Category Archives: Passed on

Preserving the Tacarigua Savannah

By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
August 09, 2013 – trinicenter.com

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeTacarigua, one of the oldest villages in Trinidad, has always been a peaceful village. In fact, it has been so peaceful that there has never been a police station in that village.(1) One suspects that the presence of its savannah, the second largest in the country after Queen’s Park Savannah in Port of Spain-that is, until the construction of homes on those magnificent grounds in the 1950s,-the gentle-flowing waters of its river to which all repaired on a Sunday, and the peaceful mixture of its peoples-Hindus in Paradise, Muslims in Dinsley, and Africans in St. Mary’s-all added to the attractiveness of the place and mutual respect each accorded to the other. In a way, it could be said that the Tacarigua Savannah held the village together. It certainly was the central spot where everyone gathered.
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Venezuela: Adiós Presidente

By Clifton Ross
March 8th 2013 – Upside Down World

Mourners pay their respects to Hugo Chávez (Efrain Gonzalez / Prensa Miraflores)
Mourners pay their respects to Hugo Chávez (Efrain Gonzalez / Prensa Miraflores)
It may be difficult for North Americans to grasp the loss Venezuelans are feeling over the death of President Hugo Chávez since we have no comparable experience in our entire history. I called a friend in Venezuela today to check in with her and find out how she was doing the day after Chávez’s death. She was obviously shaken. “It’s a blow (golpe) and you feel it everywhere. After all, Chávez is a man we’ve lived with for the past fourteen years.”

Chávez, whatever one may think of him or how his legacy will be judged, was a warm, charismatic, down-to-earth, entertaining, larger-than-life figure, part politician, part entertainer. He was from the llano, the land of the cowboys and that was so much of his appeal. When he looked into the camera on his weekly, Alo Presidente, there was a sense of physical contact with him among viewers. I know my friend Juan seemed to feel Chávez was there with us on those Sunday mornings as he laughed with him and even hummed along when Chávez sang.
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What kind of monster has priorities like this? Placing healthcare, education and nutrition before skyscrapers!

Hugo Chavez at The Fifth Summit of the Americas 2009 held in Trinidad and Tobago

Below is the actual view of Pamela Sampson, writer for the Associated Press:
Little Reaction In Oil Market To Chavez Death (March 05, 2013)
www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=173521347

Chavez invested Venezuela’s oil wealth into social programs including state-run food markets, cash benefits for poor families, free health clinics and education programs. But those gains were meager compared with the spectacular construction projects that oil riches spurred in glittering Middle Eastern cities, including the world’s tallest building in Dubai and plans for branches of the Louvre and Guggenheim museums in Abu Dhabi.

Continue reading What kind of monster has priorities like this? Placing healthcare, education and nutrition before skyscrapers!

PM extends condolences on the passing of Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar signs the Condolence book at the Venezuelan Embassy
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar signs the Condolence book at the Venezuelan Embassy

From the Office of the Prime Minister
March 06, 2013

On behalf of the Government and people of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, it is with great sadness that I extend deepest condolences to the Government and people of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and to his family on the passing of Comandante Hugo Chávez Frías, President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Our prayers accompany them in their time of grief.
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Hugo Chavez dies after battle with cancer

Hugo Chavez at The Fifth Summit of the Americas 2009 held in Trinidad and Tobago
Hugo Chavez during The Fifth Summit of the Americas 2009 held in T&T

Trinicenter Reporters
March 05, 2013

Vice President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro announced on Venezuela’s television that Hugo Chavez passed away on Tuesday afternoon at around 4:25 p.m. after a two year battle with cancer. He was 58.

Since coming into power 14 years ago, Chavez embarked on a socialistic revolution that saw sweeping changes across Venezuela.
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In Appreciation of Tony Martin

By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
Submitted: February 06, 2013
Posted: February 13, 2013

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeTony Martin, an inspiration to his students and many of his colleagues, was a foundation member of the Africana Studies Department at Wellesley College. He believed in the integrity of the discipline and the principle of departmental autonomy. A meticulous scholar, his work on Marcus Garvey, particularly Race First, changed the depiction of Garvey in Caribbean and American historiography. A staunch nationalist and Pan Africanist, he took pride in his race and the principle of self-reliance that were embodied in Africana scholars such as Garvey, Malcolm X, Walter Rodney and C.L.J. James.
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Celebrating the Life of Professor Tony Martin

Prof Tony Martin's Send-Off
Family and Friends at Prof Tony Martin’s Send-Off – January 25, 2013

Trinicenter.com Reporters
January 29, 2013 – trinicenter.com

The Celebration and Thanksgiving Service for the life of Professor Dr. Tony Martin was held on Friday 25th January, 2013, at St. Theresa’s Church Woodbrook. Friends, family, historians and activists gathered to pay their respects to the Trinidad-born scholar best known for his work on Marcus Garvey.
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Professor Tony Martin Dies at 70

UPDATE – JANUARY 28, 2013

Prof Tony Martin's Send-Off
Prof Tony Martin’s Send-Off — January 25, 2013

A Celebration and Thanksgiving Service for the life of Professor Anthony Martin
21st February, 1942 – 17th January, 2013.
Service on Friday 25th January, 2013 at 9.00 a.m.
St. Theresa’s R.C. Church, Woodbrook thence to the St. James Crematorium for 11.00 a.m.
More photos here

UPDATE – JANUARY 23, 2013

The funeral of Professor Tony Martin will be held on Friday 25th January, 2013, at 9:00am at St. Theresa’s R.C. Church, 50 De Verteuil Street, Woodbrook.

Trinicenter.com Reporters
January 17, 2013 – www.trinicenter.com

Professor Tony MartinDr. Tony Martin, former Professor Emeritus at Wellesley College, has passed over tonight, January 17th 2013 in Trinidad & Tobago at West Shore Medical Hospital. Trinidadian-born Dr. Martin taught at the University of Michigan-Flint, the Cipriani Labour College (Trinidad), and St. Mary’s College (Trinidad). He has been a visiting professor at the University of Minnesota, Brandeis University, Brown University, and The Colorado College and also spent a year as an honorary research fellow at the University of the West Indies, Trinidad.
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Extempo champion, Sheldon John, dies

UPDATE: April 03, 2012

Sheldon John at Kaisorama 2011
Sheldon John – Former Extempo Monarch of T&T

Extempo craftsman, Sheldon John, dies
Sheldon John, 2011 Extempo Calypso King has passed away approximately one month shy of his 39th birthday, according to Trinbago Unified Calypsonians’ Association’s (TUCO’s) Welfare Officer Carlston Kerr on Monday. He died of kidney failure at approximately 5.30 pm on Sunday at the Eric Willliams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope.
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