Historian and retired lecturer Prof Brinsley Samaroo
By Narissa Fraser
July 10, 2023 – newsday.co.tt
A brilliant writer, a conscious academic and a remarkable individual. This is how UWI will remember historian and retired lecturer Prof Brinsley Samaroo.
Continue reading UWI mourns Prof Samaroo – remarkable historian, individual
By Raffique Shah
July 04, 2023
Verily I say unto you, Man, that you have the right to use, abuse or misuse your body any which way you choose to, so long as you do not impose your choices on your neighbours, friends, and especially on your enemies, since they are likelier to be hostile, even war-like punishment for one’s refusal to submit to the will of the others’ which must be wrong in any culture, belief or ethnicity; further, I retain my right to practice within the privacy of my castle, however humble such edifice may be, acts between me and my mate that bring us immense pleasure, that do not impinge on the freedoms of others, least of all on children who do not have the maturity to rationally determine what is good for them, and what is not.
Continue reading Your Gender, Your Business
The African continent has been under European siege for 600 years. The current form of white men telling Africans to shut up and do as they are told are called “sanctions”. Listen to Rutendo Matinyarare explaining the origins and effects of the illegal US and European sanctions on his home country, Zimbabwe. Rutendo is a leader of the Zimbabwe Anti Sanction Movement (ZASM) and an expert on the country’s foreign policy.
Continue reading Zimbabwe And Other African Nations Are Fighting Back. Stop Illegal Sanctions
By Raffique Shah
June 26, 2023
I am convinced that the problem with politics and governance in this country, the fact that we never seem to get it right, that having wavered between PNM in control for thirty consecutive years to the party losing in 1986 33-3 then complaining about every government having freely elected them, maybe we need to look at ourselves, not the politicians.
Continue reading See No Evil, Hear No Evil
Guardian Editorial
June 23, 2023 – guardian.co.tt
The issue of lesbian and gay rights has been knocking on our door for some time now. Today, the LGBTQ+ community is banging on the front door demanding attention. A feeling of blissfully secure, or indeed silently angst from within the presumed safety of our previously secured places, will not protect us from facing an issue that is present everywhere in our world.
Continue reading All voices must be raised in LGBTQ+ debate
By Raffique Shah
June 20, 2023
I haven’t given much thought to the local government election due to be held in August, nor have I paid much attention to the ongoing debate on reforming local government, a cornerstone of PNM’s vision for new governments.
In the first instance, besides creating three new boroughs, the Government is seeking to instil the decentralisation of governance, the precise details of which I have not studied. However, I am aware that the contentious issue of property tax which the PNM sees as not only a source of revenue, but more importantly a source of power to the local government bodies, remains a gap between the Government and the Opposition UNC, which is totally against property tax.
Continue reading Cradle of corruption
By Raffique Shah
June 11, 2023
I never thought the day would come when I would find it necessary to write a column like this—coming down like the proverbial tonne of bricks on a financial institution that thousands of patriots like me breathed life into well before it was born, and certainly before the people who currently occupy its management chairs were even ideas, far less born.
But after my experiences over the past few weeks, and listening to other customers complain, I felt compelled to raise the issues in the public forum.
Continue reading Shame on you, FCB!
By Dr Kwame Nantambu
June 08, 2023
The violent, brutal beating/murder of the 29-year-old black man Tyre Nichols on January 7, 2023 by five black Memphis police officers immediately pushes to the fore the inherent, insecure and dangerous existence of black life in America today.
Indeed, there was a time when blacks were considered “three-fifths of a person”, but it seems that that evaluation has now totally been relegated to zero.
Continue reading Living While Black in America
By Raffique Shah
June 06, 2023
Leila found it hilarious when an interviewer, who is chronicling the lives of ‘prominent people’, asked his penultimate question: What’s next on the radar for you, Mr. Shah? He had covered much of the multifaceted life I’ve lived. He found, as I had done, that my life had indeed been intriguing especially upon reflection since having been struck with Parkinson’s Disease thirteen years ago. Except for my weekly columns in this space, and I have been trying to complete a few books that are mostly written, I’ve done little else in what many might see as an important periods in my life’s journey. I could not help but laugh out loudly, though, at the question about my future at age 77, stricken with this debilitating disease that can be crippling several times a day, every day without fail. What next for me? Death, I responded, laughing raucously. Everyone within range, joined me. I have that infectious effect when I talk about mortality.
Continue reading Life after Parkinson’s? Maybe.
Newsday Editorial
June 06, 2023
MANY are the reasons why a victim of sexual assault may not come forward.
Some fear they will not be believed. Others are daunted by a criminal justice system plagued with delay. All of this is made worse when the perpetrator is a member of the protective services.
Continue reading A special victim