election pursued all six young leaders for radical solutions, in vain. I still hope that this emergent generation of politicians represented by both panelists has some radical ideas, but that we did not get them …
Dec 02
Good sense should prevail in this very troubled situation and Ramotar should make every effort to talk to the leaders of the two main opposition parties to form a government of national unity. It would be the best thing for Guyana…
Nov 28
A Channel 4 (UK) Unreported World Documentary. An earlier headline erroneously attributed this report to the BBC
Trinidad has become the murder capital of the Caribbean. While half a million tourists soak up the carnival atmosphere every year, the government has introduced a state of emergency to try to stop the gang violence that results in a murder on average every 17 hours. ..
Oct 26
This booklet, illustrated with photographs, presents 41 articles that appeared online in 2011, containing news and commentary by several authors on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth and the 30th anniversary of the death of Dr Eric Eustace Williams (1911-1981), noted Trinbagonian and Caribbean visionary, leader, statesman, prime minister, scholar, and teacher. It was compiled as a tribute to Dr Williams by Peter Jordens, economist and scholar of Caribbean affairs from Curacao.
Oct 20
The Marcus Garvey People’s Political Party (MGPPP) is calling for a demonstration in front of the Bank of Jamaica on Thursday at 1 PM to express sentiments similar to those being made in America by the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement or the 99% Movement and which has now spread to many other countries especially in Europe…
Oct 20
T started off with fewer than 2,000 young people about four weeks ago, and in a flash it has mushroomed into a global movement. “Occupy Wall Street” is now “Occupy Together” as the common chords of injustice, greed and exploitation have found resonance with people all over the world…
Oct 19
From The Guardian
Secret documents declassified on Friday (October 14 2011) by MI5 reveal in detail how in 1953 the UK under prime minister Winston Churchill overthrew the elected government of British Guiana – now Guyana – because he feared its leftwing leader and his American wife would lead the British colony into the arms of the Soviet Union. The documents reveal how British spies kept up intense scrutiny on Cheddi Jagan and his wife Janet, who together founded the People’s Progressive party (PPP) to campaign for workers’ rights and independence from British rule for the sugar-producing colony in northern South America…
See also
Declassified Colonial Office documents reveal the extent of British duplicity, American hypocrisy and the naivety of a militantly anti-colonial leader who nevertheless trusted in British justice; in bringing British Guiana to ‘Independence’ in 1966. This textbook lesson in imperial intrigue and machination should be required listening for every Caribbean student.
Oct 08
The politico/business elite’s parasitic and corrupted modus operandi is an impediment to both national and Caricom development.Trinbago’s ruling elites of parasitic corporate leaders and politicians have demonstrated by their actions and relationships over the last 20 years that all our political parties are inter-woven into a corrupted web of mutual money interests with major business elites…
Sep 26
The State of Emergency in Trinidad and Tobago is uncovering a lot of this country’s unfinished business. What was in darkness is coming to light. The clampdown on hotspot communities has prompted debates on the state of African communities and young black males. Some make snide remarks that African people world-over are hotspots…
