By Corey Gilkes
June 16, 2011
We Trinis are truly a self-contemptuous bunch. This is why I often hold the view that we need to be humiliated and re-colonised for we own good. What we have must be taken away and benefit someone else (well, more than what’s already happening), cause we really eh know or value wha we have. Cobo cyar eat sponge cake nah. And why I getting on so? Real simple.
Continue reading Remembering the 1968 Chicago Convention, the Riots…and KAISO?
By Corey Gilkes
April 14, 2011
I cyar keep up wit dis government nah, is from one thing straight to the next. Last Monday, one of the many announcements made by the Minister of Education was that there was going to be a review of the way religious education is taught in the nation’s schools. From all indications the aim is to create at the very least a greater understanding of the various faiths that exist in the country. Now it is no secret that I maintain a strong disapproval and dismissal of all organised religion; I consider all the major faiths to be bigoted, misogynist, patricentric murder cults, very authoritarian and largely steeped in anti-intellectualism. Like the very learned Denis Solomon I too consider religious education (oxymoron anyone?) to be a form of child abuse. But that’s MY opinion of them. That doesn’t necessarily mean that it is right and it definitely does not mean that everyone should adopt that stance.
Continue reading On Religion and Schools
By Corey Gilkes
March 28, 2011
This is a somewhat expanded version of an article I wrote for a Ghanaian-based website dealing with issues relating to women’s sexuality (WHY Good Christian Girls “Shouldn’t Have Sex”: The Issue of Virginity). It was actually in response to a blog comment dealing with abstinence. Looking at the comments by some of the readers it was really astounding to see just how alike we are — albeit in this case, I would have liked if it were not so.
Continue reading Sex, Guilt, “Sin” and Social Control
And “His” Servants
By Corey Gilkes
February 09, 2011
Yes, that’s what I said. As if the articles on monogamy and extramarital relationships weren’t scandalous enough, I gone now and dive cross the line into blasphemy with talk about the sex of god. In our society – which for the most part retains a romantic, anti-intellectual attachment to the bible and things religious – merely asking questions such as why “god” is referred to in gender-specific terms is in many people’s minds as heretical as challenging the authenticity of the bible. Maybe we’ll argue THAT some other time but for now, examining god’s sex is bacchanal enough.
Continue reading Re-Examining the “Sex” of God
By Corey Gilkes
January 24, 2011
Recently, we heard an announcement that the Catholic Church plans to have a band for the upcoming Carnival celebrations. And, even though Carnival has not yet been officially launched, ting done tun ole mas with that announcement.
Continue reading Catholic High Mas (Band)
(Oh Yeah, It Actually Had One)
By Corey Gilkes
October 02, 2010
From the 17th – 19th September the St Augustine Campus of the University of the West Indies was the venue for a conference marking the 40th anniversary of the 1970 Black Power Movement. This conference was preceded on the 16th by a panel discussion at the Lloyd Best Institute of the West Indies.
Continue reading My Reflections on the Black Power Conference
August 15, 2010
Ok, so I see now it have bacchanal brewing over the Miss TnT/Universe delegate and some picture she take in which she topless. And some people all up in arms over it.
Continue reading “Moral” Police, Allyuh Eh Have Nothing To Do?
By Corey Gilkes
June 17, 2010 – trinicenter.com
This is the second instalment of my attempt to address the oft-asked question as to why people, especially (mainly) men “cheat” or seem unable to “commit” to our spouses/partners. The short answer is of course because we can; we made the rules – for us – and because there is very little about monogamy that is natural or moral anyway. The longer version of this answer – the one I hope people read – should hopefully shed some light on the complexities of human sexuality and the diverse streams that went into the moral ideas we hold today.
Continue reading The Myth of Exclusive Monogamous Morality (Part II)
Illustration by TrinidadAndTobagoNews.com and not the author
By Corey Gilkes
April 15, 2010 – trinicenter.com
Over the last few months one of the main stories in the news was an incident involving golfing legend Tiger Woods, his wife and another woman with whom Woods had a secret relationship (well, secret until the mark buss, as we say in Trinidadian parlance). As more and more of the story unfolded, it was revealed that Woods had been engaging in sexual dalliances with not only that woman, but quite a number of other women, some apparently romantic, others were simply sexual. This latest “scandal” comes on the heels of a long line of cases involving high profile men including other sporting personalities, politicians, presidential candidates like John Edwards, former presidents (who today can forget Clinton/Lewinsky?) going back to John F Kennedy, his brother Robert, Dwight D Eisenhower, Franklin D Roosevelt and even their predecessors.
Continue reading On the Tiger Woods “Affair” and the Myth of Exclusive Monogamous Morality (Part I)