All posts by News

General T&T, Hinduism, Race and Identity, Racism Watch, Religion

Letting goodness shine for Divali

2 Comments

By Angali Hosein
November 04, 2021 – newsday.co.tt

HindusSitaram and Shubh Divali to the Hindu community and to my beloved country, Trinidad and Tobago. Divali or Deepavali translates to a row of lights or festival of lights and bears a great significance in Hindu culture as it emphasises light over darkness as well as good over evil. Thus, the auspiciousness of this day brings me feelings of joy, happiness and love, which I try my best to share with those around me.
Continue reading Letting goodness shine for Divali →

Education, General T&T, Racism Watch, USA

Beloved

By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
November 01, 2021

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeBeloved is an excruciatingly intense novel about the slave experience written by Toni Morrison, an acclaimed African-American writer. She is the only Black woman to have won the Nobel Prize in Literature. She also won a Pulitzer Prize for Beloved in 1987. In 2012 President Obama presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest award that can be bestowed on a civilian.
Continue reading Beloved →

General T&T, Parliament, PNM, Politics, UNC

Patriots, assemble!

19 Comments

By Raffique Shah
November 01, 2021

Raffique ShahHow many of you remember the video posted on one of the social media networks in which a girl, looking no more than 15 or so years old, standing before her smartphone’s camera, put an expletives-­laden cussing on the then-prime minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar?

Many people recoiled in horror: no, this could not be happening in this God-fearing country, some screamed. Others thought the girl was merely registering her displeasure with the Prime Minister and her government, so what?
Continue reading Patriots, assemble! →

General T&T, Parliament, PNM, Politics, UNC

Ramesh: Speaker upheld the Constitution

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Ramesh: Speaker upheld the Constitution during motion on President

By Renuka Singh
October 26 2021 – guardian.co.tt

Ramesh Lawrence MaharajSenior Counsel Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj has defended House Speaker Brigid Annisette-George’s handling of last Thursday’s motion by the Opposition to remove President Paula-Mae Weekes.

While the Opposition clamoured for the motion to be debated and attacked Annissette-George for refusing to allow it, Maharaj said the Constitution does not allow for a debate until the matter is passed by a two-thirds majority of the Electoral College.
Continue reading Ramesh: Speaker upheld the Constitution →

General T&T, International, USA

Whiteness and critical race theory

13 Comments

By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
October 25, 2021

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeAn article, “Energising conservative voters, one school board election at a time”, appeared in The New York Times last Thursday. It was subtitled “Republicans hope that concerns about critical race theory can help them in the midterm election”.

This issue has torn apart one of Wisconsin’s suburbs. Stephanie Saul, author of that article, sought to demonstrate how “Republicans are using fears of critical race theory to drive school board recalls and energise conservatives, hoping to lay groundwork for the 2022 midterm elections” (October 21).
Continue reading Whiteness and critical race theory →

Parliament, PNM, UNC

Portia tames Kams

18 Comments

By Raffique Shah
October 25, 2021

Raffique ShahI don’t know if it has yet dawned on Kamla Persad-Bissessar and her colleagues in the Opposition United National Congress that their ill-conceived motion in Parliament, which sought to trigger the impeachment of the President of the Republic, has backfired so badly that it seems set to terminate Persad-Bissessar’s political career, and possibly eliminate the UNC as a political force in the country.
Continue reading Portia tames Kams →

General T&T, Passed on

Abu Bakr dies at 80

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By Jensen La Vende
October 21, 2021 – newsday.co.tt

Jamaat al-Muslimeen leader Yasin Abu BakrDAYS after celebrating his 80 birthday Imam Yasin Abu Bakr has died.

Bakr, formerly Lennox Phillip, was the leader of the Jamaat-al-Muslimeen which attempted to overthrow the NAR government on July 27, 1990.

Police reported that Bakr, a diabetic, collapsed at his home at Long Circular Road, St James on Thursday night and was taken to the St James Health Facility where he was declared dead.
Continue reading Abu Bakr dies at 80 →

Editorial, Parliament, PNM, Politics, UNC

From high drama to farce

22 Comments

Express Editorial
October 21, 2021 – trinidadexpress.com

Kamla Persad-BissessarPredictably, the Opposition Leader’s motion to remove the President crashed and burned on the Parliament’s floor with a wide 47-24 margin of defeat.

From the start, this was a misguided motion that smacked of over-reach and succeeded only in bringing a healthy public ­debate on the role of the President to a premature end.
Continue reading From high drama to farce →

Court, General T&T, Parliament, PNM, Politics

Has the People’s Lawyer lost his way?

2 Comments

By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
October 18, 2021

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeWhen the Opposition gave notice last week that it intended to file a vote of no confidence in Faris Al-Rawi, it was another sequel in an ongoing battle to get rid of one of the most inefficient attorneys general our country has ever known.

After he filed the motion against Al-Rawi, San Juan/Barataria MP Saddam Hosein noted: “We have seen six consecutive years of legislative incompetence and legislative insanity. And now the icing on the cake is the particular 2021 Order… which attempted to change the law for the appointment of a Commissioner of Police,” (Express, October 1)
Continue reading Has the People’s Lawyer lost his way? →

Court, General T&T, Parliament, Politics

There is no crisis

12 Comments

By Raffique Shah
October 18, 2021

Raffique ShahIt saddens me to write what I am about to, but it’s harsh reality that we must face and fight, or, if we are the unpatriotic cowards many believe we are, then we might consider joining millions of others across the world who abandon all hope in their native lands and become refugees, moving like nomads anywhere the wind and fellow-refugees take them.
Continue reading There is no crisis →