Category Archives: Protest

Election an illusion of power

By Raffique Shah
July 01, 2020

Raffique ShahIt’s difficult to get a good grasp of what’s happening on the ground regarding the general election, which will be held in the next three months. It seems that Covid-19, the virus that has impacted the world like nothing else in history, and fundamentally changed the way we live to the extent that we have coined virtually a new lexicon to comprehend its effects, said virus has relegated the election to a side-show, almost a non-event.
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Black American Lives Have Always Mattered…

By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
June 29, 2020

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeAbout one hundred yards north of Whitehall, there is a short street, Maxwell Philip Street, that is located between Prada and Scott streets, in St. Clair, Port of Spain. It is no more than 500 yards long. Although it is located in an affluent part of the city, it commemorates the life of a very important member of our community.

Philip, one of the most respected and accomplished Afro-Trinbagonians of the nineteenth century, might be little known to our contemporaries. However, given the impact that Black Lives Matter (BLM) is having on the present era and the interest it has generated all over the world, it might be wise to become acquainted with Philip, his importance in our history, and the enduring connection of the BLM to Afro-Trinbagonians.
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An incomplete revolution

By Raffique Shah
March 02, 2020

Raffique ShahFifty years after the Black Power Revolution shook Trinidad and Tobago’s foundation, many people, mostly older folks, are trying to quantify what benefits, if any, were derived from those tumultuous events. In contrast, younger people have no idea that anything significant happened in 1970, nor are they interested in our history. Hell, they have little or no interest in history as a subject, far less in local history.
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“Christmas” killed, residents protest

By Ryan Hamilton-Davis
February 20, 2018 – newsday.co.tt

Akeil “Christmas” is dead, and Port of Spain residents are not happy about it.

Police allegedly shot a man with that alias during the hours of last night, and in response, residents have taken to the streets in fiery protest, burning debris and blocking major roads which lead to the capital.
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Butler and Rienzi

By Raffique Shah
June 26, 2016

Raffique ShahWithin recent years, annual Labour Day celebrations trigger accusations that the trade unions that mark the occasion with marches and speeches at Fyzabad pay homage only to Tubal Uriah Butler, never Adrian Cola Rienzi.

Such sentiments imply that Rienzi, whose original name was Krishna Deonarine, is ignored by labour because of his race. They suggest that his contribution to trade unions in the country through registration and leadership of both the oil workers’ OWTU and the sugar workers’ ATSEFWTU in 1937 was as critical to the recognition and development of labour as Butler’s charismatic appeal to the masses.
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Peerless and fearless: simply The Greatest

By Raffique Shah
June 11, 2016

Raffique ShahIn death, as in life, he straddled the world like a colossus. All the major international news networks suspended regular programming to pay homage to Muhammad Ali, the greatest boxer ever, the supreme sporting figure of the 20th Century, the defiant one who sacrificed a successful career on the altar of principle.

Just four years older than me, Ali symbolised the rebelliousness of so many of my generation, it was almost as if we knew him, grew up with him, that when he spoke out, confronted what we had dubbed “the establishment” in those heady days, his was our voice.
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PM reviewing Camille, Marlene matters—AG

By Richard Lord
March 11, 2016 – guardian.co.tt

Prie Minister Dr Keith RowleyPrime Minister Dr Keith Rowley is reviewing the future of Cabinet Ministers Marlene McDonald and Camille Robinson-Regis and will act decisively at the appropriate time. So said Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi during an interview with reporters after yesterday’s post-Cabinet news conference at the Office of the Prime Minister, St Clair.
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PM: Tim Kee did the right thing

Trinidad Guardian
Monday, February 15, 2016 – guardian.co.tt

Prie Minister Dr Keith RowleyPrime Minister Dr Keith Rowley says Port-of-Spain Mayor Raymond Tim Kee did the correct thing in responding to criticism from the national community. He said Tim Kee’s statements following the murder of Japanese pannist Asami Nagakiya were “unacceptable.”
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No Confidence Motion Against Rowley: “Waste of time”

UNC ‘Supporters’ Outside Parliament
They turned out to picket the parliament in support of the prime minister, but many didn’t know why or what was taking place in the House.

Source: www.tv6tnt.com/news/PM-Supporters-297567081.html
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