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Reading Time 2 minsApril 7, 2024 Today, April 7, 2024, marks the 25th anniversary of the transition of Dom Basil Matthews (1911-1999), the Trinidadian-born Benedictine monk and founder of St. Benevcicts College. Although most would remember Dr. Matthews as a monk, author, priest, educator, football pioneer, and debater, he was much more. Little wonder that his vision is deftly captured in “Can You Hear Me Now?” a stirring tribute to the Dom produced by Gil Figaro and Charles Dougherty. By excavating and sampling the Dom’s work, the CD not only provokes memory anchored in the conviction of citizens’ “right to… Read More »“Can You Hear Me Now?”: Remembering Dom Basil Matthews, the Revolutionary Priest

Reading Time 13 minsApril 7, 2024 First published in BDN,  March 4, 2012 “The Caribbean links the destinies of the Americas” – Dom Basil Matthews Dom1 Basil Matthews, the erudite Trinidadian-born Benedictine monk (191 1-1999), ought to be a fixture in the popular mind of Trinidad and Tobago and the Americas. But unfortunately, he isn’t; indeed, his memory tends to be invoked only in the context of what seemed a cameo appearance in the story of the meteoric rise of Dr. Eric E. Wlliams in the 1950s: “TheDom” at the behest of Count Finbar Ryan, the then Archbishop of Trinidad… Read More »DOM BASIL MATTHEWS. PRIEST AND PASSIONATE PAN-AMERICANIST — Caldwell Taylor

Reading Time 10 mins April 7, 2024 “The country … seems to be trapped in a state of in-betwenity.” — DBM Finding the almost hidden “Dom Basil Matthews: Nihil Omnino Christo” in the back of the CD stack in a music store and reading the liner notes, I wondered how could the producers, Gil Figaro and Joe Brown, pull off the improbable: use a mere CD to celebrate/commemorate the life work of such a multi-faceted personality as Dom Basil Matthews. Since I avoided Latin in high school, the “Nhil Omino Christo” made me cringe and wonder if a lot of… Read More »Dom Basil Matthews: Pedagogue of God*  — Winthrop R. Holder

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Reading Time 3 minsFebruary 14, 2024  This article was first published on February 14, 1996, in recognition of  Valentine’s Day.  He achieved fame as a philosopher, historian, novelist, literary and cultural critic, Marxist, politician, and lecturer. But to consider CLR James today, Valentine’s Day, is to recall that the region’s most brilliant intellectual was also very much a ladies’ man. Fredric Warburg, James’s publisher when he was in England in the Thirties, described him as “one of the most delightful and easy-going personalities.” “Noticeably good-looking,” James was, “Immensely amiable, he loved the fleshpots of capitalism, fine cooking, fine clothes, fine… Read More »CLR JAMES: LADIES MAN WHO LOST HIS LOVE — Kim Johnson

Reading Time 1 minsJanuary 30, 2024 As Big Drum Nation joins the region in bidding farewell to the charismatic yet enigmatic 5th Prime Minister of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Basdeo Panday (1933-2024), we are reminded of [recall] his profound impact.  The Golden Fox was known for his dynamic leadership in workers’ advocacy, party politics, and national unity with a characteristic of unwavering determination, leaving deep footprints on the nation and the region. As such, we present three reflections on our recently transitioned firebrand:  in “Panday’s Legacy“, Duff Mitchell interviews Trinidad and Tobago fellow trade union leader and political… Read More »The Basdeo Panday Legacy/BDN Intro

Reading Time 10 minsJanuary 24, 2024 ‘[Panday] said I was the only man who tried to overthrow the government and the opposition and failed in both.’ On this day, a few days after the final rights ceremonies for Trinidad and Tobago’s beloved ex-Prime Minister Basdeo Panday, I got to talk with Mr. Rafique Shah. From the commencement of the interview, I knew it would be candid when I asked him, “What are your reflections on the sojourn of Basdeo Panday in the life of the people of Trinidad and Tobago?”. In a soft-spoken voice, Shah replied, “When I heard that… Read More »Reflections on the Basdeo Panday Legacy: Duff Mitchell’s Virtual Sit Down With Rafique Shah

Reading Time 6 minsJanuary 30, 2024   “The stand is like a wooden shelf after a storm…. All I can see is some broken bottles so far/ An indication the Carnival is over.”                                                                                                                          – Kitch, “The Carnival is Over”   When the speaker was summoned to the podium at the July 2008 UWI (Mona) Conference, I, in my naiveté, half expected to hear boos and catcalls, for he was a checkered career in politics. Yet, when he rose to speak before many grassroots Jamaicans and quite a few old-time radicals, there was peaceful silence throughout his presentation. Indeed, the… Read More »‘The Root of Our Trouble’: The Crisis of Leadership in Trinidad and Tobago? — Winthrop R. Holder

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Reading Time 1 minsDecember 22, 2023 Fueled by nationalist passion, the Guyana – Venezuela conflict is currently one of the gravest threats to peace in the Caribbean and Latin American region. In “Guyana and Venezuela Playing a Dangerous Zero-Sum Game,” Clyde Weatherhead unpacks the danger of brinkmanship, a game in which Guyana’s ‘gain’ is equivalent to Venezuela’s. So, the net change in wealth or benefit is a moot, only mutual destruction. In “The Caribbean: A Zone of Peace, not a Battlefield for Imperialist Ambitions,” Martin P. Felix explores how the region can avoid this trajectory and emerge as a symbol… Read More »The Caribbean: A Zone of Peace!