Monthly Archives: December 2013

General T&T, ILP, People's Partnership, PNM, Politics, UNC

Year of the Fall

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By Raffique Shah
December 29, 2013

Raffique ShahPolitically, 2013 will be remembered as the year of unprecedented multiple elections. It was the year that marked the beginning of the demise of the People’s Partnership; the year in which Jack Warner’s meteor burned brightly before it died an unnatural death; and the year that saw the People’s National Movement (PNM), for yet another time, rise, Phoenix-like, from the ashes of defeat, to position itself for a return to power.
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Caribbean, Entertainment, General T&T, Jamaica, Music, USA

The singers…and the songs

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y Raffique Shah
December 22, 2013

Raffique ShahJust when it seemed that we would end 2013 with only memories of macabre murders, of innocent children being battered and slaughtered by barbaric adults, two Caribbean singers rescue us with their vocal and musical prowess, with the food of love that transcends the pettiness of insularity, lifts our spirits and maybe even our souls.
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Africa, Culture, General T&T, International, Religion

Jesus’ Birth: Afri-centric Analysis

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By Dr. Kwame Nantambu
December 22, 2013

Dr. Kwame NantambuAs Trinbagonians gear up to celebrate the Christian religious event of Christmas, it is apropos to disseminate the historical, Afri-centric , real truth about the birth of Jesus.

Indeed, if one looks at the first three hundred years of Christianity, it is in many aspects, a derived African religion. As Dr. Yosef ben-Jochannan points out in his seminal magnum opus African Origins of the major “Western Religions” (1970):”within the three most accepted religions in Europe and the Americas- Judaism, Christianity and Islam, often called ‘Western Religions’, Africans have been the founders of said religions and their teachings ( had been known) in some cases thousands of years before they were known to the peoples of Europe.”
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Africa, General T&T, International, South Africa

Remember Madiba…All of Him

By Corey Gikes
December 15, 2013

Nelson MandelaToday we bid final farewell to Madiba Rolihlahla Nelson Mandela, a man whose whole life has been one of sacrifice. So much has been said, so much has written about this moral, political and physical giant of a man who struggled to bring about a society that is equal to all walks of life. His is a life that should serve as a model to those of us who wish to make similar differences in our own spaces.
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Africa, Books, General T&T, International, Media, Passed on, South Africa

The Mandela Barbie

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By Greg Palast
December 13, 2013 – gregpalast.com

Nelson MandelaI can’t take it anymore. All week, I’ve watched Nelson Mandela reduced to a Barbie doll. From Fox News to the Bush family, the politicians and media mavens who body-blocked the anti-Apartheid Movement and were happy to keep Mandela behind bars, now get to dress his image up in any silly outfit they choose.
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General T&T, Politics, UNC

Bas, Ram and Jack

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By Raffique Shah
December 14, 2013

Raffique ShahAmong the three of them, Basdeo Panday, Jack Warner and Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj have accumulated 220 years on earth. You would think that these three geezers, having experienced a spread of political permutations, from the crown colony system and colonialism to independence and republicanism, would have also accumulated the wisdom to discern that they have long passed their political-expiry dates.
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Africa, General T&T, International, Passed on, South Africa

Mandela: From Prisoner to President

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By Dr. Kwame Nantambu
December 10, 2013

Dr. Kwame NantambuNow that 95-year old Nelson Mandela has died, it is indeed a glorious sine qua non to trace/recount/relive his remarkable/heroic journey from prisoner/revolutionary to President of South Africa.

At the outset, it must be emphasized that the year 1994 was a pivotal, watershed turning-point as the white minority-ruled South Africa joined the civilized nations as a de jure actor on the international stage of democracy.
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Africa, International, Media, South Africa

For Mandela, Reverence, but Criticism, Too

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By Rick Lyman
December 08, 2013 – nytimes.com

Nelson MandelaJOHANNESBURG — Nelson Mandela was deeply respected in his homeland, and almost worshiped by many for his definitive role in ending white rule and installing multiracial democracy.

But he was never above reproach, political observers say.

When Andile Mngxitama, a black-consciousness advocate and frequent critic of Mr. Mandela, fired yet another broadside at the former leader before he died — comparing him unfavorably to neighboring Zimbabwe’s authoritarian president, Robert Mugabe — it certainly caught the attention of South Africa’s political class.
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Africa, General T&T, International, Passed on, South Africa

Night the world stood still

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By Raffique Shah
December 07, 2013

Raffique ShahLast Thursday night, for moments ranging from seconds to hours, the world stood still. People paused or stopped doing whatever they were engaged in, diverting attention to their radio or television sets that, in hundreds of languages, broke the news that Nelson Mandela had died.

By Friday, every newspaper that had gone to print after his passing will have featured banner headlines screaming news of his passing. Network news leaders such as the BBC and CNN continued almost non-stop coverage of the life and times and death of this man. Tributes poured in: no one had anything negative to say about him.
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Africa, General T&T, Media, Passed on, Politics, South Africa

MANDELA DIES

December 06, 2013 – newsday.co.tt

MANDELA DIESTRINIDAD and Tobago last night joined with the rest of the world in celebrating the life of South Africa’s cherished statesman Nelson Mandela and mourning his death at the age of 95. Mandela was undoubtedly a colossus of the 20th century when he emerged from 27 years in prison to negotiate an end to the hated apartheid system of white minority rule in South Africa.

South African President Jacob Zuma made the announcement at a news conference yesterday at 5.45 pm TT time, telling the world, “we have lost our greatest son.” Mandela’s death at his home in Johannesburg closed the final chapter in South Africa’s struggle to cast off apartheid, leaving the world with indelible memories of a man of astonishing grace and good humour.
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