Tag Archives: Selwyn R. Cudjoe

General T&T

Out of the cane fields of Tacarigua

By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
October 10, 2022

PART II

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeThe Tacarigua Village Council was inaugurated on May 23, 1946. Vernon Scott, the principal of Tacarigua EC School, was the first president of the council. Since then, a long line of villagers presided over the council and worked tirelessly, without pay, to keep the centre going until today. David King, a life-long member of the Village Council, defined the Village Council as “the eyes and ears of the community. It’s designed to secure social and cultural amenities for the district”.
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General T&T

Celebrating the 46th Anniversary of the Republic Day, T&T

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An Address to the Trinidad & Tobago Association of Washington, D.C., October 2, 2022 by Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeI am pleased that your president, Nigel Scott, has invited me to address you on the 46th Anniversary of our Republic even though I prefer to see the evolution of our political independent life beginning in 1962. In this context, I would also like to pay my respects to H. E. Brigadier General Anthony W. J. Phillips-Spence, Ambassador Extraordinaire and Plenipotentiary, Embassy of Trinidad and Tobago in Washington, D.C. What I am sure that your president did not tell you is that in 1962 both of us were invited by Dr. Eric Williams, Premier of Trinidad and Tobago, to attend a three-day meeting at Queen’s Hall, Port of Spain, to discuss a draft of the first Independence constitution. The meeting took place from April 25-27, 1962. The invitation read in part:
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General T&T

Out of the cane fields of Tacarigua

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
October 03, 2022

“To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to always remain a child. For what is the worth of human life, unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history.”

—Marcus Tullius Cicero

PART I

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeI want to congratulate Ulric “Buggy” Haynes, a recipient of a Hummingbird Medal. Not only is Buggy deserving of this award, but it’s the kind of story we need to tell our children about the heights great men have reached and kept. His is part of a larger story of community that the Ministry of Sport and Community Development (S&CD) should keep in mind.
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Africa, General T&T, Passed on

Rituals of grief

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
September 26, 2022

“The glories of our blood and state, Are shadows, not substantial things; There is no armour against fate, Death lays his icy hands on kings. Sceptre and crown must tumble down, And, in the dust, be equal made with the poor crooked scythe and spade.”

—James Shirley

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeI didn’t expect to spend so much time looking at the funeral of Elizabeth II. I was intrigued by the spectacle made of death (a display put on for its visual effect and impact) and the ritual of grief (a solemn ceremony performed according to a prescribed order) that was enacted before millions of people.

It took 20 years of planning to stage this event. It was the responsibility of Edward Fitzalan-Howard, who inherited the role of Earl Marshal of England when his father died in 2002. He “descended from the same family that has planned royal funerals and coronations since 1672”. He takes his responsibility seriously. He did not earn a cent for the tireless work he did for the Queen’s funeral.
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Africa, Britain, England, General T&T, Violence

Deluded Children of Empire

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
September 19, 2022

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeOn a sunny day in February of 1952 I was an eight-year-old schoolboy made to attend a memorial service for King George VI, the father of the late Elizabeth II. On that day I remembered the “Taps” played by the Police Band or the Tacarigua Orphan Home Band, as the bugles rattled through the bamboos on the banks of the Tacarigua River that flowed on the western side of the church.
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Carnival, General T&T

Look-Me! A Reclamation of Self

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
September 12, 2022

PART II

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeStaged events such as “Stink & Dutty” are nothing more than a reflection of the carnivalesque, a mode of cultural and social production that attempts to subvert the assumptions of the dominant class.

The patrons or masqueraders always try to accomplish their desired goals through an enactment of chaos and in-your-face daring. In the process, they seek to stretch the limits of received traditions to discover a new sense of authenticity.
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Entertainment, Music

Look-me! A reclamation of self

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
September 05, 2022

PART I

“Man is a rational substance consisting of soul and body.”

—St Augustine, “The Trinity”

“The human person… is a being at once corporeal and spiritual.”

—Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeTwo weeks ago I gave a lecture at a Transformative Leadership Bootcamp at QRC organised by Dr Brian Harry, to a mix of younger and older people who asked my opinion of the themed party Stink & Dutty. Implicitly, the questioner included those unscripted events such as Jam Naked and FOC that are occurring across the country. My puritanical instincts and old-fashioned notions of decency almost demanded that I regard these events as expressions/manifestations of moral and social decadence.
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General T&T, PNM, UNC

The cries of our people

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
August 29, 2022

“The horner man crying; Somebody horn de horner man…”
—Anil Roberts on Keith Rowley

“I could take a horn if I get one. I ain’t sending nobody to kill nobody.”
—Dr Keith Rowley’s response to Roberts

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeThese are the sentiments of two of our leaders on the eve of the Diamond jubilee of our Independence. Serious people treated Roberts’ characterisation of Sharon Clark-Rowley, the prime minister’s wife, with the disdain that it deserved. There was no reason to drag her into the gutter, as there was no need to elevate such spurious nonsense to the level of serious national discourse. As we say—if you play with the dog, you get bitten by the fleas.
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Crime in T&T, General T&T, Police

Winning hearts and minds

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
August 22, 2022

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeA call to my grandnephew, Devon La Touche, a library assistant at the Beetham Gardens Community Library (BGCL) and the Joint Community Service Centre in Gonzales, on Wednesday and Thursday respectively, led to two instructive days.

Devon attends to the young pupils who visit the library to use the Internet and play games on the Internet. Before they do so, they are required to read for half an hour. Such is their anxiety to get to the computers that they joyously do their reading just to get to the computers. Adults hardly attend the library.
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General T&T

The homecoming

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
August 15, 2022

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeAs the airplane hovered over the Northern Range, I knew I was home. I was happy but anxious-feeling. It was two and a half years since I left my country in April 2020, just before the borders closed. No one could have known the horrible Covid epidemic would bring so much sorrow to so many people.

A week before my departure from Trinidad I was supposed to fly to India, having been invited by the Indian government through its Academic Visitors’ Programme. I was honoured. The letter described me as a “Distinguished Academician”. I was supposed to deliver two lectures and looked forward to being exposed to India’s technical and intellectual life. More importantly, I wanted to explore India’s rich religious literature and its Hindu epic tales—the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, and the Bhagavad Gita.
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