Black Friday

The youth of out country (thirty five percent of the electorate) ignores the political process because of the illusion of disconnect. This illusion feeds on powerlessness at the expense of true, all hands on board democracy.
There is a perception that no individual is capable of effecting change; and that race will continue to be the dominant decider in an election. The fact that we allow that to continue to our detriment is reprehensible and worthy of some serious introspection. Are we racist? If not, why do we allow ourselves to be painted into a corner determined by the colour of our skin and the texture of our hair?
This is a weakness that has been exploited for far too long.
We need to break that perception if we hope to include everyone in the debate and advance the politics to a higher level.
We have an opportunity to unite over an issue - a draconian tax imposed by a failed Government. Wearing black today means we are bigger than race. That we care enough to unite and make a stand, that we will not be bullied by dictators and their gangster counterparts. Real change. We can demand more of our leaders when we demand more of ourselves.
There is a saying - 'No single raindrop ever thinks of itself as having caused the flood'.
It is time to drive this demon into the sea.
The youth are watching....

Who is minding the store?

How is it the more we advance the less we seem to become? The more gadgets we acquire the dumber we seem to get? We seem to excel at revelry and sex at the expense of everything else, and the pursuit of these things have cost us community and family life and left the kids alone to deal with the things that go bump in the night. Our national celebration has given way to the exploitation of little girls and the sexing up of our young generation in a misguided notion of freedom. That is not freedom. Action without responsibility simply displaces the consequences onto someone else or a future date, leaving us with little substance after the glitter fades. We have traded romance and courting for hooking up and mobile phone sex videos. Why?
Our generation and the ones before us will have a lot of questions to answer when these young ones grow up and realize just how much they were short changed. How gym memberships at fourteen for vanity training is madness.
Sorry to be the one to throw cold water on this but not only do we need to sober up, we need to grow up. The unwritten rule of society requires that the baton be passed and we’re it. It is our job to set the moral pattern of this society, establish norms, carry on traditions, and prepare the next generation for their turn. History has shown us that we are going to reap whatever we sow, so we should sow good seed. Respect for self and others, industry, personal values, family, community, church, school. Our kids are failing due to lack of guidance, and we are the ones letting them down. It starts with you...check yourself. Forget what anybody else is doing. Take care of your business. Lead by example. When there are enough of us minding the store, the situation will start to right itself, I am sure of it.

Who we are

I have been asked over and over what are we; this group? What are we trying to be? I thought our stance specifically on the issue of murder and violent crime would have been obvious. I have been attacked in the past months by obvious PNM supporters for the perceived threat to their status quo, government’s policies, and the sometimes unbelievable utterings and doings of their leader. Are we a political party? Are we a lobby group? Or are we just a grouping of random sexy people with no agenda? (I threw the last one in there because, as of this writing, we really are a good looking bunch...: )

I want to say that we are neither one nor the other, not yet fully formed, still a coming together of hearts and minds in the way that has always changed the world and written history. That we are a growing force of concerned people who rallied around the cry ‘Nah Man T&T, We Could Do Better Than That’ when in one rapid succession of craziness we encountered killing after killing, underscored by the tragic death of little Tecia Henry in Laventille and the ignominious release of the international report that named Trinidad the most dangerous places in the world to live.
That we are a growing wave of people who were shocked to learn that England and Canada boasted murder rates as low as two per hundred thousand per capita per year, while we were clocking fifty five and rising.

At this moment, we are all about keeping the issue of violent crime front and center on the national agenda, and we need to keep pushing against the ingrained will that change cannot happen ‘just so’, That Trinidadians tribal, and Manning have the black vote and right now the Indian vote split and all that rubbish. We cannot be conned into believing those who are dying are different from us, that they somehow deserve this. They bleed red blood. For whatever the reason that their choices are leading them down this path is still a function of leadership, a function of Government. We cannot allow ourselves to be distracted. We must hold our elected officials to the highest possible standards where the lowest and least among us is concerned, because anybody could do the popular thing, it takes people of strong character to do the right thing.

It is clear that we are in a terrible state in Trinidad; the minority PNM government has no one to fear as they run rampant over the citizenry pushing their selfish and greedy agenda while the opposition writhes in throes of full meltdown, feeding on itself and crying out for ethnic cleansing over doctors contracts while homes are being invaded and words like carjacking and human trafficking eased themselves into the common dialogue.

What madness is this? Are the inmates really running the asylum here?

It is the hope that this group could become a refuge for free people, something we could rally around, to find togetherness and draw strength as we demand change and cry out for a better standard of living where equality and personal security are concerned. There is an isolation and aloneness that encloses and stifles the light when one is an unfortunate victim of crime. We feel out of step with society, abandoned from the herd for a while. This feeling is the result of careful planning by selfish people who rely on division to rule. I tell you that you are not alone, that there are people like you who will commiserate with you in your time of need, and rally around you for justice. We want you to know that the color of your skin, the texture of your hair and the amount of money in your pocket doesn’t matter, that you are with friends and family.

We Trinidadians boast a lot of crap to keep some level of sanity even while big business and the media are exploiting our young girls for profit. We have seen a relaxing a morals, a loosening of standards, because no one is minding the store. Rampant crime and violence are symptoms of a deeper ailment that needs attending to, because when one of us hurts we should all feel it.
There are things that made us whole before, made us blessed, and gave us a feeling of belonging, of safety, of home. We were cocky, even in the face of Mother Nature, so sure of our place in the divine order.
Now it feels like a dark cloud has come to rest over our beloved land, and the specter exists just outside the periphery of our vision, even as we hear more bad news and silently thank God we were spared, that it happened to someone else.
This has to stop. We need to say No More!!! We need to push the forces of evil back into their hole and unseat the demon king from his throne.
That is what this group is at this point; People who have decided to band together to take Trinidad back from these hoodlums and thugs, to enforce law and punish criminals, to protect our old, infirm and weak. To create a land where people are once again safe in their homes and our children can play in the streets; to unite our voices in one call that we really can do better than that, and if the government and opposition cannot do the job, we will fire them and do it ourselves.

Nigga please!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This note is not going to be long.
They killed a ten year old girl and stuffed her into a hole.
Please, when you see me, don’t try to tell me what you think the reasons or the motives were. I don’t give a fuck. Opinions on the police, Laventille, Manning...please!!!!
A ten year old child is about as innocent and beautiful we as a species will ever be.
That took some serious evil to do.
Who is the sick demented waste of air that did this? Why is he not hanging today?
Please, save the old talk, cross talk and bad talk.
The people who are trying to make a difference need your help, not your opinion or bad talk.

We are the people.

We get to decide.

This has to change.