What You willing to die for? [Song]

Uploaded by KMP MUSICLAB
WHAT YOU WILLING TO DIE FOR?
Sung by Joanna "Tigress" Rowley
Written by Andre Jeffers & Kenny Phillips
Produced by Kenny Phillips of KMP Music Lab

Trinidad and Tobago, are we truly a patriotic people? Do you love your country?

They say he crazy, a delusional fool
They say he selfish and want things my way
I say they lazy, they too nonchalant and cool
His cause is bigger than just a highway
They calling him fraud, say he cannot be of God
And whether he die or not, it don't matter
But what they don't see is a man who'll die for country
I'll call him a patriot and martyr.

Dr. Kublalsingh took a stand against corruption
The naysayers say life is too precious for that
They say surely he must have had a better option
The thing [is], we all willing to die, tell me for what and why
For something noble or just to get a bligh? Oy!

[Are you willing to die?] Just for some nicotine?
[Are you willing to die?] You smoking cigarettes by the pack
[Are you willing to die?] Just for the thrill of speed?
[Are you willing to die?] The highway is your drag race track.
[Are you willing to die?] Just for sexual antics?
[Are you willing to die?] Risking AIDS and HIV?
[Are you willing to die?] Like Dr. Kublalsingh?
[Are you willing to die?] No water, no food, not even IV?

What you willing to die for? Tell me!
What you will lose your life for?
Will you die for your country?
Trinidad, come! Will you die for your country? Hear me!

Now, a legal pillar who stood for justice and truth
Senior counsel and lead prosecutor
Some coward killers, now almost one year removed
Up to now, they still can't find that shooter
Justice reform on her plate, high profile work for the state
And pro bono work for those who can't afford
In return, what did she get? A cold case that can't solve yet
She deserve the nation's highest award.

Dana Seetahal died in service to this nation
She lived a life of purpose, fighting crime
Her legacy goes beyond the legislation
You see, we all going to die with no promise to say Bye-bye
Every man have their own appointed time. Oy!

[Are you willing to die?] To jump and wine in a band?
[Are you willing to die?] When Ebola is a serious threat?
[Are you willing to die?] Hey, you, the smuggler man!
[Are you willing to die?] You swallowing all these cocaine pellets. You fool!
[Are you willing to die?] To protest the cabal?
[Are you willing to die?] They disgusting and worthless.
[Are you willing to die?] Like Dana Seetahal?
[Are you willing to die?] To stand for truth and justice? Oy!

What you willing to die for? Tell me.
[What you willing to die for?']
Will you die for your country?
Lose your life for your country?

This one really hits home. ------------ this one is for you,  for the love of my country.

A mother of six, grandmother of eight
In the media she is known as Good Granny
A tower of bricks, Marlene Grant was her name
Fought the gangsters with no damn apology
They threatened and warned her, the bad boys call her informer
She didn't bat an eye or even hide in fear
They tried to kill her with fire, they even had guns for hire
Had the whole community running in tears.

Marlene Grant took a stand against them vultures
No police protection despite all the threats
That why we have a "Me-ent-see-nothing" friggin' culture
Man 'fraid to snitch and die but to cheat death they willing to lie
Seeing wickedness, then turning a blind eye. Oy!

[Are you willing to die?] Just for your B13, or even your Wingroad?
[Are you willing to die?] For your taxi money coil?
[Are you willing to die?] Just for some KFC?
[Are you willing to die?] You just might get some hot oil.
[Are you willing to die?] Just not to be a Mammy?
[Are you willing to die?] And abort that child you had?
[Are you willing to die?] Like that brave, brave granny?
[Are you willing to die?] To stand up against the gang. Oy!

What you willing to die for? Tell me.
What you will lose your life for?
Will you die for your country?
To save your community. Tell me.

This one is for the leaders.

Left hand on the Bible or the Bhagavad Gita
Some swear with the Qu'ran, right hand upraised
Sworn to serve our country but watch how you raping her
Break and take and yet, you are still not phased
Who lie before God will be surely put to the sword
You could find that in any scripture
Public office life should be a great sacrifice
But every politician leaving richer.

Willingness to die isn't just physical
Are you willing to die to self and serve?
But the parliament full of thugs and political criminals
Most of them ent willing to die, they just full of mamaguy
Which leaders can we watch and exemplify? None!

[Are you willing to die?] Just for financial power?
[Are you willing to die?] With corruption all over the place?
[Are you willing to die?] For the almighty dollar?
[Are you willing to die?] Or like Anil, who left in disgrace?
[Are you willing to die?] For a political change?
[Are you willing to die?] Or are you going to stand, run your mouth and do nothing?
[Are you willing to die?] Money for vote is nothing strange
[Are you willing to die?] Trinbago, we must stand for something! Ey!

What you willing to die for?
What you will lose your life for?
[What you willing to die for?] Will you die for your country?
[What you willing to die for?] Will you die for your country?
[What you willing to die for?] Ey!
[What you willing to die for?] Trinidad and Tobago, let us get up!
[What you willing to die for?] Stand firm with our RED, WHITE and BLACK.
[What you willing to die for?]
What you will lose your life for?
[What you willing to die for?]
Will you die for your country?
[What you willing to die for?]
God bless our nation, Trinidad and Tobago.
[What you willing to die for?]
[What you willing to die for?]

Source: The lyrics posted on this blog are often transcribed directly from performances. Although it is my intention to faithfully transcribe I do not get all the words and I have a knack for hearing the wrong thing. Please feel free to correct me or to fill in the words that I miss by dropping me a message via e-mail. I'd be forever grateful. Thanks in advance! ..............................................................................................................................
"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare

Panis Angelicus [Hymn]

Uploaded by Lord Sebastian Flyte
PANIS ANGELICUS
Written by Saint Thomas Aquinas
Music by César Franck
Performed by Friar Alessandro Brustenghi

Panis angelicus fit panis hominum;
Bread of the Angels is made bread for mankind;
Dat panis coelicus figuris terminum;
Gifted bread of Heaven, of all imaginings the end;
O res mirabilis! Manducat dominum
Oh, thing miraculous! This body of God will nourish
Pauper, pauper servus et humilis.
Pauper, pauper servus et humilis.
The poorest and humblest of servants.

Panis angelicus fit panis hominum;
Bread of the Angels is made bread for mankind;
Dat panis coelicus figuris terminum;
Gifted bread of Heaven, of all imaginings the end;
O res mirabilis! Manducat dominum
Oh, thing miraculous! This body of God will nourish
Pauper, pauper servus et humilis
Pauper, pauper servus et humilis.
The poorest and humblest of servants.

..............................................................................................................................


A Note From The Gull

Thank you Friar Alessandro.

I took the advice generously dispensed recently by a compatriot that we should use Google to educate ourselves about whether the human body can or cannot survive without food and without water for more than X number of days. So anxious was I to avoid being included on that author's list of “morons who don’t even have the sense to google longest hunger strike” that I even let slide his comment on totalitarianism and rushed through the rest of his article.

Well, I am happy to report to my readers that once again my willingness to humbly take the counsel of my betters has paid off. I diligently googled and found the story about an Indian sadhu named Prahlad Jani who claims to have not taken food or water for over six decades. The video below is just a snippet of the documentary which tells his story.  You are entitled to arrive at your own conclusions after acknowledging of course, the inputs of the critics who questioned the validity of the scientific investigation conducted by the Government of India.

My intention is not to suggest that Dr. Wayne Kublalsingh is being sustained by pranic feeding. Those are matters about which I know virtually nothing but it shocks me even more to consider that he may not even be receiving the benefit of that sustenance in his struggle. I am not at Dr. Wayne Kublalsingh's side 24/7 so I cannot say that my belief is based on what my eyes have seen. I believe him because I have no reason not to, because deceit is not something that I associate with his name, a name by the way, which is destined to be admitted to the memory of the blessed. Mine definitely won't. Will yours?

For better or for worse, to be raised Roman Catholic is to be steeped in the mysteries, and over the years, despite the best efforts of the dross of this world, I remain predisposed to entertain the miraculous. Apparently Shakespeare was similarly afflicted:

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

Uploaded by lightdocumentary.com

See: The Case of Prahlad Jani

For more information about the film: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/lightdocumentary

"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare

Chaudhvin ka chand, ya Aaftab ho?

SUHANI RAAT AND CHAUDHVIN KA CHAND

Mashup performed by Aakash Gandhi [ft Jonita Gandhi and Studiounplugged]

SUHANI RAAT

Suhani raat dhal chuki, na jaane tum kab aaoge

The beautiful night has slipped away, don't know when you will come.

Suhani raat dhal chuki, na jaane tum kab aaoge

The beautiful night has slipped away, don't know when you will come.

Jahan ki rut badal chuki, na jaane tum kab aaoge

Throughout the world the seasons have changed, don't know when you will come.

Suhani raat dhal chuki, na jaane tum kab aaoge

The beautiful night has slipped away, don't know when you will come.

Nazaarein apni mastiyaan dikha dikhaake so gaye

The sights have shown their beautiful effects and are gone now

Sitaarein apni roshni luta lutaake so gaye

The stars shone and now are no more.

Suhani raat dhal chuki, na jaane tum kab aaoge

The beautiful night has slipped away, don't know when you will come.

Jahan ki rut badal chuki, na jaane tum kab aaoge

Throughout the world the seasons have changed, don't know when you will come.

CHAUDHVIN KA CHAND

Chaudhvin ka chand ho, ya aaftaab ho

Are you the full moon, or the dazzling sun?

Jo bhi ho tum Khuda ki kasam, laajawab ho

Whatever you may be, I swear to God, you are beyond compare!

Chaudhvin ka chand ho?

Are you the full moon?

Zulfein hain jaise kaandhon pe baadal jhuke hue

Your hair is like a soft cloud kissing your shoulders

Aankhen hain jaisi mey ke peyaale bhare hue

Your eyes are like two goblets

Masti hai jis mein pyar ki, tum woh sharaab ho

And you are the wine that fills them with a zest for love.

Chaudhvin ka chand ho, ya aaftaab ho

Are you the full moon, or the sun?

Jo bhi ho tum Khuda ki kasam, laajawab ho

Whatever you may be, I swear to God, you are beyond compare!

Mohammed Rafi sang the original songs: Suhani Raat and Chaudhvin Ka Chand

..............................................................................................................................  



A Note From The Gull

Listening to this haunting mashup tonight, I am writing through this terrible sadness that I am feeling. When I first listened to this soulful performance, I heard my conversation with my country. These words, "Suhani raat dhal chuki, na jaane tum kab aaoge" and "Chaudhvin ka chand ho, ya aaftaab ho " are now never far from my lips and I find myself spontaneously saying them softly to myself as I go about my daily activities.

For me, three states are expressed in this beautiful remake:

1. Love and desire.

Jo bhi ho tum Khuda ki kasam, laajawab ho | Whatever you may be, I swear to God, you are beyond compare!

2. Anxious, lingering, persistent hope.

Suhani raat dhal chuki, na jaane tum kab aaoge | The beautiful night has slipped away, don't know when you will come.

3. An undercurrent of growing despair that that hope may not be realised.

The painful possibility that the "don't know when you will come" will be replaced with, "You never came. My heart is broken."

I have always felt these for my country. I feel these with Dr. Wayne Kublalsingh. The two, the man and my country, are one and the same for me.  For over two months many of us who are still capable of paying attention for more than three seconds have been inspired, embarrassed, challenged, disturbed, frustrated, threatened and outed by this man, the one who some have callously named "the human reptile."

I believe instead, that Dr. Wayne Kublalsingh is The ProtoTrinbagonian and only time will tell if he is one of the last of a trial breed on the verge of extinction or a viable precursor of what is to come. I prefer to hope that like a lance, he is opening the way and leading our advance. Roman Catholic priest, Father Clyde Harvey, suggests that it may not be that we are losing our soul as a nation but that at this moment in time, we, our leaders included, are being offered the precious opportunity to create it for the first time.

Like Father Harvey advises, we have to look beyond personalities. They, like the thousand and one upsets which have had our heads spinning over the past few years, not to mention what went before, are only symptoms, just pustules on the back of the beast, the same beast to which many of us have been furtively throwing scraps under the dinner table. They are symptoms being used as distractions, symptoms labelled disease to condemn us to an infinity of applying and reapplying plasters to societal sores that predictably continue to weep profusely. They are symptoms which confound and enervate, unsettle and exhaust, to dumb down this country with punishing, mindless dissembling...not a day of peace, not a day of intelligence, not a day of hope that isn't doomed to betrayal. I am beside myself with exhaustion and I am just a witness from afar.

To borrow the title of Neil Bissoondath's novel, there is a casual brutality about the way in which we regard and treat each other in this country.  Others have given much thought to explaining why this is so but I have no time tonight.  WE have no time. There will come a day of darkness when the hearts of the conscious will be even more broken than they are today. They will not dare to ask themselves the question: What could we have done? because the answer in all its clarity will come when it is too late. On that day, those who still have the capacity to recognise loss and to mourn it will say:

Sitaarein apni roshni luta lutaake so gaye | The stars shone and now are gone.

"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare

Below the Surface [Song]

TRUTH, TRANSPARENCY, TRUST.
Trikuta meri, na jaane tum kab aaoge.

Patriot Dr. Wayne Kublalsingh
"For the more injustice rages, the more they fight."

Uploaded by edward spencer

BELOW THE SURFACE
By Mystic Prowler

Sometimes I does get angry when I see somebody watch a next man achievement
And declare that that was easy.
They doh see all the struggle and all the failure
They quickly form allegiance to toast the winner
But in this life there's a truth and every tree you see have a root
And is from way below the surface you bring up your fruit.

Now, Thomas Edison, the light bulb inventor
Is two thousand times he fail before the bulb could light
And when, when he reach age sixty-seven, a fire cost him two million
That's when his studio burned to the ground one December night
But he stood strong, faithful to his craft
And three weeks later released his first phonograph.

You see, he had the stuff great men are made of
Is the stuff you could miss unless you look below the surface
I say, he had the stuff great men are made of
Is the stuff you could miss unless you look below the surface.

They say that pressure, it does make diamonds out of rock
And is the same with the human character when our dreams are downstruck
In a jail, two men looking out through the same bars
One will fail 'cause he see mud while the other see stars
You see, while pressure humbles the weak it strengthens who earnestly seek
It's the barometer that measures the strong and the weak

Because Martin Luther and South African Nelson Mandela
The darkness in their jail cell couldn't dim their lights
And civil rights atrocities only fuel more energies
For the more injustice rages, the more they fight
And for twenty-seven years Nelson Mandela suffer
And from jail became President of South Africa.

You see, Nelson had the stuff that great men are made of
Is the stuff you could miss unless you look below the surface
Potential, I say, he had the stuff that great men are made of
Is the stuff you could miss unless you look below the surface.

Check any success story, take any one you wish
And you'll see the road is often littered with blocks and rubbish
When as you clear one hurdle, you will meet another
And as you lift one burden, you will hit a next gutter
You see while your progress is slow, your determination must grow
Just affirm and profess the success you already know.

Don't you know Elvis Presley was fired by Jimmy Denny?
After just one show, he was told, "Go back, go back and drive truck."
And the great Beethoven of music, imagine he was deaf at forty-six?
But that's when he produced his greatest musical stock
And the great Caruso stood firm by his choice
Although his teacher told him, "You can't sing and you have no voice."

But he had the stuff great men are made of
Is the stuff you could miss unless you look below the surface
Oh, he had the stuff great men are made of
Is the stuff you could miss unless you look below the surface.

As a nation, we would do well to train our young
Not to adopt a luck and chance approach or a gaming disposition
For they will dream of easy money and sweet tomorrow
From a get rich scheme with their one in one hundred thousand ratio
We need to teach foundations of truth, trees that send down good roots
Not parasites that suck at ill-gotten fruits.

Don't you know Basdeo Panday walked so many miles barefoot to school
Land in England with six dollars to take his law course?
And Arthur Napoleon Raymond Robinson, imagine he was shot and imprisoned?
Half blind and dying he said, "Attack, attack, attack with full force!"
For such men with belly, leadership was meant
No wonder they are Prime Minister and President.

You see, they had the stuff great men are made of
Is the stuff you could miss unless you look below the surface
I say, they had the stuff great men are made of
Is the stuff you could miss unless you look below the surface.

Source: The lyrics posted on this blog are often transcribed directly from performances. Although it is my intention to faithfully transcribe I do not get all the words and I have a knack for hearing the wrong thing. Please feel free to correct me or to fill in the words that I miss by dropping me a message via e-mail. I'd be forever grateful. Thanks in advance! ..............................................................................................................................
 
 
A Note From The Gull

Thank you, Mystic Prowler.  What can I say now that I have not said before? Concerned Trinbagonians, with the exception of a small minority, are impotent and struck dumb - cat got our tongue and catfish gone with our lignum vitae. So tonight I can only rest whatever hope I have left on the wisdom of the message generously shared by Trinbagonian Roman Catholic priest, Father Clyde Harvey:

"A man fasting for a cause challenges us about our soul. Where is the soul of the nation?

With the first hunger strike, Wayne Kublalsingh gave me, and I tried to communicate it to others, three words which I think can help us find our soul - Truth, Transparency, Trust.

And the Armstrong Report which is at the center of all of this is not about the Honourable Prime Minister. It's not even about Wayne Kublalsingh. It's about whether or not we, as a people, can develop principles and processes which allow us to believe in ourselves, to always stand for truth and to try to be transparent about what we do.

Unless I can believe in your truth when you speak to me, when you relate to me, nothing is possible. I can't trust you.  Unless to some extent I can think that I am seeing through you, the real you, in the way and the process that we are engaged in, I can't trust you. And people who don't trust each other can't form relationships. No nation can endure.

So we are faced today with that challenge and a man fasting is challenging us to ask ourselves - Is there anything that we are willing to die for? Do we love anything enough, in this case Trinidad and Tobago, to identify what are the values, what are the things that I would lay down my life for as a citizen of this country?

Unless some citizens have that sense, we're are not a Republic. We are still subjects of some monarch, whatever, whoever that monarch is, and we won't survive.

So, today as we face this, let's forget about the personalities and let's think Trinidad and Tobago."

--Father Clyde Harvey, Trinidad and Tobago.

"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare

Wheel and Come Again, T&T !!

...Love on a Grand Scale.
 
 Freetown Collective Published on Nov 30, 2012
Uploaded by Miquel Galofré

Here is where we are expecting the rubber to begin meeting the road, where just action should trump oratorical flights and give pause to our cynics howling in the wilderness. Time will tell and time alone knows that the twine of a leader's legacy, whether good or bad, is much, much longer than you or I will ever comprehend.

"....In Trinidad and Tobago, we have been accused of being good talkers but poor listeners and the crisis in governance, in our nation, continues to be the result of not listening but shouting from the fences. For many years, there has been a bedevilling sense of disconnect to governance felt by the average citizen of Trinidad and Tobago. Our elected representatives, mindful of their oath to represent all their constituents, would do well to cultivate the art of genuine listening, which always inspires compassion and culminates in a better understanding, even of opposing viewpoints.

".............Until solutions are engendered and nurtured, and as utopic as it may appear, I have great faith in our capacity, as a nation and as individuals, to adopt the moral high ground in governance. I refuse to be a cynic, without firm solutions, howling in the wind, or be a citizen pelting stones from abroad..." SOURCE: Excerpt from Address by His Excellency Anthony Thomas Aquinas Carmona, SC, President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago at a Special Sitting of the Tobago House of Assembly on Friday 26th April, 2013 at 10.00 a.m. at the Assembly Legislative Chamber, Jerningham Street, Scarborough, Tobago.

Saying A Prayer For Us All.

..............................................................................................................................  

"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare
 

This Christmas [Song]

Uploaded by Vincent Poag

THIS CHRISTMAS

By Vincent Poag

This Christmas let's forget our trouble
In tribute let us all be humble
And in a song let our voices blend
For Christmas, let's be friends.

Let's make the world at peace our business
In giving let us try forgiveness
And on the eve let us make amends
For Christmas let's be friends.

Make believe we’re a family
Spreading love under heaven's tree.

This season let's forget our differences
And take the time to think what Christmas is
And for a gift may I recommend
This Christmas let's be friends.

Source: The lyrics posted on this blog are often transcribed directly from performances. Although it is my intention to faithfully transcribe I do not get all the words and I have a knack for hearing the wrong thing. Please feel free to correct me or to fill in the words that I miss by dropping me a message via e-mail. I'd be forever grateful. Thanks in advance!
..............................................................................................................................  

 

A Note From The Gull

Thank you, Vincent Poag.

Christmas is here and I have been neglecting my parranderos and generally the people who flock to the site during this season, [especially the Trinbagonians who are not at home] looking for their favourite Christmas songs and lyrics. We should have all been distracted by what was happening in our country and I thank you for your patience. 

Christmas has come early this year with the greatest gift so far being the relief that Dr. Wayne Kublalsingh's ordeal is over. I feel bruised yet energised. I learned some lessons and faced some truths including the hardest one - that cynicism is not too far beneath my hopeful skin. I thought that the struggle would go badly for us all and asked him not to throw the pearl of his life before swine...well not in those exact words but maybe worse.

I was driven to this despair by the vile comments coming from high and low places. I have learnt that in the future I should not be so diligent about absorbing the bile or reading the newspapers' online comments or the opinion polls and most of all I should not even care about public opinion when I do not doubt the integrity of another human being. I fell into the trap of thinking, "If Dr. Kublalsingh is depending on people like these for a just resolution, he is a dead man." 

But evidently the Trinidad and Tobago that is better than that was just not as vocal as it should have been and there again for me was another lesson to be learned. If those who rest on the side of justice do not make their voices heard, noisy destructiveness appears to be in the majority and can eventually dim or kill whatever hope or conviction remains.

It turns out that the newspapers may be doing us a favour on those occasions when they block comments altogether or kick some comments to the curb. I do believe in freedom of expression but for the maintenance of societal mental and emotional hygiene, freedom of evacuation is to be exercised only in the private toilets made for that purpose. I am suspecting that many of the destructive comments that I read online are submitted by trolls and it strengthens my conviction that all opinions should be taken with a grain of salt until citizens can assess the terrain from which they are springing.

When I heard Vincent Poag's song above I thought that it was a good message for us. Some really harsh words were spoken recently and we were reminded that there are cracks in our society into which the unscrupulous will eagerly insert divisive wedges to try to pit one group against the other in order to gain political and other advantages.

Christmas time is usually a quiet time for me and this Christmas I will be thinking about what this year has taught me.  I don't know what it has taught you and I would really like to know.

While we promise to work on our problems, let us at least be friends.

"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so. 

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare

Dr. Wayne Kublalsingh: "I Feel An Enormous Gratitude..."

Kamla: Let the courts decide. Kublalsingh ends 21-day hunger strike, accepts agreement for highway review. By Renuka Singh | Trinidad Express | Dec 6, 2012 at 2:12 AM ECT.

After 21 days without food and water, environmental activist Dr Wayne Kublalsingh ended his hunger strike yesterday.

Kublalsingh, who was protesting the Debe to Mon Desir section of the Point Fortin Highway, said he agreed to the terms of reference hammered out after a two-day mediation meeting between the Joint Consultative Council (JCC) and the Government.

Just before 6 p.m., the Kublalsingh family announced the activist had accepted the changes to the initial proposal and had ended the hunger strike.

In a media release, Kublalsingh said the Highway Re-Route Movement read the details of the proposal and found that it contained the relevant particulars they had requested, including the undertaking of a cost-benefit analysis of the proposed Debe to Mon Desir section of the highway, a social impact assessment and a hydrological, terrestrial and marine ecological report of the affected area.

“If I am to put into words how I feel now, it would be that I feel an enormous gratitude to the people of Trinidad and Tobago,” Kublalsingh said in brief telephone interview.

The newly detailed terms of reference that the parties agreed to are not too different from Kublalsingh’s initial proposal and request that was sent to Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar weeks ago.

The one bone of contention remained over whether work would continue on the now contentious segment of the highway during the two months the independent committee would need to undertake its own review.

“No work shall be done on the proposed Debe to Mon Desir highway since this has not been officially handed over to the contractors,” said Kublalsingh.

In an addendum to his statement, he said the National Infrastructure Development Company Ltd (Nidco) told the review committee that “preliminary works will be done on the Fyzabad and Siparia exchanges, but that no compulsory acquisitions will take place and no homes removed during the period of the review”.

“We have spoken to Dr Carson Charles (head of Nidco), asking him to respect the sensitivities of people in the area, and we are satisfied that no home acquisitions would take place in period.

They will also confine their works to earth removal and grubbing,” Kublalsingh said.

The independent committee will also accept submissions from the Highway Re-Route Movement and affected residents and take those into consideration as well. This was part of the Kublalsingh’s original proposal but was not included in the initial draft proposal between the Government and JCC after their meeting on Monday.

By 7 p.m. yesterday, the JCC, the body at the centre of the mediation talks between Kublaslsingh and the Government, issued a statement outlining the frame of reference to which Kublalsingh agreed.

Afra Raymond, head of the JCC, said in the release that they regarded the finalisation of this issue as a “solid framework for the transparent ventilation of the matters in dispute”.

“After consultation with the Government and the Highway Re-Route Movement, the JCC is pleased to confirm that it has appointed an independent working group to examine the several matters of concern on the disputed Debe to Mon Desir segment of the Solomon Hochoy Highway to Point Fortin,” he said.

The terms of reference include the appointment of Dr James Armstrong as head of the independent committee that will undertake, inter alia, the three studies as suggested by Kublalsingh, and include persons from various disciplines.

“This is a real advance in the development of our country, so we would like all parties to work in good faith within this process. The Independent Working Group will be inviting oral and written submissions within this exercise. The civil society groups are inviting Dr Kublalsingh to stop his protest action now, so that we can have his submissions and active participation in this important matter,” said Raymond." SOURCE

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A Note From The Gull

The PM has assured us that she is in command so I want to thank the PM for this resolution. If she is in command and nothing happens without her approval, it is clear that it was because of her that the JCC's petition was received and that Monday's meeting was allowed to take place. So, as far as I am concerned, this agreement is thanks also to her allowing negotiations to ensue. I thank her and the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure.

A problem remains and if our PM still dreams of leaving a legacy that will be praised and remembered with gratitude, it will not be as a result of constructing highways but of laying the foundations for another sort of infrastructure, one based on transparency and accountability that will invite, accept, process, include and respond to citizen participation in the running of our affairs. No one should ever again have to resort to a hunger strike to get the attention of his countrymen and his government.

I want to also thank the following:

The Joint Consultative Council for recognising the urgency of this situation and for intervening and offering constructive suggestions for ways out of the impasse. This includes the work of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions and NGOs (FITUN), Working Women for Social Progress and the T&T Transparency Institute. Thank you especially, Afra Raymond, for the seriousness and generousity with which you approached the impasse. Your interventions in this matter and elsewhere will not be forgotten. Thanks in advance to Dr. James Armstrong and all those who will be working with the Independent Working Group.

Opposition Leader, Keith Rowley, for having offered your own suggestion and for your humane demeanour during this crisis.

Dr. Winston Dookeran for your appeal to the PM for compassion in this issue.

The independent senators - Elton Prescott, SC, Dr Rolph Balgobin, Corinne Baptiste McKnight and Dr Lennox Bernard who urged the Government to take the "necessary first step" to bring to an end the current impasse. 

All the writers,  even those who do not agree with Dr. Kublalsingh's protest action, who looked past politics to stand on the side of humanity.

All the persons who have shown and continue to show support for Dr. Wayne Kublalsingh and especially those who actually visited him. I am not in my homeland and with every visitor that I read about I got some vicarious comfort from that visit. I imagined that Dr. Kublalsingh was comforted even more.

The medical personnel who were on standby and attended to Dr. Kublalsingh during this ordeal. It could not have been an easy task for persons trained to preserve life to have to watch the slow deterioration of a fellow human being.

Ishmael Samad and Karen Kublalsingh for breaking down and not being as strong as those who respected Dr. Kublalsingh's wishes in this matter. Your weakness is your humanity and I would not hold it against you for fighting for my life if I were ever in such distress.

The family of Dr. Wayne Kublalsingh. You are made of the same stuff as your son. Most parents do not want to experience the anguish of the death of their child. So although I can imagine some of the pain that you experienced over this period, I don't know it and I hope that I will never have to know it. Your son has survived and you have survived this as a family. We will ALL survive this as a nation.

I have already thanked Dr. Wayne Kublalsingh (the Highway Re-route Movement (HRM). I am still reflecting upon his struggle and I do not have the words at this time to describe what he has accomplished. Perhaps words are not the reward which he will appreciate as much as actually seeing his efforts changing in small and in big ways how we go on to take care of each other and this country.

Today I want to repeat the prayer that I said for our PM on January 29, 2011.

Bless and protect our sister.
Let those who can assist, draw closer to her
Let those who cannot, depart.
Give her the discernment and trust to recognise and admit true patriots.
Remove from her space the negative influences both near and far,
emanating from the hurts of the past and the present,
from those who are against her
and from some of those who claim to be for her
and everything which distracts us all from achieving the higher destiny
which many still hope will be hers and this nation's.

Malele, toma e malonge, zamya zamya kwenda. 

Things have quietened down, be well countrymen, o quietly, quietly go.

"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare

Steady As She Goes...

UPDATE: Dec 5, 2012

'I will end with victory in a few days'. Kublalsingh seeks changes to JCC framework. | Trinidad Express | Dec 5, 2012 at 12:07 AM ECT.

"Even as environmental activist Dr Wayne Kublalsingh has agreed to some of the parameters of the general framework signed by the Joint Consultative Council (JCC) and the Government, he maintained yesterday that no one was "bound to accept the recommendations" of the independent committee. "

...With regard to the framework agreement, he said: "This is just to provide the public with information, so they can make an assessment on their own; no one is bound to their conclusions, either the Government or the Highway Re-Route Movement. This is to provide public information, so that you yourselves can see whether Debe to Mon Desir (section of the highway) is good or bad," he said. 

Amendments to the draft proposal between the JCC and the Works Ministry could end Kublalsingh's hunger strike. Kublalsingh reviewed the proposal on Monday night and refused only one part of the agreement and modifications to another part. 

"Part three of the general framework must be restated to say that no construction work should begin in the Debe to Mon Desir highway, including the interchanges, whilst the committee meets," he said. 

Part three of the general framework document reads: "Work will continue on sites of the highway released to the contractor." 

The other amendments include the promise to undertake a cost-benefit analysis, a social-impact assessment report and a hydrology report." SOURCE

JCC, GOVERNEMENT AGREE

Trinidad Express | Dec 3, 2012 at 10:39 PM ECT

"The government relented to the demands of the Highway Re-route Movement, well somewhat. Work on the highway will proceed.

But, the Ministry of Works and NIDCO have allowed the Joint Consultative Council for the construction industry, to review all documentation on the highway. The developments were announced shortly after extensive deliberations among the relevant ministries and civil society groups."

JCC president after meeting with groups: No work on Debe to Mon Desir section.
By Richard Lord | Trinidad Guardian | Tuesday, December 4, 2012.

"The agreement which was arrived at yesterday. President of the Joint Consultative Council Afra Raymond insists no work will take place on the controversial Debe to Mon Desir segment of the Solomon Hochoy Highway Extension Project. Raymond spoke in a brief interview with reporters after yesterday’s agreement between the Government and civil society groups during four-hour talks at the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, Port-of-Spain.

The JCC, the Federation of Independent Trade Unions and NGOs (Fitun), the T&T Transparency Institute (TTTI) and Women Working for Social Progress (Working Women) met with Works and Infrastructure Minister Emmanuel George, Environment and Water Resources Minister Ganga Singh, junior Works Minister Stacy Roopnarine and Nidco president Dr Carson Charles.

The three-point agreement was presented by George, who said the meeting was “very fruitful in pointing the way forward.” Environmentalist Dr Wayne Kublalsingh began his hunger strike 19 days ago because the contractor had started clearing the site for construction of the segment. Asked to clarify if the agreement provided for work on the controversial section to continue, Charles said: “Yes.”

George and Singh refused to comment on the issue when questioned for clarification. Raymond was asked and he insisted no work would continue on the Debe to Mon Desir segment. “No, no, the section in question, no,” Raymond said. Told by reporters the agreement said work would continue on the highway sites by the Government, Raymond said:  “I am a party to the agreement. I know what I am telling you.

“The section of the highway that is in dispute, there is no work going on there now and no work is going to start there. That’s it.” Asked if the contractor was not in possession of the land, Raymond said: “No, not at all. Not in possession, not in possession. All of that was hammered out. Not in possession. I am standing on this, okay?”

He said he was not sure the exercise to be done by the JCC would answer Kublalsingh’s concerns, but said: “We will attempt to address the concerns.” Earlier, in his brief speech, Raymond said the exercise was “a very challenging discussion and it was necessary for the resolution of this impasse in the interest of restoring public trust.”

He said the JCC and other groups were hoping that “Dr Kublalsingh will give serious consideration to ending that hunger strike.” Raymond said he hoped Kublalsingh’s group would also supply documents to the JCC working team, which is to be chaired by Independent Senator Dr James Armstrong. He said the rest of the team was yet to be determined.

Raymond said there was a need for the tone and language from both the Government and the Highway Re-route Movement to be more civilised. “We need to recover a more civilised tone. We need to recover a more reasonable tone. This is a very important step in restoring our civility.”

Signatories to the agreement were George, Singh, Roopnarine, JCC’s Raymond and members Winston Riley, Emile Elias, Fitun president Joseph Remy and Charles, representatives from the T&T Transparency Institute (TTTI) and Women Working for Social Justice.

The Agreement  
• The National Infrastructure Development Co Ltd will make available to the JCC all the relevant documentation in its possession on the project in respect of the Debe to Mon Desir segment of the highway extension
• The JCC will examine all the documentation provided by Nidco and all other relevant documentation and produce a report within 60 days from today’s date to Nidco for its consideration and its publication thereafter
• Work will continue on sites of the highway released to the contractor."

The letter with the petition from the JCC to the Prime Minister - November 26, 2012, is available here in pdf format.

 ..............................................................................................................................

"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare
 

We ALL Have a Nation to Run.

...a profound silence.
As I am seeing Dr. Wayne Kublalsingh everywhere, while watching the birds recently it occurred to me that the Blue Jay would never in its wildest dreams deny itself the bare necessities of eating and drinking and even less, the supreme, triumphant pleasure of hogging what ought to be shared with others. This bird is a startlingly beautiful, burly, noisy, rambunctious creature that will eat and/or carry away every single nut that I put out on mornings. This bird does not share, does not seem to have the slightest awareness of the concept. It demonstrates a selfish, scorched earth approach to the bounty made available to all. 

Am I being unreasonable to expect a creature living in nature to adopt the nobler of our values? And why do we human beings hold ourselves to a higher standard and expect to be different from the creatures in the wild? Is it thanks only to nurture that we have been socialized to be saddled with the sometimes hopeless pursuit of a "humanity" that includes selflessness? Is the difference as simple as that? Are we in fact much less than we think we are? Is that why surrender to our baser instincts is often the preferred option?

What, I ask myself, makes Dr. Wayne Kublalsingh unlike you and me and and the rabid Blue Jays of this world? Could it be that contrary to our PM's assessment, this man's family, more than many families in Trinidad and Tobago, actually owned their parental responsibility and took it extremely seriously? Can we consider and admit that what we are seeing in his action is the culmination, not of neglect, but of an extraordinary spiritual nurturing on their part?

The days flash by for me as I anxiously follow the news from home. I imagine that the hours pass more slowly for Dr. Kublalsingh, surrounded by many yet deeply alone in so many ways and especially in the inner struggle between nature and nurture. I still urge him to guard his health and life but I want to assure him that even if he were to walk away today, those of us who are still teachable have already learnt valuable lessons.

Today I want to speak from my heart to thank teacher Wayne Kublalsingh for the things he has been showing me. For the past week and more as I have sat unwillingly and often distressed to tears before the chalkboard of his increasingly emaciated chest, I have been forced to trace and retrace with growing dismay the things which I already knew but which have been manifested in his flesh.

I was among those who, valuing Dr. Kublalsingh's life more than this country, more than this cause, more than we Pawi, more than my beautiful and sometimes ugly countrymen, more than this government, urged him to let this cup pass from him. But perhaps being more optimistic, more hopeful and more generous than even those who love him and certainly more than those who continue to deride and dismiss him, he put our concerns aside and persevered patiently with his lesson.

He has reminded me that although this is what we have come to accept as normal, it is unnatural, if not calamitous for any man to believe that he has an existence separate from his country, from just causes, from the fate of the Pawi, from his countrymen and from his government. In this "eat ah food" world, he has done the unthinkable and little wonder then that the shock of it all has thrown many into disarray and has caused some of us in high and low places to retreat to the usual refuges of cynicism, disrespect, vitriole, puerile humour and callousness.

In turning his back on the opiate of the ubiquitous pot of pelau, he has threatened to drag us also from the warm comfort of that prison of belly full and asked us to reflect upon other forms of nourishment of which we have been starved. Another human child of God comes to mind and it was He who reminded us that "Man cannot live by bread alone."

Thank you, Dr. Kublalsingh for allowing the nation once again to witness that the truth means NOTHING to many. Not only will they avoid it to save their skins and that of their cohorts but they will avoid it even when a fellow citizen's life is on the line. They will avoid it in the quiet of their own consciences and they will ineluctably avoid it even when the whole interested world's gaze is upon them.

Dr. Kublalsingh, you have become for me the soul of a Trinidad and Tobago that has been struggling to ascend - not any furtive or touted ascendancy being arranged for a particular race, class or creed, but a lifting for ALL - for this country, for all just causes, for the Pawi, for all countrymen and for a leadership yet to blossom that will be a reflection of the best in us.

Despite the efforts of the revisionists, history cannot be repealed and regardless of whether or not the distorted written or remembered record of this matter is amended, the history of this struggle has already been written in the psyche. I will not qualify psyche with 'national' or 'individual' because if I had learnt nothing else from Patriot Wayne Kublalsingh's struggle, this is the one lesson that will lie glowing in the ruins of his camp/health/life:

Everything and everyone is connected and if you can destroy one man, you can destroy a nation.

People, we ALL have a government to run.

..............................................................................................................................
"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare
 

A Country To Die For?

...Falling Back and Supporting From Behind.

The reason for my long silences? - The sound of my mother's voice in my head pleading, "If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing."  Reading our news online I often find myself dismayed and to be very honest it is with some reluctance that I now make my daily pilgrimage to T&T's newspapers. This dread, by the way, does not apply to anything written by Sunity Maharaj and Raffique Shah.

Recently I read something that brought mixed feelings of agreement and sadness. The words of Dr. Wayne Kublalsingh:

"The leader of the group said he will not be as vocal about the Point Fortin Highway issue in the future and encouraged the members to be persistent. He said:

"It is up to you to put pressure on the Prime Minister and if she refuses take up your bed and revolt. They (citizens) cannot be looking at Kublalsingh and a minority of people to do their work for them."

The strength residents used to build the 13 communities in the Debe to Mon Desir area should be the same strength they should use to preserve them, Kublalsingh said."

What is there to add? I do not believe in top down revolutions. Yes, a revolution can be inspired by the example of a leader but a revolution that is masterminded and executed mainly by those above often will have to continuously enforced thereafter because it did not spring spontaneously from the grassroots.

I once referred to Dr. Wayne Kublalsingh as a patriot and reading his words I mused that there are times when Patriotism involves falling back and supporting from behind. Even the migratory birds understand that the individual flying point in the V formation cannot fly there forever. That lead bird will eventually tire and must fall back to allow another to lead. Tire...not die. Although I admire Dr. Wayne Kublalsingh's passion and I am particularly moved by his father's comments about his son, I do not want Dr. Wayne Kublalsingh to leave us now, and certainly not for citizens who are not sufficiently compelled to take care of their own business and judging by the online comments, many others who intend not to remember his ultimate sacrifice past this Christmas season. I want Dr. Kublalsingh to continue to live and fight for his country. This world is overrun by the ignorant, the crass and the ignoble and I seriously doubt that his death will have any impact on the jaded and spiritually dead. I am ashamed to have concluded that in this valley of death where life is cheap another person's demise will not provide the much needed tipping point.

Dr. Kublalsingh, I dedicate the song below to you. Life is the battle and you can only see it to its natural end by continuing to LIVE.


Uploaded by Adamfulgence ..............................................................................................................................
"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare
 

Patriotism By Decree?

...More Than The Sum Of Its Parts.

This story in the Trinidad & Tobago Express, got my attention. It mentioned some of the issues which really interest me: Patriotism, Equity, Unity among our citizens and the First Nations peoples of Trinidad and Tobago. Have a read and we will continue below:

Hello, I'm a Trinbagonian!
Trinidad & Tobago Express | Oct 11, 2010

It is the People's Partnership government's intention, as part of a patriotism framework, to rebrand "Trinidadians" as Trinbagonians.

This was stated yesterday by Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister, Rodger Samuel, in an address at the launch of Amerindian Heritage Week at the Town Hall in Arima yesterday.

"We want to take away that identity crisis that we have about Trinidadians and Tobagonians," Samuel said.

He said to a loud round of applause, "It is our intention to rebrand Trinidadians so that our nationality would be known as Trinbagonian. There would be no disparity between you being a Trinidadian and you being a Tobagonian. That is where we are heading in this country."

He said that part of his responsibility as a Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister is to develop a "patriotism framework."

One of the objectives of the framework, he said , was to preserve, conserve and develop the nation's heritage—including the heritage of Trinidad and Tobago's indigenous peoples. This would be done in conjunction with the Ministry of Arts and Multiculturalism, he added.

"as part of a patriotism framework", - What exactly is a "patriotism framework"? I need in the worst way for this to be explained. You see, just as I become very uneasy when I hear the president general of a trade union, the OWTU, making blatant and blindly partisan statements, the notion of a government being involved in "creating" patriotism leaves me with a million questions which are never answered by sound bites.

"to rebrand "Trinidadians" as Trinbagonians." Yes, I know that I have been using Trinbagonians on this blog to save myself the trouble of having to type two long words connected by "and" but I am aware that not everyone likes "Trinbagonians". Some people still want to be described as Trinidadians or Tobagonians, just like, I imagine, identical twins probably prefer to have separate names and not be referred to as the "Johnson twins" or the "Cabrera twins." They know that they have a special bond, they know that they are equal but they also don't want anyone to forget that they are separate and unique entities despite their having emerged from one egg.

Referendum time, perhaps? I understand that this is a government that listens to the people and that mechanisms for referenda have been promised.

On the other hand, it may simply be that the government is hoping to engage in rebranding "Trinidad and Tobago" and the "patriotism framework" is among its exploratory steps. I hate being downwind of Americay's trends, so maybe it is best that "nation branding" and "patriotism framework" were not mentioned together in my presence.

"We want to take away that identity crisis that we have about Trinidadians and Tobagonians," What identity crisis exactly? I was born in Trinidad. I've worked in Trinidad with people who were born in Tobago. We knew who we were and I don't remember even getting the slightest impression that the Tobagonian citizens of this twin-island state had any identity crisis, and neither did I.

There would be no disparity between you being a Trinidadian and you being a Tobagonian. And even if there were any disparity between Trinidadians and Tobagonians, which I strongly dispute, calling us Trinbagonians is going to magically alleviate the problem [which does not exist]?

"One of the objectives of the framework, he said , was to preserve, conserve and develop the nation's heritage—including the heritage of Trinidad and Tobago's indigenous peoples." Well I liked the sound of that but still didn't see this as falling under a "patriotism framework". This is the work of all the Ministries, not so? Aren't there Ministries responsible for preserving, conserving and developing:

the environment?
our natural resources?
the bountiful earth?
the creative and willing minds and hands of our people and especially our children?
the cultural gifts which we inherited and which we are continually creating/recreating?
the wellness of all citizens?
our pursuit of justice and democratic ideals
our cultural ties with our neighbourhood of the Caribbean and Latin America?

All these form part of our heritage and perhaps the descendants, both genetic and spiritual, of the First Nations of these islands can symbolise that rootedness. But heritage is not just a noun or an artifact, heritage is also a way of doing, heritage is also what we hand to the future. And therefore we admit that there are ways of doing that we can improve upon and there are aspects of our heritage(s) that we might consider jettisoning and saying a farewell prayer over before moving on together to do better.

True patriotism is first about how we value ourselves as individuals. It is next about what we feel about our place in this land and no government can be in charge of orchestrating that. We will naturally come to love our country and to defend it if we feel rooted here, if we feel that we are well served and that we also have opportunities to serve, if we can prosper according to our different ambitions and be respected for the uniqueness of our contributions. Patriotism is not always pro-state or pro-government, so can a government be disinterested enough in its own preservation to encourage its citizens to think critically and independently. Will this "patriotism framework" support a patriotism that is true and non-partisan?

Patriot Wayne Kublalsingh

COPS STOP ACTIVIST'S SIT- IN
By Andre Bagoo | T&T's Newsday Friday, November 20 2009

There is no government fiat that can create "true" patriotism [unless we are blessed with a government that is also a champion of the cultivation of intelligence in its citizens] and what I fear is that this engineering can be taken to the extreme of ideological brainwashing leading to the mindless jingoism that is often made to masquerade as "patriotism". Governments of such "patriotized" populations can then use the flimsiest of slogans to effect the required Pavlovian responses.

I do not mean to suggest that populations are always gullible and lacking in intelligence but there is that human weakness, against we must always struggle, to take the easier, or what is perceived to be the easier, route and this manifests itself even more rabidly in populations that are already stressed [like ours] and therefore more unlikely to want to face harsh truths and take action against them.

In 1993, Midnight Oil, an Australian rock band from Sydney, produced the brilliant song "My Country" This song expresses my fears about the dangers of flag waving patriotism taken to the extreme, when we get to the stage where it does not matter when something is terribly wrong and we insist on using the flag to cover up the rotten core and even worse, to discourage criticism and dissent. We unscrew our heads, take out our brains and whether our country is right or wrong, we salute the flag:

"And did I hear you say,
My country, right or wrong
My country, oh so strong
My country, right or wrong
My country, right or wrong
My country going wrong
My country, right or wrong?"

I hear you say the truth must take a beating
The flag, a camouflage for your deceiving..."

Just like there must be separation between church and state, I feel that no government should be trusted with "creating" patriotism. This is why I fully endorse Black Stalin's words in his song, "Sing For The Land":

"I alone know how much this country do for me
So I alone could say how much I could do for the country
So how could any man or woman Trinidadian
Tell me how I must contribute to this land?
Because since I born, this country been taking care of me
And I making sure that I do the same carefully
Because this is just a warning to my fellow Trinbagonian
That I go lay my life down any time at all for the land.

"Is Trinbago who give Stalin the privilege
Just to find out I'm an African after the Middle Passage
So it's my obligation to make sure the twin island
That how I meet it, I could leave it in a better condition
So then I can't wait on no PM, no Opposition, or no party
You see I got to do the little that I could do
And do it wholeheartedly for this country. One love!"

I didn't learn to love my country from the government or my teachers, even though they were responsible for teaching about the national symbols and it was in Primary School that I learned the "National Anthem", "Our Nation's Dawning" and "God Bless Our Nation." I learned to love my land from my parents because they were more like country people and they had a deep connection with the natural environment. My father was the first environmentalist that I ever knew and I had the good fortune from childhood to be more in tune with the rhythms of nature than with manmade fashions and pleasures. He predicted all the environmental problems that T&T would experience because he took note of the savagery with which the land was being handled. He predicted the social problems because of the way in which people were being used and allowing themselves to be used. Today, I am grateful that we were brought to the same non-partisan understanding that Black Stalin shares.

Some time ago I wrote on this topic of patriotism and I concluded with embedding a speech by American Republican Ron Paul, who presented a surprisingly enlightened view of what constitutes patriotism.

Here are some quotes from that speech. If you wish, you can read the text or view the videos at my post, here.

In it Ron Paul makes a distinction between true patriotism and the "other" patriotism which the state often prefers and fosters because it allows it to pursue its agenda without opposition from the citizens.

"I accept the definition of patriotism as that effort to resist oppressive state power.

"The true patriot is motivated by a sense of responsibility and out of self-interest for himself, his family, and the future of his country to resist government abuse of power. He rejects the notion that patriotism means obedience to the state. Resistance need not be violent, but the civil disobedience that might be required involves confrontation with the state and invites possible imprisonment.

"Peaceful, nonviolent revolutions against tyranny have been every bit as successful as those involving military confrontation. Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., achieved great political successes by practicing nonviolence, and yet they suffered physically at the hands of the state. But whether the resistance against government tyrants is nonviolent or physically violent, the effort to overthrow state oppression qualifies as true patriotism.
"True patriotism today has gotten a bad name, at least from the government and the press. Those who now challenge the unconstitutional methods of imposing an income tax on us, or force us to use a monetary system designed to serve the rich at the expense of the poor are routinely condemned. These American patriots are sadly looked down upon by many. They are never praised as champions of liberty as Gandhi and Martin Luther King have been.

"Liberals, who withhold their taxes as a protest against war, are vilified as well, especially by conservatives. Unquestioned loyalty to the state is especially demanded in times of war. Lack of support for a war policy is said to be unpatriotic. Arguments against a particular policy that endorses a war, once it is started, are always said to be endangering the troops in the field. This, they blatantly claim, is unpatriotic, and all dissent must stop. Yet, it is dissent from government policies that defines the true patriot and champion of liberty.

"Out of fear of being labeled unpatriotic, most of the citizens become compliant and accept the argument that some loss of liberty is required to fight the war in order to remain safe.

"This is a bad trade-off, in my estimation, especially when done in the name of patriotism. Loyalty to the state and to autocratic leaders is substituted for true patriotism; that is, a willingness to challenge the state and defend the country, the people and the culture. The more difficult the times, the stronger the admonition comes that the leaders be not criticized.

"Statism depends on the idea that the government owns us and citizens must obey.

"Our government was originally designed to protect our liberties, but it has now, instead, become the usurper of those liberties.

"We currently live in the most difficult of times for guarding against an expanding central government with a steady erosion of our freedoms.

"The true patriot challenges the state when the state embarks on enhancing its power at the expense of the individual.

"Before the war in the Middle East spreads and becomes a world conflict for which we will be held responsible, or the liberties of all Americans become so suppressed we can no longer resist, much has to be done. Time is short, but our course of action should be clear. Resistance to illegal and unconstitutional usurpation of our rights is required. Each of us must choose which course of action we should take: education, conventional political action, or even peaceful civil disobedience to bring about necessary changes.

"But let it not be said that we did nothing. Let not those who love the power of the welfare/warfare state label the dissenters of authoritarianism as unpatriotic or uncaring. Patriotism is more closely linked to dissent than it is to conformity and a blind desire for safety and security. Understanding the magnificent rewards of a free society makes us unbashful in its promotion, fully realizing that maximum wealth is created and the greatest chance for peace comes from a society respectful of individual liberty."

I will end by saying that we must question everything that is said to us, even if at first blush we make the mistake of applauding wildly. Go away and think about it. If you are uneasy, discuss it with others. If the uneasiness does not go away, demand clearer explanations from the speech makers. Don't let anything creep up on you.

This questioning is patriotism in action...true patriotism.


Sing For The Land - Black Stalin. See lyrics.

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"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare