Our Caribbean -

"We are far removed from that romantic idyll beneath the
calm sea. These are angry, exasperated lands, lands that spit and spew, that
vomit forth life. That is what we must live up to. We must draw upon the
creativity of this plot of land! We must keep it going and not sink into a
slumber of acceptance and resignation. It is a kind of summons to us from
history and from nature."

Aime Cesaire - The liberating power of words - interview with poet Aime Cesaire - Interview. UNESCO Courier. May 1997



Yesterday (6th Nov, 2005), I went to a book launch and function at the High Commission of Trinidad and Tobago in Belgrave Square, London. The function was the relaunch of a book called based on the proceedings of a conference on the Economic Future of the Caribbean held in the USA in the 1940s and organised by Dr. Eric Williams, an eminent figure in Caribbean and Trinidadian history. The event featured a short speeches by Trevor McDonald and Erica Williams Connell, a lecture by Tony Martin and remarks by the President of Trinidad and Tobago His Excellency George Maxwell Richards.

The event was an interesting one as many comments were made about Eric Williams' life, academics and contribution to the region. It gave me an insight into some of the aspects of my country's and region's history that I am not too familar with and a fair idea as to why so many people in my grandmother's generation revere Dr. Williams as the "Father of the Nation" and someone to be revered on a pedestal. All throughout my years I have heard my parents and other relatives critique Dr. Williams,the mentalities that he engendered in Trinidad through his policies and the repercussions that the country has had to face as a result of his initiatives, policies and long reign over the island- thus not a very favourable image of him at all.


While listeneing to the utterances of some of the guest speakers and looking at the expat Trinbagonians who are in the UK, it dawned up on me how sad it was that we as Caribbean people residing in Europe have surrendered what makes us who we are and according to Frantz Fanon, wholly devoured and donned the collective consciousness in place of our own. Many of them looked like Europeans encased in Caribbean shells and the MC for the event was an alleged Trinidadian, born in Trinidad but who spoke with a dreadfully strong British accent, stronger than that of Trevor McDonald who is and has a been a broadcast professional in the UK for a long time.

It was really interesting to hear some of the views expressed and by the distorted view of the region that the generation before me clings to- still believeing that everything has turned out great when now more so than ever we face tremendously challenging issues - issues whose solutions will make or break us as a region and people in the future. I guess, it is what a generation does to comfort themselves into believing that the years they have spent and things they have done have been all for the betterment of all. My sister and I noted that there were no more than 5 - 10 people in a room of over 100 people under the age of 30 and we kept thinking, how are our countries going to develop and how are leaders loyal to our region going to come forth if young people are not invited and encouraged to think about the region in terms of development and programmes and info such as this is not shared openly with more younger people.

The best thing I heard all night was a comment by the President, George Maxwell Richards, who said in the conclusion of his remarks, that we as a people, at home or abroad have to start thinking and finding ways to play our part in the developent of our countries and our regions and take interest and account of the programmes and ploys by developing nations to drain our valuable trained human resources.


As a young educated person myself, this has been on my mind for quite sometime, and it is always at the forefornt of my mind that there is much to be done in the region and it is in my interest and for the good of all that I and others like myself not have a myopic view of our time outside of our home countries, but use this time here to gather as much resources in terms of finances, contacts, education, experience et.al, all with the goal in mind to bring that invaluable bounty back home to make a signifcant impact in the development of our nations and the liberation of our people from the forces of neocolonisation shrouded in the contemporary guise if globalisation

O My body , make of me always a man who questions! Frantz Fanon " Black Skins, White Masks"