Tag Archives: Independence

General T&T

Through a schoolboy’s eyes

By Raffique Shah
September 05, 2024

Raffique ShahIt was going to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I was determined to make full use of everything I heard, saw and read. By the time Independence Day came around in 1962, I had learnt a whole lot of what it meant.

I did not quite understand some of the terms the politicians and legal professionals used. I knew that as a new nation we were severing ties with Britain, but the extent of that change was clouded by the perceptions and often plain politicking of certain politicians who had their own agendas.
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General T&T, PNM, Politics, Race and Identity, Racism Watch

Love a Donkey: Besson’s Independence Fables – Pt 3

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
September 18, 2017

PART 1 – PART 2 – PART 3

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeBesson argues that Trinidad and Tobago’s independence venture failed because more than 30 percent of the African population left the country since1962. “These emigrants,” he says, “were mostly urban, secondary school educated, more or less middle class….At the same time, about the same amount of people or more than that of those who left, have come from the islands of the Caribbean.” He elaborates: “Those immigrants’ background were mostly rural and primary school educated. This unique demographic transformation has impacted on Trinidad and Tobago politically, socially and culturally, and has significantly diminished the identity of the AfroCreole [read black] sector.”
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Culture, England, France, General T&T, International

Love A Donkey: Besson’s Independence Fables – Pt 2

By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
September 10, 2017

PART 1 – PART 2 – PART 3

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeIn “Independence Legacies,” Gerard Besson offers his reading of Trinidad’s modern history. He says: “From 1783, Europeans and Black people who were not enslaved… arrived mostly from French islands. Many were refugees, political enemies and strangers to each other.… After the British conquest of 1797 to this milieu were added Chinese, Portuguese, and African freedmen. Then after much miscegenation, some decades later, Indian indentureship commenced, and latterly [sic] the Lebanese and Syrians arrived” (my emphasis).
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Elections, General T&T, People's Partnership, Politics, UNC

Lament for a falling leader

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By Raffique Shah
August 30, 2015

Raffique ShahTomorrow being Independence Day, falling exactly one week before the general election, offers Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar an opportunity to play one final campaign hand-bestowing national awards on persons she believes can help sway votes in her direction.

Of course, with serious uncertainties over her re-election and a second term as PM, she would also want to give thanks to individuals and organisations that stood faithfully with her through a rough five years during which mistakes, missteps and blunders were as routine as, say, the rising sun.
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Culture, General T&T, Opposition Party, People's Partnership, PNM, Politics, UNC

Aspiring Together

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
Septeber 04, 2012

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeIt was there for all to see. The PP had its own independence function at Woodford Square while the PNM conducted its own at Balisier House. Even die-hard PNMites were offended by such disunity. One of my nieces exclaimed: “Why dey dividing up the nation like that? It’s de worse Independence I ever see.”
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General T&T

Real Independence: Updated

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By Dr. Kwame Nantambu
August 26, 2012

Dr. Kwame NantambuThe Euro-American re-colonization of aspects of life in Trinidad and Tobago is further compounded/exacerbated in the overt, wanton adoption of American-NBA names for this country’s men’s and women’s pro-basketball league teams such as Detour Shak Attack, Caledonia Clippers, Trailblazers, CIL Cavaliers, Falcon Crest, BM Spurs, Londdenville Warriors, Valencia Kings, Chaguanas Wizzards, and Cosmic Raptors. Roxborough Lakers.
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General T&T, International, Race and Identity

Is nationhood an illusion?

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By Raffique Shah
July 24, 2011

Raffique ShahAS the nation prepares for a year of activities to mark our 50th anniversary of independence from Britain in August 2012, people of my generation must be wrestling with a mixture of emotions. There is a sense of pride, of having been there when the Union Jack was lowered for the last time, and the red-white-and-black colours of the new state hoisted atop flagpoles across the country. One had to be there to experience the birth of a nation to understand the pride, the joy, the celebrations. We were part of history, however insignificant we may have been in the hierarchical scheme of things.
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