Tag Archives: Selwyn R. Cudjoe

Education, General T&T, International, USA

Upholding a university’s core mission

By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
December 19, 2023

What you’re seeing now is a handful of super-ultra-wealthy individuals—plutocrats that, I guess you would call philanthropists—who have incredible leverage over higher education.

—Isaac Kamola, professor, Trinity College

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeOn Monday December 5, the presidents of Harvard University (Claudine Gay), the University of Pennsylvania (Elizabeth Magill), and MIT (Sally Korn­bluth) were summoned by the US Congress to answer how well they responded to threats that are made against Jewish students at their universities, and whether students who call for the genocide of Jews should be disciplined.
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General T&T, PNM, Politics, UNC

Protecting our historic legacy

By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
December 11, 2023

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeIn 2013 the people of Tacarigua waged a valiant struggle to prevent the UNC government from establishing a sporting complex on the Orange Grove Savannah, now called the Eddie Hart Savannah. The plan, developed by Sport Company of Trinidad and Tobago (SporTT), a limited liability the Ministry of Sport set up to act as its key implementation agency, called for building a 25-metre swimming pool, a cricket ground and football field, a pavilion, a 400-metre running track, and a car park.
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General T&T, International, Israel, Palestine

War Is Hell

By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
December 04, 2023

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeIn those halcyon days of the 1950s and the ’60s when the isms and schisms (such as nationalism, socialism, and existentialism) ruled the day, we were sure our generation would solve the world’s problems. We are close to the end of the first quarter of the 21st century, and peace and tranquillity are nowhere in sight.

We watch with alarm at the wars in the Middle East. Even a conservative reading of the casualty figures in Gaza “shows that the pace of death during Israel’s campaign has few precedents in history. People are being killed in Gaza more quickly, they say, than in even the deadliest moment of US-led attacks in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, which were themselves widely criticised by human rights groups”. (NYT, November 25.)
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General T&T, Religion, Sports

The Grandeur of Men and Women

By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
November 28, 2023

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeOn November 11, Raphael Dwamena, a Ghanaian footballer, collapsed and died during an Egnatia’s soccer game against Partizani in a tiny town in Albania. He was 28 years old and a renowned football star. Dwamena was the top scorer for his Albanian team and enjoyed a certain amount of success with them. This season he was the leading scorer in the Albanian league.
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General T&T, PNM, Politics

Rebels at the Gates

By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
November 21, 2023

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeTwo months ago, the Center on Law, Equality and Race (CLEAR) at Northeastern University School of Law invited me to comment on Dr Godfrey Vincent’s book, Rebels at the Gates: The OWTU in the Era of George Weekes. I accepted the invitation because of the importance of Weekes and the OWTU (the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union) in the labour and political life of the island. This event took place on Friday.
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General T&T, International, Israel, Palestine, USA

A quagmire of death and despair

By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
November 14, 2023

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeLast Sunday, several local groups — including the Concerned Muslims of T&T, the Joint Trade Union Movement, the Movement for Social Justice, the Emancipation Support Committee and the Non-Governmental Organisations of T&T for the Advancement of Women — called upon the Government to cut diplomatic relations with Israel for its savage attack upon the Palestinian people.
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General T&T, International, Israel, Palestine, Police, USA

Acting in bad faith

By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
November 06, 2023

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeI want to congratulate the Government for voting affirmatively on the UN General Assembly’s resolution on October 27 that called for an “immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce” between Israeli forces and Hamas militants in Gaza. The resolution also called for “continuous, sufficient and unhindered” provision of lifesaving supplies and services for civilians trapped in the enclave.
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General T&T, International, Israel, Palestine, USA, Violence

Allow Palestinians to breathe

By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
October 31, 2023

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeWhen 85-year-old Israeli citizen Yocheved Lifshitz was released after spending 16 days as a Hamas hostage, she commented: “They didn’t break my ribs, but it hurt a lot, making it difficult to breathe.”

“Hamas,” she said, “took good care of the wounded,” referring to one person whose arm and legs were injured during their kidnapping (FT, October 25).
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Africa, Caribbean, General T&T, Ghana

Art and culture in West Africa and the Caribbean

By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
October 23, 2023

The following is a lecture delivered at the Pa Gya! A Literary Festival in Accra, Ghana.

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeFirst 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, art, and culture have helped in understanding, achieving and reimagining the histories that link West Africa and the Caribbean. This is an enormous assignment. I will speak of how the West African culture, literature, and the arts helped to shape the identity of my Caribbean people. I will pay special attention to what transpired in Trinidad and Tobago, and then relate those experiences to the larger whole.
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General T&T

Eloquent excuses

By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
October 17, 2023

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeTwo Fridays ago Chief Justice Ivor Archie offered his thoughts at the opening of the 2023/2024 law term. He complained of “the need for meaningful public sector reform as the current system with its structural and systematic deficiencies ‘is crushing us all’”.

He said he made a similar call during his 2019/2020 address but “up to now it seems as though the right people have not listened… Unfortunately, little has changed since 2019 in that regard… One should note that many of the frustrations that we experience are common to ministries and departments of the Executive and I know that some senior public officials are quietly chafing”. (Saturday Express, October 7.)
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