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Reading Time 4 mins  April 4, 2023 “…For [East] Indian Trinis, it meant no longer being ashamed of carrying ‘roti in paper bag’ for lunch!” –From a February 2023 conversation with a distinguished East Indian about the impact of 1970 on our lives. In a sense, this thought sums up the moral and cultural meaning and impact of the 1970 Uprising in T&T on the people of T&T and their identity.    From an aerial view, 1970 was about which path and direction Trinidad & Tobago should proceed. It was a conversation that had enveloped the thinking population for over two decades… Read More »Part 2: Reintroducing Ex-Lieutenant Rex Lassalle–Roger Toussaint

Reading Time 4 mins February 26, 2023 “[I]t was the soldering officers led by Rex Lassalle and Raffique Shah who impressed me the most and a source from which I later drew the courage to take on the powers that be in the fight for progress, justice, and equality.” The explosion of mass protests in T&T in Feb 1970 was precipitated by the violent arrest and expulsion of West Indians at Sir George Williams University in Canada, the Walter Rodney riots in Jamaica, the anti-colonial liberation struggles raging across Africa, Indo-China and Latin America, the Civil Rights Movement in the… Read More »Reintroducing Former Lieutenant Rex Lasalle–Roger Toussaint

Reading Time 3 mins November 19, 2021   While individuals and entire groups out there deny either the COVID-19 virus itself outright or its deadly impact, NYC Transit workers have no such luxury. Over 160 MTA employees/mostly transit workers, have died, many friends and colleagues. While such deniers belong to another conversation, their logic needs to be noted. They invariably rest their case on denying science and any information or facts that do not comport with their worldview. That world consists of endless rabbit holes of mostly senseless, circular arguments. But we should also admit that many individuals and groups… Read More »My Two Cents, Part I: Labor & the Covid Vaccine Mandate–Roger Toussaint

Reading Time 1 minsToday we remember Sir Rupert ‘The Mighty Swallow’ Philo through “Wire’s” spontaneous reflections, which he extended and has agreed to share. We release these musings as they reflect an up-close-grassroots view of King Swallow, who felt particularly at home among and was warmly embraced by, that generation of Trinbagonians of the “earlies”–the latter part of the 1960s–who led the way carving a path, a cultural space, for calypso and then soca in New York. “Wire”–a talented cultural worker in his own right– comes out of, and belongs to, that generation of legendary cultural warriors, our unsung heroes,… Read More »Roger Toussaint, “In Conversation With ‘Wire’ On King Swallow”!

Reading Time 6 mins#coronapandemic #IntWorkersDay May 1, 2020 Even if you have been around the block a few times, or you are a serial cynic – you are still left shaking your head, not so much at how the US government is using the pandemic to inflict further pain on working people but more at the fact that, thus far, they seem to be getting away with it. Shaking our heads that too many workers still have that ‘wait and see’ attitude to this real threat, not just of the pandemic but even more gravely, the government’s callous disregard of our rights and lives. Too many are… Read More »COVID-19: Stand Up And Fight!–Roger Toussaint

Reading Time 2 minsApril 21, 2020 Today, April 21st, 2020, marks the 50th Anniversary of the declaration of a State of Emergency in Trinidad & Tobago on April 21st, 1970. That State of Emergency (SOE) was imposed to suppress a growing rebellion sweeping T&T at the time.  While mass demonstrations (the “Black Power Revolution”) had started back on Feb 26th, 1970, the immediate series of events that sparked the declaration of the SOE were; the impending work stoppages on April 21 among sugar, transportation, and telephone workers, with the militant Oilfield Workers workers and their union guaranteed to move in solidarity. In addition, the… Read More »Remembering April 21, 1970 in Trinidad and Tobago: An Historic Marker – Roger Toussaint

Reading Time 2 minsFebruary 20, 2020 Feb 20th, 2020 marks the 43rd anniversary of the passing of Grenadian born Tubal Uriah Butler, central to the founding of the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union and leader of the 1937 workers uprising in Trinidad and Tobago. Feb (26th) 2020 also marks the 50th anniversary of the 1970 ‘Black Power’ uprising in T&T. 2020 also happens to be a national elections year in T&T.  So, especially for T&T, it is entirely appropriate to reflect on where it all came from, where things are, and are headed. A direct continuum connects 1937, Independence in 1962, the 1970… Read More »Is Tubal Uriah Butler Relevant Today?–Roger Toussaint

Reading Time 5 minsBig Drum Nation is pleased to present the remarks of Roger Toussaint at a Tribute to Shadow, Dr. Winston Bailey, and The Original De Fosto Himself, Winston Scarborough, at  Brooklyn’s Tropical Paradise Ballroom, November 14, 2018, which was presented by Herman Hall, Shadow’s Agent/Manager (1978-2018).   An Appreciation of Dr. Winston (Shadow) Bailey By Roger Toussaint Greetings all! I flew in this afternoon to be here and am out tomorrow because it is truly an honor to be asked to help honor our beloved Dr. Winston Bailey, The Shadow. Many of you here today are probably more knowledgeable about his work and some… Read More »An Appreciation: Dr. Winston (Shadow) Bailey, Our Conscience – Roger Toussaint [November 18, 2018]

Reading Time 2 mins April 21, 2023 “[H]istorical writing is a process of constant revision and expansion, as new sources, information and perspectives become accessible.”–Dr. Bridget Brereton In history and historical research, so much is often overlooked that, to grasp and understand contentious issues surrounding the ‘proprietorship’ of history, we must plumb the registers to unsilence previously silenced voices. Today, the 53rd Anniversary of the February Revolution and the 1970s Soldiers’ Mutiny, to more deeply appreciate and discern past lessons, we look back and sample voices that may not have factored into the post-1970 research. In this “Special Issue… Part II,”… Read More »Special Issue Marking The 53rd Anniversary Of The 1970 February Revolution in Trinidad & Tobago, Part II–BDN Editors.

Reading Time 11 mins February 26, 2023 I. Prologue: ‘A Source of Authenticity’ “I think every poet of any modesty hopes to make just a small contribution to the sound of the world’s hum.”–Derek Walcott “Ah fraid he jail me like he jail Rex Lassalle.” –Chalkdust, “Ah ‘Fraid Karl“ “The Commonwealth Court Martial was my 3rd Court Martial… I never accepted the Colonial narrative that was its dominant feature and openly challenged it when… BS came up.” –Rex Lassalle, February 6, 2023 Who,  then, is this man Rex Lassalle? And from which source springs his hope? Though he says that he only started writing… Read More »In Conversation With Rex Lassalle On 1970 And Beyond*–Winthrop (troppy) Holder