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..Dr Rampersad calls on PM, Pres in her mission to protect T&T’s national heritage
Published:
Sunday, October 12, 2014
Dr Kris Rampersad
An online petition has been started by heritage educator, author and researcher Dr Kris Rampersad as well as open letters to President Anthony Carmona and Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar calling for the safeguarding of T&T’s natural heritage, the “other Magnificent Seven of the South.”
“It is something of a suicide pact if a state opens the doorway for destruction of its natural heritage without proper safeguarding as it is for an activist to embark on a fast to the death,” said the outspoken Rampersad, who refused at this time to specifically name the other Magnificent Seven given the sensitive and exclusive nature of her research.
Evidence of what may be clues to the ‘missing links’ in the story of human history and evolution may lie in south Trinidad are in danger of disappearing by negative development actions, she said. Rampersad has been piecing together the comparative pre-and post-colonial heritage of T&T in the context of the Caribbean, South America and its global connections.
She is also the T&T representative on the Unesco Executive Board in Paris and chair of the National Commission for Unesco. An independent multimedia journalist, Rampersad is also a Unesco/Commonwealth/Caribbean trained heritage educator, and member of the scientific committee of the International Culture University and the International Institute of Gastronomy, Culture, Arts and Tourism.
Rampersad has written an impassioned letter in her blog Demokrissy (www.kris-rampersad.blogspot.com) to Carmona and Persad-Bissessar to safeguard these valuable heritage elements in their home districts of south Trinidad, which she calls “The Other Magnificent Seven”—of south Trinidad/South America/Global South and the globe.
She said these efforts must be part of and contribute to a holistic approach to reviewing and revising misrepresentations of the islands in national symbols as the Coat of Arms and the National Anthem. The open letter calls on the President and Prime Minister ‘to lead’ in safeguarding the endangered and neglected heritage including these valuable assets which she claims have outstanding universal value.
The blog which is receiving the thumbs up across her extensive social media network, has inspired a Change.org petition to Carmona and Persad-Bissessar (http://goo.gl/EEzSc6) calling on them to act now, before all is lost.
Banwari site and other Magnificent Seven of the South Rampersad, who is the author of the first book on Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Through the Political Glass Ceiling, that maps the PM’s journey from rural Trinidad to Prime Ministership from speeches, said the letter was inspired by her own impulse to act because it was the responsibility of citizens to motivate and encourage public officials to act in the best interests of the country.
She said, “While a responsible citizenry has a duty to hold officials to account, we also must take responsibility for our actions that impact how authorities may react or act.
“There has been an increasingly hyped national environment that makes it almost impossible to recognise what is empty noise and what may be constructive criticism. “It is on us to find the tone to make the authorities listen. I hope my blog achieved that.”
Speaking to the Sunday Guardian on her way to the biannual Unesco Board meeting in Paris, Rampersad said unplanned and unchecked development actions can cost us valuable evidence contained not just around the Banwari site—the 7,000-year-old humanoid skeleton discovered in 1968—but of the ‘Magnificent Seven’ elements that span across the entire peninsula for southeast to southwest Trinidad.
Much focus on PoS and city heritage She said there had been much focus on Port-of-Spain and the city heritage that included the seven European-styled buildings in disrepair, but the fundamental and valuable heritage of global scale importance have been overlooked as part of general neglect in development planning for the South.
“Maybe that has been a good thing and it has allowed these assets to remain undisturbed, but development focus in this district now means we have awakened a sleeping giant, and we must pause, take actions to secure and safeguard, document and explore what really we are sitting on before we allow what may be another course of development.”
She said focus on heritage had contributed to enhancing national revenue, employment and substantially diversifying economies of many countries which is why so many hanker after being admitted to the Unesco World Heritage lists or any of the recognition Unesco offers on the global value of tangible and intangible heritage.
“But there are steps to be taken which we have not been entertaining,” she said, claiming her research included interviews and examination of oral and literary culture, maps, comparative charts and other evidence from across more than 50 countries. Rampersad said, “The traditional confrontational stance between development and conservation has resulted in a kind of public fear and deafness.
“One such I have encountered, apart from a general apathy and indifference to act, is the erroneous belief that the operations of the oil sector or Lake Asphalt may be negatively affected. “This is very far from the truth as the model I am developing has a central place for the oil sector and other industrial heritage.”
Win-win model
She said that there was an absolute win-win model that had been workshopped at various regional Unesco and other forums and to senior officials of the World Heritage Centre, all of whom had urged and were eager to see us step forward. Rampersad said that will be quite a breakthrough for many other societies also trying to strike the balance between meeting the needs of growing populations while conserving for the future.
“I have many examples of our working successfully with governments, industry and communities to find the perfect fit between what has traditionally been seen as competing actions. “As a small island, T&T with its wealth of human, natural and industrial financial, intellectual and other resources is ideally positioned to impact on and make a difference on the world’s drive for sustainable development.”
Rampersad said that she feared that “the trigger effect of one kind of development to others can now destroy valuable evidence that has not been thoroughly investigated and so unless we move to safeguard them and establish parameters where this can co-exist with development, we stand to lose a legacy that is of value to not just us in the islands, in the region, but also in defining and establishing our pre-and post-colonial connections to the world.
“We have the resources, financial and human and intellectual to position T&T as a model small island nation that effectively strikes the balance between development and conservation—that was the goal of the recently held United Nations Summit which Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar attended. “So I am asking the President and the Prime Minister to lead us and take the necessary steps to do this.”
Dear Lizzie
The value of #life, the value of #freedom -what dollar value could be put on that ... trillions? The skewing of our sense of value to dollars and cents based on the value on the labour market is itself demeaning and dimunitive as replicated in the calculations for #reparations. How damaged have become our sense of values and those who lead us to warped space when the real calculations shoe... more in #LettersToLizzie @krisramp @lolleaves
While Charlie King Junction in Fyzabad South Trinidad was reliving the labour struggles of the early 20th century that preceded Independence, Ambassadors, diplomats, their spouses and other enthusiasts enjoyed a simulating CiTTyscape LiTTour - Journey Through the Landscapes of Fiction of Trinidad and Tobago based on the book: LiTTscapes - Landscapes of Fiction from Trinidad and Tobago by Kris Rampersad.
The tour, which began at the Lady Young Road, circumvented through Barataria, the Beetham, Port of Spain and the Queen's Park Savannah to give a rare glimpse of the island and its capital through the eyes of fiction writers and fictional characters. The group explored the city landscapes, mindscapes, institutions, festivals, and the islands' history, politics, economy, culture and society from the perspectives of a range of writers and thinkers from as early as 1595 to present day. The tour covered a range of fictional vision and works of writers as Samuel Selvon, Lawrence Scott, CLR James, Alfred Mendes, Michael Anthony, James Isaiah Boodhoo, Earl Lovelace, VS Naipaul, Derek Walcott, Ismith Khan, Lakshmi Persaud-Seetaram. Sir Walter Raleigh, and many others of the some 60 writers and more than 100 works represented in LiTTscapes.
Among those who participated were Excellencies, Ambassador of Japan Yoshimasa Tezuka and Mrs Tezuka; Ambassador of the Republic of Korea Wonkun Hwang and Mrs Kumdan Hwang; Jan Karlsson spouse of the Ambassador of the Netherlands; Anke Kessler, spouse of the Ambassador of Chile; members of Alliance Francais, musicians Katy Gainham and Eleanor Ryan; Ben Gilbert, son of the Security Adviser to the UN Department of Safety and Security for this region; artist Wendy Nanan and Alliance Francais Marie and Frank Abdullah. The tour was facilitated by author and educator in Caribbean literature, culture and heritage
Dr Kris Rampersad in conjunction with the Public Transport Service Corporation Know Your Country tours. . Custommade LiTTours by request on any theme,
subject, author or district through email lolleaves@gmail.com.
For details see www.kris-rampersad.blogspot.com
Above:CiTTyscape LiTTour enthusiasts aboard the bus for the Journeys Through the Landscapes of Fiction from Trinidad and Tobago inspired by the book LiTTscapes - Landscapes of Fiction from Trinidad and Tobago.
Below: Author/Educator in Caribbean Literature, Culture and heritage Dr Kris Rampersad, musician Katy Gainham and wife of the Ambassador of Chile, Anke Kessler discuss LiTTscapes - Landscapes of Fiction from Trinidad and Tobago.
One of the outstanding outreach and advocacy initiatives for agriculture and food security developed in conjunction with the Caribbean Agriculture Research and Development Institute. As the world transitioned from conventional to new media, the holistic approach involved retooling executives and extension officers in use of new media tools, revising internal and eternal communications strategies and approaches, devising new mechanisms for engaging multisectoral stakeholders and broadening partnerships in public, private, NGO, media and academic sectors as well as revising CARDI's range of outreach materials that include newsletter - the CARDI Update, the academic CARDI Journal, the bulletins on sound agriculture, animal husbandry and food security practices as well as conceptualising, coordinating and introducing the agri-journalism award and strengthening understanding of the impact of climate change on agriculture.
This collaboration, apart from the above named outputs and outcomes, provided a new unique model for multistakeholder engagement that was adopted internationally by CARDI's EU-ACP partners and the Agri Journalism award to encourage outreach and awareness about food security, healthy lifestyles and agriculture and its satellite industries and economies. To develop your campaign and outreach initiatives or to sponsor development of these experiences for further outreach make contact
Grow Safeguard Preserve Create A MultiMedia Legacy
With rapidly changing technologies in media, many of our knowledge resources are fast disappearing or becoming inaccessible. We are in the process of digitising our archives representing more than 30 years of contemporary Caribbean development linked to more than 10,000 years of regional pre and post colonial history and heritage. Make contact.
To support, sponsor, collaborate and partners with our digitisation efforts. Or to develop your own legacy initiatives, and safeguard, preserve, multimedia museum, galleries, archives, make contact
One of the outstanding outreach and advocacy initiatives for agriculture and food security developed in conjunction with the Caribbean Agriculture Research and Development Institute. As the world transitioned from conventional to new media, the holistic approach involved retooling executives and extension officers in use of new media tools, revising internal and eternal communications strategies and approaches, devising new mechanisms for engaging multisectoral stakeholders and broadening partnerships in public, private, NGO, media and academic sectors as well as revising CARDI's range of outreach materials that include newsletter - the CARDI Update, the academic CARDI Journal, the bulletins on sound agriculture, animal husbandry and food security practices as well as conceptualising, coordinating and introducing the agri-journalism award and strengthening understanding of the impact of climate change on agriculture.
This collaboration, apart from the above named outputs and outcomes, provided a new unique model for multistakeholder engagement that was adopted internationally by CARDI's EU-ACP partners and the Agri Journalism award to encourage outreach and awareness about food security, healthy lifestyles and agriculture and its satellite industries and economies. To develop your campaign and outreach initiatives or to sponsor development of these experiences for further outreach make contact
Grow Safeguard Preserve Create A MultiMedia Legacy
With rapidly changing technologies in media, many of our knowledge resources are fast disappearing or becoming inaccessible. We are in the process of digitising our archives representing more than 30 years of contemporary Caribbean development linked to more than 10,000 years of regional pre and post colonial history and heritage. Make contact.
To support, sponsor, collaborate and partners with our digitisation efforts. Or to develop your own legacy initiatives, and safeguard, preserve, multimedia museum, galleries, archives, make contact
Dear Michelle Bachelet,
Congratulations on your appointment as the first head of UN Women.
Like others in this forum, I am thrilled to learn of the creation of a new space for women’s voices and activities within the UN system.
Indeed, it signals a broadening of the approach to international governance and for recognition of the contribution and potential contribution of women to the process and to balancing the equation for nearing the millennium development goalposts.
However, I believe there is need for significantly deeper interrogation and analyses on the capacity of women leaders for change; to identify challenges and come up with solutions given that there is widespread belief that even where women’s leadership and participation have increased, there have not been concurrent reflection related to their impact on their spheres of leadership.
I may refer to a recent analysis, for example, which highlighted the clear disjoint between increased women’s participation, in this instance, political participation, and the impact they have had on their areas of jurisdiction in the Caribbean where, not only efforts at increasing participation are sporadic and piecemeal, research and documentation in this area are also poorly lacking.
That report looked at efforts by the Network of NGOs of Trinidad and Tobago for the Advancement of Women, of which I am international relations director, in increasing political participation by women through training, networking, funding and documentation.
It found that representation of women’s interests by women in power did not increase, despite increases in their numbers and the exposure to ideas and tools of gender equity. Women MPs and decision makers are not raising issues of concern to women as they should.
For this, there may be several reasons. These are the reasons that UN Women needs to unearth and turn its focus on. Not to discount the fact that in several societies, including our own, there are substantial numbers of disadvantaged, disempowered women, it seems for too long we have hid behind the victims’ veil; as recipients rather than shapers and molders of modes and models of governance whether at the domestic, national or global levels.
But there is an inherent paradox that most of the societies where the problems seem most endemic, boast of matriarchal systems. There is another paradox that UN Women can lead the way in deciphering: that while women – stereotyped as we are – have for centuries formed the majorities in the nurturing category and hence part of the baseline in shaping character, habits, beliefs and behaviour – as care givers, mothers, teachers, nurses –there does not seem to have been any equivalent transference of notions of gender equality, equity and respect for women across the board in our societies.
In effect, it seems to me that as architects of the perspectives and outlooks of boys as much as we are of girls and as primary transmitters of culture, knowledge and education, women have not been changing, but replicating and transferring habits, beliefs and practices that promote inequalities to the boys as much as the girls who grow up to become leaders.
We need to examine more deeply and find means of addressing perceived lack of impact women leaders have been making in their spheres in a more holistic manner. Commendations to the Organisation of American States for organising the upcoming symposium on women’s leadership in collaboration with your organization, UNIFEM and others, but unless the outcomes of this are not collated and critically analysed and set before the global public, it runs the danger of becoming another talkshop.
What are the anticipated outcomes of this forum? Increasing numbers and increasing awareness are clearly not enough. There must be deeper focus on targeted programmes and actions that can bring desired results for gender equity, as well as for women to not just pass on responsibility for shortcomings and failures on historical and/or patriarchal systems and beliefs, but also to come to terms with and admit our own failures as well as part of the process of mapping a way forward.
I would like UN Women to deepen the introspection and interrogation of the intrinsic ways women have been shaping our societies – to unearth both the negatives and the positives and so advance and evolve more meaningful solutions for new directions. In doing so we can celebrate successes, but we also need to own our shortcomings.
Qualitative is as important as quantitative change. Are we owning-up to our own responsibilities for the gender gaps and development divides? What have we as women, mothers, as executives and leaders not done? Where have we fallen short? This seems to me to also be a crucial element in the way forward.
In conjunction with the Commonwealth Foundation, the IFCCD facilitated three very important regional meetings in Port-of-Spain in 2007 and, as part of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, again in 2009.
Ouedraogo also thanked the Commonwealth Foundation, and its programme director for culture, Andrew Firmin, for supporting these initiatives. “The UNESCO Convention was intended to counterbalance trade agreements and affirm the sovereign right of countries to promote the expression of their own cultural diversity by adopting appropriate policies and measures.
As for any other international legal instrument, universal acceptance through rapid ratification by a large number of countries, from all regions, is essential to give the Cultural Diversity Convention its full legitimacy in the international legal system,” stated Ouedraogo.
He however added that this is only the beginning of a long journey towards implementation, and warned that it would indeed be regrettable to see the Convention fail through poor implementation.
Ouedraogo expressed the feeling that the Government must now take up the challenge of actually using the Convention it sought to have. He stated: “It is vital that the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago are satisfied that by ratifying the Convention, their Government has begun to take action to ensure that the countries diversity of cultural expressions is rightfully protected and promoted.”
Ouedraogo then outlined three steps the Government must take at this time. The first would be for the people of TT, and especially the cultural sector, artistes and creative industries, to be informed of their rights and of the international commitment made by their Government.
The second, for the country to take stock of the current level of protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions and define the roadmap of measures that could be taken to achieve the Convention’s objectives and the third, for Government to adopt a law specifically addressing how it intends to implement the Convention, which could prove very useful to ensure coordination between the various ministries and agencies involved.
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