We’re 59 – time for a performance appraisal

As Trinidad and Tobago marks its 59th anniversary of Independence, veteran journalist Dominic Kalipersad reflects on the nation’s history and experiences.

Happy birthday to me? I turn 59 on August 31. The eve of retirement. A time I should be able to sit on my laurels and feel pride in what I have achieved since I broke away from the “Mother Country” in 1962.

But, the way things appear to be going, it seems I may not be able to rest on any laurels. There’s so much work to be done to create a mature, more self-resilient nation.

My father, Dr Eric Williams, must have expected so much of me when he took his political foe Dr Rudranath Capildeo and his wingman Ellis Clarke et al to Marlborough House, London, in 1962 to plead the case for my emancipation from Britain and on to self-rule.

After all, I had suffered years as a foster child under colonial rule, even losing my original name Ierie.

In 1498, I was christened ‘Trinidad’ by Christopher Columbus, a Spanish invader who treated my family in a most un-Christian manner but has remained revered for generations.

I remained in the hands of the Spanish from the 15th century until the British captured me in 1797 and made me a British colony in 1802. My brother, Tobago, was ruled at one time or another by a myriad of European powers, including the Spanish, Dutch, French, and British.

Yes, our history had been one of conquer and colonisation, with superpowers fighting at various times for possession of us, the southernmost of the Caribbean archipelago.

Our original peoples were no match for the invading marauders. Tobago became a crown colony in 1877 and in 1888 we were amalgamated under the colony name of Trinidad and Tobago.

The way to independence

Our road to independence, though relatively smooth, was not particularly easy. One could say it began with the granting of voting rights in 1924, the culmination of many cries for the franchise as well as a petition submitted to the Colonial Office calling for the inclusion of local representatives in governance.

Much of the credit is due to the efforts of thinkers and labour leaders such as Tubal Uriah ‘Buzz’ Butler, George Weekes, Adrian Cola Rienzi, Arthur Cipriani, CLR James, and the political and leadership skills of Dr Williams.

Indeed, the continued demands for increased participation in governance as well as the labour-based ‘Butler riots’ of 1937 calling for internal self-government led to the British Parliament granting universal adult suffrage in 1945.

Self-government was gradual, increasing between 1946 and 1961 and with elections serving as dress rehearsals for Independence.

At first we tried a Federation of the West Indies in 1958 but, when Jamaica withdrew in 1961, we decided that it was time to receive full independence so that we could pursue our own governance.

The following year, we initiated independence talks with Britain at Marlborough House, and this resulted in full independence on August 31, 1962. Sir Solomon Hochoy was installed as the first Governor-General and the premier, Dr Eric Williams, automatically became the Prime Minister. The British Monarch remained as the head of state.

Becoming an independent nation meant that Britain no longer controlled our affairs; it became the responsibility of the newly elected prime minister and the locally elected Cabinet. Independence also meant the development of a constitution, symbols, emblems, a military force, local currency, and passports.

As an independent nation, we became able to assign ambassadors overseas, signing treaties on our behalf and becoming members of various international organisations, thus giving T&T equal rights on various issues relating to international trade and policies.

In fact, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, in her message delivered by the Princess Royal, on the morning of August 31, 1962, at the Red House, declared: “My Government in the United Kingdom no longer has any responsibility for this country.”

Prime Minister Williams, in his address to the new nation on that day, spoke of our new found responsibilities.

“The first responsibility that devolves upon you is the protection and promotion of your democracy. Democracy means more, much more, than the right to vote and one vote for every man and every woman of the prescribed age. Democracy means recognition of the rights of others.

“Democracy means equality of opportunity for all in education, in the public service, and in private employment—I repeat, and in private employment. Democracy means the protection of the weak against the strong. Democracy means the obligation of the minority to recognise the right of the majority. Democracy means responsibility of the Government to its citizens, the protection of the citizens from the exercise of arbitrary power and the violation of human freedoms and individual rights. Democracy means freedom of worship for all and the subordination of the right of any race to the overriding right of the human race. Democracy means freedom of expression and assemble of organisation.

“All that is Democracy. All that is our Democracy, to which I call upon all citizens to dedicate themselves on this our Independence Day.”

Our democracy is tested…and prevails

That democracy was tested at least twice, in 1970 and 1990, with different objectives and differing influence.

In 1970, the National Joint Action Committee (NJAC) challenged the status quo to relinquish its colonial mentality where white and light-brown skin meant superiority over a people of largely African and Indian origin. Coinciding was mutiny in the regiment over inequity.

The Black Power Revolution transformed the social fabric and opened the way for Blacks and non-Whites to share in the economic landscape.

In 1990, a band of misguided Islamists sought to overthrow the democratically elected government for selfish reasons but under the guise of national concern.

Unlike what is happening in some countries on the other side of the Atlantic, political stability prevails.

We have succeeded in holding national elections without disruption and violence, and always with a smooth transfer of power.

We had already proved our resilience since the war era of the 1940s, creating the only new musical instrument of the 20th century, the steelpan, and a new musical artform, Calypso and Soca.

World impact

We gave birth to internationally acclaimed writers, such as CLR James, whose works have been influential in various theoretical, social, and historiographical contexts; Sam Selvon, whose novel The Lonely Londoners was groundbreaking in its use of nation language; VS Naipaul, a 2001 Nobel laureate who was a controversial figure in the literary world; Earl Lovelace, recognised for his descriptive, dramatic fiction on Trinidadian culture; and Dr Rudranath Capildeo whose publication The Ballistic Theory of Emission of Light led to his being dubbed the ‘Caribbean Einstein’.

We gave the world influential scientists, such as Dolly Nicholas, the first and only woman to receive a T&T national award for scientific invention; Professor Courtenay Bartholomew, who diagnosed the first case of AIDS in the English-speaking Caribbean; Professor John Agard, co-chair of the United Nation’s 2023 Global Sustainable Development Report team; Dr Joseph Lennox Pawan, who was internationally acclaimed for the discovery of the rabies virus transmitted by vampire bats; Dr Stephen Bennett, who developed a disease-resistant breed of water buffalo named the buffalypso; Dr Andre Cropper, the mastermind behind a flat panel display touch screen made from thin layers of laboratory produced diamond called Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED): and Dr Camille Wardrop Alleyne, one of the most recognised women in aerospace engineering and one of the few women of colour to serve in a senior technical management position at NASA.

We produced people with the intellectual capacity to influence world politics, such as George Padmore who did more than perhaps any other person to shape the theory and discourse of Pan-African anti-imperialism; Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael) who was a prominent organiser in the civil rights movement in the United States and the global Pan-African movement; and Eugene Chen, who was regarded as “the brains of the Chinese Revolution”.

In the creative arts, Tobago-born Hollywood film actor Winston Duke is an A-list Hollywood star; St James-born American rapper Nicki Minaj is the highly-successful, albeit controversial, ‘Queen of Rap’; the late LeRoy Clarke was a world class Master Artist; masman Peter Minshall has taken the Carnival art to unprecedented stages; businessman Andrew Ramroop has built an internationally renowned bespoke tailoring enterprise; ballerina Celine Gittens became the first non-White in England to play the lead role in Swan Lake; artist, dancer, and choreographer Geoffrey Holder became an international phenomenon and a Tony®-winning stage director and costume designer; and Len ‘Boogsie’ Sharpe, Ray Holman, Mungal Patasar, and Etienne Charles are world class musicians.

In sports, our cricketer Brian Lara is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest batsmen the modern era has seen; former track and field athlete Ato Boldon is a four-time Olympic medal winner; golfer Stephen Ames won The Players Championship and plays on the PGA Tour Champions; and ex-footballer Dwight Yorke has played for Aston Villa, Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers, Birmingham City, Sydney, and Sunderland.

We have been blessed with a petroleum industry, one of the oldest in the hemisphere, and energy has historically been important to our economy.

Since Independence, we have developed a system of primary, secondary school and tertiary education. Our St Augustine campus of The University of the West Indies has evolved into an internationally respected academy.

Our public health system is free of charge at point of delivery. Through a Chronic Disease Assistance Programme (CDAP), up to 47 drugs are distributed for free to patients with certain conditions, including diabetes, asthma, cardiac diseases, arthritis, glaucoma, depression, high blood pressure, an enlarged prostate, epilepsy, hypercholesterolemia, Parkinson’s disease, and thyroid diseases.

Challenges to overcome

Yet, despite all these achievements, we still have a lot of work to do. Political players opportunistically exploit diminishing tribal threads to perpetuate racial divisions; high-level corruption pervades; crime remains rampant in almost every quarter; the illegal drugs trade continues to claim victims of addiction; boys continuously perform poorly in academia; and the literacy rate keeps dropping. Basic manners, common courtesy, and respect for others seem to be becoming yesteryear concepts.

This year, our independence anniversary happens, once again, during the Covid-19 pandemic. Businesses are reeling from the impact on their bottom line, many workers are feeling the financial pinch, and food prices are escalating.

Vaccine hesitancy, even if only by a small percentage of the population, threatens the future health of the nation.

At my age, and with my pre-existing conditions (job insecurity, a challenged economy, tight foreign exchange availability, lockdown stress, etc.), I remain vulnerable.

But, so many of us are resisting the recommended health protocols of the medical professionals. So many of us are defying the laws enacted to protect the public.

The anti-vaxxers may want to reflect on Dr Williams’s advice that “democracy means the protection of the weak against the strong”.

As we mark our 59th birthday, and before we hit 60, this may be a good time for a performance appraisal.