By Raffique Shah
Sunday, August 3rd 2008

AS many of my African brethren gathered over the past week to mark Emancipation Day, I reflected on just how emancipated we are. And I don’t mean just Afro-Trinis, I mean all of us who form the melting pot that is Trinidad and Tobago. I started this column by noting that many among the Afro-Diaspora would mark emancipation. Not all. Far from it, the majority of those who descended from the most barbaric form of slavery known to mankind are not even aware that their forebears were brought here (and elsewhere in the West) against their will, in shackles, in the most inhumane conditions.
Continue reading Emancipation an unrealised dream →

An Emancipation Address on the occasion of the 8th Annual Emancipation Dinner of the National Association for the Empowerment of African People [NAEAP] at Andre Kamperveen Hall, Center of Excellence, Macoya, Tunapuna, delivered on July 31, 2008. Professor Cudjoe is the President of NAEAP

Today is an historic occasion. It is an occasion on which the people of Trinidad and Tobago stretch out their hands in reconciliation to our brothers and sisters in Ghana from where so many of our ancestors came. We are pleased that His Excellency John Kufor, President of the Republic of Ghana, has consented to join in our celebrations here in Trinidad and Tobago. We are equally as pleased that the Hon. Patrick Manning, our beloved Prime Minister, has had the foresight to invite such a distinguished brother to our shores as we reflect upon the pain and suffering; joy and transcendence; blessings sought and blessings received throughout this perilous journey in another land. On this glorious night, we revel in our bright, shinning selves as we are sure our brothers from across the ocean see their noble reflection in us. Though divided by the water and history we remain one people. Tonight we give praises for all of our blessings.
Continue reading Choosing Your Coffins →

Thursday, July 31st 2008
trinidadexpress.com

The people who could have potentially been leaders of local African communities have failed Afro-Trinidadians and Tobagonians, says National Lotteries Control Board (NLCB) chairman and radio station owner Louis Lee Sing.

“This group of successful Afro-Trinbagonian(s) see themselves as Trinidadians and nothing else. The plight of the less fortunate of his race do not matter,” he commented.
Continue reading Lee Sing: Afro-Trinis dying over URP crumbs →

By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
July 31, 2008

The Airports Authority’s emancipation exhibit in its atrium proudly proclaims, “Happy Emancipation” and informs us that “in 1985, Trinidad and Tobago became the first country in the world to declare a national holiday, Emancipation Day, to commemorate the abolition of slavery on August 1, 1834.” As I am neither a linguist nor a logographer, I wondered why the use of “happy” to describe Emancipation Day and in what sense it should be described thus.
Continue reading Happy Emancipation! →

By Dr. Kwame Nantambu
July 25, 2008

One hundred and seventy-four years have passed since Afrikans were emancipated from European enslavement. Nevertheless, their descendants in TnT are still irreversibly entangled in the web of historical-ancestral dislocation and powerlessness.

The fact of the matter is that in 2008, the descendants of these ‘freed’ slaves are still a homeless and motherless people.
Continue reading Emancipation vs Liberation →

By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
July 23, 2008

Most of us will revel in African sartorial splendor during the next week. Such displays signal a magnificent achievement of which the Emancipation Support Committee (ESC) should be proud. It has made African Trinbagonians aware of their heritage and, at least for a week, makes us reflect on the land of our origin. As we reflect, it is well to ponder how this awareness coincides with our threatened re-enslavement in our adopted land.
Continue reading Emancipation and Self-Reflection →