By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe October 23, 2023 The following is a lecture delivered at the Pa Gya! A Literary Festival in Accra, Ghana. First of all, I wish to thank the hosts of this marvelous festival for inviting me to participate in it and for allowing me to share my ideas of how literature, … Continue reading Art and culture in West Africa and the Caribbean
By Raffique Shah October 17, 2023 A few days ago, I awoke from an afternoon nap to the sound of Indian music literally filling the house. I was somewhat disoriented transitioning from sleep to wake but also, because of the volume at which the music was being played. We hardly ever turn the volume up … Continue reading Music, a universal language
By Raffique Shah July 04, 2023 Verily I say unto you, Man, that you have the right to use, abuse or misuse your body any which way you choose to, so long as you do not impose your choices on your neighbours, friends, and especially on your enemies, since they are likelier to be hostile, … Continue reading Your Gender, Your Business
By Raffique Shah March 13, 2023 Surely, we deserved better than that, Leila sighed audibly as she aside the device on which she had been reading a news report. I thought I knew what report it was, but I felt in the baiting mood, so I asked ‘What are you upset over? Who deserved better?’ … Continue reading Wuss dan dat
By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe February 13, 2023 Businessman Inshan Ishmael plans to take Cro Cro (Weston Rawlins) to court over what he says are Cro Cro’s “highly defamatory lyrics about him” in his (Rawlins’) 2023 calypso, “Another Sat is Outside Again”. He says that he never listens to Cro Cro’s calypsoes because they always … Continue reading Defending our noble art form
By Raffique Shah February 13, 2023 Every year, ritually, come Carnival, steel pans and drums rescued from the paws of scrap-metal hustlers hunting for a few dollars, or rust that’s threatening to render them useless, join hundreds of cellos, bass and retired hubcaps from derelict motor vehicles, coming together to treat music lovers with the … Continue reading There is hope yet for pan
By Raffique Shah January 09, 2023 Upon rereading my column last Sunday, I thought I did grave injustice to Leroy Calliste, the Black Stalin, by attempting to evaluate his immense contribution to calypso, the art form, and culture as a whole in Trinidad and Tobago, or indeed in the Carribbean, by summarizing his works in … Continue reading Celebrating Our Bards
An Address to the Trinidad & Tobago Association of Washington, D.C., October 2, 2022 by Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe I 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 … Continue reading Celebrating the 46th Anniversary of the Republic Day, T&T
By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe September 12, 2022 PART II Staged 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 … Continue reading Look-Me! A Reclamation of Self
By Raffique Shah May 23, 2022 I have grown accustomed to watching a scene in front of me—teenage boys kicking what life there was in a long-expired football, others of similar age and background carrying on an animated discussion on a subject I could not determine from where I stood, and yet others glued to … Continue reading Whiter shade of pale