By Corey Gilkes
December 03, 2023 – coreygilkes.wordpress.com
Calypsonian/Philosopher Brother Valentino sarcastically sang how the average Trini “doh care if Ash Wednesday fall on Good Friday,” alluding to an acquiescent, happy-go-lucky, carefree culture of conformity in the face of exploitative authority figures. This can be a good thing sometimes, otherwise plenty places coulda (and shoulda) bun down already.
Continue reading Calling Arsonists to Quench Fires? Careful, Guyana
By Corey Gilkes
August 02, 2023
Those of you who took god out your thoughts and were following my rants over the years know I have been saying the word “emancipation” actually means transfer ownership. And that puts into clearer perspective what dem snakes and soucouyants I was taught to celebrate as humanitarians and liberators were really thinking.
Continue reading What Emancipation still has not brought us
By Corey Gilkes
August 09, 2020 – wired868.com
Interesting how fried chicken could bring to light so much issues that explain what’s wrong with our society. One chicken drumstick is all it takes to expose certain realities, all of which are integrated, interlocked and in some aspects, results of deliberate actions.
Continue reading Keep Feeding Contempt; or imagine a better world for the ‘small man’
By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
February 04, 2019
PART 2
“The school curriculum is not delivering the quality of individual we need to build the nation.”
—Paula-Mae Weekes, President of Trinidad and Tobago
Neal Phillip, professor and chairman of Chemistry and Chemical Technology at Bronx Community College, City University of New York (CUNY), wrote the following article, “Preparing Students to enter a 21st Century Workforce,” at my instigation. I wanted to follow through on suggestions to improve high school education in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T). I reproduce Professor Phillip’s article with a few editorial changes.
Continue reading What Constitutes an Educated Trini?
By Corey Gilkes
April 03, 2002 – trinicenter.com
For many of the faithful, god-fearing Christians around the world, the resurrection of the Christ is central to that faith they hold so dear. Every year around March-April dramas are re-enacted commemorating the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus put on by devotees as a form of renewal. Like everything else that goes with religious matters, most Xians are blissfully ignorant about the true origins of this, the central theme of their faith. Coloured eggs are given to friends and the bunny is the animal associated with Easter but little thought is spared for the study of the roots of these traditions and the relationship Xianity shares with the “pagan” world it forever disrespects.
Continue reading Easter: Origins in a pagan Christ
By Corey Gilkes
August 01, 2017
No, I haven’t gone completely mad, just thought I’d try to grab your attention and so make you understand the importance of understanding what power words have.
Today is Emancipation Day, celebrating the ending of the enslavement of African people. You will hear the usual platitudes and speeches about how great we are and how we “broke the shackles of slavery”….and so on. Now as cynical as I’m sounding, those are important words to hear. So too are the sights of people walking around dressed in African or African-inspired attire, all that is praiseworthy.
Continue reading MOST OF US ARE ALREADY EMANCIPATED, UNFORTUNATELY
THE EDITOR: I just stay so and remembered something
The 6th of October this year marks the 40th anniversary of one of the worst atrocities that involved this country and so far as I know, justice for that has never properly been served.
Continue reading Remember the tragedy…and US double-standards
THE EDITOR: I can NOT believe that a new dress code for teachers is an issue. Really?! Wasn’t the existing one clear-cut enough?
Be that as it may, if true, it is welcome. Welcome in the sense that it serves to illuminate some of the elephants crowding the room that conservatives and the wilfully ignorant among us – i.e many of the over-40 age group – have no intention of discussing. You see in the wording of current guidelines (and no doubt the new one) there is a distinct gender bias, but that’s apparently okay with many people, including radio talk show hosts and their callers.
Continue reading On this “Dress” Code for teachers
THE EDITOR: September 11 marks a profoundly tragic event in world history. On this fateful day and in the coming years, thousands of lives were lost or permanently destroyed. So many people were disappeared, to date unaccounted for. The events of that day so many years ago continue to affect the lives of countless people and societies to this very day.
Continue reading Remember the FIRST Sept 11th
THE EDITOR: This COLFIRE caper illuminates some deeper issues that have always crept up every now and then. This doesn’t mean I expect said issues to be addressed; by and large, as a society we don’t like to face uncomfortable truths, preferring instead to deflect, trivialise and live in denial.
Continue reading On the Colfire Dress Code