bigdrumnation

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!

Reading Time 4 minsDecember 22, 2023 ‘The OAS and other military pacts are multilateral. The escalating presence of the US military, its Southern Command, military exercises, etc, is only the other side of the coin of Venezuela’s military build-up. Both engage in dangerous saber-rattling and push toward military conflict rather than a win-win negotiated resolution. The US must not be allowed to push this region into the kind of savage war that is going on in the Middle East right now.’ The goal of conflict resolution is to arrive at a resolution that is beneficial to all the parties. This… Read More »Guyana and Venezuela Playing a Dangerous Zero-Sum Game — Clyde Weatherhead

Reading Time 10 minsDecember 21, 2023 ‘Perhaps the most extensive injustice is that the indigenous people of the region, who have experienced genocide and have otherwise been historically marginalized, have not been considered in these decisions. Neither are the issues of exploitation and rape of the indigenous people of the Essequibo region, cross-border crime, migration issues, and the environmental threat to an area that is regarded as one of the best-preserved parts of the Amazon biome.’   In his infamous Star Wars speech on March 10, 1983, former U.S. President Ronald Reagan declared in no uncertain terms that his administration… Read More »The Caribbean: A Zone of Peace, Not a Battlefield for Imperial Ambitions — Martin P. Felix