Female world leaders currently in power

Female world leaders currently in power

Consultant: Budget should push arts, culture | The Trinidad Guardian

Consultant: Budget should push arts, culture

From Trinidad Guardian 

Wed Aug 25 2010

Media, cultural and literary consultant Dr Kris Rampersad believes this year's budget should contain the necessary provisions to push T&T's arts and cultural sector from one of dependency to self-sustainability. She said if that was not done T&T would be missing a crucial opportunity to diversify its economy. In a press statement yesterday, Rampersad pointed out that arts and culture were a billion-dollar industry in other countries.

She added: "It is the kind of returns from museums, from performances abroad, from sales and downloads of a range of cultural products in a world hungry for new entertainment on the one hand..."On the other (hand), from fulfilling the cravings from new reflections of self and identity that our multi-culturalism can provide." She added that arts and culture have the potential to help people and communities to have sustainable livelihoods. She noted, however, that the structures, systems and investments necessary which would help T&T to take advantage of that was "sorely lacking."

She said the potential of art and culture was not only found in T&T's music, song, dance, drama or literature but also in outside-the-box industries of fashion and cuisine. "We are sitting down on a multi-million dollar revenue earner in literary tourism, but there are as yet no real facilities by which we can capture this international interest," Dr Rampersad noted. She said it was Government's duty to create an environment that would enable and facilitate that.

She said it was also Government's duty to promote public and private sector partnerships within individuals and groups in the sector, as well as international agencies and to ensure that no one group or groups of organisations had the monopoly and access to these facilities. Dr Rampersad added: "The 2010-2011 budget should present clear measures to provide effective tax and other incentives to the creative sector for the development of talents, products and communities, along with a short, medium and long-term vision that gives culture its rightful place at the centre of national development, not just piecemeal and tokenism."

Consultant: Budget should push arts, culture | The Trinidad Guardian

For more visit www.krisrampersad.com

Budgets crucial to diversify economy through arts and culture

Trinidad and Tobago would be missing a crucial opportunity for diversifying the national economy if Government’s 2010-2011 Budget does not contain the necessary provisions to propel the arts and cultural sector from dependency to self-sustainability.
Arts and culture is a billion dollar industry elsewhere. It is the kind of returns from museums, from performances abroad, from sales and downloads of a range of cultural products in a world hungry for new entertainment on the one hand; and on the other, from fulfilling the cravings for new reflections of self and identity that our multiculturalism can provide. It has the potential to help individuals and communities to sustainable livelihoods. However, the structures and systems and investments necessary that can help us take advantage of this are sorely lacking.
The potential is not only our music, song, dance, drama, literature but outside-the-box industries of fashion and cuisine. We are sitting on a multi-million dollar revenue earner in literary tourism, but there are as yet no real facilities by which we can capture this international interest. Digitisation of access to these is also crucial. It is the duty of Government to create the environment to enabling and facilitate this; to promote public-private sector partnerships with individuals and groups in the sector, and to ensure that no one group or groups of organisations have the monopoly of access to these facilities.
At a time when the world is rapidly moving towards forms of energy other than petroleum, it is ridiculous to consider further incentives and tax reductions to the oil sector, when efforts should be concentrated at making that sector compensate for the imbalances it has created, and developing those sectors that have longer-term and more sustainable potential, particularly those related to the arts and culture sector. Europe and North America are trying to ‘buy up’ as much world cultures as possible, we seem all-too-willing to sellout our cultural assets and not even to the highest bidder– just look at the Economic Partnership Agreement between the European Union and CARIFORUM.
The 2010-11 Budget should present clear measures to provide effective tax and other incentives to the creative sector for the development of talents, products, communities along with a short, medium and long term vision that gives culture its rightful place at the centre of national development, not just piecemeal and tokenism. That would also include revising the mainstream (preschool/primary to tertiary level) education curriculum, teacher training, and education materials to reflect and enhance appreciation for local arts and multiculturalism, along with intelligently utilising the new arts megastructures to effectively cultivate and provide opportunities for creative enterprise and activities easily accessible to the masses. With this should come review of all ‘national’ competitions to lift the standards and quality of products being awarded by state and private sector funds, while helping to facilitate development of audiences, readers and participants. Where is our National Arts Council that is equipped and resourced to pull together and make holistic and effective the work of the National Carnival Commission, National Archives, National Trust, National Libraries and Museums for instance?
The spin offs are not only tangible economic benefits, but other social spinoffs – reduced crime, poverty, stress on social services and the intangibles of civic ownership, and national pride.

Full List - Top 10 Female Leaders - TIME

Full List - Top 10 Female Leaders - TIME

http://www.indocaribbeanworld.com/archives/july2/mainews2.html

http://www.indocaribbeanworld.com/archives/july2/mainews2.html

Headlines Continued

Author Kris Rampersad speaks out Continued From Page 1: Click Here to got to: There are enough writers too, more of them erupting into voice year after year, and a nascent publishing industry in the Caribbean moving into its own in spite of direct competition from American TV, videos, the internet and other high tech threats to literacy. The rosiness of my immediate response to all this is tempered somewhat by the fact that "bookishness" is largely a middle-class phenomenon and that many many Caribbean folk, especially the youth (who are our future practitioners and artists) were not present in large numbers, save for those who were brought in by the schools. A number of writers live and work in this city - in fact Toronto has been described as the city with the largest concentration of Caribbean writers globally. But the bounty of their presence is not really evident in the life of the Caribbean community except on rare occasions such as that of Book fair week. A pity. I say "week" because the build up to the Book fair as well as the aftermath increased the overall intensity of the cultural assertion that was taking place. On Thursday, June 26, the Ontario Steelpan Association (OSA) honoured one of the foremost innovators of the Steelpan, Dr. Ellie Mannette, at a function at the Scarborough Civic Centre. And on June 27, at the Monarch Park Collegiate, Ellie Mannette was also featured at a concert including such accomplished steelpan artists as Mark Mosca and Talib Reid-Robinson.This event also showcased rising stars such as Aaron Seunarine and Gareth Burgess, and performances by the Bruce Skerritt Trio, building to a climactic finish by the youth of the Afropan Steel Orchestra. On Sunday June 22 at the Grand Baccus Banquet Hall in Scarborough, nationals of Trinidad and Tobago gathered to welcome to Toronto their new high commissioner in Ottawa, Mr. Arnold Piggott. Mr. Piggott spoke of the continued economic progress of T&T and its goal of reaching developed country status by the year 2020. He exclaimed too at the capacity crowd that had gathered, their accomplishments, their energy and their "rainbow" appearance. Other Caribbean territories (14 altogether) also staged their own country events in the lead up to the festival and afterwards. Informal gatherings of writers with friends and family, dinners, ordinary liming, media talks and author interviews added to the buzz. One such interview was done by this writer with Kris Rampersad, whose recent work, Finding a Place: IndoTrinidadian Literature, was launched at a reception at the T&T consulate on June 17. Kris’s introduction states that this work "is about the growth and development of literature and a literary consciousness among Indo Trinidadians between 1850 and 1950, and more significantly, how they came to English and what they brought to it over the 100-year period." Here are some excerpts from this interview: Ramabai Espinet: What prompted you to write this book?. Kris Rampersad: Well, there is much in the book that’s descriptive because the material was disappearing, so I thought that I needed to record what existed. RE: How will this material be made accessible? Are you thinking of a reader, something like From Trinidad, maybe? KR: I’ve thought of that. I’m hoping that someone will come up with the funding or the resources to reproduce the magazines and the journals that form the raw material of the book because most of what we have in the Archives are the only copies that exist and they’re in pretty bad stages of disrepair. In fact, some of them can’t even be touched. RE: What is the real value of this work to you? KR: It is a very valuable social record. One of the reasons why people have been so receptive to it - not just people interested in literature - is that the raw material is so rich in terms of anthropology, sociology and social and political development. It maps a process in the society that people are unaware of. Much research has been done of the 50s but this crop of journals that I’ve unearthed fills a kind of black hole. There has been a general impression that Indians were not writing at all until probably the 1940s. Also, one of the gaps in the socio-political history is the belief that in all that’s been happening in the development of Trinidad and Tobago, Indians weren’t participating. But what these records show is that they were very, very active and that there was so much collaboration among the groups that somehow the social analysis was ignored. Maybe this was not done deliberately, because they probably weren’t aware that the material existed, but I think it can present us with a more holistic view of the society. RE: What do you think of V.S. Naipaul’s work? KR: I think his work is brilliant but its impact probably suffers because of his personality...I don’t think anyone can question what he has achieved. I do think that the role of his father in his work has been largely underplayed. RE: I agree with that. But what about Letters from Father to Son? Surely the publication of that book paid homage to Seepersad’s role in his writing? KR: Yes, it paid homage but I wonder what is lost in the editing. RE: You think it’s too sanitized? KR: Yes...there is evidence of a wish-fulfillment on the part of his father but the rest is pretty tame. RE: What about your personal view of Naipaul? KR: Well, I don’t know him personally but I think that artists ought to be allowed their little eccentricities because I believe that it’s out of that they create - it’s an essential part of the whole creative process. But in a place like Trinidad, with all of the divisions, it’s easy to focus on the negatives instead of the positives. RE: The disdain for Naipaul is enormous. KR: I think it’s partly because there has been little understanding of the situations from which he writes...I take real issue with what the film of The Mystic Masseur has done to the book...the character’s evolution from Ganesh Ramsumair into G. Ramsay Muir is watered down...they try to make him into some kind of national hero. RE: Instead of a mock national hero? KR: Yes. Because it’s what Naipaul was suggesting - that all these people we create as national heroes are really mock heroes. There is a difference between who the artist is, what he’s trying to do, and what people are seeing of him. Finding a Place is available at "A Different Booklist" (416) 538-0889.
Headlines		Letters

Headlines      Issue Released July 2 2003

The memorable week that was Caribbean literary artists take Toronto by storm By Ramabai Espinet Toronto — The past week in this Canadian city has been a charged and memorable one for Caribbean people. No matter how settled we seem to be here, the presence of our Caribbean selves within our Can-adian selves always provides an im-mense comfort. And that comfort has been present in extravagant quantities in the last little while, unusual in these pre-Caribana days when all the excitement is held at bay in anticipation of the midsummer festivities during the August long weekend.  I’m talking about the book fair, the Caribbean Can-adian Literary Expo (CCLE) which began on June 18, 2003 with a gala at the Metropolitan hotel and ended on June 21, the day of the summer solstice, with a magnificent reading called “The Colour of Language” on the Mainstage of the Design Centre in the heart of Toronto’s financial district. The two-day event was packed with readings by Caribbean artists drawn from around the world - indeed, on Saturday the Mainstage witnessed one series of readings after another, always packed with listeners, while the booths were equally packed with browsers and chatterers to the extent that emcees had to call repeatedly for voices to be lowered. A seamless event: for the book people, performers, booksellers, the consulates that initiated and managed the event and the scores of volunteers who made it possible. The event is planned as a biennial book fair but word of mouth has it that there is enough juice in this city to do it annually. Click here for continuation:
		Headlines Continued

9766370788: "Finding a Place: IndoTrinidadian Literature" by Kris Rampersad @ BookFinder.com

9766370788: "Finding a Place: IndoTrinidadian Literature" by Kris Rampersad @ BookFinder.com

Click on the slide!

Click on the slide!

Commonwealth praise for book on Kamla's speeches

• Published on Jun 6, 2010, 12:01 am AST
• Updated on Jan 28, 2011, 4:07 am AST

A valuable addition to research on gender and women in politics in the Commonwealth. That's how Dr Mark Collins, Director of the Commonwealth Foundation described the new book by Dr Kris Rampersad, Through The Political Glass Ceiling —the Race to Prime Ministership by Trinidad & Tobago's first female, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Selected Speeches. 

Speaking at the Commonwealth launch of the book at the Partners' Forum of the Ninth Women's Affairs Ministers Meeting (9WAMM) in Barbados on Friday, Dr Collins noted the need for research and documentation identified by various speakers and workshops of the meeting. He stated that the book, and the project for promoting social research and publishing which it

launches, are answers to that need.
Reviews Through the Politicla Glass Ceiling

He also pointed out that it is not common for a chair of the Commonwealth to change mid-term as happened in this case with the change of Government in Trinidad and Tobago which makes Mrs. Persad-Bissessar, the first female Caribbean chair-in-office of the Commonwealth. The launch was attended by representatives from across the Commonwealth. A copy of Through the Political Glass Ceiling was presented to Chairperson of the Foundation, Simone de Comarmond who endorsed Dr Collins appreciation of the book's as a needed documentation on gender development. 

The launch was in keeping with the Forum's theme, Gender Issues in the Economic Crisis Recovery and Beyond: Women as Agents of Transformation. All proceeds of the launch go towards supporting Caribbean research and publishing. Compiled, with introduction, contexts and analyses by Dr Kris Rampersad, the book features selected speeches of Mrs. Persad-Bissessar against the backdrop of the roles of gender and geo-politics among other factors in the contest for leadership between Mrs Persad-Bissessar and the country's longest standing political entity, the People's National Movement.

Commonwealth praise for book on Kamla's speeches | Trinidad Express Newspaper | News

Julia Roberts: 'I'm Definitely a Practicing Hindu'

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Julia Roberts: 'I'm Definitely a Practicing Hindu'

Suggestions for politicians in search of a cheap arts policy

Suggestions for politicians in search of a cheap arts policy

00873_20100723_BusinessUpdate

00873_20100723_BusinessUpdate

NGOs Pledge To Help

'People will be in need of clean linen, clothing, appliances, household items and foodstuff and we are asking our groups and organisations to help mobilise and coordinate relief for affected victims. NGOs and CSOs are well-positioned to identify and serve the persons in need and should collaborate with their local government officials and members of Parliament and national relief agencies to help alleviate the sufferings of flood-stricken districts.' - Dr Kris Rampersad, International Relations Director, Network of NGOs for the Advancement of Women on Flood Relief efforts

NGOs pledge to help

WEDNESDAY 4 AUGUST 2010

The TT Red Cross Society (TTRCS) has not issued a public appeal but is doing its part by preparing hampers. An official of the TTRCS said volunteers were out on the field doing assessments.

A disaster officer disclosed that they visited Macaulay, Preysal, Gasparillo and Waterloo along with officials of the Office of Disaster Relief and Management. First-aid at shelters in Gasparillo and Waterloo is being handled by the TTRCS.

The Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP) will provide assistan

ce to affected persons through its 69 branches located across the country. President of the Society Rudolph Boneo said the SVP customarily received donation “drop offs” and the branches will network with the head office about persons at parishes in need.

The Congress of the People’s Flagship House, Tragarete Road, Port-of-Spain is the collection site for tinned food, baby items and toiletries donated by the public. The COP has asked for food items, baby items, water and first-aid supplies to be dropped off. Collection is from 7.30 am. Further information can be obtained by calling 6222-5817.

A San Fernando Relief Centre has been established at the corner of Lower Hillside and Coffee Street next to Black Gold. Supplies can be delivered between the hours of 9 am to 5 pm. A request was made for water, mattresses, blankets tinned foods etc.

The COP thanked citizens for showing compassion and dedication to assist their brothers and sisters in their “time of need”.

The Network of Non-Governmental Organisations yesterday called for all its member organisations, other NGOs and civil society organisations (CSO) to coordinate and mobilise relief efforts for flood victims in their districts.

In a release, international relations director for the Network Dr Kris Rampersad said, “People will be in need of clean linen, clothing, appliances, household items and foodstuff and we are asking our groups and organisations to help mobilise and coordinate relief for affected victims.”

She said NGOs and CSOs were well positioned to identify and serve the persons in need and should collaborate with their local government officials and members of Parliament “and national relief agencies to help alleviate the sufferings of flood-stricken districts.”

The Health Ministry issued an advisory on food and water safety after floods advising persons affected not to cook or eat fruits and vegetables or food in bags or cartons soaked in flood waters. Food in damaged cans or any poultry or animals drowned in floods should not be eaten. The ministry warned against bathing or playing in flood waters, as these can carry water-borne diseases. “Wear rubber gloves and other protective clothing for personal protection during clean-up to avoid direct skin contact with contaminated material.”

To disinfect water the ministry suggested boiling water until it reached “rolling boil for one minute”. A one-eighth teaspoon (0.75 ml) or eight drops of bleach should be used to one gallon of water and the water should be allowed to stand for 30 minutes.

Trinidad and Tobago's Newsday : newsday.co.tt

For more about Dr Kris Rampersad, NGOs, Climate Change, Floods, Sustainable Development visit www.krisrampersad.com

Trinidad and Tobago ratifies UNESCO Convention -

Trinidad and Tobago ratifies UNESCO Convention -

Dr Kris Calls for more for arts and culture in Budget

Call for more for arts and culture in Budget

TUESDAY 3 AUGUST 2010

“It is time to move beyond the lip service and put the proper structure, facilities and mechanisms in place to take advantage of the rich multiculturalism and arts for the benefit of both our human and political development, nationally, regionally and internationally,” said Media, Cultural and Literary Consultant, Dr Kris Rampersad.

“It is now well-recognised that our arts and culture are among our most untapped renewable resource. It has untapped value not only to us here in the region but internationally. It is time that the country where was invented the only musical instrument in recent times; which has an as yet incomparable record of social cohesion despite its multicultural diversity, takes its place as a leader on the world cultural stage,” she said.

“We also need to change our perception of the sector,” she added.

Rampersad noted that change can only come from meaningful diversification and more equitable treatment of groups, and an enabling environment and infrastructure for investment in the arts and culture, similar to that which has been given to petroleum over the decades, to make it possible that the enormous cadre of talent available locally can face the competitive global marketplace.

“If we are serious about weaning ourselves away from dependency on petroleum, and dependency as a whole we must do away with the ad hoc treatment of arts and culture where groups and individuals, and individual cultural sectors are subject to whatever partisan interests the powers of the day may hold, and establish a cultural policy along with programmes and actions that will standardise State treatment of the arts and culture sector that will hold for all,” she noted.

“We tend to underestimate the potential of the arts and culture, and often speak of it either in terms of economic or human development – but we are in a position to take full advantage of both elements – to use our cultural resilience and get rid of the ‘gimme gimme’ syndrome to forge the kind of social transformation that will secure for our sustainable development for generations to come,” she said.

Trinidad and Tobago's Newsday : newsday.co.tt :

For More and to access services and resources visit https://krisrampersad.com/ 

Make this a budget for Arts and Culture

The 2010 Budget should be devoted to strengthening Trinidad and Tobago’s arts and culture so we move beyond the lip service and put the proper structure, facilities and mechanisms in place to take advantage of the rich multiculturalism and arts for the benefit of both our human and political development, nationally, regionally and internationally.

 It is now well-recognised that our arts and culture are among our most untapped renewable resource. It has untapped value not only to us here in the region but internationally.  It is time that the country where was invented the only musical instrument in recent times; which has an as yet incomparable record of social cohesion despite its multicultural diversity, takes its place as a leader in the world cultural stage.

We also need to change our perception of the sector - as not just its products as literature, performance, language design, film, song, music, dance, which are all underutilised – but also how we utilise the spirit of resilience and creative impulses that drives our capacity to rise above our circumstances, as well as how we leverage our diasporic connections which include our ancestral countries of origin, but also elements of the T&T and Caribbean diasporas that we are developing across the globe. That way we will make our experiences of slavery and indentureship truly emancipating.  

That can only come from meaningful diversification and more equitable treatment of groups, and an enabling environment and infrastructure for investment in the arts and culture, similar to that which has been given to petroleum over the decades, to make it possible that the enormous cadre of talent available locally can face the competitive global marketplace. The 2010 Budget must give substance to the continuing rhetoric that ‘culture is the new oil’ and give to the sector the kind of support petroleum has received through tax incentives, development of infrastructure, and facilitation. It should facilitate communities to appreciate and protect their cultural practices and assets that can form a vibrant base for the new tourism that caters to special interests as the old tourism flounders in the face of the economic crisis. It should project infrastructural development as to provide for such a community focus, and at the same time provide mechanisms to the international communities – international agencies as those of the United Nations and UNESCO, the European Union, and the Commonwealth and utilise our foreign missions to forge partnerships that includes our various diasporas of origin which effectively encompasses most of the world - also an as yet unquantified asset.

If we are serious about weaning ourselves away from dependency on petroleum, and dependency as a whole we must do away with the ad hoc treatment of arts and culture where groups and individuals, and individual cultural sectors are subject to whatever partisan interests the powers of the day may hold, and establish a cultural policy along with programmes and actions that will standardize State treatment of the arts and culture sector that will hold for all.     

“We tend to underestimate the potential of the arts and culture, and often speak of it either in terms of economic or human development – but we are in a position to take full advantage of both elements – to use our cultural resilience and get rid of the ‘gimme gimme’ syndrome to forge the kind of social transformation that will secure for our sustainable development for generations to come.