Sunday, July 27, 2014

Overwriting the Coup - from the ashes of the 1990 experience

I have never been able to bring myself to love or even look at Disney's  production The Little Mermaid since August 1990.
The light of love that the movie projected had gone out for me on July 27, 1990 and the ensuring days because it came to be associated with the attempted coup. (see Commission's report on 1990 coup here).
I had just left the Guardian's office that Friday afternoon, a rare opportunity to do so while it was still daylight as my friend's dad used to say, as I was not on duty to cover Parliament that day, and was trying to recoup - no pun intended - from the work week, when my landlady pounded on the door to my Picton Street apartment, shouting at me to turn on the television.
I did. The Little Mermaid was running. Why would my land lady want me to look at The Little Mermaid? She walked in, her wrinkled face petrified, as I was about to ask but the question froze on my tongue.
The coup leader flanked by his cohorts came on air, announcing a coup, that the Parliament was under siege as was the television station, and asking people to stay calm!
Stay calm? I called the newspaper office, ready to return to work at the office in Port of Spain.
Yes, the television station and Parliament were under siege. There was also an attempt to enter the Guardian building but the security had warded it off. What could I see at TTT? my editor asked. John, always in control and in command. He transferred that to me. The focus. There was job to do.
My apartment was directly opposite Trinidad and Tobago Television (TTT) on the parallel street and on the top floor. From the corridor and its rarely accessed roof there was a clear view of TTT. Too clear. Best to stay put and report from there, my editor advised. He was not the only one with that idea.
For the ensuing days, my apartment would become not only the satellite report station on activities in Woodbrook and TTT for the Guardian. By nightfall, the building and the roof was also occupied by soldiers, who had the same idea of monitoring the television station. Unofficial command station. The midnightly rain of gunfire from the Picton Street apartment ricocheted off the rooftop and other vantage points the soldiers had on the TTT building. Sleepless days. Sleepless nights. The sounds, the smell, the taste of determination of the soldiers were all mixed into what exuded out of those moments, burned permanently into memory, like the nauseating reruns of Walt Disney's The Little Mermaid on the television set.
Perhaps thinking it would appease the children, if not adults, the coup perpetrators stuck The Little Mermaid   into the TTT transmitter and it ran ad nauseum over the next few days, interspersed with the occasional 'updates' when the coup perpetrators wanted to interject a message for the public or for the authorities. Instead, it soured a remarkable imaginative story of reconciliation of differences and love: A feeling that would persist to a quarter of a century, until a few weeks ago when I was treated to The Love Movement Choir's reproduction at Queen's Hall. I found myself immersed in the beauty, the story, the production, the vision, the imagination and imaginativeness, the designs, the costumes, the music, the poetry. Love returned for me that night for The Little Mermaid.
Such is the restorative and regenerative power of art.
Thank you Bernadette Scott and the Love Movement Choir.
Sharing here some of the photos from the Love Movement Choir's Facebook Photo Album where more can be seen and hoping that these would help erase the memory of some of the darkest days of our living history and soothe the dark spirits of those behind the attempted coup so they never contemplate a repeat, and so traumatise a nation, ever again.




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Oct 20, 2013 Choosing the Emperor's New Troops. The dilemma of choice. Voting is supposed to be an exercise in thoughtful, studied choice. Local government is the foundation for good governance so even if one wants to reform the ... http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
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See Also:
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Jul 30, 2013 Wherever these breezes have passed, they have left in their wake wide ranging social and political changes: one the one hand toppling long time leaders with rising decibels from previously suppressed peoples demanding a ...http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
Demokrissy: Reform, Conform, Perform or None of the Above cross ...
Oct 25, 2013 Some 50 percent did not vote. The local government elections results lends further proof of the discussion began in Clash of Political Cultures: Cultural Diversity and Minority Politics in Trinidad and Tobago in Through The ...http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
Demokrissy: Sounds of a party - a political party
Oct 14, 2013 They are announcing some political meeting or the other; and begging for my vote, and meh road still aint fix though I hear all parts getting box drains and thing, so I vex. So peeps, you know I am a sceptic so help me decide. http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
Demokrissy: T&T Constitution the culprit | The Trinidad Guardian
Jun 15, 2010 T&T Constitution the culprit | The Trinidad Guardian · T&T Constitution the culprit | The Trinidad Guardian. Posted by Kris Rampersad at 8:20 AM · Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to Facebook ...http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
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Demokrissy: DEADLOCK: Sign of things to come
Oct 29, 2013 An indication that unless we devise innovative ways to address representation of our diversity, we will find ourselves in various forms of deadlock at the polls that throw us into a spiral of political tug of war albeit with not just ...http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
Demokrissy: The human face of constitutional reform
Oct 16, 2013 Sheilah was clearly and sharply articulating the deficiencies in governmesaw her: a tinymite elderly woman, gracefully wrinkled, deeply over with concerns about political and institutional stagnation but brimming over with ... http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
Demokrissy: Trini politics is d best
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Demokrissy: T&T politics: A new direction? - Caribbean360 Oct 01, 2010 http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
Oct 20, 2013 Choosing the Emperor's New Troops. The dilemma of choice. Voting is supposed to be an exercise in thoughtful, studied choice. Local government is the foundation for good governance so even if one wants to reform the ... http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
Old Casked Rum: The Emperor's New Tools#1 - Demokrissy - Blogger
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Demokrissy: Valuing Carnival The Emperor's New Tools#2
Apr 30, 2013 Valuing Carnival The Emperor's New Tools#2....http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
See Also:
Demokrissy: Winds of Political Change - Dawn of T&T's Arab Spring
Jul 30, 2013 Wherever these breezes have passed, they have left in their wake wide ranging social and political changes: one the one hand toppling long time leaders with rising decibels from previously suppressed peoples demanding a ...http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
Demokrissy: Reform, Conform, Perform or None of the Above cross ...
Oct 25, 2013 Some 50 percent did not vote. The local government elections results lends further proof of the discussion began in Clash of Political Cultures: Cultural Diversity and Minority Politics in Trinidad and Tobago in Through The ...http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
Demokrissy: Sounds of a party - a political party
Oct 14, 2013 They are announcing some political meeting or the other; and begging for my vote, and meh road still aint fix though I hear all parts getting box drains and thing, so I vex. So peeps, you know I am a sceptic so help me decide. http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
Demokrissy: T&T Constitution the culprit | The Trinidad Guardian
Jun 15, 2010 T&T Constitution the culprit | The Trinidad Guardian · T&T Constitution the culprit | The Trinidad Guardian. Posted by Kris Rampersad at 8:20 AM · Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to Facebook ...http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
Related:
Demokrissy: To vote, just how we party … Towards culturally ...
Apr 30, 2010 'How we vote is not how we party.' At 'all inclusive' fetes and other forums, we nod in inebriated wisdom to calypsonian David Rudder's elucidation of the paradoxical political vs. social realities of Trinidad and Tobago. http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
Demokrissy: DEADLOCK: Sign of things to come
Oct 29, 2013 An indication that unless we devise innovative ways to address representation of our diversity, we will find ourselves in various forms of deadlock at the polls that throw us into a spiral of political tug of war albeit with not just ...http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
Demokrissy: The human face of constitutional reform
Oct 16, 2013 Sheilah was clearly and sharply articulating the deficiencies in governmesaw her: a tinymite elderly woman, gracefully wrinkled, deeply over with concerns about political and institutional stagnation but brimming over with ... http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
Demokrissy: Trini politics is d best
Oct 21, 2013 Ain't Trini politics d BEST! Nobody fighting because they lose. All parties claiming victory, all voting citizens won! That's what make we Carnival d best street party in the world. Everyone are winners because we all like ...http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
New Media, New Civil Society, and Politics in a New Age - Demokrissy
Jan 09, 2012 New Media, New Civil Society, and Politics in a New Age | The Communication Initiative Network. New Media, New Civil Society, and Politics in a New Age | The Communication Initiative Network. Posted by Kris Rampersad ...http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
Demokrissy: T&T politics: A new direction? - Caribbean360 Oct 01, 2010 http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
Others: Demokrissy: Old Casked Rum: The Emperor's New Tools#1 ...
Apr 07, 2013
Old Casked Rum: The Emperor's New Tools#1 - Towards Constitutional Reform in T&T. So we've had the rounds of consultations on Constitutional Reform? Are we any wiser? Do we have a sense of direction that will drive ...
http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
Demokrissy: Valuing Carnival The Emperor's New Tools#2
Apr 30, 2013
Valuing Carnival The Emperor's New Tools#2. 
http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
Wave a flag for a party rag...Choosing the Emperor's New ...
Oct 20, 2013
Choosing the Emperor's New Troops. The dilemma of choice. Voting is supposed to be an ... Old Casked Rum: The Emperor's New Tools#1 - Towards Constitutional Reform in T&T. Posted by Kris Rampersad at 10:36 AM ...
http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
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Feb 26, 2014
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Feb 10, 2014
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Apr 22, 2014
It is placing increasing pressure for erasure of barriers of geography, age, ethnicity, gender, cultures and other sectoral interests, and in utilising the tools placed at our disposal to access our accumulate knowledge and technologies towards eroding these superficial barriers. In this context, we believe that the work of UNESCO remains significant and relevant and that UNESCO is indeed the institution best positioned to consolidate the ..... The Emperor's New Tools ...
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Jun 15, 2010
The Emperor's New Tools. Loading... AddThis. Bookmark and Share. Loading... Follow by Email. About Me. My Photo · Kris Rampersad. Media, Cultural and Literary Consultant, Facilitator, Educator and Practitioner. View my ...
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Friday, July 18, 2014

Kingdom of the underworld #LettersToLizzie


Dear Lizzie
It must be a great day in some parts of the underworld kingdom, some call it hellyard, when our security system turns on itself; when parliament becomes a place for paternity debates and politicians question the fatherhood of god; when errant little boys can trash leaders in public places without sanction; when scholars look to police free thinkers condoned by the university and the media is so enarmoured in its own self glory that it only sees itself reflected back on the society...
And guess who's laughing at us all...

http://m.guardian.co.tt/news/2014-07-18/acting-cop-instructs-police-officers-arrest-rogue-soldiers

Sunday, July 13, 2014

Featured Post

Beyond the Hype Hyperbole and Hysteria of AI Big Data and New Tech

  Missed me since the Data Crash? Like any under-resourced curious creative scientist, I self-experimented.To see how they meshed with exper...